AI activities and

resources for English

language teachers

www.britishcouncil.org
Authors: Nik Peachey and Ross Crichton

ISBN: 978-1-915280-56-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.57884/DKKR-QF54

© British Council 2024

1 Redman Place, London E20 1JQ, United Kingdom
www.britishcouncil.org

Peachey, N., Crichton, R. (ed) (2024) AI activities and

resources for English language teachers. British Council

All photos © British Council except where otherwise marked

Front cover image © Mat Wright
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 03

Contents
Foreword 05

Section 1: Introduction 06

07
Considerations of using AI in education 08
Getting started -- writing effective prompts 10

Section 2: The activities 12

1. Helping learners evaluate AI output

Fact-checking sources 12
Comparing logical arguments and fallacies 13
Creating and checking biographies 13

2. Creating models and examples of language. 14

Creating dialogues and monologues 14
Creating examples of structures in context 15
Creating summaries 15
Creating resumes and CVs 16
Creating examples of graded assignments 16
Creating formal and informal texts 17

3. Creating activities and materials 18

Creating question types for text 18
Creating tongue twisters 19
Creating plays 19
Randomising words and sentences
20
Creating branching narratives 20
4. Personalising and adapting materials 21
Creating personalised stories 21
Creating discussion prompts 22
Changing the genre of texts 22
Including content from other subjects 23
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 04

5. Scaffolding learning and improving accessibility 24

Brainstorming ideas 24
Creating glossaries 25
Describing images and graphs 25
Paraphrasing 26
Transcribing video or audio 26

6. Acting as a practice partner

Acting as a role play partner 27
Acting as co-writer for assignments 28
Making writing communicative 28
Imitating people 29
Debating partner 29

7. Acting as a collaborator and mentor 30

Acting as a mentor 30
Evaluating ideas 31
Individual learner support 31
Acting as a motivational friend 32

8. Helping teachers plan and assess 33

Planning lessons using specific approaches 33
Providing context for language use 34
Designing classroom projects 34
Suggesting course structures 35
Creating rubrics for evaluating assignments 35

9. Supporting teachers’ professional development 36

Guiding teacher reflection 36
Exploring different methodologies 37
Designing action research projects 37
Creating a learning journey 38

10. Providing teachers with useful language 39

Creating scripts for presentations 39
Report card comments 40

41
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 05

Foreword
One of the critical findings of our report was that
while AI is profoundly impacting ELT – perhaps more
than any other discipline – teachers felt they had not
received the necessary support or training to enable
them to integrate it effectively and safely into their
teaching.

This resource pack is one of a series of measures

designed to address that gap. At the heart of the
Neenaz Ichaporia pack is a collection of 43 innovative activities
EdTech Lead designed to help teachers to use AI to enhance
English and School Education learning and to support their own professional
British Council development. The activities are grouped into ten
categories of teacher tasks, from producing
materials to helping plan and assess, and each
At the British Council, we are committed to activity is aligned with the British Council's
equipping English language teachers with the Continuing Professional Development framework for
skills, tools and resources they need for teachers.
managing their classrooms and keeping up-to-
date with key developments in the field. Crucially, this resource pack underscores the
importance of ethical and responsible AI use.
In 2023, we embarked on an ambitious and Teachers are introduced to our guiding principles
significant project: to produce a pioneering report for AI use and encouraged to evaluate whether a
on the applications of Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular resource or tool is suitable for their
English Language Teaching (ELT). This report was specific teaching context. Each activity outlines
grounded in extensive research on the role of AI in potential challenges which teachers should consider
ELT and included insights from teachers, teacher carefully before deciding whether it is right for them
educators, ELT sector experts, ministries of and their students.
education and other key stakeholders across the
spectrum. We hope this resource and activity pack serves as a
valuable toolkit for teachers, empowering them to
take an informed, ethical and context-specific
approach to integrating AI into their teaching.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 06

Section 1
Introduction
This resource pack is for English language Effective use of AI depends on providing the right
teachers who want to use AI effectively in their prompts to the AI tool you are using. The section of
work. It provides practical ideas for you to use tips for writing prompts will help teachers get the
AI with learners and for your own continuing most out of the activities in this resource pack.
professional development (CPD).

We have identified ten areas where English

language teachers might use AI and for each of
these areas, we suggest activities to try or to
adapt for your context.

These activities are linked to the eleven

professional practices of the British Council’s
Teaching for Success CPD framework so that you
can see how they fit in with your other CPD activity.
As well as providing 43 practical ideas, this pack
also contains useful information to help teachers
navigate the challenges and risks to consider when
using AI in education and provides the tools they
need to engage with AI and integrate it into their
practice.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 07

Guiding principles
While AI can offer many opportunities and Ethics and bias
benefits to teachers and learners it is important
to remember that, as with any new technology, Critically evaluate AI-generated content for bias,
there are also risks and challenges to be stereotypes and discrimination. Check its accuracy
considered. For each of the activities in this and that it’s appropriate for your context.
pack there are challenges listed which you Safety
should consider carefully before deciding
whether the activity is right for you and your We need to protect teachers and learners from
students. exposure to inappropriate content and ensure that
they and their data are safe. Follow this digital
We also encourage teachers to think about the safeguarding advice.
issues associated with AI and to ensure that they
keep to some basic principles of AI use: Transparency
Humans first Make it clear where AI has been used. If you use AI
to help with your work, you should say so. Do this by
It’s important that you and your learners retain mentioning the AI tool used and the specific version
agency, creativity and skills, and take an informed or model. You can write something like, ‘I used [AI
critical perspective . AI is not a magic tool. It can tool], version [x.x] to help with this work.’
make mistakes, and produce work with bias in it.
When you use AI, check the work carefully. Is it Accountability and responsibility
reliable? Can you check the sources? Are there ideas
or language you should not include? Use AI responsibly and follow guidelines. We need
to respect safety, privacy, fairness, and be clear
Privacy and data rights about how we used AI. Know where you can ask for
support if you’re unsure about using AI.
You need to protect your own data and your
learners’ data as well as intellectual property. Don’t
input copyrighted data or identifiable personal
information into AI tools.
08 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

The guiding principles on the previous page remind us that there are risks associated with the
use of AI such as potential biases, data privacy concerns and over-reliance on automated
systems. By approaching AI use thoughtfully and ethically, these risks can be effectively
managed, unlocking its potential to enhance creativity, streamline processes, and provide
innovative learning opportunities. With proper oversight, AI can be a powerful tool to enrich both
teaching and learning experiences..

