Against the backdrop of the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the reshaping of knowledge production through digital media, foreign language and literature education continues to face the timely challenge of shifting toward competency-oriented practice. With the special theme “Cross-Disciplinary Connections, AI Dialogue, and Sustainable Learning: Competency-Oriented Practices in Foreign Language and Literature Education,” this issue includes seven articles. Among them, five are featured articles that examine the relationship between artificial intelligence and foreign language education from the perspectives of translation studies, French language learning, Italian writing assessment, Spanish multimedia creation, and Japanese autonomous learning. The remaining two general articles cover research on British and American literature as well as Latin American postcolonial literature. Overall, the articles in this issue span the fields of French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, translation studies, British and American literature, and Latin American literature. They not only present practical explorations of foreign language teaching in response to AI and emerging technologies, but also demonstrate how literary and cultural studies offer profound reflections on humanity, history, faith, and structures of power in a changing world.
The first featured article is Professor Min-Hua Wu’s “Human Translation vs. Neural Machine Translation: Rendering ‘Le Pont Mirabeau’ into Chinese.” Taking the Chinese translation of Apollinaire’s “Le Pont Mirabeau” as a case study, this article compares the differences between neural machine translation and human translation in the representation of poetry. It points out that while machine translation offers speed and efficiency, it remains difficult for it to fully grasp the rhythm, imagery, cultural context, and aesthetic depth of poetry. This study reminds us that, in an age when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly advanced, the literary sensitivity, interpretive judgment, and creative capacity of human translators remain an irreplaceable core in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural transmission.
Professor Laurette Guinot Fanny’s “Human and Artificial Mediation: ChatGPT as a ‘More Knowledgeable Other’ in French as a Foreign Language (FLE)” begins with Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the concept of the “More Knowledgeable Other” to explore the possibility of ChatGPT serving as a cognitive mediator in the learning of written production in French. The study shows that AI can facilitate reflective knowledge co-construction and learner autonomy, thereby expanding students’ learning support systems. However, teachers remain crucial mediators with intentionality, socio-affective support, and critical guidance. This article offers observations of both theoretical and practical significance regarding the division of roles between human teachers and artificial intelligence in hybrid learning contexts.
Professor Giorgia Sfriso’s “Human-GenAI Alignment in Italian FL Writing Assessment: Reliability, Consistency, and Pedagogical Implications” further shifts the focus to foreign language writing assessment. This article compares the performance of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and human teachers in scoring and providing feedback on Italian compositions. It points out that generative AI is not yet able to replace teachers’ professional judgment, but it does demonstrate auxiliary potential in providing scoring rationales, diagnostic feedback, and identifying error patterns. This study not only responds to the increasingly heavy workload faced by teachers in actual teaching contexts, but also provides concrete references for how AI may become a trustworthy pedagogical partner.
Professor Yi-shan Chien’s “A Practice-Based Study on Integrating a Generative AI–Assisted Multimedia Creation Project into a Spanish Course” adopts Project-Based Learning (PBL) as its framework to investigate classroom practices involving the integration of generative AI into Spanish multimedia creation tasks. The study emphasizes that the value of AI does not lie in replacing students’ language learning processes. Rather, through the “draft–feedback–revision” process, AI assists students in adjusting linguistic forms and strengthening grammar focus. In addition, through group grammar explanation sheets and peer assessment, the study observes the construction of language ability and competency-oriented learning behaviors. It presents how multimedia tasks combining AI tools within a PBL structure can be implemented and how such tasks can enhance students’ digital literacy, collaborative communication, autonomous learning, and interdisciplinary integration during the creative process.
Professor Ming-Li Chiu’s “An Exploration of the Metaverse Platform Spatial as a Tool for Self-Directed Japanese Learning” extends foreign language learning into immersive virtual spaces. The author integrates the Spatial platform into activities in university-level basic Japanese and conversation courses, designing task-oriented themes such as “travel photo sharing,” “my favorite song,” and “teaching material development for rural education.” Students are guided to construct content, interpret culture, and present outcomes in Japanese within a 3D virtual space. The study indicates that when the Spatial platform is combined with task design and pedagogical scaffolding, it can promote Japanese learners’ Self-Directed Learning (SDL) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in goal setting, information gathering, time management, process monitoring, and self-reflection. It also reminds teachers to pay attention to challenges such as platform operation, material integration, and cognitive load.
In the section of general articles, scholar Kuan Li’s “Unknowing Imperfections” turns to the representation of Southern white male figures in William Faulkner’s novels. Through the emotional attachment between “incapacity to laugh” and the pursuit of perfection, the article analyzes how these characters refuse to recognize the social changes of the postbellum South and the decline of patriarchal families. By approaching modern American fiction through theories of laughter, this article demonstrates a nuanced literary interpretation of emotion, power, and historical trauma.
Scholar Yi Chin’s “Catholic Clergy in Postcolonial Contexts: A Case Study of Arguedas’s The Foxes from Above and the Foxes from Below” combines sociology, theology, and postcolonial theory to analyze how Catholic clergy serve as mediators between the sacred and the secular, and between the center and the margins. At the same time, the article reveals the unresolved tensions between the historical complicity of the Catholic Church and indigenous cosmologies.
Taken together, the articles in this issue show that AI is no longer merely a tool, and literature is no longer merely a text. Both have become important entry points for understanding human learning, communication, memory, and ethical responsibility. From translation, writing assessment, and generative creation to metaverse learning, and from the American South to Latin American postcolonial contexts, the contributors to this issue collectively demonstrate the depth and resilience of foreign language and literature research in cross-disciplinary connection. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial team, and I hope that the work presented in this issue will continue to inspire sustainable dialogue in foreign language education and humanities research in the age of AI.
