From deadpan machine to relating socially

Middle school students’ experiences speaking English with embodied conversational agents

Bibliographic Data

ID21744078
AuthorsElin Ericsson (0000-0001-6472-9149, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author), Johan Lundin (0000-0001-5547-9395, University of Gothenburg), Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi (0000-0001-5248-771X, University of Gothenburg)
Year2024
Volume56
Issue6
Pages752-768
Publication date2024-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Research on Technology in Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1539-1523 • E-ISSN: 1945-0818
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15391523.2023.2213902
OpenAlexW4382334922
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited36

Speaking with an artificial counterpart in simulated environments has been shown beneficial for foreign language learning. Still, few studies have explored how it is experienced by younger students. We report on a study of Swedish students (N = 22) speaking English with embodied conversational agents (ECAs) in everyday-life scenarios. Data were collected on students’ rankings, choices, and open-response items in logbooks and questionnaires. Self-reported data on experiences were analyzed through three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and social. Findings show that students were generally satisfied with the activity and emotionally engaged with large individual differences within the social dimension. We unpack aspects regarding social relating to the ECA, analyzing the space between experiencing the ECA as a socially distant “deadpan machine” to humanizing and relating socially

Embodied cognition · English as a foreign language · Everyday life · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · AI in Service Interactions · Computer Science · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Robot Interaction and HRI · Speech and dialogue systems

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