A workshop for language instructors, graduate students, instructional designers, and anyone interested in the intersection of AI and language pedagogy.
Join the Center for World Languages for a two-part workshop focusing on AI in language teaching and learning. This panel brings together educators teaching a variety of languages to examine both the opportunities and the challenges that generative AI presents for language instruction.
In the first part of the workshop, Jordan Galczynski will present materials from the HumTech ‘AI Toolkit for the Humanities Classroom’ Project, with a focused look at media literacy and customized language bots in the language classroom.
The second half will shift to a roundtable discussion featuring colleagues from UCLA and UC Irvine, who will share practical applications, critical perspectives, and innovative classroom strategies related to AI in language teaching and learning.
Topics include:
- Creating a customized language bot using Gemini
- Building metalinguistic awareness: evaluating AI-generated texts for accuracy and bias
- Engaging students with stereotypes in generative systems
- Design, Play, Learn: creating exportable, interactive language exercises with Claude AI
- Generative AI and heritage language writing
- Building islands of career readiness through AI-enhanced research projects
- Communicative competence in JFL: where AI falls short and human teachers can thrive
This workshop is intended for language instructors, graduate students, instructional designers, and anyone interested in the intersection of AI and language pedagogy.
Co-organized by Jordan Galczinski, Instructional Technology Manager at HumTech; Susan Kresin, Department of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures; and Nina Bjekovic, Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies under the auspices of the Center for World Languages
Speaker Bios
Jordan Galczynski is the Instructional Technology Manager at HumTech, where she oversees instructional and research support for the Humanities, including the RITC team, audio-visual equipment, and classroom technology. She holds a Ph.D. in Egyptology from UCLA, with her research focusing on textile technology, and previously worked at the Getty Research Institute in their Scholars Program and Internal Communications units. Of note, Jordan has been leading the RITCs on the Humtech ‘AI Toolkit for the Humanities Classroom’ Project.
Daria Bahtina is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics, with teaching experience spanning the Departments of Anthropology, Communication, and Sociology. Her research is grounded in bilingualism, sociolinguistics, and interdisciplinary approaches to language in social life. Across her courses, she centers project-based learning and undergraduate research, with a strong emphasis on developing students’ critical thinking about language, normative frameworks, and bias, and more recently integrates generative AI as both a tool and an object of analysis to examine its limitations and role in research and knowledge production.
Wilfrid Erwan Grandhomme is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies at UCLA, where he works in the French and Francophone section. His research explores the intersection of sports and contemporary French literature, with a particular focus on boxing. Alongside his scholarly work, Erwan is deeply invested in pedagogy and in thinking through the relationships between language learning, embodiment, and technology.
Michiko Kaneyasu is an associate professor of Japanese language and linguistics in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA. Her research revolves around the role of context in language use, language change, and social interaction. Her work also involves applying the findings and resulting insights from usage-based language studies to language teaching and learning.
Susan Kresin is a senior lecturer of Russian and Czech in the Department of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures. Her primary interest in AI lies in its potential to support individualized learning, develop students’ capacity for independent L2 use, and integrate language study into career readiness.
Julio Torres is a Professor of Spanish Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on heritage and second language acquisition, multilingualism, cognition, and task-based language learning. He also serves as the academic coordinator for the heritage language writing course.
Sponsor(s): Center for World Languages, UCLA Humanities Technology, Department of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages & Cultures, Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies