Category: Keynote – 2026

Topic: Embodied Learning: Lessons from the Gym and Beyond Abstract: What can we learn from the gym, sports, or life in mental institutions? What kinds of cultural and linguistic lessons emerge in spaces we don’t consider centers of education? We often think of language as a cognitive process and learning as sitting at a desk listening. My 20 years of anthropological research suggests that learning is an embodied process, linking movement with cognition, emotion, and culture. Based on research in various communities focused on self transformation and the application of my research findings to the classroom at Brooklyn College, of

Keynote: Are You AI-Ready? Preparing Faculty for the New Era of Teaching and Learning. Abstract: Artificial intelligence is transforming the landscape of post-secondary education, creating new opportunities for instructional innovation while raising critical concerns around assessment, academic integrity, faculty workload, and equity. Many educators feel unprepared for this rapid shift and need clear, practical guidance on how to adapt their teaching and support their students in an AI-rich environment. This session provides a balanced, actionable roadmap designed specifically for faculty. Participants will explore the tangible benefits of AI—including personalized learning, improved accessibility, and instructional efficiency—as well as the challenges related

Keynote: Three Proposals for the Effective and Ethical Use of AI in the Teaching and Learning of English in Georgian Universities and Schools. Abstract: Globally, artificial intelligence has become a key part of language learning experiences. It is changing how learners access material, receive feedback, and carry out complex literacy tasks in their additional languages. In Georgia, where English is taught as a foreign language in universities and schools, generative AI tools offer both opportunities and risks, especially related to academic honesty, assessment quality, and equal access. This paper draws on research in artificial intelligence, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), technology-based

Keynote: Studying language change in the AI era: Will ChatGPT or a language corpus win the game? Abstract: Learning foreign languages based on data collected in corpora (known as Data-Driven Learning) has a long tradition with numerous studies proving the beneficial effect of corpus consultations on increasing authenticity of language instruction, improving grammar discovery and vocabulary acquisition. The emergence of Web-as-Corpus and do-it-yourself concordancing approaches, together with facilitated access to ready-made corpora, enabled the incorporation of DDL techniques into language classrooms. However, with the Generative Artificial Intelligence tools revolutionising the language teaching landscape, a question needs to be asked whether