Elin Ericsson
About Elin Ericsson
About Elin Ericsson
Elin is an Adjunct Researcher at the Department of Applied IT, specifically within the Division of KLIK. This interdisciplinary division focuses on cognitive science, learning, interaction design, and communication to better understand and develop the complex interplay between humans, technology, and society. Elin also serves as a Senior Lecturer at the Research and Development unit of the City of Gothenburg’s Education Department. In this role, she supports school development and practice-based research aimed at fostering an evidence-based educational environment. Her research profile integrates over fifteen years of practical experience as a language teacher with a scholarly approach to advancing the future of language instruction through digitalisation and AI literacy. As a PhD student she was part of the research school CUL (Center for Educational Science and Teacher Research) and the national graduate school GRADE focusing on digital technologies in education. More about Elin on LinkedIn.
AI Speak Project
Elin leads the practice-based ULF project AI Speak, a collaborative initiative between academia and upper and lower secondary schools. The project investigates how AI-based dialogue systems can be integrated to strengthen and highlight oral proficiency, a skill whose transient nature has traditionally made it difficult to provide sufficient practice, capture, and assess within a classroom setting. Addressing the fact that many students feel anxious about speaking and have limited practice opportunities, the project utilises learning analytics of system-generated data and systematic reflection via digital logbooks. The objective is to bridge the gap between research and practice while promoting teachers' professional development and pedagogical AI readiness.
Research Focus: AI and Second/Third Language Teaching Learning
Her research operates at the intersection of language didactics and IT, with a specific interest in how conversational AI can support the development of students' oral proficiency and speaking skills. In her doctoral thesis, Experiences of Speaking with Conversational AI in Language Education (2023), she explored how secondary school students experience interaction with human-like virtual conversational agents. As a key contribution of her work, she developed the FoSCAI framework (Framework of Student-Conversational Agent Interaction), which allows for a nuanced understanding of the student’s educational experience across cognitive, emotional, social, and instructional dimensions. Based on this expertise, she has, within higher education, supervised some master's and doctoral students, with a particular focus on methodological issues and the integration of conversational AI in language education, both nationally and internationally.
External Expert Roles and Commissions
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The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket): Engaged as a subject matter expert in language didactics and an advisor on educational materials related to AI and subject didactics for modern languages and English.
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International Representation: Represented Sweden at the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) at "Summer Academy" in Graz (2024) under the theme "Inspiring Innovation in European Language Teacher Education".
International and National Dissemination
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Keynote speaker, workshop leader, and supervisor at the international conference InterAI "The Researcher, the machine and the world" in Clermont-Ferrand, France (2026).
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Presenter at prestigious international conferences such as CALICO, ELE, EDULEARN, ICERI, and INTED.
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Keynote speaker at national forums, including SETT in Kista, the Skolverket Language Teacher Gala (online) and the venue of CUL (research school at Gothenburg university)
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Professional Development: Conducts training for language teachers on conversational AI in numerous Swedish municipalities (including Gothenburg, Borås, and Malmö) and educates teacher trainees at for example Södertörn University and the University of Gothenburg.
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Media: Featured in UR (Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company) discussions regarding the future of language learning (September 2024).