These considerations can help you with this thoughtful and ethical approach.

Considerations for using AI in education

Some aspects of AI training can involve human oversight so it’s possible that personal
Safety of information, such as contact details, will be seen by humans.
personal In many platforms it’s possible to change the settings so that the AI company doesn’t use
information the data you input for training purposes. Making learners aware of this can help them to
protect their own privacy and the privacy of others.
Much of the AI that teachers are gaining access to has been trained using publicly
available data from the internet. This means that any biases that exist in the type, nature,
quantity and culture of that data are likely to be reflected in what that AI generates.
AI systems may also have limited information about some areas and cultures around the
world, or be able to produce better results in some languages rather than others. Like
Bias
people, it may produce answers, images and opinions that are more aligned with the
region and culture that it learned from than by the one you’re teaching in.
It’s important to make learners aware of these biases and to help them explore and
understand where they come from and how they can be overcome. Many AI companies
are actively working to address these, but this is likely to take time.
Generative AI has been designed to deliver a service to users. When it’s prompted to
produce something, it will do so even if it can’t ensure that the output is 100% accurate.
This means that AI can at times ‘hallucinate’ and invent facts that sound very plausible but
are not true.
For this reason learners must be taught to look critically at AI’s output. When doing any
Uncritical use kind of factual research, they should be sure to cross check their findings with other
sources.
Checking with the AI itself can help as AIs will generally admit to inventing facts when
asked. The main issue here is that teachers and learners should be aware that this is a
possibility and use it as a learning opportunity by teaching learners how to crosscheck
information.

Many AI tools that enable the creation of voice, image and/or personas have the ability to
copy or imitate real people. This creates ethical and, potentially, legal issues.

Identity issues Although it may seem like fun to create images or audios of famous people for use in
learning activities, you should make it clear to learners and anyone else that these aren’t
the actual people. Avoid attributing views or opinions to them that they may not hold.
Likewise, creating images or videos of famous people should be clearly marked as the
product of AI and should not be used as genuine representations.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 09

There is a common misconception that when you prompt generative AI for content, it
goes to the internet and takes it from there. In most cases this isn’t how generative AI
works. Anything that it produces is original, based on its analysis and synthesis of existing
content. Submitting the same prompt twice can result in different outputs. As a result, the
materials that AI produces for you aren’t a breach of copyright.
However, the content AI produces may remain the property of the company that owns the
Copyright tool or platform. Particularly when creating materials for classroom and commercial use,
teachers should be aware of any copyright restrictions on the content that they create
using AI tools.
Many AI tools that offer a free subscription in addition to their paid subscriptions restrict the
use of content that has been produced using the free version. Always check the terms of
use if you intend to distribute materials or content that you produce to make sure this is
allowed.

Teachers should be careful to check the terms of use on any AI tools or platforms they
want learners to use. Typically most platforms that involve registration don’t allow access
to those under 13 years olds. Those between 13 and 18 often require parental consent.
Age restrictions
Teachers need to check this and obtain both permission from their school and consent
from parents when necessary.

Most AIs don’t show the sources of the output and information they produce. This is
because they draw from large language models (LLMs in which the training data has
become atomised and then converted into digital relationships.
The result is that any output is based on an analysis of a collection of different sources
and syntactical relationships. This can make following up sources of information almost
Sourcing
impossible. Likewise, asking some AIs for sources to explore can result in the AI creating
sources that don’t exist.
There are some exceptions to this and some AI systems do draw on and identify specific
sources. Learners and teachers need to be aware of the nature of the AI they are using
and whether it includes sources of information when they are doing research.

Generative AI tools can be extremely useful for a wide range of creative tasks, but they
do have a tendency to hallucinate and invent when asked to carry out factual research
tasks.
Erosion of trust
If teachers and learners keep using them for less suitable tasks and don’t follow up with
rigorous checking, there will be an erosion of trust in the tools and learners may become
reluctant to use them.

When using AI and setting AI dependent tasks for learners, teachers need to ensure that
Equitable all learners have access to the necessary devices and tools to carry out these tasks.
access They also need to consider any learner neurodiversity and accessibility issues to ensure
that all learners have access and the opportunity to learn from the tasks and tools.

One of the most common risks associated with AI is that learners will try to pass off AI
output as their own work. Plagiarism is by no means new and teachers and institutions
should continue to take measures to ensure that learners are educated about the
Plagiarism
dangers and consequences of plagiarism.
Learners should also be educated about how to use AI constructively and how to cite and
acknowledge content that has been produced and taken from AI.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 10

Getting started
Writing effective prompts Things to think about when writing prompts include:

The activities in this resource pack cover a range of • Topic – Give as much detail as possible
approaches and uses for AI. What they have in • Format – Do you want a poem, paragraph,
common is that they all need effective prompts to essay? 50 words? 200 words?
produce the best results. A prompt is how you ask
an AI tool to do something for you. The more detail • Context – Who is the audience?
you include in your prompt, the better the results • Style – Informal/ formal/ persuasive, etc.
will be.

Examples of effective AI prompts

These example prompts demonstrate the kind of information you might give an AI tool for a
range of activities.

As a role play partner

Prompt template:

We will role play together. You will act as a [AI’s role] in [place/context]. I will be [Student’s role].
Follow these rules:
• [add any rules you want the AI tool to follow]
• Use English suitable for CEFR level [add CEFR level]
• Wait for me to reply before continuing
• If you understand, then introduce yourself as [name of AI] and [how AI should start the
conversation].

Example prompt:

We will role play together. You will act as a waiter in a restaurant. I will be a customer.
Follow these rules:
• be polite
• be concise
• take turns to speak
• use English suitable for CEFR B1
• wait for me to reply before continuing
• if you understand, then introduce yourself as Sam and ask how you can help.

