EMOTIONAL ROBOT AS A COMPANION FOR STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGE VOCABULARY AT SCHOOL

EMOTIONAL ROBOT AS A COMPANION FOR STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGE VOCABULARY AT SCHOOL

Author:  A.A. Zinina, N.A. Arinkin, M.D. Chizhova, A.A. Kotov

Affiliation:  Moscow State Linguistic University

Abstract: 
We examine the application of personal companion robots to learning English vocabulary by schoolchildren in order to evaluate the efficiency of the learning procedure and the engagement of stu-dents.
The goal of study was to evaluate if a companion robot can serve as a perspective learning tool for foreign language vocabulary. Within a five-week experiment Russian schoolchildren (N=43, average age 15,6 years) studied vocabulary of English as a foreign language, assigned to emotional robot, neu-tral robot or screen-based learning condition. Results, measured in a post-experimental recall test, indi-cated no significant difference in word learning between the three learning groups.
At the same time, the students consistently rated the emotional robot as more friendly and engag-ing, than the neutral robot, which friendliness rating decreased over time. This confirms that the emo-tional robot can better maintain student interest, and this ability to sustain engagement offers potential long-term benefits, especially for less motivated students.
The findings can be employed in educational technologies, as a new method for off-class self-education.

Keywords:  r Learning, robot-assisted language learning, foreign language learning,
human-robot interaction, companion robot, emotional robot.

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For citation:  Zinina, A. A., Arinkin, N. A., Chizhova, M. D., & Kotov, A. A. (2025). Emotional Robot as a Companion for Studying Foreign Language Vocabulary at School. Voprosy Kognitivnoy Lingvistiki, 2, 116-127.

Pages:  116-127