A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> Early differences in family SES, child language production, and IQ were related to outcomes in early elementary school in the present prospective, 10-year longitudinal study. In a prior study of family interactional variables associated with language learning, major differences in parenting (i.e., time, attention, and talking) were found to be associated with differences in child productive vocabulary between 7 to 36 months of age, and child IQ, favoring higher-SES parents. Lower-SES children were exposed less often than higher-SES children to diverse vocabulary through their parents' attention and talking, and they were prohibited from talking more often. In the current study, 32 children involved in the earlier study were repeatedly assessed between 5 to 10 years of age, while in kindergarten through third grade. Results indicated that SES-related differences in child language prior to school were predictive of subsequent verbal ability, receptive and spoken language, and academic achievement assesed on standardized tests in kindergarten through grade 3. However, none of the predictor variables were related to direct measures of elementary schooling. When combined with a composite SES indicator, early child language production significantly increased the variance accounted for in the prediction of elementary language and academic competencies in each subsequent year in elementary school. Implications are discussed in terms of the stability of performance on language and academic performance measures of children who entered school with different early language learning experiences, and the need to consider early home- and school-based intervention designed to prevent or ameliorate these trends. <s> BIB001 </s> A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> The purpose of this study was to identify developmental, social skill, and problem behavior sub-domains that best predict academic achievement and grade promotion or retention in the early school years. Subjects were 184 children tested at the end of kindergarten using the Early Prevention of School Failure screening package and the Social Skills Rating Scale, and a year later using the Stanford Achievement Test. Information on promotion or retention was gathered in late spring for the two school years. Four kindergarten screening areas figured prominently in predicting first grade academic success: receptive language, visual memory, cooperation, and self-control. In addition, social skill subscales played significant roles in predicting promotion and retention. The findings suggest that assessment of social skills should be included in kindergarten screening packages with the possibility of targeting deficits for early intervention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. <s> BIB002 </s> A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> Is there a shortage of critical foreign language skills in the United States? Recent concerns about national security and economic globalization suggest increased demand and wage premia for foreign language speakers. The use of English as the international language, however, suggests a decrease in demand for foreign language skills in the United States. To address this question, we study a representative sample of U.S. college graduates. Ordinary least squares regressions with controls for cognitive ability, nonparametric methods based on the propensity score, and panel data methods suggest a 2%-3% wage premium for college graduates who can speak a second language. © 2005 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. <s> BIB003 </s> A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness-school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills-and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. <s> BIB004 </s> A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> This study examined the effect of lifelong bilingualism on maintaining cognitive functioning and delaying the onset of symptoms of dementia in old age. The sample was selected from the records of 228 patients referred to a Memory Clinic with cognitive complaints. The final sample consisted of 184 patients diagnosed with dementia, 51% of whom were bilingual. The bilinguals showed symptoms of dementia 4 years later than monolinguals, all other measures being equivalent. Additionally, the rate of decline in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores over the 4 years subsequent to the diagnosis was the same for a subset of patients in the two groups, suggesting a shift in onset age with no change in rate of progression. <s> BIB005 </s> A Survey of Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) <s> INTRODUCTION <s> Recent studies suggest that bilingualism improves later-life cognition1 and delays the onset of dementia.2,3 The main limitation of this research lies in the bilingualism-associated confounding variables (eg, ethnic/environmental differences, immigration).4 Although a recent study succeeded in minimizing the environmental factors,5 another confound remains extremely difficult to tackle: reverse causality. Bilinguals might have different baseline characteristics from monolinguals; instead of bilingualism leading to cognitive differences, original differences (eg, childhood intelligence [CI]) could lead to bilingualism. This confound is particularly difficult to address, because it requires knowledge of prior levels of intelligence. ::: ::: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936)6,7 offers an opportunity to overcome this confound. The participants took an intelligence test in 1947 at age 11 years, and were retested in 2008–2010. Reflecting the society of its time, the cohort is remarkably homogeneous; they are English native speakers, of European origin, born, raised, and living in and around Edinburgh. None was an immigrant. Thus, LBC1936 data allowed us to address, for the first time, the question whether learning a second language influences later cognitive performance after adjusting for CI. We predicted the strongest influence of bilingualism on frontal executive functions,8,9 additional benefits of multilingualism,1,4 and a better performance in bilinguals using both languages actively, although this variable has not been studied. <s> BIB006
Using robots in education is becoming increasingly popular. One area that has seen recent growth is the application of robots to assist in language acquisition. This is likely attributable to many factors, including advances in speech recognition and text-to-speech (TTS) capabilities, increased development of sophisticated commercial and research robots, and an enhanced understanding of how language skills contribute to immediate and long-term success. In early development specifically, research shows that children's language ability is a predictor of later academic success BIB002 BIB004 BIB001 . Furthermore, learning a second language confers advantages whether it is learnt as a child or an adult BIB006 . Bilingualism has been linked to superior executive functioning, higher IQ scores, and better job and economic opportunities  BIB006 BIB003 . It is also thought to offer a protective effect against dementia BIB005 . Foreign language education is also becoming increasingly important