From deadpan machine to relating socially: Middle school students’ experiences speaking English with embodied conversational agents

Figures & data

Table

ECA – Hi, this is Lily!	S – How are you, Lily?
ECA – I’m fine. I’ve got my questions ready for you, can I start?	S – Sure.
ECA – Do you have a job?	S – No, not at the moment.
ECA – Okay.  Do you live with your family?	S – Yes, I live with my mom, dad, and siblings.
ECA – That’s cool. Do you have any talents, like art or music?	S – I like drawing, but I don’t think I’m good at it.
ECA – That’s so cool! That’s all of my questions! You can interview me now.	S – What sports do you play?

Figure 1. A female ECA in Enskill (2022) interacting with a student in English.

Note. Screenshot of a conversational scenario in Enskill. ©Alelo Inc. Use with permission.

Figure 2. Reflection post in the digital logbook LoopMe (2021).

Note. Translated from Swedish into English. CA was used as an acronym for the conversational agent in communication with the students.

Figure 3. The outcome of the thematic analysis. Six themes about speaking English with an ECA.

Note. Picture of ECAs, ©Alelo Inc. Use with permission

Figure 4. The students’ reported experienced feelings. Note. *Students’ own formulation

Figure 5. The outcome of students’ ratings of signals sent out by ECAs.

Table 1. Student tags and rated emojis per session in the logbook LoopMe (2021) .

	Sessions
Tags	Reflection 1	Reflection 2	Total number of tags	Reflections (in %) where the tag has been used:
A Satisfied	19%	32%	11	26%
A Engaged/motivated	5%	23%	6	14%
A Frustrated	48%	14%	13	30%
A Social Connection	10%	5%	3	7%
A Easy	33%	64%	21	49%
A Meaningful	0%	0%	0	0%
A Meaningless	24%	9%	7	16%
A Dissatisfied	14%	5%	4	9%
A Nervous/anxious	10%	0%	2	5%
A Unengaged/unmotivated	10%	9%	4	9%
A Fun	52%	59%	24	56%
A Natural	10%	9%	4	9%
A Exciting	38%	18%	12	28%
A Stressful	0%	0%	0	0%
A Difficult	10%	0%	2	5%
A Safe	0%	0%	0	0%
A Boring	24%	9%	7	16%
A Challenged	10%	14%	5	12%
A Willing to Speak	19%	27%	10	23%
B Self-regulated	5%	5%	2	5%
B Answered Questions	38%	27%	14	33%
B Listened	33%	27%	13	30%
B Solved Task	0%	9%	2	5%
B Everyday Life	0%	0%	0	0%
B Asked Questions	38%	59%	21	49%
B Pronunciation	29%	41%	15	35%
B Dialogue	19%	23%	9	21%
Number of Tags	104	107	211	of 43 Reflections
Number of Reflections	21	22	43
Emoji Average*	0.3	0.9	0.6
Average Number of Tags per Reflection	5.0	4.9	4.9

Note. The darker the color tint, the higher the results. The most frequently used tags were easy, fun, and having asked questions. *Emojis (overall impression) ranged from -2 to +2.’.

Alelo. (2022). Enskill English® Revolutionize English language teaching with AI. Alelo Inc. Retrieved April, 2023, from https://www.alelo.com/english-language-teaching/

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LoopMe. (2021). Lead and follow learning and development. https://www.loopme.io/

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