AI-Enhanced Multimodal Language Education: The AIMLE Framework for Developing Learner Agency, Language Learning Beliefs, and Intercultural Competence

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping the landscape of language education by enabling highly personalized, multimodal, and interactive learning experiences that were previously difficult to achieve at scale. Through adaptive dialogue systems, multimodal content generation, real-time feedback, and context-aware scaffolding, GenAI tools can support learners in developing linguistic proficiency while simultaneously engaging them in authentic communicative practices. Despite these promising affordances, existing theoretical and pedagogical frameworks in language education frequently address technological, cognitive, or instructional dimensions in isolation. As a result, they offer limited guidance for educators seeking to design learning environments that simultaneously foster learner agency, positive language learning beliefs, and intercultural competence—three interrelated constructs essential for effective and equitable language education in the age of AI. This conceptual study addresses this gap by proposing the AI-Enhanced Multimodal Language Education (AIMLE) Framework, an interdisciplinary model that integrates established theories of second language acquisition, multimodality, self-regulated learning, sociocultural theory, and AI-supported pedagogy. Drawing on a critical synthesis of literature spanning generative artificial intelligence, language education, learner agency, and intercultural communication, the framework identifies core pedagogical components and maps the dynamic relationships among them. Central to AIMLE is the argument that the educational value of GenAI is not determined solely by the sophistication of the underlying technology, but by the extent to which its implementation is guided by sound pedagogical principles. When thoughtfully integrated, GenAI can promote learner autonomy, cultivate adaptive and positive beliefs about language learning, encourage rich multimodal engagement, develop critical thinking skills, and strengthen intercultural communicative competence. By bridging previously fragmented approaches, the AIMLE Framework offers a coherent theoretical foundation for curriculum development, instructional design, teacher education, and future empirical research. It provides practical orientation for creating more inclusive, learner-centered, and culturally responsive language learning environments that leverage the strengths of generative AI while mitigating risks of over-reliance, bias, or superficial engagement. Ultimately, the framework positions GenAI not merely as a technological tool, but as a pedagogical partner capable of supporting deeper, more agentic, and interculturally aware language learning when embedded within a carefully designed educational ecology.

کلیدواژه ها:

Generative Artificial Intelligence ، Multimodal Language Education ، Learner Agency ، Language Learning Beliefs ، Intercultural Competence ، AI-Assisted Language Learning.