Repositioning language centres and self-access centres in the age of Artificial Intelligence: From resource provision to human-centred mediation

The rapid expansion of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has unsettled established assumptions in language education. For University Language Centres (LCs) and Self-Access Language Centres (SALCs), AI systems offering instant feedback, writing support, language models, and conversational practice raise questions about their distinctive institutional roles. This opinion paper argues that LCs and SALCs should not compete with AI as providers of content or feedback. Instead, they should become human-centred mediating institutions that help learners, teachers, and institutions use AI critically, ethically, and pedagogically. After revisiting their established roles in supporting autonomous and self-directed language learning, the paper argues that AI demands a more cautious understanding of autonomy, as apparent independence may conceal overreliance, weak evaluative judgement, and outsourced cognition (Barrett & Pack, 2023; Fan et al., 2025; Zhai et al., 2024). It proposes five future functions of LCs and SALCs: AI literacy development, pedagogical curation, ethical mediation, reflective learner advising, and the integration of formal and informal learning. Drawing on the planned Language Education Institute at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the paper illustrates how language policy, technology-enhanced pedagogy, and human-centred education may be aligned. Ultimately, the value of LCs and SALCs lies in cultivating judgement, agency, accountability, and community.