ROBOT ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING: APPLICATION OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES WITH DUCKYCODE ROBOT IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM S. Pampaliari, P. Panagiotidis, T. Sapounidis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GREECE) Abstract New technological developments and discoveries in robotics have affected, among other fields, education as well. The use of educational robotics has increased since 2000, especially in STEM subjects. In recent years, however, social robotics has been incorporated into fields such as special education, art, and language learning. The characteristics and potential of some robots, especially social robots, make them an extremely useful tool for language learning. This paper introduces a brief overview of the educational theories, types and applications of robots used in language learning, as well as the roles of robots in the learning process and the educational activities that have been implemented thus far. The paper also presents a research-in-progress based on the DuckyCode robot, which was originally developed for STEM applications. However, its innovative technology and its user-friendly environment make it suitable for use as a social robot in language learning. DuckyCode, disposes social skills and can interact with students through speech and writing. Its capabilities make it a useful tool in the field of language learning where social interaction and communication skills are essential. For this research, a series of educational activities were created, targeting different grades of elementary school during the English lessons. New ways to utilize the robot in a language learning classroom and new roles that the robot can take during the learning process are suggested aiming to increase its effectiveness. Two groups of students participated in the research, in order to compare the results with and without the use of the robot. The aim was to examine the effectiveness of the DuckyCode robot on students' cognitive outcomes, motivation levels as well as students' preferences. Keywords: RALL, language learning, DuckyCode, educational robotics, social robots. 1 INTRODUCTION Information and Communication Technology (ICT) includes a wide range of technological advances, from radio and television to other digital technologies such as personal computers and the Internet. All these technological breakthroughs have influenced the educational field and they have converted learning into a more interesting and active process. The field of language learning has been influenced a lot by certain technologies. Multimedia learning, Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning (ICALL), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Chatbots have made language learning more interactive and communicative. Above all, language learning has become more accessible to people due to mobile technologies that allow people to use social media and a wide variety of language learning applications whenever they need to. Robotics is a multidisciplinary field where computer science, technology and engineering all meet. Modern robots were, initially, used in industries and factories as they were developed to manufacture tasks and increase productivity [1]. In the following years, service robots have been designed to serve people in different environments. Professional service robots have been used by NASA to reach places hostile to humans [2] and defence robots have been manufactured for the same reason. However, personal and domestic robots have been also designed to assist people in their everyday lives. Over the years, robots became more autonomous, human-like e.g., Honda’s humanlike robot P2 [3] and started interacting with people. Robots that are socially and emotionally intelligent and have the ability to communicate and interact with humans are called social robots. Social robots have been used to assist and support people who need guidance, company, and motivation such as elderly people, children with autism, patients with kinetic problems or patients recovering from strokes etc. Robots have been integrated into the educational field, too. In the 1980s Lego/Logo technology was the first construction kit with the Logo programming language [4]. Nowadays, robotics in education refers to a variety of applications and has been related to different educational theories. The two main Proceedings of ICERI2023 Conference 13th–15th November 2023, Seville, Spain ISBN: 978-84-09-55942-8 2413