Last week was my final class at the British Council, where I have been teaching English to adults and young learners for the past year and a half. As an educator, I am a huge fan of learner training and learner autonomy. This refers to equipping my leaners with skills that they can use to learn for themselves. With this in mind, I decided to have my last class with my intermediate and upper intermediate students on the topic of artificial intelligence, its impact on industries and moral/legal/ethical implications and strategies on how to use ChatGPT to develop English skills.
ChatGPT is a powerful tool for learning. It is a technological powerhouse that you can use to get the information you want. The responses you get depend on the prompt you put in. My advice is to experiment with the prompts and often, the more detailed your prompt is, the better the response.
The class was practical in nature and took on the form of a workshop in which I showed students prompts that they can use to develop English skills. These are the prompts we explored.
Using ChatGPT to explain grammar:
I am learning English and [INSERT LEVEL] level student. I do not understand the [INSERT GRAMMAR TOPIC]. Please explain the topic to me in a very simple way, with relevant and appropriate examples.
Using ChatGPT to test your grammar:
I am about the [INSERT GRAMMAR TOPIC]. Please create a set of questions to test my understanding of it. Include different types of questions, including MCQs, fill in the blanks and true/false.
Using ChatGPT for feedback on writing:
I am an ELT student and I want to improve my writing skills. I wrote an [INSERT TYPE OF TEXT]. Please give me feedback on my essay for the following four criteria: 1. coherence/organization, 2. lexical resource and vocabulary choice and 3. grammatical range and accuracy.
Using ChatGPT as a personal tutor:
I want you to act as my personal English tutor. Let’s have a conversation about [INSERT TOPIC]. Ask me questions, one at a time, and wait for my answers. If I make any English mistakes, current me and explain the correction. Give a clear explanation for each correction and then once I give you an indication that I understand, move on to the next question.
The above are just a few ideas. If you are learning English (or in fact, any language that ChatGPT supports), experiment with these prompts and see how it goes!
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