There has been much debate over the topic of AI in education, and we are constantly bombarded with new information and new AI courses delivered by universities and other credible and non-credible organisations across all domains. There is a plethora of AI tools that can make our lives easier, but is this convenience truly helpful for the development of students’ abilities and the personal evolution of the teacher?
What are the practical applications of AI in Teaching, focusing on EFL context?
AI-Powered Language Learning Tools
Learners are assisted by AI-driven platforms such as Duolingo, Babbel & Grammarly that can provide instant feedback, adaptive and individually tailored exercises, as well as pronunciation analysis, which can be effectively done through speech recognition technology (e.g., Google's Speech-to-Text tool). Automated writing evaluation tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid help students refine their grammar, vocabulary and structure in writing tasks, which is of great importance, since L2 learners can be provided with correct models of the target language. Other AI tools, such as AI chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Mondly) offer simulations of real-time conversational practice, allowing students to engage in natural dialogues, which is among the most vital aspects of oral skills development.
Personalised & Adaptive Learning
A significant feature of AI is that it can tailor learning experiences focusing on students' individual needs. It can analyse learner data in order to recommend personalised exercises that can fit the abilities and requirements of learners. AI can create a wide range of materials for all kinds of learners, including early finishers as well as learners with learning difficulties, so that diversity and multiple abilities can all fit in the same classroom. Detecting learning gaps and adjusting content accordingly with the help of tools such as Smart Sparrow or Knewton is also crucial since AI can complete this time-consuming task for the teachers, so that they can spend time doing other tasks or focusing on providing differentiated instruction through AI-powered tutoring systems.
AI in Assessment and Feedback
Is there a teacher who doesn’t want essays and tests to be corrected on their own? AI can do this job via automated grading tools (e.g., Turnitin, Gradescope) and it can also detect plagiarism and offer detailed feedback on writing. AI-enhanced formative assessments allow instant feedback, reducing teacher workload, which can support teacher’s professional development. More specifically, lesson planning automation (e.g., MagicSchool.ai, ChatGPT) can assist teachers create inspired lesson plans and tasks for their leaners. Teachers can also track their students’ progress and keep an archive of their work with AI-driven analytics. This is particularly important because this was something that traditionally took a lot of time and energy to do and in this way teachers can manage their time both in and out of class.
Benefits and Challenges of Digital Tools in EFL Teaching
Benefits
- Increased Engagement – Interactive AI-driven exercises make learning more engaging and students build their confidence more easily and boosts motivation if the tasks are approachable and feasible with the help of AI.
- Personalised Learning – AI adapts content to individual student needs focusing on weaknesses and necessary actions to be taken.
- Immediate Feedback – Students receive real-time corrections on pronunciation, writing, and grammar.
- Flexibility & Accessibility – Learners can study at their own pace, anytime,
- anywhere.
- Teacher Workload Reduction – AI automates grading and assessment.
Challenges
- Dependence on Technology – Over-reliance on AI tools may reduce critical thinking skills, as well as student and teacher autonomy. Copying and completing tasks without filtering information can lead to excellent students who perform with mediocrity.
- Quality and Bias in AI Responses – AI-generated content may have inaccuracies or cultural biases.The exposure to cultural and genre conventions is limited and many times AI can provide limited context awareness. AI struggles with pragmatic competence and discourse analysis leading to unnatural and contextually inappropriate responses.
- Privacy and Ethical Concerns – Data security and student privacy must be ensured when AI is used in class since many parents and students are concerned.
- Teacher Training Needs – Educators need proper and specialised training to integrate AI tools effectively.
- Loss of human interaction- The relationship between teachers and students has entered a new phase where things have become more impersonal and this does not help the evolution of both sides.
Enhancing Learning with Technology-Driven Strategies
Blended learning approach can be useful since the tutor can combine traditional instruction with AI-powered tools (e.g., flipped classroom using AI chatbots). Moreover, using AI-based analytics to identify struggling students and provide targeted interventions and individually tailored support is important and it can benefit multiple aspects of learning such as facilitating peer interaction through AI-driven discussion forums and collaborative writing tools. In addition, AI-powered gamification tools like Kahoot and Quizlet enhance engagement because it is a given fact that especially younger learners embrace educational games and respond better and more efficiently to them, rather than completing numerous tasks and learning grammar rules by heart. So, in class teachers can experiment and create a wide range of activities.
A nice idea would be AI-generated summaries for reading assignments using tools such as ChatGPT & SummarizeBot. Students can upload a long article to an AI summarizer tool, then they compare the AI summary with their own summary and they can discuss AI’s accuracy and whether any key points were missed.The obvious benefit is that it helps students analyse key ideas and improves critical reading skills. And even if they haven’t produced a summary of their own they will engage in the process of looking at the ready-made one and communicate what they think about it with the rest of the class. Another example is AI Chatbots for Conversational English using tools such as ChatGPT, Mondly or Chatbot.com. In this way students engage in role-play dialogues with an AI chatbot. The teacher assigns real-life scenarios as a classroom task (e.g., booking tickets, job interviews etc) and the students reflect on AI-generated responses and enhance their communication skills. This task provides instant conversational practice without pressure. As regards Grammar, the students can use AI for Grammar Feedback using tools such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid or QuillBot. The classroom activity that the teacher can assign is to ask students write a short essay or paragraph on a particular topic. Then they use an AI writing assistant to check grammar, coherence, and style and the teacher discusses common AI-suggested edits to reinforce grammar rules. The benefit here is that in this way autonomous learning is encouraged and accuracy in writing is apparently improved.
Final Thoughts for EFL Teachers
AI tools enhance teaching efficiency, but they should not complement or replace human instruction and interaction. This is something that teachers should bear in mind before using it and students should also be cautious not to fall in the trap of completing everything efficiently without knowing it. Teachers should critically evaluate AI-generated feedback before integrating it into lessons. So, the preparation needs to continue before class since the danger of teaching superficially is apparent. Finally, AI promotes student autonomy, but learners should develop metacognitive skills to assess its reliability, to filter the information they receive and understand that AI is a tool that assists learning and not the teachers themselves.
