The Humanity of Writing Teachers in the Age of AI
Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the conditions under which second language (L2) writing is taught, learned, and researched. AI-mediated tools are now embedded in many writing contexts and have become part of writing processes, feedback practices, assessment, and research methodologies, among other aspects of L2 writing.
As AI becomes an increasingly routine presence in writing environments, understanding and supporting L2 writing as a human practice has taken on renewed importance. Writing does not take place in isolation, nor does it unfold independently of the environments in which it is situated. Rather, it emerges through relationships among writers, languages, institutions, and technologies. In this sense, AI influences not only how writing is produced and interpreted, but also how it is valued.
The theme of SSLW 2026 approaches L2 writing through a focus on the humanity of writing teachers working in environments shaped by AI. As intelligent systems participate in writing practices, professional judgment, ethical responsibility, and care become increasingly salient—dimensions that cannot be reduced to technological function alone. Questions of agency, emotion, interpretation, and responsibility come into sharper focus when teaching and learning writing involve ongoing interaction with AI-supported systems.
Within this broad framing, the theme encompasses a range of interconnected concerns, including the following:
- The humanity of those who support and participate in L2 writing practices when working with AI
- How identities, expertise, and authority are negotiated in AI-influenced L2 writing environments
- The roles of participants and mediating systems in shaping agency, affect, and engagement in writing practices
- The situated and contextual nature of L2 writing and teaching, including institutional, cultural, and interactional dimensions
- Changing relationships among teachers, writers, texts, and intelligent systems
- Ethical questions surrounding equity, access, and inclusion in writing instruction
- The distribution of authority, responsibility, and decision-making across human and technological actors
- How values in L2 writing research and pedagogy are articulated, enacted, and sustained in the age of AI
By foregrounding the humanity of writing teachers while situating them within broader writing practices, SSLW 2026 offers a space to reflect on how L2 writing can remain a meaningful human activity amid increasingly complex technological conditions.