CALL Newsletter - August 2023 (Plain Text Version)
|
||
|
In this issue: |
ARTICLES CHATGPT EMBRACE DON'T FEAR: PRACTICAL USES OF CHATGPT IN LANGUAGE LEARNING CLASSROOMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION Christina Kitson, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri, USA
Introduction Since the 1980s, when personalized computers became more accessible, students have been using computers in their learning. Word processing software, electronic dictionaries and thesauruses, and access to the vast amount of information on the World Wide Web (WWW) have become available to students recently. In the last couple of years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become more accessible to the average user. In the fall of 2022, ChatGPT, an AI-powered conversational agent developed by OpenAI, was made available online for free and has become a topic of conversation. Noam Chomsky (2023) referenced these AI-based programs, saying, “Roughly speaking, they take huge amounts of data, search for patterns in it and become increasingly proficient at generating statistically probable outputs — such as seemingly humanlike language and thought” (p. 1). So what is ChatGPT? Here is a description of ChatGPT in its own words when asked What is ChatGPT: ChatGPT is an AI-powered conversational agent developed by OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research laboratory…. ChatGPT is designed to be highly flexible and versatile, allowing it to be used for a wide range of applications, including language translation, customer service, and educational purposes. It has been trained on massive amounts of data from the internet and can generate responses that are often indistinguishable from those of a human. ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with computers and could be a valuable tool for businesses, educators, and individuals looking to improve their communication skills. ChatGPT suggests in this description that it has confidence that it will make a large impact on the world, and I think based on the amount of attention it is getting, it will. I work at a university, and ChatGPT has been a much discussed topic, as many fear that it will be used by students to write papers and solve problems rather than them doing it themselves, thus creating a new form of plagiarism for teachers to address. Perkins (2023) suggests that careful development of academic integrity policies is needed to clarify how AI-based tools should be used by students and whether their use may be considered academic misconduct. It is crucial to teach students how to use ChatGPT appropriately and to indicate when they have used it. ChatGPT has nearly endless possibilities, and when compared to other AI systems, it “was trained on a much larger dataset, i.e., texts from a very large web corpus, and has demonstrated state-of-the-art performance on a wide range of natural-language tasks ranging from translation to question answering, writing coherent essays, and computer programs” (Kasneci et al., 2023, p. 2). Nonetheless, ChatGPT has also faced criticism. Chomsky (2023) argues that due to the lack of creativity and ability to explain what is happening, ChatGPT's language ability is limited. However, a non-novel approach to language can be useful for teaching basic elements and consistency, i.e., “Through the utilization of these models, opportunities for enhancement of learning and teaching experiences may be possible for individuals at all levels of education, including primary, secondary, tertiary and professional development” (Kasneci et al., 2023, p.2). Advantages of ChatGPT There are many advantages to using ChatGPT in the language learning classroom. One of the most significant is the potential to increase student engagement and motivation. ChatGPT is a new technology that many students find interesting and engaging. As teachers, we can leverage this interest to motivate students to participate in our activities. ChatGPT can also be useful for learning about other cultures, linguistic concepts, idiomatic expressions, slang, and general content. It combines the functions of a dictionary, thesaurus, Wikipedia, translator, and word processor into one system. Students can learn a great deal about topics they are interested in, in real-time, and reflect on their knowledge. They can also make comparisons and generate ideas for connections to concepts in their classes and beyond. Perhaps the biggest advantage of ChatGPT is its convenience and flexibility. Students can use the resource whenever they want and receive help at any stage of the creation process. With ChatGPT, students have the opportunity to learn and work at their own pace, while still receiving valuable feedback and assistance. ChatGPT Teaching Ideas There are many ways to use ChatGPT to teach language. For instance, it can create grammar and syntax questions, and students can answer them. Then ChatGPT can evaluate the provided answers, which allows for self-study. Moreover, ChatGPT can provide audio feedback to help students practice their pronunciation. To do this, you can use a browser extension called TALK-TO-ChatGPT in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. ChatGPT can also be used to help develop presentation outlines. Students can use it to understand slang, idioms, collocations, and