ChatGPT Banner 2

Exploring Creative Ways to Use ChatGPT in English Language Teaching

What is ChatGPT, and how can it help teachers in the English language classroom?

ChatGPT, short for “Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer,” is an extensive language model developed by OpenAI that can generate natural language text. There has been tons of buzz around this innovative tool since it came out last year, with mixed feelings about how it could be used in education or if it should be used. What’s my position? I’m all for it, it’s a tool we can use to support teaching and learning English. 

 

ChatGPT and its Benefits for English Language Learning

     ChatGPT can be an invaluable tool for teachers in the English language classroom. It can help students practice various language skills, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and even preparing for speaking. However, I’ve read many articles debating where ChatGPT should be used in teaching and learning since it could be just another way for students to get out of doing their homework. 

     As English teachers, you could tell if your students used a translator on a writing task; the same occurs with using ChatGPT. Although it can mimic a human, it will never quite get the exact style your students use of the language, their level of English, or their lexis. We can tell, so I don’t think it will impact our work negatively, but it could benefit our teacher activities and students’ learning process. 

     So, let’s explore how we can get the most out of ChatGPT in ELT. One of the ways that ChatGPT can be used in the classroom is through the use of prompts and questions. Teachers can prepare these for ChatGPT to either generate responses that help them plan a lesson or develop content that students can use to learn.

For Students

  • You can use the model as a starting point for class discussion. Ask the students to explain their understanding of the model’s response, and you can ask higher-order thinking skill questions to promote critical thinking. 
  • Using ChatGPT as a writing assistant, students can input a sentence or a paragraph in their own words, and the model will help them with grammar, vocabulary, or even spelling mistakes.
  • Students can then analyze the model’s responses and compare them to their own answers, leading to a better understanding of the language.
  • It can also be used as a self-study tool. Teachers can assign homework that involves interacting with the model, and students can share their findings with the class. This can be an excellent way for students to practice their language skills in a fun and engaging way.
  • Students can also use ChatGPT to learn or practice vocabulary. 

For teachers 

Now, as you can see, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that you can use in the English language classroom. But it can also help teachers to create interactive and engaging lessons. 

These are just a few examples of how ChatGPT can be used in the English language classroom. The possibilities are endless, and I encourage you to experiment with different ways to use ChatGPT in your teaching practice to save time and still offer personalized and differentiated content for your students. It’s a powerful tool that can help to make language learning more fun, interactive, and practical. Give it a try, and let your creativity flow!

About-us-gallery-ELT-Think-Tank-3

Tatiana

Gómez Ramírez
Banner-Using-Pear-Deck-to-promote-engagement-in-remote-teaching

Using Pear Deck to promote engagement in remote teaching

In our ELT Lounge held on April 29, we explored how to use Pear Deck and found out how we could make the most of it for our current emergency remote teaching circumstances. Here you’ll find the video of our session, but we’d also like to share with you some additional tips for using Pear Deck.

Tip # 1: Use the Google Slide Add-on (Recommended)

Especially if you are using Google Drive and Google Classroom with your students, it’ll really save you some time when creating your lessons. Find out how to get the add-on here.

Great for saving and recycling your lessons. 

Tip #2: Use the student-paced lessons

You can organize your slides so that students can work through the slides and interact with them with a deadline. You can track their progress through Pear Deck and when you’re finished you can get the results and export the Takeaways (students’ results are saved as individual Google Docs in a Google Drive folder).  

Tip #3: Add audios to slides

When sharing the slides for student-paced activities, adding audio will definitely change your students’ experience while completing the activity. You can easily add audio to your slides to prompt your students, offer instructions, or even just motivate them. Learn how to add the audios here.

Tip #4: Use Pear Deck for remote learning

During this pandemic. It has become even more essential for us teachers to find tools that offer options when teaching remotely and Pear Deck stands the test. It allows you to teach in live sessions, in student-paced lessons and they even offer ideas to use it for remote learning. Check out the video to find out more about How to teach a remote lesson with Pear Deck.

We have our ELT Lounge the first and third Wednesday of every month. Be sure to sign up for our next ELT Lounge