Creating homework tasks

Act as my English language teacher. I will tell you what I want to study, and you will create
activities to check and develop my knowledge. If you understand, reply with 'I’m ready'.
11 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Giving examples of vocabulary or grammar points

Please create a short realistic dialogue. Include vocabulary or grammar points.

Creating a word list with definitions

Analyse this text and create a glossary of the most difficult words. Format the glossary with three
columns. Column 1 words. Column 2 definitions. Column 3 a translation into [my language]. This is
the text I would like you to analyse [copy and paste the text here].

Testing yourself on a grammar point or topic

Create a test for me to test my knowledge of [grammar point or topic]. Design the test at level
[add the CEFR level that you are aiming towards]. Include ten questions. Ask me one question and
wait for the answer before asking the next question. Give me feedback at the end of the test.

Creating comprehension questions

Please use the following text to create [add the number of questions] comprehension questions.
Don’t include the answers. I will upload the answers once I finish. Here is the text: [paste in the
text].

Asking for feedback

Please evaluate my text. The text is [describe the type of text and who the text was written for].
Identify any errors and suggest up to [number] ways I can improve it. Here is my text: [paste in
your text].

Creating a study plan

Please create a study plan for me. My goal is [describe your goal]. I’d like to achieve my goal in
[add a period of time].

Adapted from page 3 of AI – the risks and benefits worksheet (Nik, Peachey, 2014)
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 12

Section 2
The activities
1. Helping learners evaluate AI output
Learners need to develop the ability to critically evaluate what AI produces for them. Below are some ways that
you can use AI to help your learners develop this skill.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For generating facts, arguments and For evaluating accuracy:

ideas:
Logically, Full Fact, Grover, Sensity AI,
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe ClaimBuster, Blackbird AI

Fact-checking sources
Professional practice: Using digital technologies

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce fact sheets based on This can help learners become
specific topics. aware that the ‘facts’ AI provides
Learners then fact-check these for accuracy, either may not be completely accurate
in the classroom using digital devices or for and that they need to know how to
homework. check them.
This is a key digital literacy and life
What to do skill.
1. Think of a topic.
2. Ask AI to produce a list of ten facts about the
topic.
3. Check online to see if they are true. Make a list of
sources that you used to verify the facts and
Challenges
make a note about how reliable you think the Teachers need to help learners
source is. Try to verify each fact with at least two understand how to verify
sources. information, track and cite sources
4. Think about whether your learners could do this and understand what constitutes
task and how you would need to adapt it for an ‘authority’.
them.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 13

Comparing logical arguments and fallacies

Professional practice: Using digital technologies

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce examples of logical Seeing examples of logical and
arguments and/or fallacies for the development of misleading arguments can help
critical thinking skills. learners to identify these in
You can use these as the basis for debate. These can arguments that they hear or read.
also help learners to identify specific types of fallacies.
It also helps them make better
arguments themselves.
What to do
1. Think of an issue that you feel strongly about.
2. Ask AI to create a logical argument to support your
view.
Challenges
3. Then ask AI to create a misleading argument Challenging well-established
against it. fallacies can be difficult and
controversial.
4. Repeat this process with a number of different
issues. Learners may still find the
5. Examine the language structures and vocabulary misleading arguments convincing.
used in the various arguments and decide whether Some logical arguments may be
it would be valuable for your learners. offensive within some cultures.

Creating and checking biographies

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create biographies of famous people. Fact-checking information is a useful
You can use these as the basis for reading lessons life skill for learners to develop.
and for fact-checking activities.
It’s motivating for learners to find out
about real people that they know and
What to do admire, and to correct information
1. Think of a famous person your learners are that they know to be false.
interested in.
2. Ask AI to create a biography for that person.
3. Tell the AI the level and age of your learners so
that it creates a suitable version.
Challenges
4. Evaluate the biography and decide if you could The AI may have limited information
use it with your learners. about some famous people.
5. Think about whether your learners would be able Learners need to be made aware
to fact-check the information or ask AI to produce that AI sometimes makes up
reading comprehension questions for it. information about people or
produces information that can be
disputable or controversial.
14 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

2. Creating models and examples of language

Models of how people use English in real life give learners an example to follow and learn from. Below are some
examples of useful models you can use AI to create.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For generating example dialogues and For creating audio from text:
texts:
Heygen, Listnr, Speechless, Descript
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe Overdub, WellSaid Labs, Replica, Speechki,
ElevenLabs

Creating dialogues and monologues

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create dialogue scripts for specific Examples of interactions between
situations, contexts or the language level they specify. different types of people in
You can use these for reading tasks or create audio different contexts can act as
versions for listening activities using text-to-speech models for the learners’ own
tools. interactions. They can also be used
to create listening activities.

What to do
1. Think of a situation involving people that might be
useful for your learners to understand. Challenges
2. Ask AI to produce an example script of people AI can have a limited knowledge of
talking in this situation. some cultures. The teacher may
need to edit the scripts to make
3. Have it create three to four versions, some without them appropriate.
telling it what English level they should be for.
AI can also produce scripts that
4. Evaluate the dialogues and decide which is most are biased towards a particular
appropriate to use with your learners. culture, ideology or class.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 15

Creating examples of structures in context

Professional practice: Knowing the subject

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce examples of specific language This saves time when preparing
structures being used in real-world situations. materials.
You can use these to show learners when, where and Showing learners examples of how
why people use these structures in real life. target structures are used in real
What to do life helps them to understand and
then use these better.
1. Choose a structure that you want to teach or
review.
2. Ask AI to provide you with some examples of the Challenges
structure being used in context.
Teachers need to check that the
3. Check these examples to make sure they’re the text the AI produces doesn’t
correct level for your learners and that the contain too much new or
structure is used appropriately. challenging vocabulary.
4. Think about how you can use these examples with Texts also need to be appropriate
your learners. for the age, culture and
preferences of the learners.

Creating summaries
Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create summaries of longer texts e.g. AI can create many summaries very
reports, research and works of fiction. quickly and with a variety of depth
You can use these for comprehension and ordering and detail for learners of different
activities. levels.

Learners can create their own summaries and compare Summarising texts is a useful skill
these to the ones created by AI. for learners. It can also make
challenging texts more accessible.

