How This Course Pairs AI Literacy and Cultural Context for Multilingual Learners

In her recent AI literacy courses for international and multilingual learners at Temple University’s Center for American Language & Culture (TCALC), Meghan Killeen found that what students “really needed the most help with was mindset.” Alongside instruction in prompting frameworks and other AI tools, she built activities addressing bias, cultural perceptions of AI, academic integrity, and student voice. The aim, she says, is helping learners “leverage AI in a way that facilitates critical thinking” and to support their language development and academic readiness.

TCALC offers intensive English programs that serve both international students and some domestic learners seeking to strengthen their English skills. In winter 2025, Killeen, Curriculum and Assessment Specialist at TCALC, developed and taught the first version of an AI literacy course, AI Essentials for Academic Success, delivered to second-language learners on conditional admission status at Temple. In summer 2025, she taught a variation, AI Essentials for Communication Success, to an integrated group of students in the Intensive English Language Program (IELP) and a cohort of in-service English language teachers from Brazil. Both versions combined foundational knowledge of AI with reflective, culturally informed discussions about how to use the technology effectively in academic contexts.

Recognizing a need: From academic integrity to AI literacy

The first course emerged after conversations Killeen had with a colleague who advises students in TCALC’s conditional admission program who take intensive English courses while beginning coursework at Temple. Killeen designed AI Essentials for Academic Success to address the specific needs of multilingual and international students, exploring the functions of AI tools and how those tools intersect with varied cultural understandings of academic readiness and personal voice.

For example, in a profile on the Temple University website, Killeen described an exercise where students used an AI image generator to create iconic cultural images. When a student from Oman asked for an image of a well-known mosque in his country, the tool produced an image of a Saudi mosque — a mistake that was glaring to anyone who had that cultural literacy but less obvious to others. That prompted class discussion about bias and accuracy.

Killeen also emphasized the importance of student voice, inviting learners to consider how AI-generated content might be technically correct but lack personal style or authenticity. For example, the Temple University Assistant Director of the Writing Success Center, in a guest presentation to the class, led an activity exploring the difference between an excerpt from William Faulkner and an AI-generated version of the same text. Students tried to identify which was the original and discussed how writing could be technically correct but stilted. That helped some students articulate a tension they had been feeling with generative AI tools — that it helped them share their thoughts in a second language but that it wasn’t yet helping them describe something in their own words or to develop their voice in a second language.

Alongside reflective work, students practiced core skills like creating purposeful prompts and refining them through multiple iterations. Killeen tied these exercises to language learning objectives, using prompt creation as both a technological and linguistic skill-building activity. The course culminated in a project where students presented their work, identified where AI had been used, and explained why.

Summer course for Brazilian English teachers

AI Essentials for Communication Success adapted the curriculum of the earlier version for a course that included both the IELP students and a group of Brazilian English teachers participating in a six-week professional development program in the U.S. sponsored by the Brazilian government to improve language teacher training. Killeen organized this version around specific language skills (e.g., reading, speaking, writing) and explored how various AI tools can support teaching those skills. Activities were designed to be inclusive and multilingual, allowing participants to see and compare vocabulary in English, Arabic, and Portuguese.

Students in this course sometimes surfaced use cases for AI tools that may not have emerged in a United States-only context. For example, in one meeting an edtech vendor’s representative presented a chat tool designed to serve as an English language tutor and encouraged students to ask it English vocabulary questions in their own languages. Among this group, those languages included Portuguese and Arabic. The students began by requesting translations of sports-related vocabulary between those languages and English but then pushed it to make comparisons between all three languages.

“This made the experience more inclusive and dynamic in a very organic way,” Killeen says. “We usually keep English as the neutral or main instructional language, but if we’re able to encourage students to leverage their first language but also learn about each other’s first language, it is a really amazing opportunity.”

Mindset before tools

Killeen says leading these courses brought home for her that students needing the vocabulary to communicate their experience and to advocate for their personal learning journey isn’t limited to second-language learners. “The lack of vocabulary to describe co-creation with generative AI is a challenge for most people,” she explains.

She observed that a mindset shift is the biggest requirement to effectively explore emerging AI tools. She wanted students in these courses to see AI not only as a source of answers, but as a partner in developing skills. This meant discussing how to use AI ethically, integrating it into critical thinking processes, and aligning it with personal and academic goals.

For example, one participant talked about an AI tool she uses that gave her targeted feedback on her writing, which she was less confident in. “For them to be able to self-advocate for their learning was one of the greatest takeaways,” Killeen says.

“That’s why I didn’t have them dive right away into using bots or even other educational tools, because I wanted them to understand that this is something you can create for yourself, not just going to some edtech tool. You can go in and say what you want to focus on to help your language learning.”