Introduction

"Hi, everyone! We want to begin our presentation with a short trip back in time… Real
classroom photo from 30 years ago] Take a look at this image. This was a typical English
classroom three decades ago. Chalkboards, textbooks, handwritten notes… and of course, the
ever-present red pen for corrections. Teachers were the sole source of knowledge, and
students had to wait until class time for answers. Now, fast forward to today. [Show Picture 2
– AI-generated modern classroom] This is a classroom shaped by artificial
intelligence—virtual tutors, chatbots that never sleep, and personalized feedback available at
the click of a button. Students don’t just learn in the classroom anymore—they carry it with
them in their pockets. This shift from chalkboards to chatbots isn’t just about new tools—it’s
about how teaching and learning have changed. In our session today, we’ll explore how AI is
revolutionizing the EFL classroom. But we’re not just here to talk about AI—we’ll interact
with it, challenge it, and even debate whether it belongs in our classrooms at all.

AI in Education – Helpful or Harmful?

🌟 Interactive Opening Question
“Imagine you're an English teacher. Your student submits a perfectly written essay. You suspect it was
written by ChatGPT. What do you do?”

Let’s begin with the advantages of using AI in English as a Foreign Language learning.

✅ First of all, AI offers instant feedback. Whether it's correcting grammar mistakes, suggesting
better word choices, or even helping with pronunciation, students can learn from their errors in real
time.

Imagine a student using an app like Grammarly or Elsa Speak. They write a sentence like “She go to
school every day,” and the AI instantly corrects it to “She goes to school every day,” explaining the
subject-verb agreement rule. Or, when practicing pronunciation, a tool like Elsa might highlight that
their "th" sound in "think" was unclear and suggest how to improve it. This immediate correction
helps the learner avoid repeating mistakes.

✅ Secondly, AI provides personalized learning. Many applications are designed to adapt to a

learner’s level, making the experience more tailored and effective—especially in mixed-level
classrooms.

For example, platforms like Duolingo adjust their lessons based on the learner’s pace. If someone
struggles with phrasal verbs, the app will bring more of them into their practice sessions. If another
student is advanced in vocabulary but weak in listening, the program will shift focus accordingly. This
makes the learning journey more efficient and less frustrating.

✅ And of course, AI tools are available 24/7. Students can practice English anytime and anywhere,
which encourages independent learning and flexibility—something especially helpful for learners
with busy or irregular schedules.
Let’s say a student works during the day and only has time to study late at night. With AI-powered
tools, they don’t need to wait for a tutor—they can open an app like ChatGPT, ask for vocabulary
help, practice a short dialogue, or even get feedback on a writing task. This kind of flexibility allows
learners to fit English into their own lifestyle, no matter how unpredictable it might be.

These benefits sound great—and they truly are.​

But now, let’s look at the other side of the coin.

Like any tool, AI in education comes with its own set of challenges and limitations, especially when it
comes to language learning.

Now let’s speak about the cons of AI, especially in the process of English study.

1. The first disadvantage is the lack of emotional connection.

The Disadvantages of AI in Language Learning Limitations in Human Interaction Learning a

language goes beyond vocabulary and grammar; it involves social nuances, cultural understanding,
and emotional connections. AI systems often struggle to replicate the depth of human conversation,
including these essential elements. While many applications include chatbots for practice, these
interactions can feel unnatural. For example, a chatbot may not fully grasp a learner's tone or intent,
which can hinder the development of conversational skills in real-world situations. Take this example:
You’re practicing English with a friend and tell them, "I'm really struggling with grammar rule." Your
friend might respond, "I get it, I’ve been there! Let’s figure it out together." This exchange not only
helps with the technical aspect of language but also strengthens the emotional bond between you and
your friend, making the learning experience more enjoyable and less isolating. An AI might give you
the correct grammar rule, but it doesn’t offer that emotional support, which can be crucial for
overcoming challenges.

[Link]-reliance on Technology The convenience of AI in language learning can lead to

over-reliance on this technology. Some learners might neglect traditional methods such as reading
books, engaging with native speakers, or even travelling to immerse themselves in the language.
Though AI provides a wealth of resources, enriching experiences often come from face-to-face
interactions. It's crucial to maintain a balanced approach; relying solely on AI may limit exposure to
authentic language use and cultural [Link] a student who uses AI tools like Google
Translate or ChatGPT for every writing assignment. Instead of practicing how to form sentences,
choose vocabulary, or express ideas independently, they simply copy-paste prompts and rely on the AI
to do the thinking. Over time, this student might become faster at completing tasks — but not better at
actually using English. Later, when asked to write a short essay or answer a question in an exam or
interview without technology, they may struggle to form coherent ideas or even remember basic
grammar structures. Why? Because their brain didn’t go through the process of learning and
problem-solving — the AI did it for them.

3. Let’s not forget that AI can make mistakes—and sometimes quite confidently.
These tools are trained on massive amounts of data, but they don’t always verify what’s accurate or up
to date. In fact, they can sometimes “hallucinate”—that’s a real term used when AI provides
made-up or misleading information.

For example, in the EFL context, an AI might give a student an outdated grammar rule or suggest a
word usage that sounds correct but is actually not natural in real conversation.

Imagine a student asking:​

“Is it correct to say ‘more better’?”​
An AI might respond:​
“Yes, it adds emphasis to the comparison.”​
But of course, that's grammatically wrong. The correct form is just “better”—because it's already a
comparative adjective.​
In other fields like medicine or law, an AI mistake could be even more serious—providing false
symptoms or legal advice could lead to real harm.

That’s why it's essential to use AI as a tool, not as the final authority.

Example of AI Mistake: "American Equivalent of 'too'"

User asks:

“What is the American equivalent of the word ‘too’?”

AI responds (incorrectly):

“Americans say ‘also’ or ‘as well’ instead of ‘too.’”

Why this is misleading:​

While Americans do use also or as well, they also use “too” all the time! There's no “British vs.
American” divide for this word like there is for flat/apartment or biscuit/cookie.

The AI might confuse it with cases where word choice differs across dialects, when in reality, “too”
is universal in both British and American English—especially at the end of a sentence:

✔️ I like coffee, too. (American)

✔️ I like coffee, too. (British)
●​
●​

The real difference might come down to tone or how often as well is used in more formal contexts,
but “too” is standard in American English just like anywhere else.

AI Tools for EFL Students – Which One is the Best?

As technology continues to evolve, so do the tools available to language learners. In today’s
classroom—and even more so outside it—EFL students have access to a variety of AI-powered
applications designed to support their English learning journey. But with so many options, a natural
question arises: Which AI tool is the best for EFL learners?
👉
Before we explore that, let me ask you something:​
If you could only choose one AI tool to support your English learning—or your students’
learning—which one would you pick, and why?​

Now, let’s take a look at some of the most popular tools that students are using today—each with its
own unique focus and benefits.

Let’s start with ChatGPT. This tool has gained huge popularity among learners who want to go
beyond the textbook. With ChatGPT, you can have interactive conversations, practice dialogues, ask
for explanations of difficult grammar rules, or even get help editing essays. It’s like having a personal
tutor available anytime, ready to guide and answer your questions in a friendly, conversational way.

1. Time saving
All ChatGPT needs to begin is a prompt.
Once you tell ChatGPT what you would like from it, it does all the heavy lifting in a matter of
seconds. Whether you need ideas for an essay, a list of synonyms for a particular word, or a quick
summary of something you read, ChatGPT will help you with the answers faster than you could ever
come up with on your own.
Especially when it comes to brainstorming, ChatGPT is great for saving you time. The days of staring
at a blank Google doc are over, because AI is here to help you when you get stuck with that pesky
writer’s block.

Writing Assistance with ChatGPT – What Does It Actually Do?

This part highlights how ChatGPT can be your personal writing helper, especially for students
learning English. Let’s break it down point by point:

🔹 “Whatever writing-related question you might have, ChatGPT knows the answer.”
This means that no matter what stage you're at in your writing—whether you're just getting started
or polishing your final draft—ChatGPT can offer support. It acts like a writing tutor that’s available
anytime you need it.