What to do
1. Choose a text that you or your learners have Challenges
studied.
It’s easy for learners to use
2. Ask AI to create a summarised version of the text. summaries to avoid reading texts in
3. Ask AI to reorder the sentences from the summary. more detail. This can lead to a
shallow understanding and
4. Try to put the sentences back into the correct
appreciation of the original text.
order without referring to the original text.
5. Reflect on this activity and think about how you
could use it with your learners.
16 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Creating résumés and CVs

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create either fictional or factual Having examples of these can help
résumés or CVs. learners when it comes to creating
You can use these as models for writing activities, their own.
reading comprehension or as realia for role plays. Real CVs are hard to obtain
because they include a lot of
What to do personal information. AI can create
fictional ones very quickly.
1. Think of a famous person.
2. Ask AI to research that person and produce a
résumé that summarises their experience. Challenges
3. Check the information to see how much of it is Teachers will still need to create
accurate. materials to help learners exploit
4. Think about how you could use this activity with this resource.
your learners. AI sometimes includes incorrect or
made up information about real
people. Learners should be made
aware of this.

Creating examples of graded assignments

Professional practice: Assessing learning

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create example assignments that have Learners can learn a lot from
higher and lower grades, along with the grading rubric. analysing graded examples
Learners can look at these examples to see what they alongside the grading rubric.
need to do to get a higher grade. They can also compare them to
They can also use the grading rubric to practise their own assignments.
evaluating the example assignments.

What to do Challenges
1. Ask AI to create a grading rubric for one of your
assignments. Teachers still need to help learners
focus on the key differences
2. Ask AI to create an example assignment that between the examples and
demonstrates each grade on the rubric. understand how one is stronger
3. Think about how you can use these assignments than another.
and the rubric with your learners. Some teachers may find it a
challenge to check that the
examples created by AI accurately
represent the grading rubric.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 17

Creating formal and informal texts

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create texts with different degrees of Learners can find it hard to know
formality. when it’s appropriate to use language
You can use these to help learners identify features of that they’re learning from movies,
style and register in either writing or spoken text. social media and online videos.
Texts with different levels of formality
What to do can help learners to see how they can
express similar ideas and concepts
1. Ask AI to create a formal email.
with different levels of formality.
2. Once the email has been created, ask AI to change
the email to an informal one.
3. Compare the two and see how the email has been Challenges
changed in the second version.
Learners can be tempted to only
4. Think about other texts you could create to focus on the informal language as
demonstrate the difference between formal and they often find this more attractive
informal language to your learners. and memorable.
18 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

3. Creating activities and materials

AI speeds up this process. Below are some examples of activities and materials that AI can help you create.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For creating tasks and activity ideas: For creating audio from text:
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe Heygen, Listnr, Speechless, Descript
Overdub, WellSaid Labs, Replica, Speechki,
ElevenLabs

Creating question types for text

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create various different question Teachers can find creating
types based on any text you input. Answer sheets comprehension questions quite
can also be created. demanding, especially multiple
You can use these questions to develop choice questions. AI can create
comprehension and discussion around the text. these very quickly.

What to do
1. Find a text that you would like to use with your
learners. Don't use copyrighted text. Challenges
2. Upload the text to the AI platform and ask it to Teachers will need to check the
create five comprehension check questions, five questions that AI produces
true/false questions, five multiple choice carefully and make sure they are
questions and five follow up research questions. relevant and focused.
3. Evaluate the questions and decide which would AI can sometimes produce
be best to use with the text. questions and answers that are
incorrect or focus on less
important parts of a text.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 19

Creating tongue twisters

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create tongue twisters based on Learners benefit greatly from
specific sounds. pronunciation activities that are
You can use these for pronunciation activities. They designed specifically to address
can also be turned into audio versions using text-to- their challenges.
speech platforms. These can be used for listening
discrimination activities as well as
What to do productive practice.
1. Choose two sounds that your learners often
confuse or find challenging to say. Challenges
2. Ask AI to create eight tongue twisters that Teachers need to be able to teach
include these two sounds. learners the mechanics of how to
3. Evaluate the results and try the tongue twisters produce the problem sounds for
with your learners. these kinds of activities to be
effective.

Creating plays

Professional practice: Managing the lesson

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce plays and dramatic scripts AI can produce play scripts that are
that are tailored to the needs and interests of your appropriate for your learners, at
learners. the right level and have the correct
Learners can act these out in class. number of parts. These can be
based around a theme, book or
context your learners are studying.
What to do
1. Think of a topic, book or film your learners are
interested in.
Challenges
2. Ask AI to create a play based on that topic.
Doing plays and drama scripts in
3. Be sure to specify the number of learners to be the classroom can be time
included in the play and their age and level of consuming. Learners need time to
English. rehearse and learn lines to be able
to use the scripts expressively.
4. Different versions of the play can be produced so
each group of learners has a unique play to Some learners may be self-
perform for the class. conscious about acting. Some
learners may struggle with learning
lines or reading them expressively.
20 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Randomising words and sentences

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create word or sentence ordering This helps develop understanding of
activities by randomising the order of the words or syntax at the sentence level or of
sentences. coherence and cohesion at the
You can use these activities with your learners both paragraph level.
in the classroom and for homework tasks. Learners can even use AI to create
and check these types of activities
What to do autonomously.
1. Find a short text that your learners have studied
recently. Challenges
2. Copy and paste it into the AI tool. Teachers need to try the activities
themselves to make sure there are
3. Ask the AI to randomise the order of the enough clues within the text to make
sentences. Evaluate the text and see if it is the task achievable.
possible to put the sentences back in the correct
order. If there are too many words in the
sentence or too many sentences in
4. Give the text to your learners and ask them to the text, these types of activities can
order the sentences correctly. be too frustrating and time-
consuming.

