Investigating the Effects of a Robot Peer on L2 Word Learning

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the presence of a human peer during a learning task can positively affect learning outcomes. The current study aims to find out how second language (L2) vocabulary gains differ depending on whether children are learning by themselves, with a child peer, or with a robot peer. Children were administered an L2 vocabulary training in one of these three conditions. Children’s word learning was measured directly after the training and one week later. Contrary to our expectations, children learning by themselves outperformed children in the peer conditions on one out of four word knowledge tasks. On the other tasks, there were no differences between the three conditions. Suggestions to further study the potential benefits of a robot peer are provided.