The 16th International Conference on The Dynamics of Languages for Specific Purposes. Innovative Approaches and Strategies (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
(RE)CLAIMING AGENCY. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND CREATIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
8-10 July 2026
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Now in its 16th edition, The Dynamics of Languages for Specific Purposes. Innovative Approaches and Strategies conference becomes, this year, a joint venture with the 16th International Symposium of the International Society for Didactics of Language and Literature SIDLL (XVI Simposio Internacional de la Sociedad Internacional de Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura SIDLL). Together, the two events plan to offer a shared platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas on the contemporary dimensions of foreign languages for specific purposes, applied linguistics, multicultural perspectives, professional communication, literature, literary theory and translation studies.
Proposed topics
In addition to the thematic areas that traditionally frame our conference, in the 2026 edition we would like to pay particular attention to (re)claiming agency, AI, educational content and creativity in higher education, a theme through which we aim to explore how emerging technologies reshape academic practices, pedagogical decision-making, and the creative processes that sustain meaningful learning. We invite contributions that examine the evolving relationship between human autonomy and AI-assisted tools, address the ethical and methodological challenges these technologies introduce, and highlight innovative ways in which educators and learners can maintain, negotiate, or enhance their agency across diverse higher education contexts. This focus seeks to question whether AI can support - not replace - critical thinking, interpretive skill, and creative expression, while encouraging participants to reflect on the transformative potential and responsibilities inherent in integrating AI into contemporary academic ecosystems.
From a didactic perspective, we are particularly interested in exploring both the benefits, as well as the pitfalls awaiting at the intersection of language and literature teaching and AI.
From a theoretical viewpoint, we wish to address the following questions:
· Has the “AI revolution” changed our understanding of “authenticity”, “originality”, “creativity” and “authorial presence”?
· (How) is AI expected to (in)validate the traditional view on “authorship”?
· (Why) is a humanist pedagogy relevant in an AI-saturated learning / research environment?
· Is a critical reassessment of the concept of “co-intelligence” necessary?
The topics for this conference include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Language instruction: current micro to macro-level pedagogical practices
● Best practice examples with respect to the use of AI in the teaching-learning process at a national and international level;
● Empowering learners to critically shape their learning processes: enhancing understanding and retention of learning contents through or despite multimodal AI tools;
● Personalizing and optimizing the learning and feedback experience while safeguarding student agency in generative AI environments;
● AI-assisted assessment tools and their impact on authorship, autonomy, and language competence;
● AI-driven tutoring systems in a transhumanist perspective;
● Trends, challenges, and future developments in the instruction of foreign languages for academic and specific purposes in an AI-mediated world;
● The role of social and digital media in shaping academic and professional communication in the age of AI;
● Using educational technology in studying, teaching and assessing foreign languages for academic and specific purposes;
● The role of AI in translating specific contents: benefits, limitations, and the preservation of disciplinary voice;
● The feasibility of AI literacy frameworks;
● Academic writing in theory and practice;
● Multicultural education and culturally responsive teaching enhanced (but not replaced) by AI;
● Cultural diversity and inclusive teaching;
● Translation as a pedagogical method: reclaiming interpretive agency in human–AI translation workflows;
● The untranslatable: challenges for humans and machines in conveying cultural specificity;
● Translation and multimodality: new creative possibilities through AI-assisted environments.
(2) Experience and innovations in 21st century teaching practices
● Aspects of educational pedagogy and psychology within the new media for studying foreign languages;
● Digital platforms and Professional Communication: reshaping genre conventions in LSP contexts;
● Technology-Mediated LSP Teaching and Learning: online, blended, and hybrid environments for teaching languages in professional and academic domains;
● Language use, identity, and interaction in online professional communities, forums, and virtual workplaces;
● Multimodality and specialized communication in virtual environments
● Digital tools for LSP assessment and evaluation;
● Exploring digital databases, corpora, glossaries, and online resources for managing specific terminology across professional fields.
(3) Literary studies at the crossroads: creativity in the age of AI
● Rebranding “authorship” in the case of AI-supported output;
● Multimodal narrative texts: AI-empowered digital storytelling;
● AI and the “new hermeneutics”: safeguarding interpretive depth, nuance, and human critical agency;
● Originality and creative autonomy in an era of machine-assisted writing;
● AI as a tool for close reading, distant reading, and textual analysis: expanded methods or loss of interpretive agency?