🔹 “If you need help with...”

✅ Remembering a grammar rule
Example: You forget when to use "present perfect" vs. "past simple."​
ChatGPT can explain the rule in a simple way and even give you examples to help you understand
when and how to use it.

✅ Knowing the difference between two commonly confused words

Example: What’s the difference between "affect" and "effect"?​
ChatGPT can tell you which one is a verb, which is a noun, and how to use them in sentences
correctly.

✅ Finding the best way to start your essay

Staring at a blank page? ChatGPT can give you ideas for a strong introduction, a catchy hook, or
even suggest thesis statements to help you begin writing.

✅ How to write an intro/body/conclusion paragraph

Not sure what goes where in your essay? ChatGPT can explain the structure of an academic
paragraph, what kind of sentences to include, and how to organize your ideas clearly.

✅ “Any other burning writing question…”

Whether you want to check your tone, rephrase a sentence, get ideas for an email, or write a short
story—ChatGPT can assist in just seconds. It saves time and reduces stress.

[Link] and Picture Generation: A Visual Boost for Language Learning

While ChatGPT is mainly used for generating text, it also has a powerful feature called DALL·E,
which allows it to create images based on written descriptions. This means you can type something

🗨️
like:​
"Show a classroom where students are learning English with books, flashcards, and a globe."​
— and the AI will generate a custom image to match that description in just a few seconds.

📚 How does this help in language learning?

✅ Visual Vocabulary Building​
Students can see exactly what a word or phrase looks like, which is especially useful for abstract
terms or beginner learners.

✅ Storytelling and Creative Writing​

Teachers can ask students to describe a scene in English and then generate an image based on their
description. This encourages creativity and practicing vocabulary in context.

✅ Personalized Learning Materials​

Teachers can quickly create flashcards, posters, or illustrated scenes that fit specific lessons—without
needing graphic design skills.

✅ Engaging Visual Aids​

Some students learn better through images. Having AI-generated pictures makes lessons more
interactive and easier to remember.

Next is Grammarly, which many students already use when writing essays, emails, or social media
posts in English. Grammarly helps polish written English by correcting grammar, punctuation, and
word choice. For learners who want to boost their writing accuracy and confidence, it’s an incredibly
helpful companion.
PROS
Slips of the pen, tricky grammar errors and missing commas or words out of context, are highlighted
in real-time and easily corrected. Automatic spelling corrections speed up the correction process even
more.
Advanced premium features include making you sound more fluent and checking for inconsistencies
in spelling.
User experience feels tidier and easier to use than a standard word processing proofreader; i.e. it
didn’t interfere much with my writing visually.
There’s something satisfying about going through all the colourful highlighted words to get that
perfect score. But more on that later.

Then we have Duolingo—one of the most well-known and widely used language apps in the world.
Duolingo turns language learning into a game. It helps students build vocabulary, recognize sentence
patterns, and stay consistent with short, daily lessons.
1. The reward system is great and will keep you going
If you like simple games, Duolingo will be great! The simplicity of the game and its visual appeal will
keep you going. As you get comfortable in the language you’ll find your fingers moving more
speedily and you’ll be able to recall sentences in your mind quickly. This in turn will make you finish
levels faster. Duolingo also keeps track of how many days in a row you have played it, so keeping up
your streak is great motivation to practice every day!
2. You can play it on the go anywhere when you have a spare moment
If you live in an area where you walk a lot or take public transportation Duolingo is perfect. You’ll
feel productive on your commute and it can take the place of playing a mind-numbing game like
Candy Crush! Each lesson takes 5-10 minutes so it’s not a huge commitment to play a few levels.
3. There is an ever-expanding repertoire of languages
As of writing this blog post, Duolingo offers Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch,
Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Irish, Ukranian, Turkish, and Esperanto and there are several other
languages in the works, all through user-voluntary contributions. So Duolingo is the polyglot’s dream
and it continues to improve thanks to user feedback. If you get a question wrong but are pretty
positive that it was correct, you can report it and it will be checked on quickly. The quick updates
mean that Duolingo is constantly improving, which will keep you entertained and motivated.
4. Rather than rote memorization, Duolingo teaches by context
This fact is very important--many language classes unfortunately focus on rote memorization of
words, which is not only unnatural, but also tedious and ineffective in long-term memory storage.
Because Duolingo presents everything in context, you will get used to using the vocabulary words and
grammar points in a variety of constructions. With the help of a language class or a native speaker, the
things you learn in Duolingo will eventually come more naturally to you than they would if you
learned them in isolation.

