Journal: Digital Studies in Language and Literature
Issue: Special Issue: Theory-Informed GenAI-Mediated Language Pedagogies
Call Deadline: 31-Oct-2025

Call for Abstracts

Theory-Informed GenAI-Mediated Language Pedagogies

This Digital Studies in Language and Literature Special Issue invites original empirical research that rigorously applies, tests, or validates theoretical frameworks in the study of GenAI-mediated language pedagogies. We seek contributions that foreground the crucial link between theory and practice by explicitly engaging with theoretical frameworks—whether cognitive, sociocultural, ecological, or critical—to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of GenAI-mediated language pedagogies. This includes empirical research that examines the designs of such pedagogies, issues in their implementation, and their effectiveness in creating learning opportunities, facilitating teaching, and enhancing learning experiences and outcomes. We are especially interested in studies that generate empirical evidence to validate or enrich theoretical frameworks or to compare the explanatory and pedagogical value of different theoretical frameworks in the context of GenAI-mediated language teaching and learning.

Guest Editor: Xiaofei Lu (The Pennsylvania State University) – [email protected]

Special Issue Information:
This DSLL Special Issue is calling for submissions on the theme “Theory-Informed GenAI-Mediated Language Pedagogies”. We seek empirical studies that integrate GenAI into language teaching and learning based on theories. Submissions may address a range of contexts and topics, including but not limited to:

- The design of GenAI-mediated language pedagogies grounded in specific theoretical frameworks
- Issues and challenges in implementing theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies
- The effectiveness and impact of theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies on learning processes and outcomes
- Learner behaviors, engagement, experiences, and perceptions in theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies
- The role of teachers in designing and implementing theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies
- Teacher professional development for designing and implementing theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies
- Comparative analyses of theoretical frameworks applied to GenAI-mediated language pedagogies
- Assessment design, implementation, and validation in theory-informed GenAI-mediated language pedagogies

Submission Instructions:
Proposed abstracts should be submitted to the guest editor by email for initial consideration. Please send a 500-word abstract describing previously unpublished empirical (not conceptual) work. Please do not include author name(s) in the abstract document. In a separate document, include each author’s name, affiliation, contact information, and a 50-word biographical statement.

Authors whose abstracts are accepted will be invited to submit full-length articles (up to 8,000 words) through the ScholarOne submission site [https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dsll] for possible inclusion. All submissions should be formatted following DSLL’s Instructions for Authors and will undergo double-anonymized peer review.

Timeline:
- Abstracts due to guest editor: 31 October 2025
- Short-listed abstracts announced: 30 November 2025
- Full manuscript submission deadline: 30 June 2026
- Peer review completion: 31 August 2026
- Final revisions due: 31 October 2026

Issue publication is scheduled for March 2027
(Articles are published online as DOI citable articles prior to issue publication for quickest possible visibility for the scientific community.)

General information on Digital Studies in Language and Literature
Digital Studies in Language and Literature (DSLL) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary publication dedicated to advancing research on the intersection of digital technology, language, and literature.

Accepted articles will be published via fully sponsored Open Access through a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) License, with no cost to the authors, so your research will be freely available for all to read and download.

Please visit the DSLL Homepage [www.degruyter.com/dsll] for further information.

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Discipline of Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)