Carnegie Mellon University
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences  ›  Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics  ›  About Us  ›  View All  ›  Faculty  ›  Sébastien Dubreil

Sébastien Dubreil

Sébastien Dubreil

Teaching Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Second Language Acquisition and Technology-Enhanced Learning

Address
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Education

Ph.D., French and Educational Studies, Emory University
M.A., Economics and Business Administration, Université de Nantes

Bio

My work as a scholar is intertwined with my work as an educator. As a CALL researcher, I find myself drawn to the question of how to build effective learning environments that extend beyond the classroom and engage learners in ways that are exciting, empowering and culturally relevant.

My research seeks to frame and design complex learning experiences to foster language and culture learning by critically examining the affordances of technological tools (e.g., games, multimedia, telecollaboration, gen AI) to re-envision and redesign pedagogical practices instead of merely “computerizing” previous ones. I am currently investigating the potential of social pedagogies, linguistic landscapes, as well as L2 learning through both gameplay and game design via 2 projects: (1) a series of board games developed with Sabrina Culyba, founder and principal at Ludoliminal; (2) Bonne Chance (a 2015 Reimagine Education conference finalist), an online game developed with Cary Staples, a professor of design at the University of Tennesse (and, in both cases, graduate and undergraduate students).

In sum, I attempt to connect language learners to social formations and communities (both physical and digital), which, by nature, entails a wide range of exposure to practical experiences (e.g., authoring games, videos, webdocs, podcasts). My research has been published in the MLJ, CALICO Journal, FL Annals, the L2 Journal and the International Journal of Personal & Virtual Learning Environment, among others.

    • Technology-Enhanced Learning
    • Second Language Acquisition
    • French & Francophone studies
    • Social Pedagogies
    • Game-based Learning

All levels of the French curriculum

  • 82-283 Language Diversity and Cultural Identity
  • 82-415 Social Justice in Contemporary France (and Germany)
  • 82-416 Gaming Culture and Culture of Games
  • 66-131 Sports, Conflict and Culture and/in VR
    • Generative AI in Teaching as Research (GAITAR) Fellow, Eberly Center for Excellence in Teaching and Educational Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University, 2023-2024
    • The Kenner Room Grant, Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, Carnegie Mellon University. Project: “Culture of Games and Gaming Culture: Learning French Culture through Games and Game Design”
    • The Kenner Room Grant, Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, Carnegie Mellon University. Project: “Developing Interactive Webdocumentaries for Culture Learning”
    • Andrew W. Mellon Technology-Enhanced Learning Seed Grant. Project: “Enhancing Interaction in Intermediate Level French Online Courses”

Dubreil S., Malinowski, D., & Maxim, H. H. (Eds.). (2023). Spatializing Language Studies: Pedagogical Approaches in the Linguistic Landscape. Edited open access digital volume. Springer Educational Linguistics Series (Vol. XX). New York: Springer Publishing.

Dubreil, S. & Culyba, S. (2022). “Apprentissages, création et jeu(x) en cours de FLE: Approches et enjeux” Chapter accepted for Silva, H. Regards sur le jeu en didactique des langues et des cultures: Penser, concevoir, évaluer, former (pp. 123-146). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

Lord, G., & Dubreil, S. (2021). Innovation & Creation: The Maker Movement. CALICO Journal, 38(1).
Malinowski, D., Maxim, H. H., & Dubreil, S., (Eds.). (2020). Language Teaching in the Linguistic Landscape: Mobilizing Pedagogy in Public Space. Springer Educational Linguistics Series (Vol. 49). New York: Springer Publishing.

Dubreil, S., & Thorne, S. L. (Eds.) (2017). Engaging the World: Social Pedagogies, Language Learning, and Language Programs in the 21st Century. Boston: Cengage Publishing.

Department Member Since 2016