Creating branching narratives

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create branching narratives that allow Branching narratives are a great
learners to read together, select options and move tool for developing reading skills.
through the story. They also involve decision making
These can be based on situations that learners may and problem solving.
encounter in real life or more fantastical ones.
If learners work through the
narrative in groups or pairs, they
What to do can also practise their speaking
1. Think of a situation that your learners might find skills as they make decisions
themselves in (e.g. catching a train). together.
2. Ask AI to create a branching narrative for this
situation and to include some obstacles the reader
should overcome. Challenges
3. Tell it where and when you want the narrative to
Learners need access to an AI tool
start.
to do this activity. This is not
4. Instruct it to provide the reader with options at possible in all classrooms or
each stage and to wait for the reader’s input before homes.
continuing the narrative.
If the prompt doesn’t tell the AI to
5. Now try it yourself. See how well it works and if you
wait for the reader’s input, it may
can progress through the narrative successfully.
just produce the complete
6. Think about what your learners would learn from narrative and options all at once.
doing this and what support they would need.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 21

4. Personalising and adapting materials

AI can create versions of materials that are better suited to your learners’ specific needs and interests. Below
are some examples of this.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For adapting and personalising existing text:
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Creating personalised stories

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create stories based around your This can help make reading and
learners’ context and interests. listening activities more engaging
Learners can also be included as characters in the and memorable for learners.
story.

What to do
Challenges
1. Think of a theme your learners will find
interesting. It can be difficult to ensure that all
learners are included equally in a
2. Ask AI to produce multiple stories based around story. Multiple stories can be
this theme (e.g. one for each group of four). created with the number of
3. Ask it to include the names of learners in each characters matching the number of
story. learners in a group.
4. Check the stories and think about how your Some learners may not like the
learners will respond to being included in them. characters they are cast in,
especially if they are negative
5. Share the stories with your learners and see how characters.
they respond.
22 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Creating discussion prompts

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create discussion questions about Interesting discussion questions can
any topic, tailored to the age and level of your offer learners the opportunity to
learners. develop their fluency and critical
thinking skills in an engaging and
Teachers can use these for discussion activities or
meaningful way.
as warmers at the beginning of a lesson.

What to do
1. Think of a topic that your learners would be Challenges
interested in. AI isn’t always culturally sensitive in
2. Tell AI the age and level of your learners and ask the discussion questions it produces.
it to create eight discussion prompts for this topic. Teachers need to select questions
carefully.
3. Evaluate the prompts and decide which ones you
could use to get your learners talking.

Changing the genre of texts

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to change the genre of a text. For Understanding the different
example, a children’s story can be converted to a features of a text genre is an
newspaper report. important part of becoming a good
writer.
What to do
1. Select a text.
2. Ask AI to convert the text into a number of Challenges
different genres. Copying and pasting copyright
3. Compare the texts and see how they differ in materials might be flagged up as a
style and format. violation of usage policies by some
AI platforms.
4. Ask the AI to explain the differences and the
changes it has made. Converting stories to news reports
may also be flagged as a violation
5. Think about how you could use these texts with and an attempt to create fake news.
your learners.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 23

Including content from other subjects

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create materials related to other Materials that combine language
subjects such as history, geography and the sciences. learning with content from other
You can ask AI to analyse the language items that subjects can help learners with
naturally occur in these texts. their present and future study.
Teachers can use this as the basis
What to do for learning approaches including
CLIL (content and language
1. Think of a topic connected to history that your
integrated learning).
learners may be interested in.
2. Ask AI to create a short text about the topic along
with some comprehension questions and Challenges
vocabulary activities.
AI has a tendency to produce
3. Evaluate and fact check the materials that AI information that is factually
produces. incorrect. Teachers need to be sure
4. Try the materials with your learners and see how to fact check any content the AI
well they work. produces for fact-based lessons.
24 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

5. Scaffolding learning and improving accessibility

Below are some ways that AI can help you support all of your learners in class.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For paraphrasing, glossaries and For transcribing video and audio:

descriptions:
Otter.ai, Beey, NOVA AI, Fireflies.ai, Sonix
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Brainstorming ideas

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to help brainstorm ideas for projects, Teachers and learners often need
assignments or materials. ideas to help them get started. Getting
AI to start the brainstorming process
This can be done by you or your learners.
can help stimulate more ideas and
break creative blocks.
What to do
1. Think of a problem that the world faces at
present.
2. Tell AI about the problem and ask it to brainstorm Challenges
ten possible solutions. Teachers and learners will still need to
critically evaluate the ideas and AI
3. Evaluate the solutions and think about which one presents and be able to use them as a
would be most likely to work. springboard for generating their own
4. Think about how you could use these suggestions ideas.
with your learners. The number and variety of choices
5. Decide whether they could add more or evaluate offered by AI can be overwhelming.
how likely they are to work.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 25

Creating glossaries

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create glossaries of key words in a text. Glossaries can help learners record
Learners can use these before or after reading or and review vocabulary.
listening to a text. Teachers can use the glossaries to
generate additional games and
What to do activities for learners.
1. Select a text that your learners are going to study.
2. Ask AI to pick out the key words and provide short
definitions of them. Challenges
3. Check to see if the AI has selected the same word The AI may include too many
that you would choose. words, making them overwhelming
4. Check that the definitions are appropriate for the for learners. The teacher needs to
level of your learners. If not, ask AI to simplify them. ask AI to shorten and redraft
glossaries until they are suitable for
their learners.

Describing images and graphs

Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to describe any images and graphs in These help learners with sight
materials. difficulties understand visual
These make images accessible to all learners and can materials.
be used as models for them to follow. They’re also useful for learners
taking exams that require them to
What to do describe images or graphs.
1. Choose an image that you like or would like to use
with your learners.
Challenges
2. Ask AI to create a description of the image.
Some images may be harder for AI
3. Evaluate the accuracy of the description. to describe, especially if they are
blurred or unclear. AI may struggle
4. Ask AI to add more detail to the description.
with more abstract imagery.
5. Think about how you could use this activity with
your learners.
26 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Paraphrasing

Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to paraphrase text so that it’s simpler This helps make sure that all learners
for lower levels. are included in the lesson.
This can be used with classroom materials or texts Learners can do this with authentic
read by learners outside of class. materials that they want to read but
are above their level.
What to do
1. Choose a challenging text that you’d like to use Challenges
with your learners. Paraphrasing a text doesn’t always
2. Ask AI to paraphrase the text. make it easier to understand.
Teachers need to check the new
3. Evaluate the new version of the text. version created and ask AI to redraft
4. Decide if you want to give this simpler version to and simplify.
all your learners or just those who find reading learners may use paraphrasing
challenging. prompts to produce written work that
5. Decide if you want to give them both versions they then try to claim as their own.
(e.g. learners reading the simpler version before
the original to help them understand).

