Paper Info
Title
Robot Interaction Styles For Conversation Practice In Second Language Learning
Abstract
Four different interaction styles for the social robot Furhat acting as a host in spoken conversation practice with two simultaneous language learners have been developed, based on interaction styles of human moderators of language cafes. We first investigated, through a survey and recorded sessions of three-party language cafe style conversations, how the interaction styles of human moderators are influenced by different factors (e.g., the participants language level and familiarity). Using this knowledge, four distinct interaction styles were developed for the robot: sequentially asking one participant questions at the time (Interviewer); the robot speaking about itself, robots and Sweden or asking quiz questions about Sweden (Narrator); attempting to make the participants talk with each other (Facilitator); and trying to establish a three-party robot-learner-learner interaction with equal participation (Interlocutor). A user study with 32 participants, conversing in pairs with the robot, was carried out to investigate how the post-session ratings of the robot's behavior along different dimensions (e.g., the robot's conversational skills and friendliness, the value of practice) are influenced by the robot's interaction style and participant variables (e.g., level in the target language, gender, origin). The general findings were that Interviewer received the highest mean rating, but that different factors influenced the ratings substantially, indicating that the preference of individual participants needs to be anticipated in order to improve learner satisfaction with the practice. We conclude with a list of recommendations for robot-hosted conversation practice in a second language.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1007/s12369-020-00635-y
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ROBOTICS
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Robot-assisted language learning, Multi-party human-robot interaction, Collaborative language learning, conversational practice
Journal
13
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
2
1875-4791
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.41
0
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Olov Engwall119730.71
José Lopes254.16
Anna Åhlund320.41