AI-Mediated Language Education in the Metaverse Era

This book provides open discussions and dialogues around the latest research and development on applying AI and ubiquitous technologies into various language learning contexts. Living in the Metaverse era, arguably a turning point in the evolution of the Internet, it is vital for researchers and practitioners to rethink and reconsider human and AI relationships in transforming the way we teach, learn, and live in everyday life. Reinders et al. (2022) amongst Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) researchers have emphasised the need to conduct more research on language learning in the classroom and beyond that makes real connections with what language learners do for their learning today. More importantly, language educators must find ways to support language learning in this new era. What is urgently needed is a consolidation and synthesis of theoretical foundations, visions and the latest research findings and practices on the integration of AI and ubiquitous technologies and language education from diverse perspectives. This book, comprising of contributions regarding contextualised AI-mediated language learning and teaching, provides researchers, practitioners, and teacher educators with an opportunity to closely engage in research-informed practices and intellectual dialogues on potential opportunities and challenges in the Metaverse era. It also helps to facilitate the development of equitable, sustainable, and just practices for the diversity of language learners today.

Professor Yu-Ju Lan is a Research Chair Professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei, Taiwan. She is also the director of the Situated and Immersive TELL Laboratory (formerly the NTNU TELL Lab). Professor Lan is the current editor-in-chief of Educational Technology & Society and Research Syntheses editor of Language Learning & Technology. She is also on the editorial board of Ampersand. Professor Lan’s research focuses on integrating technologies such as AI and the metaverse into education, as well as enhancing foreign language learning and teacher training through immersive technologies. According to the 2024 Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List, her exceptional academic contributions have earned her a place in the top 2% of scientists worldwide in both the career and annual rankings. She has been included in the annual ranking for five consecutive years and the career ranking for two. Her work has significantly contributed to the development of AI-powered platforms and virtual reality environments that transform the educational experience by fostering greater student engagement and improved learning outcomes.

Grace Yue Qi is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication at Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is an applied linguist specialising in plurilingual education and technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). Her research emphasises a humanistic orientation of languages/languaging and language education in the emerging metaverse. Her recent projects and publications include topics such as language teacher educator (LTE) reflexivity, AI and learner agency, diversity in language classrooms, decentring languages/languaging, telecollaboration for intercultural learning and teaching, and early language policy and planning in Australasia. Prior to joining Massey, she was a senior curriculum officer developing K-10 languages curriculum in the Department of Education and Training, Queensland, Australia. She was recently appointed as an expert for the Review of Achievement Standards (Asian Languages) at the Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

Dorothy M. Chun is Professor Emerita of Applied Linguistics and Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara and since 2000 the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Language Learning & Technology. Throughout her career, her passion has been researching and exploring how second languages are learned and how technology can be leveraged to enhance the learning of language and culture. Her research areas include L2 phonology and intonation, L2 reading and vocabulary acquisition, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), telecollaboration for intercultural learning, and immersive virtual reality for development of L1 and L2 multiliteracies. She has conducted studies on cognitive processes in learning with multimedia, on whether using visualizations of pitch curves can help L2 speakers of non-tonal languages learn tonal languages and intonation, and on discourse analyses of online intercultural exchanges. In addition to authoring courseware for language and culture acquisition, including apps for Chinese tone pronunciation, she has collaborated on using augmented reality for L2 vocabulary learning and on several virtual reality and AI research projects for language learning.