MCLL’s Associate Professor Dr. Drake Langford and Lecturer Nina Kato awarded 2025-26 CSU Artificial Intelligence Educational Innovations Challenge grant

Congratulations to our colleagues in the MCLL department on being awarded the prestigious 2025-26 CSU Artificial Intelligence Educational Innovations Challenge grant!

Their innovative project, “Curriculum-Aligned AI Language Partner to Support Student-Centered Learning in Japanese,” was selected from a highly competitive pool of proposals across the entire CSU system. They will develop and pilot an AI-powered conversational partner that engages students in authentic Japanese dialogue and role-playing scenarios aligned with course curriculum. This tool will provide students with accessible, low-stakes opportunities to practice Japanese outside the classroom through both voice and text interactions, while offering immediate feedback to enhance critical thinking about language use. The project exemplifies ethical AI integration in education and is designed with scalability in mind for future expansion to other world languages.

This award directly supports Chancellor García’s Initiative to Establish the CSU as the nation’s first and largest AI-powered public university system. Dr. Langford and Lecturer Kato’s work contributes to the CSU’s mission of responsible and equitable AI adoption, helping to elevate the educational experience across all fields of study while preparing students for California’s future AI-driven economy. We are proud of their leadership in advancing innovative, student-centered learning experiences that prepare our students for success in an increasingly AI-enhanced world!