Exploring the Viability of Robot-Assisted Differentiated Instruction in Translation of English for Medical Purposes and Quality of Treatment

In parallel with the development of Educational Technology tools, this research aims to benefit from these advancements to promote the quality of teaching translation and thus address students’ educational real-world needs. Executing a robot-assisted differentiated instruction (RADI) in a full factorial design study, oral and written translation as well as the real-world workplace performance of 373 Persian and non-Persian students enrolled in the compulsory course of English for Medical Purposes (EMP) at Medical University of Isfahan (MUI) were assessed in three sets of Commercially-Off-The-Shelf, self-, and robot-made educational activities. The data gathered from the participants’ attitude, progress, performance, perception, and teachers’ journaling were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially through a mixed-effect model. The results pointed to the applicability of RADI in learning EMP translation and enhancing the participants’ transfer competence. As the findings revealed, a converging trend was evident between the participants’ attitude, performance and perception, as well as teachers’ approving journal entry. The participants’ success in oral and written translation of EMP contents through the robot-assisted platform as well as their good performance in promoting the health levels in the communities (viz., quality of treatment) could be attributed to the diverse affordances of robots coupled with the participants’ active role in meeting their educational real-world needs. The results could be used in subsequent studies on teaching translation through the medium of robots.