In this episode, JALTCALL 2026 Conference Co-Chairs James York and Jeanette Dennisson interview our Sunday keynote speaker, Mehrasa Alizadeh, Associate Professor in the Institute for General Education at Otemon Gakuin University. She holds a PhD from Osaka University, and her work bridges educational technology and language learning, focusing on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and immersive technologies. Mehrasa talks about how she became a language teacher in Japan, her journey to becoming so interested in technology, and her current research projects, which include the use of VR and AI as tools for second language learning in a virtual exchange context.

Links:
https://jaltcall2026.edzil.la/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ElMfPJUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://jalt-publications.org/articles/27754-mixed-augmented-and-virtual-realities-mavr-learning-sig
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehrasa-alizadeh/