Eunji Hwang
Papers
1
Total Citations
12
H-Index
1
About
Dr. Eunji Hwang is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI), with a specialized focus on cross-cultural pragmatics and politeness in communication with social robots. Her most cited work, “Cultural Differences in Indirect Speech Act Use and Politeness in Human-Robot Interaction” (2022, 12 citations), investigates how native English and Korean speakers formulate polite requests to robots, revealing that while English speakers frequently employ indirect speech acts (ISAs) to soften commands, this pattern is not universal. This foundational study challenges the assumption that politeness strategies in HRI are culturally neutral, highlighting the need for culturally adaptive robot dialogue systems. Dr. Hwang’s contributions bridge sociolinguistics and robotics, offering empirical evidence that robot politeness algorithms must account for users’ cultural backgrounds. Her work has implications for designing more natural, respectful interactions in global markets, particularly in service and companion robotics. By demonstrating that indirectness is not a universal politeness marker, she has opened new avenues for culturally aware HRI design, making her a key voice in the growing field of cross-cultural robotics.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1