Towards Intercultural Adaptive Conversational AI

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Brandt, A., & Hazel, S. (2025). Towards interculturally adaptive conversational AI. Applied Linguistics Review, 16(2), 775–786 

“Among the many ways that AI technologies are becoming embedded in our social worlds is the proliferation of Conversational User Interfaces, such as voice assistants (e.g. Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa), chatbots and voice-based conversational agents. Such conversational AI technologies are designed to draw upon the designers’ understanding of interactional practices employed in human–human conversation, and therefore have implications for intercultural communication (ICC). In this paper, we highlight some of the current shortcomings of conversational AI, and how these relate to ICC. We also draw on ndings from Conversation Analysis to discuss how pragmatic norms vary across linguacultural groups (see Risager 2019 for a discussion of the term‘linguaculture’), noting that this poses further challenges for designers of conversational AI systems. We argue that the solution is to work towards what we call interculturally adaptive conversational AI. Finally, we propose a framework for how this can be conceptualised and researched, and argue that researchers with expertise in language and ICC are uniquely placed to contribute to this endeavour.”

Grant Foundation: Institutional Challenge Grant 2026

Grants

Institutional Challenge Grant, William T. Grant Foundation, New York, NY, USA. Deadline: 9 September 2026.

The Institutional Challenge Grant supports university-based research institutes, schools, and centers in building sustained research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations in order to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. The grant requires that research institutions shift their policies and practices to value collaborative research. Institutions will also need to build the capacity of researchers to produce relevant work and the capacity of agency and nonprofit partners to use research.

They welcome applications from partnerships in youth-serving areas such as education, justice, child welfare, foster care, mental health, immigration, and workforce development. They especially encourage proposals from teams with African American, Latinx, Native American, and Asian American members in leadership roles. The partnership leadership team includes the principal investigator from the research institution and the lead from the public agency or nonprofit organization.

Research-practice partnerships—long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations that promote the production and use of rigorous and relevant research evidence—are a promising strategy for better aligning researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in their efforts to reduce inequality. Researchers who partner with practitioners or policymakers are better equipped to understand local contexts, address pressing questions, and produce informative and actionable findings. They also gain access to programmatic and/or policy insights and data that can facilitate rigorous and groundbreaking research to make headway on issues relevant to youth. Policymakers and practitioners, meanwhile, can more easily access, interpret, and use research evidence when they collaborate with researchers. They can also help define and shape research agendas. Partnerships, then, equip public agencies and nonprofit organizations with new knowledge and tools to better serve youth.

NOTE: An informational webinar is scheduled for May 6, hosted by Senior Program Officer Jenny Irons and President Adam Gamoran. They will discuss the background and goals of the program, as well as provide an overview of eligibility details, required materials, and review criteria; as well as field questions from attendees and share practical advice on how to prepare a competitive application.

Multilingual Voices Project

Applied ICDMultilingual Voices Project: Digital Storytelling for Belonging and Inclusive Teaching, will be directed by Li Hou, a Ph.D. candidate in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program and an instructor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The project aims to foster belonging and community dialogue at UMass Amherst by creating spaces for multilingual students, instructors, and staff to share their lived experiences through digital storytelling. Through a series of interactive workshops and collaborative storytelling activities, participants will reflect on identity, language, and teaching and learning experiences across cultural and linguistic differences, culminating in a shared collection of multilingual narratives that highlight diverse voices within the UMass community. By centering the often underrepresented perspectives of multilingual learners, the project seeks to promote empathy, cross-cultural understanding, and a more inclusive campus climate.

The project will host a series of interactive workshops with participants from multilingual and diverse cultural backgrounds, while also actively engaging domestic students and faculty to encourage cross-cultural dialogue.

UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest 2026

Photo ContestYouth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest, UNESCO, Paris, France. Deadline: 30 June 2026.

UNESCO invites young people from around the world, aged 14 to 25, to pick up their cameras and send their best photos to the 8th edition of Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads International Photo Contest.

This contest is organized within the framework of UNESCO’s Silk Roads Programme, and promotes photography as a powerful medium to encourage cultural exchange, foster mutual understanding, and promote peace among communities across the Silk Roads regions.

For this 2026 edition, under the theme Living Heritage along the Silk Roads, young photographers are invited to capture how traditions, cultural expressions, and ritual practices reflect the interconnected histories of peoples across these regions.

CID Poster 7: Social Justice / Social Harmony Translated into Spanish

CID PostersThis poster was designed by Linda J. de Wit, was the first to illustrate one of the Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue as the source. The content here comes from KC79: Social Cohesion, written by Narine Nora Kerelian and Gizem Arat.

The Spanish translation was provided by Neus Crous-Costa, and the graphic design work necessary to revise was by Yan Qiu. Here then is CID Poster 7: Justicia social/harmonía social.

CID Poster 7: Social justice / Social harmony, translated into Spanish

 

Just in case anyone wants to cite this poster, the following would be the recommended format:

Center for Intercultural Dialogue. (2026). Justicia social / harmonía social [N. Crous-Costa, trans.]. CID Posters, 7. Available from: https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/cid-poster-7-social-justice-harmony-spanish.png

As with other series, CID Posters are available for free on the site; just click on the thumbnail to download a printable version. They may be downloaded, printed, and shared as is, without changes, without cost, so long as there is acknowledgment of the source.

