Why have a SIG in Artificial Intelligence?

Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are happening at an astounding rate and AI’s impact on the field of second language acquisition is going to be of great interest to researchers and practitioners for many years to come. At the time of the AI SIG’s creation (August 2022) there was still much to discover about the connection between AI, language learning and language teaching, and this will not change without people working together to explore it. The AI SIG hopes to contribute knowledge to the EUROCALL community and beyond by creating a space for members who are interested in exploring the convergence of these areas through discussions, workshops and research. The AI SIG’s interest areas are wide, encompassing all areas that relate to AI and language learning/teaching. 

What are the SIG’s objectives?

This AI SIG will provide EUROCALL members with various ways to network and collaborate on issues related to the overlap between AI and language teaching/learning. Key ways this will be done include:

• through our mailing list. Join here
• through our Facebook group: here
• organising an AI SIG symposium at EUROCALL’s conference each year.
• organising at least one online event per year.
• creating a database in which members can share their interests and research with each other.

What is the SIG’s history? Previous SIG Chairs and Secretaries, work done annually  before, share of odd anecdote, etc.

The AI SIG was founded in August 2022, with the first SIG Chair, Louise Ohashi, and SIG Secretary, Maryam Mirzaei, elected into their roles at EUROCALL’s annual conference. Later that year EuroCALL’s SIGs Coordinator, Valentina Morgana, shared a list with the names and contact details of 15 people who might be interested in joining and this became the first group of people to receive correspondence from the new SIG through the newly-formed mailing list. More members were recruited through a contact form that was distributed by the SIG Chair and Secretary through social media. The SIG is new and set to grow, with a vibrant community already connecting on Facebook. We encourage members to invite others to join us. Non-members can join the mailing list and Facebook group. EUROCALL membership information is available here

SIG-related events (in chronological order – most recent at the top)

Description

Date

Link to view recording/download presentation, etc.

People

Chair

Co-chair (if applicable)

Secretary

Name: Louise Ohashi

Affiliation: Gakushuin University, Japan

E-mail: eurocallaisig@gmail.com

Website: 

Photo

Name: Maryam Mirzaei

Affiliation: RIKEN AIP (Center for Advanced Intelligence Project), Japan

E-mail:  eurocallaisig@gmail.com

Website:

Photo

SIG social networks*