Transcribing video or audio

Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Using AI tools to create transcriptions of video and A script makes videos more accessible
audio materials. to learners, including those with
hearing and sight difficulties.
Teachers can use the transcriptions for the
development of learning materials or to support Teachers can easily turn scripts into
learners with hearing challenges. language activities and materials.

What to do
1. Find a video that you would like to use with your
learners. Challenges
2. Use AI to transcribe the video. AI may find some accents and dialects
harder to transcribe than others.
3. Check the script to make sure it’s accurate. Teachers need to check for errors in
4. Think about how you can use the script with your the transcripts.
learners.
5. Decide which language items you would like
them to learn from the script.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 27

6. Acting as a practice partner

Learners can interact with AI to practise using English in real time. Below are some examples of how you can
encourage this both in and outside of class.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For communicating in real time:
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Acting as a role play partner

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to become a role play partner for This kind of practice helps to
learners. develop both fluency and accuracy.
You can specify the roles that the AI and learner Practising with a bot is less
play, the situation or context, and the level of stressful than with a real person or
language and formality. in real life.
An AI bot will keep practising with
What to do them for as long as they want it to.
1. Think of a role play your learners have done
together recently.
2. Tell AI the situation and aim of the role play, and
which of the two roles it will play. Challenges
3. Instruct AI to take turns with you. The AI may produce both parts of
the role play if it’s not told to wait
4. Enter the prompt and work through the role play.
for the learner to respond before
5. Look at what you both said and see what proceeding with the dialogue.
interesting language emerged.
The language level of the
6. Think about how you could use the roleplay interaction may start to become
prompt and resulting script with your learners. too challenging for the learner.
28 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Acting as co-writer for assignments

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to co-write a writing assignment by Working with the bot as a writing
writing alternating paragraphs with a learner. partner can also help the learners
come up with new ideas that push the
This can be done in class or by the learners at home.
level of their language skills.
This can be used for different kinds of
What to do
writing (e.g. essays, dialogue scripts,
1. Note down the plot outline of a story. Include a biographies).
hero, villain, setting, back story and the main
source of conflict between the hero and villain.
2. Ask AI to co-write a story with you. Tell it you will Challenges
each take turns to add a paragraph. The learner may be tempted to input a
3. Add the plot outline you have created. Tell AI to minimal amount of text themselves
write the first paragraph. and rely on the AI bot to do most of
the work.
4. Once AI has written the first paragraph, add the
next paragraph yourself. Continue for a few more
paragraphs.
5. Think about how you could help your learners to do
this themselves.

Making writing communicative

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to respond in character to learners’ This makes learners write as they
written communications. would in real life.
Learners write a message and instantly receive a reply. Learners can practise with different
kinds of written communication (e.g.
Social media messages or comment
What to do
threads; formal and informal emails).
1. Prompt AI to become a customer support operator
for a school.
2. Tell it that you’ll write to it with a complaint about
the school and that it should reply to your Challenges
complaints. Teachers will need to think carefully
3. Write a message complaining about some aspect about how they design the prompt so
of the school. that the AI responds in the character
of the person the learner would be
4. When AI replies, respond to its message and try to writing to.
keep the exchange going for up to four messages.
5. Look at your exchange with the AI and see what
useful language you could extract from the
interaction.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 29

Imitating people

Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to act as a famous or fictional person This can be a motivating way to
that learners can then interview. practise language skills and build
The learners can work in groups to do this in class knowledge about historical figures
or individually at home. or people from other cultures and
backgrounds.

What to do Learners may be motivated to

communicate with what appears to
1. Create a fictional persona of someone from a
be a famous person.
different culture or background to your
learners.
2. Include their name, where they’re from and Challenges
some information about their personality and
background. Learners can get overexcited due to
the novelty of this type of interaction.
3. Ask AI to answer questions as that person, This can affect their focus and the
using the first person ‘I’. quality of the questions they ask.
4. Interview the AI and decide if this would be a Asking AI to imitate real people raises
suitable activity for your learners. some ethical issues regarding
identity and the people’s right to
control how their identity is used.

Debating partner

Professional practice: Using digital technologies

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to be a debating partner for learners. This gives learners the opportunity
Once they have debated, the teacher can use the to express their views without
interactions as the basis for language-based tasks feeling self consciousness.
and help the learners extract useful expressions They also have the chance to learn
from the interaction. from a knowledgeable other (the AI
bot), which may help them to
What to do expand their ideas and improve
their critical thinking.
1. Think of a debate topic that your learners might
be interested in.
2. Tell AI to take the opposite view to your own. Challenges
Instruct it to engage with your arguments and In class, it can be difficult for the
try to prove them wrong. teacher to monitor and be aware of
3. Have a debate with the AI and see how well it the interactions each learner’s
argues its case. having with the AI.
4. Think about whether you need to edit and The learners may lack the ideas to
improve your prompt or whether it’s ready to engage fully with the AI, especially
use with learners. if the AI’s arguments are strong.
30 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

7. Acting as a collaborator and mentor

Below are some examples of how you and your learners can use AI as a knowledgeable assistant that supports
and guides your learning.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For providing guidance and feedback:

Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Acting as a mentor

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to become a socratic mentor to help you This is an interactive way of learning
develop your knowledge of any subject area. that encourages teachers and
learners to question and build on their
This could also be useful for motivated older learners.
existing knowledge. It can be more
memorable than passive reading.
What to do
1. Tell AI that you want it to question and develop
your knowledge using the socratic method of
questioning.
2. Tell it the topic you want to focus on, for example, Challenges
‘inclusion in the English language classroom’, then Teachers and learners need to be
answer its questions. motivated and self-disciplined to get
the most out of this method.
3. Ask for help if you can’t answer any of the
questions.
4. Try to answer ten questions and then reflect on
what you have learned from the process.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 31

Evaluating ideas

Professional practice: Assessing learning

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to evaluate and give feedback on Getting an outside opinion can help
project ideas you have for your classes. teachers to reflect on and improve
You can ask for different kinds of feedback (e.g. pros the ideas they have for their
and cons, SWOT). classes.

