The fundamentals of verbal communication skills are developed during childhood, and existing studies pinpoint the benefits of stimulating language and expression skills from an early age. Our research is a preliminary evaluation of conversational technology to support this process. In this paper, we describe the design process of a speech-based conversational agent for children, which involved a Wizard-of-Oz empirical study with 20 primary school children aged 9–10 y.o. in order to identify the design guidelines for the automated version of the system. Our agent is called ISI, is integrated into a web application and exploits oral and visual interaction modes. ISI enables children to practice verbal skills related to the description of a person’s physical characteristics. It provides opportunities for them to learn and use words and linguistic constructs. Also, ISI permits to develop their body awareness and self-expression (when describing their self) or the attention to “the other” (when describing someone else). ISI engages users in a speech-based conversational flow composed of two main repeated steps. It talks to the children and stimulates them with questions about a specific part of their body (e.g., “What color is your hair?”). When the users describe the required feature adequately, ISI provides a cheerful real-time visual representation of the answer; otherwise, it provides hints.

Catania, F., Spitale, M., Cosentino, G., Garzotto, F. (2021). Conversational Agents to Promote Children’s Verbal Communication Skills. In Chatbot Research and Design 4th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2020, Virtual Event, November 23–24, 2020, Revised Selected Papers (pp.158-172). Springer Cham [10.1007/978-3-030-68288-0_11].

Conversational Agents to Promote Children’s Verbal Communication Skills

Garzotto, Franca
2021

Abstract

The fundamentals of verbal communication skills are developed during childhood, and existing studies pinpoint the benefits of stimulating language and expression skills from an early age. Our research is a preliminary evaluation of conversational technology to support this process. In this paper, we describe the design process of a speech-based conversational agent for children, which involved a Wizard-of-Oz empirical study with 20 primary school children aged 9–10 y.o. in order to identify the design guidelines for the automated version of the system. Our agent is called ISI, is integrated into a web application and exploits oral and visual interaction modes. ISI enables children to practice verbal skills related to the description of a person’s physical characteristics. It provides opportunities for them to learn and use words and linguistic constructs. Also, ISI permits to develop their body awareness and self-expression (when describing their self) or the attention to “the other” (when describing someone else). ISI engages users in a speech-based conversational flow composed of two main repeated steps. It talks to the children and stimulates them with questions about a specific part of their body (e.g., “What color is your hair?”). When the users describe the required feature adequately, ISI provides a cheerful real-time visual representation of the answer; otherwise, it provides hints.
paper
Children; Conversational technology; Language learning; Learning; Natural language visualization;
English
4th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2020 - November 23–24, 2020
2020
Følstad, A; Araujo, T; Papadopoulos, S; Law, ELC; Luger, E; Goodwin, M; Brandtzaeg, PB
Chatbot Research and Design 4th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2020, Virtual Event, November 23–24, 2020, Revised Selected Papers
9783030682873
2021
12604 LNCS
158
172
none
Catania, F., Spitale, M., Cosentino, G., Garzotto, F. (2021). Conversational Agents to Promote Children’s Verbal Communication Skills. In Chatbot Research and Design 4th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2020, Virtual Event, November 23–24, 2020, Revised Selected Papers (pp.158-172). Springer Cham [10.1007/978-3-030-68288-0_11].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/524304
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