What impact will Generative AI have on language learning? I talked about this for an hour last summer, using a personal angle. The methodology I employed is called ‘autoethnographic study’. I began by constructing a narrative of my professional life as it pertains to language learning, teaching, and technology. I tried to pick the parts that informed and still inform my thinking about the rapidly evolving GenAI technologies.
I have always liked working with computers and have been a proponent of integrating digital technologies in language education. Somehow I have the impression GenAI, because of its root in deep (machine) learning, its training on vast amounts of data that remains hidden, and its use of humungous (energy) resources is different. I am more curious than I have ever been. And I am more cautious than I have ever been.
I keep going back to the same big questions … and began using my manuscript, notes, and slides for this talk to work on turning the material into a book chapter. In the process of writing, I am shaping and re-shaping my thoughts. Thoughts … In the time of Romanticism, a German writer Heinrich von Kleist – called this “die allmähliche Verfertigung der Gedanken beim Reden.” The gradual formation of thought while talking. About something. To get a clearer picture. Or a solution.
I will share both the story and the study in future blog posts, once it is a little more polished.
