What is ChatGPT, and How Can it Help ESL Teachers?

I believe teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs, but sometimes, it can also be difficult to keep up with the demands of our responsibilities. As teachers, we need to stay on top of lesson planning, manage classes, be there for our students to answer their questions, and keep them engaged and motivated while ensuring they properly learn. 

With the rise of technology, I started wondering how it can help us as ESL teachers. One new solution that is gaining traction in the world of ESL teaching is ChatGPT. 

ChatGPT is an AI(artificial intelligence)-driven platform that can help us as ESL teachers by making our jobs potentially easier and possibly facilitating communication between teachers and students.

Let us take a closer look at what ChatGPT is,  how it can benefit us as ESL teachers, and its drawbacks.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. It is basically a model trained on a large amount of data to interact in a conversational way. It is built in a dialogue format that allows it to answer follow-up questions, write essays and programming code, brainstorm ideas, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. 

How can ESL teachers ChatGPT in their classes?

ChatGPT is a web-based platform that uses natural language processing technology that can help ESL students learn English. Instead of relying on traditional methods like worksheets, flashcards, or drills, ChatGPT uses an artificial intelligence system that mimics human conversation. 

Using ChatGPT allows students to interact in a conversational way with their computers as they would with real people by writing sentences, asking questions, and engaging in dialogue. ChatGPT then responds accordingly to students’ queries. 

 How can ChatGPT help ESL teachers?

•  ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for ESL teachers. Since it can generate coherent and natural text in response to a series of questions or prompts, ESL teachers can use ChatGPT to create realistic English dialogues and scenarios.
• ChatGPT can be an excellent way for teachers to interact with their students. As ESL teachers, we can use ChatGPT to teach conversation. 
• ESL teachers can create customized lessons based on students’ levels, interests, and learning styles. For example, as teachers, we can use ChatGPT to create engaging texts and generate comprehension questions and word lists.
• ESL teachers can also use ChatGPT to design a wide range of resources specifically for English language learners, including grammar exercises, pronunciation practice, and vocabulary quizzes.
• ESL teachers can use ChatGPT to teach new concepts. Let’s say you are teaching your students formal vs informal: you can use ChatGPT to quickly write two versions of the same essay, formal and informal versions. You can then ask your students to highlight the differences between the texts, which will help them understand formal and informal. 
• You can also use ChatGPT to teach your students vocabulary words. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to describe a typical winter day in Canada, but beforehand you can ask your students to predict the words that might appear in ChatGPT’s answer.

Benefits of using ChatGPT in ESL classrooms

Using ChatGPT in your ESL classes has many benefits. It takes away some of the burdens of lesson planning by automatically generating engaging content tailored to each student’s individual needs. I believe this can save ESL teachers a tremendous amount of time and energy. 

In addition, ChatGPT can provide an immersive learning experience for ESL students. With its conversational approach and interactive features, it helps bring the language to life in a way that other methods cannot match. 

Also, because ChatGPT is web-based, it can be used anywhere and anytime, which makes it ideal for both in-person classes and online learning settings. 

ChatGPT also allows ESL teachers to easily track student progress over time to understand each student’s strengths and weaknesses better and tailor future lessons accordingly. 

Drawbacks of using ChatGPT in ESL classrooms

Like anything in life, ChatGPT also has some drawbacks that you should consider before deciding whether it is right for you and your students. For example, since AI generates all materials, there may be errors or inaccuracies within certain lesson plan components, including historical data, facts and grammar, or spelling mistakes in text-based exercises. 

Also, ChatGPT’s knowledge is limited to only 2021 data (at the time of this writing), meaning it can’t answer events that happened after 2021 or answer current questions.

I also believe that relying solely on ChatGPT in ESL classrooms will take away the human element of teaching, which may affect student motivation and engagement levels over time, depending on their individual learning styles. 

While ChatGPT offers a wide variety of resources, it needs more flexibility compared to traditional methods, where ESL teachers have full control over curriculum design and implementation. 

As for now, there is no one way to use ChatGPT in a classroom; it is up to us as ESL teachers to adjust and adapt it to our students’ needs and levels. 

What is the verdict: is ChatGPT good or bad for ESL teachers?

Overall, while there may be drawbacks associated with using ChatGPT as an ESL teaching tool, its benefits far outweigh any negatives, particularly when considering how much more efficient it makes instruction by allowing teachers to monitor each student’s progress individually. 

One thing I want us to keep in mind is that ChatGPT is still in its infancy, and I believe it will continue to improve. 

My suggestion for every ESL teacher is to learn how to use ChatGPT, even if you don’t plan to use it in your class. You might be wondering why? Because understanding ChatGPT and how it answers questions will help you detect essays written by students and essays written by  ChatGPT. 

As ChatGPT continues to improve, I am sure there will be new ways to use it as an ESL teaching tool. If you are using ChatGPT in your class, please share with us in the comments section below.