Learner Training in the Age of AI: Principles and Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

Arabic, Islamic, Middle Eastern and North African Studies & The Centre of Excellence in Language Teaching  at the University of Leeds in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities Language Forum and the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages at University of Oslo cordially invite you to their jointly organized event on Learner Training in the Age of AI: Principles and Strategies delivered by Lama Nassif (Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar). This event is the third one in the series of events on Digital Technologies for Language Teaching Forum. 

Registration: To register for the workshops, please click here

We look forward to having you in the webinar.

Learner Training in the Age of AI: Principles and Strategies

One challenge that second language (L2) teachers face in their instructional practice is that learners may approach the language learning process with limited knowledge of how to use specific language learning strategies to enhance their learning, and/or with certain beliefs that negatively impact their L2 learning, all in the backdrop of increasing dependence on Artificial Intelligence (AI). These variables may stem from previous learning experiences or teaching methodologies. One way in which L2 instructors could help learners enhance the success of their learning experiences is by providing explicit learner training that better orients learners to the L2 learning process to enhance their learning and foster their learner autonomy. Such training involves work to support learners' metacognition and self-regulation skills and enhance learner beliefs conducive to L2 learning. It also involves providing learner training that helps learners utilize AI potentials in more informed ways to support their learning. This talk provides teachers with principles and strategies that support their learner training work.

Dr. Lama Nassif is Associate Teaching Professor of Arabic Studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ). Prior to joining CMUQ this fall, she taught Arabic and Linguistics at Williams College, Middlebury College, The University of Texas at Austin, and was Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. She also previously served as Queen Rania Foundation (QRF) – Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Resources Fellow in Jordan in 2022-2023, where she worked on advancing QRF’s focus on research-informed pedagogies, and designing approaches to promote the uptake of educational research for teachers, teacher trainers, and policy makers. Dr. Nassif’s research focuses on noticing and attention in second language (L2) development, sociolinguistic development in L2 Arabic acquisition, and the interface between L2 research and pedagogy, and her published work in these two strands appears in peer-reviewed, international journals. Her most recent project is a book manuscript entitled Teaching Grammar in the L2 Arabic Classroom: A Focus on Form Practice. Under contract with Routledge, it combines noticing and attention in SLA research with pedagogical practices in the teaching of L2 Arabic grammar.