Department of Psychology2024-11-102019978-1-5386-8555-62167-2121N/A2-s2.0-85063998159https://IEEExplore.IEEE.org/document/8673077https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/17261We present a large-scale study of a series of seven lessons designed to help young children learn English vocabulary as a foreign language using a social robot. The experiment was designed to investigate 1) the effectiveness of a social robot teaching children new words over the course of multiple interactions (supported by a tablet), 2) the added benefit of a robot's iconic gestures on word learning and retention, and 3) the effect of learning from a robot tutor accompanied by a tablet versus learning from a tablet application alone. For reasons of transparency, the research questions, hypotheses and methods were preregistered. With a sample size of 194 children, our study was statistically well-powered. Our findings demonstrate that children are able to acquire and retain English vocabulary words taught by a robot tutor to a similar extent as when they are taught by a tablet application. In addition, we found no beneficial effect of a robot's iconic gestures on learning gains.EngineeringElectrical electronic engineeringRoboticsConference proceeding2167-2148467295400069N/A3169