The rapid expansion of digital technologies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of artificial intelligence tools, has transformed the language classroom. Students now engage with learning materials, technology, and one another in ways that challenge traditional models of instruction and invite educators to reconsider how learning communities are created and sustained.

As teacher-centered approaches give way to more student-centered models of learning, instructors are increasingly called upon to understand and respond to students' evolving needs, goals, and expectations while continuing to meet institutional requirements and learning outcomes. At the same time, questions remain about how to foster meaningful engagement, encourage learner autonomy, and cultivate a sense of belonging within increasingly diverse classroom communities.

This roundtable invites participants to reflect on and share strategies that empower students as active participants in their own learning. We are particularly interested in approaches that extend learning beyond the classroom and that draw on cultural knowledge, experiential learning, collaboration, gamification, community engagement, and emerging technologies, including AI, as tools for promoting agency, motivation, and critical thinking.

We welcome both theoretical reflections and practical examples from instructors working in language-learning contexts. By bringing together diverse perspectives and experiences, this roundtable aims to foster a collaborative exchange of ideas about how language classrooms can function as empowering communities that support active, engaged, and lifelong learners.

Please submit a 250-word abstract on a topic of your choice via the NeMLA website. This roundtable will be fully in person at the hotel. No remote presentations will be included.