The Conference > Call for papersThe idea of a contemporary paradox raises issues about the shift between the natural and the artificial in applied linguistics. A link can be perceived as an opposition, an interdependence, a complementarity or even a transformation that may require critical scientific analysis. The emergence of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT (Casal & Kessler, 2023) formulating credible answers has plunged the world into wonder on the one hand and panic on the other, undermining the place of human creation. Yet for Poibeau (2023, online) "[w]here creativity is concerned, I don't think we can attribute such a quality to a machine. To be creative, you need to have a goal, an intention, which artificial intelligence systems don't have. They are ‘only’ mathematical models, and the intention remains with the human who sets the theme. Should we seek to go beyond this? That's an ethical question that remains open to debate.” NéALA2025 seeks to contribute to this debate by questioning the continuum between the natural and the artificial in applied linguistics (Finardi, 2023), taking three transversal strands. Strand 1: The challenges of naturalness in applied linguistics Considering Humans as sentient beings in a complex world (Morin, 2014) contributes to the different prisms through which human language is studied in applied linguistics. This consideration is not limited to the challenges posed by a critical approach to the digital (Soubrié, 2020), but also extends to how each individual, possibly within a group, models the natural that surrounds him or her. Proposals for papers may fit one or more of the following themes:
Strand 2: The place of AI in human activities More and more researchers and teachers are using AI systems to carry out tasks that used to require human intervention to process data: facial and voice recognition, conversational agents, NLP tools and automatic translators, and so on. Are these tools really "intelligent" or do they lack creativity (Poibeau, 2023)? Do they represent a threat to humans and their contemporary activities? Or are they complementary, opening up new perspectives, particularly in applied linguistics? Proposals for papers may fit one or more of the following themes:
Strand 3: The unexpected (unthinkable) in the digital world and beyond The advent of AI and other (digital) tools exposes applied linguistics professionals to a panorama of applications that are not without consequences for their practices and activities. If the how of AI use could be anchored in enlightened usage to avoid falling into digital unthinking (Falgas & Robert, 2023), a reflection on the ethics of such a practice and its impact on collective intelligence (Devillers, 2023) would anticipate a number of issues to be taken into account in the Human-machine relationship. The same kind of considerations seem equally necessary when it comes to thinking about social action that would exclude digital technology for reasons of social responsibility and sustainable development, for example. Proposals for papers could fall under one or more of the following themes:
These questions are not exhaustive, and proposals are free to address any of them. Contributions may be theoretical or empirical, disciplinary or methodological, based on field experience or research projects. All fields of applied linguistics are welcome. Proposals can be individual or collective in the form of a symposium. Short bibliography Casal, J. E., & Kessler, M. (2023). Can linguists distinguish between ChatGPT/AI and human writing? A study of research ethics and academic publishing. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 2(3), 100068. [Link] Devillers, L. (2023). Il est urgent de former à l’éthique de l’IA. À Priori(s). [Link] Falgas, J., & Robert, P. (2023). Présenter l’IA comme une évidence, c’est empêcher de réfléchir au numérique. The conservation. [Link] Finardi, K. (2023). The paradox of our time and role of applied linguists in it. Conférence donnée à l’occasion du webinaire 2023 de l’AFLA. [Link] Morin, E. (2014). Enseigner à vivre : manifeste pour changer l’éducation. Arles : Actes sud/Play bac. Poibeau, T. (2023). La créativité peut-elle être artificielle ? Le journal CNRS. [Link] Soubrié, T. (2020). Penser le numérique : orientations pédagogiques et préoccupations de recherche en didactique des langues. ALSIC - Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d'Information et de Communication, Vol. 23. [Link] |
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