Language teaching supervision for a new era: AICOLT system's journey to AI-driven innovation

Abstract

The shortage of teachers is a global phenomenon. According to UNESCO (2024), “the COVID-19 pandemic has had long-lasting effects on the availability of teachers” (p. 6). This issue is particularly evident in the context of language teachers. For example, a study by the Canadian Association for Immersion Professionals (ACPI) and the Canadian Association for Second Language Teachers (CASLT) (ACPI, 2023) revealed a shortage of 10,000 French Immersion and FSL teachers in Canada. The shortage is especially pronounced in rural and remote areas. For many institutions and teacher training programs, offering pre-service teacher internships outside urban centers is very costly, and they need more qualified supervisors willing to travel to rural and remote areas to supervise teacher trainees. According to the United Nations (2020), initial teacher training needs to be reformed, particularly by fostering innovation in pedagogical coaching and supervision mechanisms. Moreover, such reform must address the urgency of adapting language teacher training and supervision to a new digital era.