L2 Vocabulary Teaching by Social Robots: The Role of Gestures and On-Screen Cues as Scaffolds

Ö. Ece Demir-Lira; Junko Kanero; Cansu Oranç; Sümeyye Koşkulu; Idil Franko; Tilbe Göksun; Aylin C. Küntay

doi:10.3389/feduc.2020.599636

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L2 Vocabulary Teaching by Social Robots: The Role of Gestures and On-Screen Cues as Scaffolds

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L2 Vocabulary Teaching by Social Robots: The Role of Gestures and On-Screen Cues as Scaffolds

Ö. Ece Demir-Lira, Junko Kanero, Cansu Oranç, Sümeyye Koşkulu, Idil Franko, Tilbe Göksun and Aylin C. Küntay

Frontiers in education (Lausanne), Vol.5, 599636

12/01/2020

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2020.599636

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Abstract

Social robots are receiving an ever-increasing interest in popular media and scientific literature. Yet, empirical evaluation of the educational use of social robots remains limited. In the current paper, we focus on how different scaffolds (co-speech hand gestures vs. visual cues presented on the screen) influence the effectiveness of a robot second language (L2) tutor. In two studies, Turkish-speaking 5-year-olds (n = 72) learned English measurement terms (e.g., big, wide) either from a robot or a human tutor. We asked whether (1) the robot tutor can be as effective as the human tutor when they follow the same protocol, (2) the scaffolds differ in how they support L2 vocabulary learning, and (3) the types of hand gestures affect the effectiveness of teaching. In all conditions, children learned new L2 words equally successfully from the robot tutor and the human tutor. However, the tutors were more effective when teaching was supported by the on-screen cues that directed children's attention to the referents of target words, compared to when the tutor performed co-speech hand gestures representing the target words (i.e., iconic gestures) or pointing at the referents (i.e., deictic gestures). The types of gestures did not significantly influence learning. These findings support the potential of social robots as a supplementary tool to help young children learn language but suggest that the specifics of implementation need to be carefully considered to maximize learning gains. Broader theoretical and practical issues regarding the use of educational robots are also discussed.

social robot

language learning

children

second language learning

gesture

Details

Title: Subtitle: L2 Vocabulary Teaching by Social Robots: The Role of Gestures and On-Screen Cues as Scaffolds
Creators: Ö. Ece Demir-Lira - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, DeLTA Center, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States
Junko Kanero - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Cansu Oranç - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Sümeyye Koşkulu - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Idil Franko - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Tilbe Göksun - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Aylin C. Küntay - Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Frontiers in education (Lausanne), Vol.5, 599636
DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2020.599636
eISSN: 2504-284X
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/501100007601, name: Horizon 2020
Language: English
Date published: 12/01/2020
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Center for Social Science Innovation
Record Identifier: 9984070668902771

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