Gamze Sokucu

Gamze Sökücü is a PhD candidate at Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye, studying under the supervision of Dr. Erkan Er. With 15 years of experience in English Language Teaching (ELT) in higher education, she identifies as a teacher-researcher. Gamze began her doctoral journey in ELT (PhDc) at Çukurova University and continued her studies at Stockholm University. These diverse experiences ultimately brought her back to METU’s Computer Education and Instructional Technology department, where she combines the best of both worlds—ELT and EdTech—exploring how technology can be utilized to design effective and enjoyable English learning experiences for language learners.

PhD project: AI technologies are increasingly used in L2 writing instruction. While AI can provide detailed feedback, students still need guidance to effectively use this input, which can be challenging without adequate engagement. Teachers, burdened by the resource-intensive nature of traditional feedback, often experience burnout. Therefore, this phd study aims to develop an AI-enabled dialogic feedback system. We will create and test a tool using large language models (LLMs) to provide iterative feedback on student writing. We expect this will help reduce teacher burnout and enhance students’ writing progress and engagement.