Ph.D. Charlene Polio (Michigan State University)
Writing for acquisition: how AI can help and hinder.
The goal of some writing instruction is to help students produce specific genres that they may need to write in real life. In some contexts, where longer term goals are not obvious, such as primary and secondary education or general education, writing is often used to facilitate language learning in general. I will first focus on how and why writing can be used to promote acquisition. This will be followed by examples of when and how AI can be used at different stages to help students focus on language, produce more complex output on their own, and evaluate their own output. I will end with some caveats about using AI in writing instruction.
Charlene Polio holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics (UCLA) and a MS (University of Pennsylvania). She is Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University where she teaches the MA program in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL). She is a core Faculty member in the Second Language Studies Program. Her main research interest is second language writing, she is particularly interested in the various research methods and measures used in studying L2 writing as well as the interface between the fields of L2 writing and second language acquisition. She has published and done research in the areas of second language acquisition, foreign language classroom discourse, and behavior differences in novice vs. experienced teachers. She has been a visiting instructor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto and Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught ESL at Michigan State University, the University of California A, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Graduate School in Beijing, and Philadelphia Community College.
