Teaching ESL With ChatGPT.
English is the most widely spoken language globally, despite not being the most spoken language overall. Additionally, it is the language of international films, computers, and medicine. Even more so when used as a second language.
Harvard Business Review; Global Business Speaks English.
Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has become more crucial. Language acquisition has experienced significant modifications as a result of the ongoing development of new technology.
ChatGPT is an astonishingly quick technological leap that is gaining worldwide attention (perhaps even in North Korea). It is an open artificial intelligence language that seems to be on everyone’s lips.
ChatGPT for Teaching ESL Students.
ChatGPT can be used to teach ESL English to kids in different ways, such as:
- Conversation practice: ChatGPT can be used to converse with the students on topics of interest or related to the lesson. The teacher can monitor the chat and provide feedback or corrections as needed.
- Writing practice: The teacher can have the students write prompts to ChatGPT, perhaps as a whole class exercise, and then discuss the responses as a class. The students can also use ChatGPT to edit their own writing or check their grammar and spelling.
- Vocabulary practice: ChatGPT can be used to learn new words and phrases related to a specific topic or theme. The teacher can ask ChatGPT to generate vocabulary lists, definitions, or example sentences for the students to study.
- Ad Lib activities: ChatGPT can be used to create fun and creative stories with blank spaces for the students to fill in with their own words. The teacher can give ChatGPT a prompt to make an “ad-lib” story about a particular theme or topic, and then have the students come up with the words to complete the story.
These are some of the possible ways to use ChatGPT in an ESL English classroom, but there may be more. ChatGPT is a powerful and versatile tool that can enhance language learning and teaching. However, it is important to use it responsibly and ethically, and not rely on it too much or let it replace human interaction.
It is also important to check that students do not use it to complete any essays that have been given out for homework. There are certain things that can be used to check students and the use of A.I. Excessive use of lists and numbers at the end of sentences are 2 points you can look out for.
Examples of How to Use ChatGPT,(as written by ChatGPT)
And Underwritten by me.
Here are some examples of how to use ChatGPT for different language-learning activities.
- Conversation practice: You can chat with me about your hobbies, your favorite movies, your plans for the weekend, or anything else that interests you. I will try to respond in a natural and engaging way, and you can practice your fluency and comprehension skills.
- Writing practice: You can write a short story, a poem, a letter, or an essay to me, and I will give you some feedback on your content, style, and grammar. You can also ask me to rewrite, improve, or optimize your writing for a specific purpose or audience.
- Vocabulary practice: You can ask me to teach you some new words related to animals, sports, food, or any other topic you want to learn more about. I will give you a list of words with their definitions and example sentences. You can also ask me to quiz you on the words you learned or to make sentences using them.
- “Fill in The Blanks“: You can ask me to create a funny story with some blank spaces for you to fill in with your own words. For example, you can say “Make an “Ad Lib story about aliens” and I will generate something like this:
One day, a group of (adjective) aliens landed on Earth. They came from the planet (name) and they wanted to (verb) with the humans. They had (number) eyes, (color) skin, and (noun) for ears. They spoke in an (adjective) language that sounded like (sound). They were very (adjective) and curious about everything they saw. They especially liked (noun) and (noun). They did not like (noun) and (noun). They stayed on Earth for (number) days and then they left in their (adjective) spaceship.
5 Introductions. You can use ChatGPT to write some introductions, then get the students to write their own and interact with Chat.
- Hi, I’m Maria, and I’m from Brazil. I’m learning English because I want to travel the world and meet new people. I like to play soccer, listen to music, and watch Netflix. What about you?
- Hello, my name is Ahmed and I’m from Egypt. I’m studying English because I want to work as an engineer in a multinational company. I enjoy reading books, solving puzzles, and playing chess. How do you spend your free time?
- Greetings, I’m Li and I’m from China. I’m improving my English because I want to study abroad and learn more about different cultures. I love to cook, paint, and meditate. What are your hobbies?
Practicing Introductions With ChatGPT
“I would like to introduce myself. My name is Stephen and am 55 years old. I live Ho Chi Minh City and has 4 persons in my family. In my free time I like painting and drawing. “
Nice to meet you, Stephen. I’m Bing, a chat mode of Microsoft Bing search. I can help you with various tasks and topics. You have introduced yourself very well, but I noticed some minor errors in your message. If you don’t mind, I can help you rewrite it to make it more accurate and natural. Here is my suggestion:
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Stephen and I am 55 years old. I live in Ho Chi Minh City and there are 4 people in my family. In my free time**,** I like painting and drawing.
Do you see the difference?
How To Use ChatGPT For Learning English
A 90-Minute Lesson Plan For ESL English. (Provided by ChatGPT)
Here is a possible lesson plan for using ChatGPT in an ESL class:
Objective: To practice conversational skills and vocabulary using ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can interact in a natural way.
Materials: Computers or mobile devices with internet access, ChatGPT website (chat.openai.com), paper, and pens.
Procedure:
- Warm up; (10 minutes): Ask the students to brainstorm some topics they would like to talk about with a chatbot. Write their ideas on the board and have them vote for the most interesting ones. Explain that they will use ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can answer questions, tell stories, give opinions, and more.
- Demonstration (10 minutes): Show the students how to use ChatGPT on the website. Choose one of the topics from the board and type a message to start a conversation with the chatbot. Show the students how the chatbot responds and how they can continue the dialogue. Point out some features of the chatbot, such as its ability to ask follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. Explain that the chatbot is not perfect and sometimes it may write incorrect or nonsensical answers. Encourage the students to be curious and respectful when chatting with the chatbot.
- Practice (40 minutes): Divide the students into pairs and assign them a computer or a mobile device. Have them choose one of the topics from the board or come up with their own. Tell them to take turns typing messages to ChatGPT and reading “its” responses aloud. Remind them to use complete sentences and correct grammar and spelling. Tell them to keep track of how long they can maintain a coherent and engaging conversation with the chatbot. Have them switch topics every 10 minutes.
- Feedback (20 minutes): Have each pair share their experience with ChatGPT with the class. Ask them to report on how long they chatted with the chatbot, what topics they discussed, what they learned from the chatbot, what they liked and disliked about the chatbot, and what difficulties or challenges they faced. Write their feedback on the board and discuss it as a class. Ask them to suggest some ways to improve their conversational skills and vocabulary using ChatGPT.
- Wrap up (10 minutes): Review the main points of the lesson and ask the students to reflect on their learning outcomes. Ask them if they would like to use ChatGPT again in the future and why. Give them some homework assignments, such as writing a summary of their conversation with ChatGPT, researching more about ChatGPT or other AI chatbots, or creating their own prompts for ChatGPT.
Final Thoughts.
While it is possible to use ChatGPT and other AI programs, the one major drawback is being able to provide computers to each student. In a lot of countries that teach ESL the students and schools do not have the resources that they have in Western Countries.
In Vietnam, where I teach, the infrastructure to provide the resources in public schools is currently not available. The private schools could fund the hardware but the costs wouldn’t be able to be covered by most of the parents of the students.
While ChatGPT is unlikely to take over the teachers role in the classroom, I do expect there will be increasing changes throughout the Education Industry. Just how much remains to be seen.
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