And finally, there’s Elsa Speak, which focuses on one of the most challenging areas for many English
learners—pronunciation. Elsa allows students to practice speaking and get real-time feedback on how
closely their pronunciation matches that of native speakers. This is a powerful tool for learners who
want to sound more natural and feel more confident during conversations.
Pro: Systematic and Science-Based
English pronunciation is difficult to master for a reason, even for advanced learners. It’s hard to get
specific feedback on what you need to improve on! Native speakers can tell right away if your accent
is off, but they won’t always be able to pinpoint why exactly.
ELSA Speak uses a science-based method to assess which part of your speech you need to improve
on. You’re constantly getting detailed feedback about your English pronunciation, and the exercises it
suggests are picked out for you specifically.
Even a human tutor wouldn’t be able to do this in such a detailed way.
Pro: Diverse Exercises
ELSA Speak relies a lot on pronunciation drills, but even after a week straight of logging onto the
app, I never found it boring because there’s a wide variety of exercises. You can practice your
listening, learn how to talk about pets or even chat freely with AI about your college experience.
Another unique feature was their video call lessons. While saying conversational lines out loud, video
snippets appear to make it seem like someone is on a Zoom call with you.

Pro: Genuinely Helpful for Pronunciation

With so many language learning apps touting impressive taglines these days, it’s normal to be
skeptical, but I felt like my pronunciation was improving after a week.
As an advanced English learner, I thought my pronunciation was pretty good but not perfectly
native-like, and ELSA Speak gave me a concrete roadmap for getting better at it.
The schwa sound often trips up English learners, and yet it’s essential to sounding like a native
speaker. As I kept doing the exercises, I was hitting the schwa sound more consistently.
The app also gives encouraging feedback, which helps with feeling more motivated.

The future of AI
1. AI-Powered Brain-to-Brain Learning 🧠🔗
Forget traditional study methods—brain interfaces could allow direct knowledge transfer
between AI and humans. Imagine "downloading" a new language into your brain in seconds
or instantly understanding complex topics like quantum physics!

2. Virtual Classrooms with AI Hologram Teachers ✨📡

Teachers might not even need to be physically present—holographic AI instructors could
teach students in their living rooms, offering real-time explanations, adjusting their approach
for each learner, and even responding to emotions.

3. AI-Generated Dream Learning 😴💡

AI could reinforce knowledge while you sleep by integrating concepts into your dreams.
Research on sleep-learning is already happening, and in 10 years, AI might personalize
lessons based on brain activity during sleep.

4. Fully Personalized AI Tutors That Think Like You 🤖🧐

AI could become so advanced that it mirrors your thought process, predicting your learning
struggles before they happen, offering customized challenges, and even developing unique

🧠💭
teaching strategies just for you.
5. AI That Reads Your Mind to Personalize Lessons
Instead of answering questions, you just think about a problem, and AI detects your thoughts
to guide you in the right direction. No more frustrating moments of “I don’t know how to ask
this!”

6. Knowledge Injection via Nano-Tech 🧬🔬

Tiny brain-enhancing nanobots could boost memory and learning speed, allowing students
to absorb and retain information instantly. Learning a new language or skill could take
minutes instead of months.
So, is AI in education helpful or harmful? The truth is—it’s both.
AI offers powerful tools that make learning English faster, more personalized, and more
flexible. But at the same time, it can’t replace human connection, critical thinking, or the
authentic experiences that truly shape language mastery.
In the end, the key is balance: AI should support the learning process—not replace it.
Like any tool, it’s most effective when used wisely, with a clear understanding of both its
strengths and its limitations.