TELSIG webinar: Developing students' AI literacy

The summer TELSIG webinar features talks on the topic of developing AI literacies provision within EAP. Our speakers discuss the theoretical underpinnings, rationales and lessons learnt along the way. Talks will be fifteen minutes each, with time for Q&A.

Abstracts

Open to all: Designing and delivering a university-wide in-sessional AI literacy workshop series. Cassie Ngo and Rachel Heasley - University of Manchester

With generative AI tools becoming increasingly embedded in academic life, EAP practitioners face growing pressure to equip students with the critical literacy needed to use these tools responsibly and effectively. This webinar presents the design and delivery of a series of AI literacy workshops offered through open, university-wide registration, attracting students from across disciplines and levels of study.

We outline the pedagogical rationale behind the course, including how sessions were sequenced to align with key stages of the writing process, moving from brainstorming and idea generation, through outlining and structuring, to searching for and evaluating sources, and finally revising and refining drafts with AI support. Ethical considerations, including questions of voice, authorship, academic integrity, and appropriate disclosure of AI use, were woven throughout each stage rather than treated as a standalone topic, encouraging students to develop reflective, ethically grounded habits alongside practical skills.

The session draws on student feedback, highlighting shifts in their confidence, attitudes, and practices around AI use, as well as areas where anxieties persisted despite instruction. We will also discuss the practical and pedagogical challenges encountered in delivering the classes: reaching a diverse, self-selecting student audience without the structure of an embedded course, keeping content current amid rapid technological change, and navigating divided attitudes toward AI use among both the EAP practitioners delivering the sessions and subject lecturers across the university.

Do we still need AI Literacies? Phil Martin - University of York

This webinar discusses the lessons learned after two years of designing, delivering and refining an AI literacies strand of an EAP module.

In the immediate aftermath of the release of ChatGPT, the idea of AI literacies provision seemed to be all the rage; however, since then, with the nature of academic reading and writing continuing to shift beneath our feet, the usefulness and relevance of the term has been called into question (e.g Hendrick, 2025). So, is AI literacies simply a white elephant, or have the impacts of generative AI been sufficiently profound to grant it a permanent place in the curriculum?

This webinar evaluates one such AI Literacies provision that has been running as part of our EAP provision at the University of York for the past two years. Although still part of a language course, the ‘literacies’ strand focuses less on specific AI tools than on questions that help students evaluate GenAI tools for themselves. Questions such as why and how do we learn? What do we lose when we streamline our work? When do we value human authorship?

This webinar makes the case for a version of AI literacy that teaches an awareness of these key ethical issues, and then has students work on their own AI-driven digital project to decide for themselves how useful GenAI tools are. We will go through the key themes covered on the scheme of work and look at an example lesson. All materials are open source, and will be made available to participants.

Speaker bios

Thu Ngan Ngo (Cassie Ngo) is an Academic English Tutor at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Academic English where she teaches across a wide range of courses including pre-sessional, in-sessional and foundation. Prior to this, she worked at universities in the UK, China and Vietnam and language schools in Brazil. Her research interest lies in integrating technology into learning and teaching. She is currently exploring the integration of AI literacy into EAP contexts. Her publications can be found in Journal of English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes.

Rachel Heasley is a Senior Language Tutor and Academic Leader at the University of Manchester’s Centre for Academic English. She has taught English in a range of contexts in the UK and South America and currently teaches Academic English and Skills to undergraduate and postgraduate students across the University. She has a DELTA, MA TESOL and Applied Linguistics and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is interested in the ever-changing role of technology in education and passionate about creating student-centred learning environments for students of all backgrounds.

Phil Martin is an EAP lecturer and programme leader at the University of York’s International Pathway College. He is currently involved in shaping teaching and assessment at York in response to GenAI, and is the host of the TELSIG podcast. Before working in higher education in the UK, Phil taught English across Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe.