Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Ten ways to seamlessly integrate AI into speaking and writing lessons.
Hello, fellow EFL teachers, and welcome to the digital age of education! At my recent graduation ceremony, the president Professor. Salvatore Fava, opened his speech by saying: "We are living in the age of artificial intelligence..." -how true, and relevant to say the least.
In recent years, technology has reshaped the way we teach, and learn, particularly in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Artficial Intelligence (henceforth AI) has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing the EFL classroom and providing us as teachers with innovative tools to engage, educate, and empower our students. In this blog post, we'll explore how we can leverage this new tool for the benefit of the students and our own professional development.
1. Debate AI Ethics:
Discuss current AI developments and ethical concerns with students.
Organize a debate on AI ethics, where students argue for or against various AI-related topics.
Assign writing tasks to elaborate on their ethical stances.
2. AI Storytelling:
Provide a simple AI-generated story and ask students to continue the narrative.
Encourage students to write their own AI-assisted stories, incorporating AI-generated plot elements. Have students read their stories aloud, promoting speaking and creativity.
Provide students with some prompts about AI, then lead them into a class discussion or put them into groups and each group share their thoughts with the class.
3. AI-Powered Pronunciation Practice:
Integrate AI pronunciation tools to help students improve their speaking skills.
Assign regular speaking exercises with AI feedback for pronunciation correction.
Review AI-generated reports and practice specific areas that need improvement.
4. AI in the News:
Assign students to find news articles about AI and summarize them in writing.
Encourage students to discuss the articles in pairs or small groups.
Hold class discussions where students share their opinions on AI advancements and their implications.
Assign a case-study which allows students to explore a particular aspect of AI, and present their findings.
5. AI Pen Pals:
Connect your students with AI-powered language exchange platforms.
Assign them pen pals or conversation partners who are AI-driven.
Ask students to write emails or have voice conversations with their AI pen pals to practice both writing and speaking skills.
6. AI-Enhanced Group Projects:
Divide the class into groups and assign AI-related projects.
Each group should research an AI topic, create a presentation, and deliver it to the class.
Encourage written reports and require group members to participate in the presentation, promoting speaking skills.
7. AI-Generated Creative Writing:
Use AI-powered writing tools to generate random prompts for creative writing.
Ask students to write short stories, poems, or essays based on these prompts.
Share the written pieces with the class and encourage students to read their work aloud.
8. AI Debate Simulation:
Choose a trending topic related to AI, to encourage debate and role-play.
Assign students to research and prepare arguments for or against the topic.
Organize a debate where students present their arguments, fostering speaking and persuasive writing skills.
9. AI Vocabulary Journals:
Introduce new AI-related words each week.
Ask students to create vocabulary journals, where they write definitions and use the words in sentences.
Promote speaking by having students share their journals with the class.
10. AI Predictive Writing:
Utilize AI tools that predict the next word in a sentence.
Assign students to start a sentence, and then use AI predictions to complete it.
Encourage students to read their sentences aloud, creating speaking opportunities.
Benefits for EFL Teachers
Now that we've explored how AI can benefit EFL learners, let's turn our attention to our teaching, and professional development.
1. Efficient Lesson Planning
AI can assist EFL us by providing resources and lesson plans tailored to specific student needs. We can save time and create more effective lessons with AI-generated content suggestions.
2. Improved Teacher-Student Interactions
With the administrative tasks offloaded onto AI systems, we can focus on what we do best: teaching. More individualized attention to students and personalized feedback can help build stronger teacher-student relationships.
3. Continuous Professional Development
Incorporating AI into the classroom allows us to stay updated with the latest teaching methodologies and materials, and we can engage in ongoing PD by learning how to effectively use these technologies.
AI Products for EFL
If you are looking for ready-to-go resources, the above links in this post will direct you to my Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) store - and once you’re there, make sure to grab the AI FREEBIE too!
That’s a wrap for this post- see you in the next one, and take care! 😊