learn new vocabulary. They can even learn about dialectical variation by asking what a word or phrase means in a specific region. Additionally, TALK-TO-ChatGPT can be used to carry on a conversation, and students can request information to be repeated , which helps them to develop active listening skills. ChatGPT can be particularly helpful for writing tasks. Students can use the tool to generate prompt ideas, outline their papers, draft their ideas, receive feedback from ChatGPT, and then run their final papers through other resources to ensure that they have written the majority of the paper themselves. This process allows each student to work through the writing process independently, at their own pace, while still receiving feedback and assistance. In the past, this process would have required teacher or peer intervention (submission, evaluation, feedback, peer-review, etc.). Furthermore, students can create unique stories through ChatGPT that they can either listen to or read to develop their skills. Once the conversation or story is complete, students can ask ChatGPT to create a quiz on the discussed topic to check comprehension. You can specify the type of questions you want, like multiple choice, and state that you want no answer key until prompted. ChatGPT will provide the quiz questions and answers when prompted. All of these uses allow for students to self-study and practice at their own pace, with as much or as little feedback as they want. As Kasneci et al. (2023) suggest, this ability to provide a personalized learning experience is a reason for teachers to use the platform in class. Moreover, teachers can use ChatGPT to create activities, lesson plans, quizzes, tests, and paper assignments for all language learning skills. These activities can be used in class or online, and teachers can provide prompts for students to work on with ChatGPT to fully benefit from the system. The prompts can serve as a guide for students to learn how to use ChatGPT effectively. Using ChatGPT There are many different ways to use ChatGPT in the classroom, as well as many different reasons to include it in your teaching. It allows for collaboration through meeting applications like Zoom. The easiest way to accomplish this is to create your class in Zoom, open a browser, sign in to ChatGPT, and then share the screen in your Zoom meeting. By doing this, teachers can work on a topic and show how to use the tool to work through ideas. As ChatGPT is an AI system, it learns as it is used. The more teachers use it in ways that benefit their students, the better it will be at guiding and providing feedback. In addition to being a useful tool for collaboration, ChatGPT is also a secure platform, as it does not collect personal information unless provided by the user. It is important for teachers using this tool to make sure their students understand the kind of information they should include and not include, so as not to inadvertently share personal information. Students should also be informed about the use of ChatGPT, so they are aware of any potential risks. Finally, it is important to be intentional in the use of ChatGPT. It should not be used just for the sake of using it, but because it brings something unique that other systems or applications do not provide. By using ChatGPT in a purposeful and deliberate way, teachers can enhance their teaching and help their students learn more effectively. Conclusion In conclusion, ChatGPT has the potential to transform the way we interact with computers, and it may be a valuable tool for educators, students, and individuals looking to improve their communication skills. However, because its use raises concerns about academic integrity, it is crucial to teach students how to use it appropriately and show them how to indicate that they have used it. By using ChatGPT effectively, we can motivate students, help them become more independent learners, and provide them with new opportunities to explore language and culture. (This paper was outlined and revised with the assistance of ChatGPT.) References Chomsky, N., Roberts, I. & Watumull, J. (2023, Mar 08). Noam Chomsky: The False Promise of ChatGPT: Guest Essay. Retrieved June 30, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Küchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., Gasser, U., Groh, G., Günnemann, S., Hüllermeier, E., Krusche, S., Kutyniok, G., Michaeli, T., Nerdel, C., Pfeffer, J., Poquet, O., Sailer, M., Schmidt, A.,Seidel, T., Sadler, M.,Weller, J., Kuhn, J., & , Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, 102274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274 OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat Perkins, M. (2023). Academic integrity considerations of AI Large Language Models in the post-pandemic era: ChatGPT and beyond. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20(2), . https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.02.07
Dr. Christina Kitson has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction/Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Kansas. She has taught English as a Second Language at two community colleges and two universities, as well as EFL in China. She currently teaches at the University of Central Missouri and coordinates the MSE in ELL TESL graduate program. |
|