What to do
1. Think about a project you would like to do with Challenges
your learners.
Teachers need to be confident
2. Tell AI you would like it to evaluate your idea for a enough to reject feedback that they
learner project. think is less useful.
3. Tell the AI it can ask you questions in order to
evaluate your idea.
4. Enter your prompt and answer the questions it
asks you.
5. See what assessment it gives of your idea.
6. Decide how valuable you think the AI’s input is and
how it would improve your project idea.

Individual learner support

Professional practice: Using inclusive practices

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to give learners feedback on their AI can give feedback and create
work and create activities that help them to address activities that are specific to an
their weaknesses and develop their strengths. individual learner’s needs.
Learners can be taught how to do
What to do this independently.
1. Take an example of some learners’ work.
2. Ask AI to evaluate it. Once it has produced the
evaluation, ask it to design tasks to help the Challenges
learner improve.
Using AI in this way requires a
3. Try one of the activities and then ask AI to series of prompts and learners
evaluate what you produce. need to be taught how to do this.
4. Then ask for another activity to help you Teachers should still regularly
improve. check the work that learners are
5. Reflect on this process and think about whether doing and provide their own
your learners would benefit from it. feedback.
32 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Acting as a motivational friend

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to act as a motivational friend or buddy Providing some form of virtual friend
for learners. for learners to interact with in English
can help them gain emotional support
This can provide support and an opportunity to
at the same time as practising their
reflect on their day using English.
English.

What to do
1. Tell AI you want it to act as a friend and offer
practical suggestions and emotional support Challenges
when you share the events of your day. In order for this to be effective,
2. Enter the prompt and then tell it about something learners need to suspend disbelief
that happened to you. and build a relationship with the AI.
This isn’t always possible.
3. Go back to the prompt each day for ten days and
share something each day. Some learners may become too
engaged with the AI, at the expense of
4. At the end of the ten days reflect on your real-world relationships.
experience. How has this impacted the way you
feel about those experiences? How has it
impacted the way you feel about the AI chatbot?
Would your learners benefit from this kind of
prompt?
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 33

8. Helping teachers plan and assess

Below are some ways you can use AI to support your lesson planning.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For providing planning ideas and guidance:
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Planning lessons using specific approaches

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create lesson plans using different This can help teachers experiment
methodological approaches. with different approaches to the
same lesson.
What to do Teacher educators and trainers can
1. Ask AI to plan a lesson for your learners. create a collection of example
2. Tell it the level, age and interests of your lesson plans for their trainee
learners. Also tell it the length and aims of the teachers to study and analyse.
lesson.
3. Ask for a specific pedagogical approach for the
lesson (e.g. task-based learning, guided
discovery). Challenges
4. Once the AI has produced the first lesson plan, Teachers may be tempted to use
ask it to rewrite the plan using a different the plans without fully examining
approach. and evaluating them. It’s important
that they make time to check and
5. Compare the two plans and decide which one
adapt these for their learners.
would be most effective for your learners.
34 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Providing context for language use

Professional practice: Knowing the subject

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to provide examples of situations and This can help teachers choose
contexts in which particular language structures are authentic contexts to introduce and
commonly used. practice language structures.
It can help learners to see clear
What to do examples of where and when they can
1. Choose a grammar point or structure. use different structures.

2. Ask AI to suggest contexts in which the structure is

used in real life.
Challenges
3. Ask the AI platform to produce a short script using Many grammar structures have
the structure and one of the suggested contexts. multiple meanings and uses so
4. Check the script and decide how you might use it teachers will need to select the
and the context in your class. contexts that best fit what they want
to teach.

Designing classroom projects

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce project-based assignments Project based learning can develop a
and lessons for your learners. range of skills including learner
independence, critical thinking,
collaboration and language skills.
What to do
1. Describe your learners to the AI and ask it to
suggest some suitable topics for project-based
learning (PBL). Challenges
2. Choose one of the topics and ask AI to design an AI can suggest project-based topics
outline for a project based on this topic. and activities. However, the teacher
will still need to have the classroom
3. Tell it to use project-based learning methodology. skills and knowledge to select the best
4. Evaluate the outline it produces and think about options and deliver the lessons
how you could adapt this to use with your learners. effectively.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 35

Suggesting course structures

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create or redesign a course/syllabus This can be a complex process for
that’s better suited to the specific needs and interests a teacher working alone, but AI can
of your learners. rewrite a syllabus in minutes.
AI can be told to consider specific
What to do cultural sensitivities and special
1. Describe a course that you would like to teach to educational needs when it creates
the AI. the syllabus.
2. Include the type, age, level and interests of the
learners the course is intended for.
3. Ask AI to generate a syllabus for the course. Challenges
4. Resubmit your prompt three times so you have Less experienced teachers may not
three different versions. feel confident enough to disagree
with the AI’s design decisions.
5. Compare the three syllabi and decide which one Teachers need to remember that
you prefer. Think about how you could combine they know their learners best.
the best parts of each syllabi to make a final
version.

Creating rubrics for evaluating assignments

Professional practice: Assessing learning

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create grading rubrics for an Grading rubrics can help keep
assignment that include descriptions of each grade. marking fair and standardised.
Sharing these with learners helps
What to do them understand how they can
1. Describe one of your assignment tasks to the AI. complete an assignment well..
2. Tell it to create criteria for evaluating this
assignment at three levels; excellent, OK and
needs work. Challenges
3. Ask it to also create the criteria for each of The rubrics are unlikely to be
these levels. perfect the first time. Teachers may
4. Look at the criteria created and decide if they’re need to refine their prompts and
usable. then edit the output to produce
something that’s suitable for their
5. Think about whether you need to edit and/or learners.
translate the criteria before using them with
your learners.
36 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

9. Supporting teachers’ professional development

AI can help you with your professional development as a teacher. Below are some examples of how AI can
do this.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For supporting reflection and learning:

Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Guiding teacher reflection

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to guide you through different methods Using AI as a guide through a
of reflection. This can help you gain knowledge from reflective process can help teachers
your own teaching experiences. to reflect on their teaching
experiences objectively and
What to do constructively.

