IRAAL NEWS

IRAAL Public Lecture 2026 – Report

Professor Nicolas Guichon of Université Lumière Lyon 2 recently delivered a very interesting IRAAL Public Lecture titled “Adult migrants’ smartphone use for language learning and social integration”. A renowned scholar in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Professor Guichon shared insights from his extensive research on how technology shapes language acquisition and pedagogical integration. It was attended by 30 online and in-person participants, who gathered at Dublin City University.

The lecture addressed the critical role of digital literacy in facilitating migrants’ inclusion into host societies, aiding in everything from social interaction to employment. Drawing on his leadership of the interdisciplinary SAALAM project, Prof Guichon illustrated his findings through the analysis of “digital literacy events”. These studies utilised multifocal recordings to observe how adult migrants strategically employ smartphone tools, such as machine translation and speech-to-text, to navigate real-world reading and writing challenges in their host country’s language.

Professor Guichon concluded with a vital caveat for educators: while digital tools provide essential support, they can sometimes bypass the cognitive engagement necessary for long-term linguistic development. He advocated for a tailored curriculum co-designed with teachers to develop learners’ metatechnolinguistic skills. This actionable research offers a clear roadmap for aligning teacher training with the authentic digital practices migrants use to achieve autonomy in their daily lives.

This event was funded by IRAAL and the French Embassy in Ireland.