On July 8–10, 2026, the II International Congress on Research and Creativity in Language Teaching (CIICEL) at the University of Oviedo (Spain) set the stage for crucial discussions on digital transformation. Representing a vital milestone for our ongoing initiatives, researchers Borja Manzano Vázquez and Natalia Martínez-León presented a groundbreaking cross-national study entitled “A cross-national needs analysis of pre-service and in-service language teachers’ training needs for the integration of AI into language education.”
Surveying 738 pre-service and in-service language teachers across Spain, Turkey, and Latvia, the research examined training needs across five core areas: knowledge, use, design, evaluation, and ethics. The findings reveal a striking paradox: while educators possess a strong ethical awareness of Artificial Intelligence, there is an urgent, critical demand for hands-on, case-based training and design-skill development rather than traditional lectures. By highlighting distinct regional differences, this study provides an essential blueprint for universities and policymakers aiming to design customized teacher education programs—ensuring that the next generation of educators is fully equipped to foster critical AI literacy in an evolving digital landscape.