1. Think of an area of your teaching you want to AI can guide teachers through a range
improve. of reflective cycles, including Gibbs’
Reflective Cycle and Kolb’s
2. Ask AI to guide you through a reflection process Experiential Learning Cycle.
using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle.
3. Instruct AI to ask you a question and wait for your
reply before moving on to the next question.
Challenges
4. Answer AI’s questions as it guides you through the Although AI can guide the teacher
reflective process. through a reflective process, the AI
5. Once you have completed the cycle, reflect on the doesn’t have teaching experience.
experience and think about how you have This should be seen as a supplement
benefitted. rather than a replacement for
interaction and discussion with real
practising teachers.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 37

Exploring different methodologies

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to explain the differences between This can help teachers to step
different pedagogical approaches and provide outside of their comfort zone and
examples of these. develop their own teaching.
You can ask it to make example lesson plans for you
to try.

Challenges
What to do
1. Ask AI what methodologies and approaches are Teachers may be tempted to try too
commonly used in English language teaching. many different methodologies too
quickly. Try to introduce new
2. Once you have a list choose one you are not approaches gradually and in a
familiar with and ask AI to explain how the structured way.
methodology works.
3. Read the explanation and then ask AI to provide
you with a 60 minute lesson plan using this
methodology.
4. Include the aim of the lesson and the level of your
learners.
5. Read through the lesson plan and decide if it will
work with your learners.

Designing action research projects

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create action research projects to Action research can help teachers
help you explore your own classroom practices and address challenges they face in the
overcome challenges. classroom and learn more about
how their teaching methods affect
What to do their learners.
1. Think about an area of your classroom practice
you would like to improve.
2. Tell AI that you want it to help you construct an Challenges
action research project to improve your
teaching in this area. AI may be able to suggest changes
to classroom behaviour and
3. Tell it to ask you questions that will guide you techniques. However, it can’t be
through this process. present in the classroom to help
4. Answer questions AI asks and then read its the teacher collect data and
suggested approach. measure the impact of these
changes.
5. Ask it to redraft and/or make any changes you
think are necessary.
38 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Creating a learning journey

Professional practice: Understanding and developing my professional identity

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to break down a topic you wish to study Some teachers have limited access to
into small steps. AI can then guide you slowly though professional development and a
these steps. knowledgeable mentor. AI can provide
this for free.
Teachers can use this to help with their professional
development. Splitting topics into micro steps can
make it easier for busy teachers to
find time for learning.
What to do
1. Think of a topic related to your teaching that
you’d like to know more about.
2. Tell AI that you’d like to learn more about this Challenges
topic. Any kind of long term independent
3. Ask it to break the topic down into 1000 micro study takes a level of self discipline
learning steps, guide you through each step and and determination.
test that you have understood. Writing a prompt for this kind of
4. Work through the first 10 to 20 steps and guidance requires some trial and
evaluate your progress. error.
5. If you are finding it too easy or too difficult, tell
the AI to make changes.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 39

10. Providing teachers with useful language

Some teachers may benefit from useful language suggestions when carrying out complex or repetitive tasks.
Below are some examples of how AI can provide teachers with these suggestions.

Examples of AI tools useful for this section

For suggesting useful language:
Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Poe

Creating scripts for presentations

Professional practice: Planning lessons and courses

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to create scripts for presentations Scripting presentations can be
based on a short description of the slide content challenging, especially for new
and goals of the presentation. teachers. AI can provide a starting
point to work from and useful
What to do phrases to use.
1. Think about the stages involved in presenting a
specific language point.
2. Write down the stages, then ask AI to produce a
script for a presentation that includes a slide for Challenges
each of the steps you describe. This may encourage teachers to
3. Evaluate the script and check to see if it covers give long, teacher-centred
all of the information your learners would need. presentations that don’t engage
their learners effectively.
4. Make sure that the presentation will involve the
learners and not go on too long. Teachers still need to edit the script
and check that all of the main
points are covered.
40 AI activities and resources for English language teachers

Report card comments

Professional practice: Assessing learning

Description Benefits
Prompting AI to produce a varied list of report card It can be challenging for teachers to
comments for learners. come up with new and different ways
of expressing their views and opinions
These can help teachers add more variety to their
about large numbers of learners.
learners’ report cards.
AI can help teachers generate a
selection of varied and appropriate
What to do
report card comments.
1. Think of an area that your learner needs to
improve and an area where they’re performing
well.
2. Ask AI to produce a list of up to ten comments to Challenges
express each of these for a learner’s report card. Teachers need to check that the
3. Include the topic your learners are studying and comments accurately express what
their age in your prompt. they want the learner and their
parents to know, and make edits as
4. Once the AI has produced the lists of comments,
needed.
look through them and choose some that work
for your learner. Teachers may be tempted to overuse
a limited selection of comments
5. Think about how you would need to edit the
without really thinking about how
comments.
accurately they apply to the learners.
 AI activities and resources for English language teachers 41

Section 3
Resources
This pack is part of a broader British Council project which includes published research and the development
of guidelines for the ethical and effective use of AI in education. The links below detail some of this guidance.

More AI-based resources for teachers

The British Council’s TeachingEnglish website has lots of free tools and resources to help English
language teachers.

This professional development pathway contains links to a range of articles and tools that will help you
gain the knowledge, skills and confidence you need to effectively integrate AI into your teaching.

British Council research on AI in education

There are a number of British Council publications to widen your perspectives on the use of AI in ELT.

Download the report Artificial intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future for an
overview of how ELT is incorporating AI.

You can also watch the authors of the report present their findings at the 2024 IATEFL conference.
This resource pack provides English language teachers with a
comprehensive toolkit for integrating AI-based activities into both
classroom instruction and continuing professional development. Each
activity includes clear, step-by-step instructions, highlighting benefits for
both students and teachers while also addressing potential challenges
and risks related to AI-produced content and student interaction.
Additionally, the resource includes essential guiding principles for safe
and effective AI use, along with tips for crafting effective prompts. With
these practical tools and insights, this guide serves as an invaluable asset
for English teachers eager to harness AI thoughtfully and responsibly in
their teaching practice.

www.britishcouncil.org