As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in educational environments, language learning is progressively shifting towards personalised, algorithm-driven models that prioritise efficiency and individualised feedback. While AI-mediated platforms provide expanded access to linguistic input, they may inadvertently reduce opportunities for dialogic engagement, intercultural interaction, and collaborative meaning-making. This concern is particularly relevant in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where English functions as a key medium for global academic and professional participation. This study reconceptualises structured classroom debate as a human-centred pedagogical intervention within AI-augmented language learning environments. Rather than positioning debate solely as a tool for improving speaking proficiency, the study explores its role in cultivating communicative competencies that remain beyond the scope of algorithmic optimisation, including intercultural awareness, perspective-taking, and communicative adaptability. Using a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design, the study examined the impact of integrating a structured debate project into a first-year university Listening and Speaking course on students’ perceived intercultural competence. Findings revealed statistically significant improvements among students who participated in the debate intervention. The results suggest that dialogic, interaction-based pedagogies can help preserve essential relational dimensions of communication in increasingly AI-mediated language learning environments.

Authors:
Maram Almaneea, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Maram Othman Almaneea is Dean of the English Language Institute at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University. Her current work explores the role of debate pedagogy in fostering intercultural competence within AI-mediated EFL learning environments

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maram-almaneea-338525182

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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