● Human–AI co-authored poetry and fiction: collaborative creativity, imitation, and disruption;
● The precariousness of a critical and theoretical apparatus for discussing emerging forms of “co-intelligence” and “co-creativity”;
● “Creative hallucinations”: from inaccuracy and bias to creative “spark” in AI-assisted fiction writing.
(4) Ethical implications for the (ab)use of AI in the didactics of language and literature
● Maintaining academic integrity and intellectual autonomy: addressing the opportunities and challenges associated with the automation of the research process, from the formulation of research questions to data collection, interpretation, and academic writing;
● AI as a tool for democratizing knowledge vs. reproducing inequalities: navigating the tension;
● Proposals for training stakeholders of the academic environment on the ethical use of new technologies;
● Development of best practices and interdisciplinary collaboration to support responsible, knowledgeable, and autonomous integration of AI tools in teaching and learning;
● Ensuring accessibility, equity, and inclusive design in AI-driven and assistive tools for language instruction;
● Ethical dimensions of academic and professional communication within AI contexts;
● “Creating to learn”? Empowering students to transition from passive consumers to active media creators with(out) AI;
● Privileging responsibility and human oversight in the teaching practice;
● The (hidden) costs of outsourcing knowledge, creativity and skills in academic practice.
The joint event gives the participants the possibility to attend any of the three thematic round tables:
➔ AI, Communication for Specific Purposes, and Creative Pedagogies in Defence Contexts
Coordinators: Eugen Wohl and Mariana Boeru
Description: This round table explores how Artificial Intelligence reshapes the teaching and learning of languages for specific purposes (LSP) in military educational/training institutions, where linguistic proficiency intersects with operational readiness, intercultural competence, and strategic communication. It invites contributions examining how AI-driven tools influence the development of specialized linguistic skills (e.g., negotiation, briefing, reporting, crisis communication), multimodal comprehension, intercultural scenarios, and mission-specific discourse. Of equal interest are ethical questions, issues of data security, and the delicate balance between technology-mediated efficiency and human judgement in defence contexts.
Specific issues to be covered in the round table:
• Balancing automation and human control in training for specialized military terminology.
• Ensuring ethical use of AI tools within military educational structures.
• Policies on allowed and prohibited AI uses in military training institutions.
• Developing responsible-use guidelines tailored to defence education.
• Critical interpretation of multimodal texts in multinational operations or intelligence-sharing contexts.
➔ Language Education: the Agenda of Multilingual Universities Today
Coordinator: Elena Păcurar
Description: The round table is organised in collaboration with members of the European Language Council (ELC) and it seeks to offer representatives of multilingual universities a platform for rediscussing the current needs and priorities of universities and university alliances, as specified in strategic documents such as (institutional) language policies.
Specific issues to be covered in the round table:
· Current challenges with respect to fostering multilingualism in European universities at a micro / meso / macro level;
· Feasible solutions to implementing sustainable multilingualism in HE;
· Technology-assisted multilingualism in European university alliances.
➔ IA en la enseñanza de las lenguas extranjeras - retos y oportunidades
Coordinators: Alina Nemeș and Silvia Chireac
Round table (in Spanish): AI in teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language - challenges and opportunities
Description: The purpose of the round table is to critically and practically explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), promoting pedagogical innovation and ethical responsibility in diverse educational contexts.
Specific issues to be covered in the round table:
- Potential of AI in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) teaching
- Educational applications: opportunities and limitations
- Ethics and responsibility in the use of AI in the classroom
- Exchange of experiences, resources, and best practices on AI applied to ELE teaching
Important dates:
○ March 15: deadline for sending proposals to the conference email address conferintadlsubb@gmail.com
○ March 31: deadline for notification of acceptance / rejection of proposals
○ May 15: deadline for completing the online registration form
○ May 15: deadline for paying the conference fee
○ June 15: the conference programme will be announced after this date
○ July 1: deadline for sending full papers to the conference email address: conferintadlsubb@gmail.com
○ July 8-10: the conference
Participants willing to submit proposals should do so by emailing the title of their presentation and an abstract (no more than 250-300 words) to conferintadlsubb@gmail.com, no later than March 15, 2026.
We accept abstracts and proposals in English or Spanish.
Participation fee: 750 RON / 150 EURO; for Ph.D. students: 375 RON / 75 EURO.
The costs cover: the participation fee, the conference pack (the conference programme, the certificate of participation, additional materials), lunch, coffee breaks, etc.
All additional conference-related information will soon be available on the DLS conference and SIDLL websites.