As with other CID Publications, if you wish to prepare an original contribution, please send an email before starting any work to receive approval, to minimize inadvertent duplication, and to learn about technical requirements. As is the case any series, posters should be created initially in English. If you want to volunteer to translate a poster into a language in which you are fluent, send in a note before starting, to receive approval and to confirm no one else is working on the same one.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue
intercult.dialogue AT gmail.com

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Suleyman Demirel U: Head of British Transnational Education (Kazakhstan)

“JobHead of British Transnational Education, Suleyman Demirel University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Deadline: 27 April 2026.

SDU University invites applications for the position of International Program Development Lead / International Partnerships Manager / Academic Collaboration Lead. This strategic role is designed for a highly motivated professional who will lead the development, structuring, and management of international academic partnerships and joint educational programs.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Full-cycle management of international agreements: from initial MoU negotiations to detailed contractual frameworks.

  • Design and implementation of the student journey for dual degree programs and academic mobility initiatives.
    Curriculum mapping and academic alignment between SDU University and international partner institutions (in collaboration with Vice Deans and Schools).

  • Launch and packaging of new programs for first-year students: from concept development to internal marketing and positioning.

  • Financial modeling and management of joint programs, including tuition calculations, scholarship schemes, and grant structures.

Auckland U of Technology: Professor / Associate Professor of International Business (New Zealand)

“JobProfessor or Associate Professor of International Business, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Deadline: 19 April 2026.

The Marketing and International Business department has a permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week) opportunity for a motivated Professor or Associate Professor of International Business to make significant impact and develop their career in teaching, research and service. They are particularly interested in applicants who can contribute to  teaching and research in different areas of International Business, including international management, cross-cultural management and global strategy. Applicants with specific expertise related to digitalisation and technology are particularly welcome to apply. They are also looking for candidate who have demonstrated academic leadership capability – either related to research capacity building and/or strategic leadership at the department level (i.e., heads or deputy heads of departments or schools). You’ll teach across programmes as assigned by the Head of Department, particularly in the new Master of Global Business.

 

Intercultural Communication in Digital Space

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Shakeeva, N., Andashova, R., & Jumalieva, G. (2025). Intercultural communication in digital space: Challenges and adaptation strategies. Bulletin of the Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, 17(3), 59-67..

“The rapid development of digital technologies has necessitated a rethinking of intercultural communication processes in the virtual environment, where traditional models of interaction are undergoing significant changes. The relevance of this research stems from the need to adapt intercultural communication to the conditions of the digital environment, where the transformation of familiar forms of communication requires not only a new theoretical understanding, but also the development of applied approaches that take into account the specifics of online interaction. The aim of this article was to identify and comprehensively analyse the linguistic, sociocultural and pragmatic challenges arising in the process of digital intercultural communication, as well as to develop strategies for effectively overcoming them. The study used methods of linguistic analysis, a comparative-cultural approach, and discursive analysis of digital communication on various platforms. As a result, key risks characteristic of virtual intercultural interaction were classified, typical communication failures arising from a reduction in the contextual richness of messages, the ambiguity of visual and non-verbal components (emojis, memes, gestures), the transformation of etiquette norms, and the asynchronous nature of communication. It was found that cultural differences significantly influence the perception of distance, hierarchy, time, and communication style in the digital environment. It was also found that participants in communication often have difficulty interpreting the intentions of their interlocutors, which leads to misinterpretation and conflict. Based on the data obtained, recommendations have been developed aimed at forming flexible speech behaviour, developing digital politeness and increasing the level of intercultural digital competence. The practical value of the article lies in the applicability of its results in the field of education, in the training of specialists in the field of intercultural communication, as well as in the field of digital design of internationally oriented platforms and services.”

CFP: Group Processes and Intergroup Communication

“Publication

Call for Submissions: special issue on Intergroup Communication, for journal Group Processes and Intergroup Communication. Deadline: 30 August 2026.

Guest Editors: Sucharita Belavadi (FLAME University); Antonis Gardikiotis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki); and Howard Giles University of California, Santa Barbara and University of Queensland)

Intergroup Communication explores questions at the intersections of social psychology and communication and can broadly be defined as communication that frames and is framed by people’s group membership and social identity. The aim of the special issue is to bring together empirical and theoretical work that advances our understanding of the processes of intergroup communication. The special issue calls for work that addresses how communication flows within and between groups, shapes social identity and group norms, and is an agent of social influence within and between groups. Topics that are sought can include research on – online-communication, the role of leaders and leader rhetoric, the media, communication silos, social media, memes as a communication vehicle, intergroup hate speech, vilification of dissent, identity construction.

U Oslo: Postdoctoral Fellow in Human Geography (Norway)

PostdocsPostdoctoral Fellow in  Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway. Deadline: 15 May 2026.

There is a vacant position at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography for a postdoctoral fellow (SKO 1352) in human geography. The position is for a period of four years with 25% compulsory work (primarily teaching). The department is ranked as the premier academic research institute in sociology and human geography in Norway, conducting top international research while offering high quality education for students. The department is renowned both for the breadth of topics and methodologies employed and for its highly qualified researchers.

They seek candidates with the potential to contribute to the development of human geography as a discipline at the department. The fellow is expected to pursue independent research, as outlined in their submitted project proposals. Applicants should have research interests that resonate with ongoing research at the department. They currently have strong research communities in the fields of urban studies, sustainable transformations, work, organisations and politics, social inequality, migration, integration and diversity, cultural and political participation, population dynamics. The call is not thematically limited to these topics, but preference can be given to candidates with a potential to contribute to the ongoing academic dialogue in the department.

Applicants must be able to teach in Norwegian or a Scandinavian language in order to meet current teaching needs. Applicants with little or no prior pedagogical competence will be encouraged to acquire basic formal teaching competence by participating in pedagogical training provided by UiO.