Programme

The basic idea behind the conference is to bring together empirical researchers working on language learning from a range of relevant disciplines, especially (Second) Language Acquisition Research, Educational Sciences, Educational Psychology, Psycholinguistics, Computer and Corpus Linguistics, and Digital Learning Technologies. The focus of this particular conference is on exploring the potentials and pitfalls of digitalisation, machine learning, artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) in the field of language learning and teaching, across various educational contexts.

Heightened attention to the implementation of digitalisation, machine learning and AI in language education is timely for several reasons. Globalisation and digitalisation have elevated the importance of foreign language learning on a global scale, while rising migration trends have increased the number of second language learners in most educational systems worldwide. This conference recognizes the importance of integrating digital tools and resources into language learning and teaching and aims to bring together the best empirical research on advantages and challenges associated with the use of digital tools in foreign language education.

The conference program will feature various keynote presentations, alongside panel discussions, workshops, and paper presentations covering a wide range of topics, including:

• Artificial intelligence and deep language models in foreign, second and other language learning and teaching
• Integration of digital tools in curriculum design
• Computer-based language testing in longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs
• Gamification and immersive technologies
• Digital literacy and technology-based language proficiency development
• Digital technologies in work with learners with speech and language disorders
• Algorithm-based feedback, assessment, and evaluation in digitally-mediated language learning environments

By bringing together experts and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, we aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and advance our understanding of how digitalisation is shaping the landscape of second and foreign language education.

Keynotes

Keynote 1: Using Feedback to Scaffold Argumentative Writing in Schools – With and Without Digital Technologies

Prof. Dr. Vera Busse, University of Münster

Writing is central to participation in many areas of life, with argumentative writing playing a particularly crucial role in democratic societies. Argumentative writing fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and scientific reasoning, and therefore needs to be actively practiced across disciplines in schools. Yet effective argumentation in writing is complex: it requires logical coherence, structured organization, and the integration of demanding components such as rebuttals – features that many students find difficult to master. Process-oriented writing instruction with formative feedback can provide valuable support, particularly for students writing in a foreign or second language. However, opportunities for such feedback are often scarce at school due to large class sizes and time constraints. This keynote explores time-efficient ways of implementing formative feedback in two steps. First, I present findings from a series of intervention studies conducted within a DFG (German Research Foundation) project on feedback to writing. Using a pre-, post-, and follow-up design, we examined the effects of formative feedback on adolescent English learners’ argumentative writing. The results show that rubric and exemplar feedback significantly promotes the development of deep-level features of writing, with promising effects for less proficient writers and for challenging components such as rebuttals. Second, I discuss how these insights can inform the use of automatic feedback. Drawing on evidence from our meta-analyses, I outline strengths and limitations of automatic feedback with a special focus on argumentative writing. In particular, I highlight differences in effects across learner groups, between surface- and deep-level outcomes, and with respect to revision and transfer of learning, before outlining directions for future research on fostering argumentative writing through feedback with and without digital technologies.

Keynote 2: AI and Writing Assessment: Innovations, Validity, and Ethical Considerations

Prof Dr. Joshua Wilson, University of Delaware

This keynote will synthesize emerging insights at the intersection of artificial intelligence, writing assessment, and language learning, drawing on contributions to the forthcoming Assessing Writing special issue, AI and Writing Assessment: Innovations, Validity, and Ethical Considerations, co-edited by Dr. Wilson. The talk will highlight how AI-driven tools are reshaping approaches to writing assessment as well as written-language learning across educational contexts, while also raising important questions about reliability, validity, and fairness. Innovations to be discussed and critiqued in this keynote involve: novel assessment approaches that focus on using large-language models (LLMs), such as GPT-4.0, for large-scale and formative writing assessment in different language contexts (English, Turkish, EFL contexts); comparisons of different LLMs and methods of prompting LLMs to maximize accuracy in writing assessment; using LLMs to expand construct coverage in writing assessments; methods of maximizing fairness, limiting bias, and enhancing transparency in AI-based writing assessment; AI-enhanced formative feedback for language learning and students and teaches’ behavioral and cognitive interactions with AI-based feedback; among other topics. In sum, building on empirical research from diverse contexts, the keynote will examine how innovations in AI-based writing evaluation can enhance instruction and feedback while advancing more equitable and effective approaches to assessment.

Full programme

Registration fee

Registration for the conference: From early 2026 (provided your paper is accepted).

Organisers

• Stefan D. Keller (Zurich University of Teacher Education)
• Vera Busse (University of Münster)
• Claudia Finkbeiner (University of Kassel)
• Olaf Köller (Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Kiel)
• Jens Möller (University of Kiel)
• Simone Pfenninger (University of Zurich)

Event format

Tagung

Documents

• Program Evidence-based language learning

Event organiser

Zurich University of Teacher Education

Contact

Organising committee
ebll@phzh.ch