Examining the Effect of a Conversational Agent as a Reading Partner

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Impacts of Media on Young Children's Learning

Abstract

Research has long recognized the benefits of dialogic reading for young children, as meaningful interaction with a caregiver while reading scaffolds children’s literacy development. In the recent years, conversational agents (CAs) such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri have become more powerful. These CAs can stimulate a social partner to engage children in dialogic reading through asking questions, giving feedback, and adjusting questions to the developmental level of the child. In this study, we have developed and tested a CA as a dialogic reading partner for young children. Results from an experiment indicated that having dialogues with the CA facilitated children’s comprehension of story content. This suggested the potential of conversational technologies in promoting early literacy development.

Authors

• Ying Xu, University of California - Irvine

• Hyelim Lee, University of California - Irvine

• Sarah Abigail Bautista, University of California - Irvine

• Mark Warschauer, University of California - Irvine