Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026): Beyond the Algorithm: Reclaiming Human Agency in Post-AI Language Education

Building on the foundation laid by The Hybrid Frontier in the previous issue, the International Journal of Language Studies (IJLS) opens its third volume with a deliberate moment of reflection. As the initial enthusiasm surrounding generative AI gives way to a more measured "post-AI" era, the central question is no longer whether artificial intelligence belongs in the language classroom, but how educators and learners can preserve human agency, critical judgment, and epistemic ownership within increasingly automated environments. This issue investigates the repositioning of learners as epistemic agents, the restoration of metacognition and critical literacy in AI-saturated contexts, the ethics of authorship and originality in academic writing, and the design of intentional "human-in-the-loop" pedagogies. Through empirical studies, classroom-based research, and theoretical commentary, contributors examine how language educators can move beyond techno-solutionism toward a mature pedagogy that neither rejects nor idolizes AI. This opening issue of Volume 3 sets the agenda for a renewed conversation about voice, authorship, and intellectual integrity in language education.