Chinese University of Hong Kong, 23 June 2026
Abstract
This talk examines the double-edged relationship between AI and corpus linguistics. On the one hand, we find genuine opportunities for learners that engage with corpus-data queried through AI systems and AI-generated language as data to be interrogated. On the other, we find the real threats posed by what I term black box pedagogies, that is, configurations in which AI replaces rather than supports the disciplinary encounter with language. Against uncritical AI adoption, I argue for a learning turn in GenAI-driven language education, one that foregrounds cognitive engagement and the evidence-based traditions of data-driven learning. The talk makes the case that language learning must remain fundamentally human, not despite the presence of AI, but in direct response to it.
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Short bio
Pascual Pérez-Paredes is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Linguistics at the University of Murcia, and former Lecturer in Research in Second Language Education at the University of Cambridge. His main research interests are the use of corpus linguistics methods in applied linguistics, corpora and digital resources in language education and corpus-assisted discourse analysis.
Pascual is Co-Editor in Chief of Cambridge University Press ReCALL journal, and Co-Editor or the Applied Linguistics Press book series Corpus Linguistics and Technology-Mediated Language Education in the AI Era.