Welcome to the November edition of JALTCALL News!

As the crisp autumn air sets in, we hope you’re feeling energized and ready to tackle the rest of the semester. The JALT International Conference is behind us and we’re thrilled to reflect on its success as we shift our focus to exciting opportunities ahead. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the JALTCALL table for a chat, attended the forum on AI ethics, and contributed to a wide range of CALL-related workshops, presentations, and posters. Your participation made the event unforgettable!

In this edition, we’ll bring you the latest news, upcoming events, and resources to keep you inspired and informed. Whether you’re looking to recharge your teaching practices or stay updated on the latest in CALL, we’ve got you covered.

We're always open to feedback and suggestions so please don't hesitate to get in touch. We're also happy to include member contributions to the newsletter so if you have anything you'd like to share, get in touch with Bradley Irwin (Publicity Chair) at publicity@jaltcall.org.

In this edition of JALTCALL News:

The next annual JALTCALL 2025 conference will take place in Tokyo. It will be an exclusively in-person event.

When computer-assisted language learning (CALL) first emerged as a discipline decades ago, the idea of incorporating new technologies into the language classroom was novel. Today, this is no longer the case, with the COVID pandemic and the advent of generative AI having turbo-charged the adoption of cutting-edge technologies in learning spaces at a rate and scale never seen before.

CALL FOR ALL, the theme of the 2025 conference, recognizes this new reality of language teaching, in which every teacher has in effect become a CALL practitioner. We strive to continue developing and expanding CALL as a discipline that will serve to benefit all language learners, and at the same time to facilitate professional networking and exchange of ideas among all CALL practitioners inside and outside of Japan.

We'll have more news to share soon on our conference website, but in the meantime, here are some important dates:

If you clicked the link above for our conference website, you may have noticed a familiar look. We're proud to announce that we'll be using Edzilla as our conference platform. JALTCALL 2020 made history by creating one of the first online conferences in the world at a time when COVID-19 was causing events to be canceled globally—and Edzilla made that possible. Once again, we’re thrilled to be working with Gary Ross and the Edzilla team, who are currently hard at work adding exciting new features to the platform. We can’t wait to see them in action for JALTCALL 2025!

Some of our fantastic members are currently working on a new and upcoming podcast service, which will be available for the first time beginning in December. Stay tuned for a year-end wrap-up of everything JALTCALL. Details to follow.

As I'm sure you're well aware, the JALT CALL Journal (Scopus Q1) is an international refereed journal published by JALTCALL since April, 2005. The Journal is committed to excellence in research in all areas within the field of Computer Assisted Language Learning, while at the same time offering teaching ideas and suggestions from teachers’ personal experiences. Why not check out a few of the latest articles?

A case study on exploring the motivation of English-major EFL students in online exchange programs by author Junko Yamamoto

Study on computer-based systematic foreign language vocabulary teaching by author Jing Wu

Complete issue: Volume 20 Issue 3 (2024)

Kyoto JALT is organizing an online event called, "Integrating AI into language learning: Exploring the issues", which may be of interest to our members. More info...

Date: Sunday, December 8th, 14:00

Format: Webinar (Google Meet)

Register: Google Form 

Tokyo JALT has put together a workshop, "AI, EFL and Study Abroad: An exploration of AI as a preparatory companion by Gavin Bingë". More info...

Date: Sunday, December 15, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Format: Online (Zoom)

Register by Dec 13: Google Form

This study examines the distinguishability of essays written by Japanese EFL learners from those generated by ChatGPT, using natural language processing and machine learning. Results from 263 essays reveal significant linguistic differences, making ChatGPT-generated texts easily identifiable. The findings highlight the need for clear ethical guidelines and collaboration with learners to promote responsible AI use in academic writing.

This study explores whether non-expert readers can reliably distinguish AI-generated poems from those written by human poets. Across two experiments, participants performed below chance levels (46.6% accuracy) and were more likely to identify AI-generated poems as human-authored. AI-generated poems were rated higher in rhythm and beauty, contributing to misidentification. The findings suggest that non-experts rely on flawed heuristics, mistaking the simplicity of AI poems for clarity while interpreting the complexity of human poems as AI-generated incoherence.

Ethan Mollick's article "Getting Started with AI: Good Enough Prompting" advises users to focus on practical experimentation rather than complex prompt engineering. He highlights that spending about 10 hours with advanced AI systems helps users understand their capabilities and develop effective prompting techniques tailored to their needs.

OpenAI has partnered with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School to offer a new course titled "AI in Education: Leveraging ChatGPT for Teaching." This course aims to empower educators to effectively integrate generative AI into their teaching practices, enhancing learning experiences. Co-taught by Professors Lilach and Ethan Mollick, co-founders of Wharton's generative AI lab, the course addresses both the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in education. Ethan Mollick emphasizes that while concerns about cheating and plagiarism exist, AI can significantly benefit teaching and learning when used appropriately.