The Conference > Call for papers

The 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:

• Is a humanist approach opposed to the integration of digital tools into human activities?

• To what extent can language analysis take intra- and interpersonal factors into account?

•  How can we value the diversity of individuals and languages in a connected world?

• What are the challenges for engaged or situated linguistics in taking into account the natural character of data that is constructed, analyzed and produced (learning, publishing, the arts, the industrial world)?

• How can language data open a window onto the inner cognitive world of individuals?

• What is at stake in recognizing the sensitive and the natural in the teaching/learning of initial and additional languages?

• What directions is linguistic research (in all its fields) taking to combine the natural and the artificial? And what research approaches are emerging as a result?

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:

• To what extent does applied linguistics integrate human creativity within AI tools?

• What is the place of interdisciplinarity and transversality in AI-assisted pedagogical and research approaches?

• To what extent can applied linguistics benefit from AI-supported research and teaching methods?

• As a linguist, how can I exploit and analyze textual data corpora using AI tools? And how do these tools contribute to the disambiguation of linguistic phenomena?

• What transformations does AI bring to the language teaching-learning context? And how can we encourage reflection on its uses?

• As a teacher, how can we (train and) acculturate ourselves to make rational, reasoned use of AI? What about other professions in applied linguistics (authors, editors, doctors, journalists, translators, etc.)?

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:

• What are the priorities for applied linguistics research and practice in today's world, in light of the issues at stake (social responsibility, sustainable development, digitalization)? 

• As a linguist, how and why should we propose alternatives (technological, political, etc.) to a digitized world?

• To what extent is the use of AI in applied linguistics driven by the digitally side effects? What other unexpected effects are emerging outside the digital realm?

•  What are the challenges for AI-assisted applied linguistics?

• Can AI be seen as a hindrance or, on the contrary, a promoter of the applied linguistics professions?

• What role can researchers in applied linguistics play in the training/development of AI tools and, more generally, in critical thinking?

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]