by Dr. Ruth Maloszek, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. How can we spread awareness of the 17 UN Sustainability Goals and, at the same time support language learners of…
by Dr. Ruth Maloszek, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
How can we spread awareness of the 17 UN Sustainability Goals and, at the same time support language learners of diverse origins and cultural backgrounds at levels B1-B2 in reading comprehension?
The ReadcoAI Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership is developing a method using storytelling and Socratic dialogue to foster empathy and understanding of the 17 SDGs through stories that address societal development in Europe and worldwide. The stories are visualised as cartoons and animations, and learners engage in dialogue with an AI agent about the content, deepening their understanding of the 17 SDGs, while at the same time training their language skills.
Our web application addresses the needs of language learners across Europe, offering content in English, German, Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish and French. The platform aims to support immigrants and other learners in acquiring the language of their host countries — including the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, and France — thereby promoting integration and communication in multicultural environments.
Our partner Themeli Language School in Athens has long-standing experience in language pedagogy, teaching and research. The school is responsible for developing the story content at levels B1–B2 and for translating these materials into German, Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, and French.
The Graphic Design and Visual Communication Department at the University of Western Attica (UNIWA), Athens, brings the visualisations of the stories to life in the form of comics and animations.
The IT department of Varna Free University, Bulgaria, leads the development of the web application, in collaboration with AI specialists from Anadolu University in Türkiye. The team ensures that users can access and work with the stories and tasks on laptops, tablets, and mobile phones, and that the web app is fully compatible with major operating systems, including Windows, Android, and iOS/macOS.
As the coordinating partner, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) contributes its extensive expertise in e-learning and will develop an online course to disseminate the ReadcoAI method approach to learning.
A guide to prompt engineering and a toolkit introducing GenAI tools are among the first ReadcoAI products. Another toolkit on AI and the Socratic method is designed to help educators and learners integrate Socratic thinking into their language learning and storytelling practices, using AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, NotebookLM, Socrat.ai, and Gemini.
It brings together structured strategies, sample prompts, and classroom-ready templates to promote critical inquiry, reflective writing, and creative expression. All toolkits are freely available via the project website. Feel free to check them out: readco-ai.eu/toolkit/.
We are currently preparing a first pilot story, focusing on Alex, a young immigrant who experiences bullying and eventually finds a way out of his pain (SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities). It includes a complete package with an animated story, reading comprehension tasks, an individual study pack and an AI agent for Socratic dialogue.
Duration of the project: 2024-2027
If you are a language teacher, a language school or an individual learner and interested in participating in the piloting of the stories either in English or in French, Greek, German, Bulgarian, or Turkish, feel free to contact us https://www.readco-ai.eu/contact/.
If you are interested in the idea and the further development of this promising project, you may subscribe to our ReadcoAI newsletter via the project website readco-ai.eu/.
We look forward to discussing the ReadcoAI approach with you at the next M&L conference in Leuven 2026.
ReadcoAI is an Erasmus+ strategic partnership co-funded by the European Union. The European Commission’s support does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Dr Ruth Maloszek, research associate and project coordinator at FAU, Germany.