“At School with Pepper”: A pilot Study on the Role of Pepper in Learning English as a Second Language

This paper investigated whether primary school pupils involved in a robot-assisted language learning (RALL) activities with Pepper would outperform their peers in traditional classes in learning English family-related words. Educational robotics can increase students’ learning motivation as well as improve students’ learning outcomes. Previous meta-analysis showed that RALL outperforms non-RALL conditions, that is RALL has a positive treatment effects on language learning when compared to traditional classroom. A quasi-experimental research designs was used to test the hypothesis. Two third grade classes were involved: the experimental group of 23 pupils and the control group of 19 pupils. The experimental class interacted with Pepper for a two-hour class during school time in Spring 2022. Pupils from both classes took the same test before and after the intervention. The written test covered the topic of names of family relations (e.g. uncle, grandmother etc). The final score ranged from 0 to 5 in the pre-test and from 1 to 7 in the post-test. This experience was carried out in a public primary school, located in the municipality of Padua (Italy), in a multicultural neighborhood, close to the city center. Results showed that pupils from both classes improved significantly their knowledge of the names of family relations after the intervention as compared to before the intervention. However, the experimental group did not reach a better level of knowledge after the intervention with Pepper as compared to the control group who experienced traditional classes. The results are discussed in terms of previous studies, pointing to the short duration of intervention as a possible moderator of the little effect of the experience on learning outcomes. As for the strong points of the experience, it is worth to mention the interdisciplinary nature of the research team, who proficiently managed to “speak the same language” despite their different backgrounds.