In early January of this year it was announced that Takako Aikawa, Senior Lecturer in Japanese at MIT Global Languages, was awarded a faculty fellowship in the Digital Humanities Lab for Spring 2021.

This seed grant program allows researchers to work closely with undergraduate students, postdocs, and technical professionals.

Aikawa’s project proposal was called “Ideation Factory of Human Languages, AI, and NLP Technologies.” The project, as envisioned, will acquaint MIT students with digital tools and platforms that can enhance cultural understanding as a part of language-learning, while providing an opportunity for students to use their unique knowledge and creativity to develop a prototype application for language learning. Students will also be encouraged to examine language learning from the teachers’ point-of-view, making them more aware of pedagogical issues.