Evaluating the Embodied Agent Effect in an English as a Foreign Language Learning Environment

The use of Pedagogical Animated Agents is considered a very effective way of improving learning, and some of their aspects can be evaluated in a computer system in terms of what authors have been calling the 'Embodied Agent Effect'.However, no research has been found on how the 'Embodied Agent Effect' affects students' learning in a foreign language learning system.Aiming at evaluating this effect, this paper describes an experiment with forty-two Brazilian undergraduate students with intermediate level of English using a web-based learning system containing one of the two versions of the agent: static or embodied.Data collected from pretests and posttests were evaluated using the paired t-test.Results revealed that the students had better results after using the system, but the Embodied Agent Effect was not evidenced in the experiment.