Leveraging ChatGPT for Spanish language instruction in and outside of the classroom
Lillian Jones
PhD Candidate, Spanish Linguistics �
28 February 2024
Davis Language Center Workshop
AI-Powered Language Instruction: Innovative Strategies and Applications
University of California, Davis
Student
Out-of-class activity
Instructor
In-class activity
Table Of Contents
Takeaways
1
2
3
Introduction
Elaborate on what you want to discuss.
In-class activity: Essential information
Elaborate on what
you want to discuss.
1
Instructor provides the following prompt to ChatGPT 4
“Por favor, crea una imagen que incluye todas estas palabras de vocabulario y pon el ambiente/escena en Argentina: amanecer, antigüedad, capilla, madrugada, milonga, pasear, recorrido, rodeado, destino, diseño, trasnochar.”
→ English Translation: “Please create an image that includes all of these vocabulary words and put the setting of the scene in Argentina: dawn, ancient times, chapel, early morning, milonga, walk, tour, surrounded, destination, design, stay up late.”
This image to the right is what came up.
ChatGPT is not always spot on with the images it makes, and the prompt engineer (instructor) should be really specific with what they hope to see as the end result.
amanecer, antigüedad, capilla, madrugada, milonga, pasear, recorrido, rodeado, destino, diseño, trasnochar.
dawn, ancient times, chapel, early morning, milonga, walk, tour, surrounded, destination, design, stay up late.
2
Small-group activity
2
Small-group activity
2. Instructor asks learners to analyze the image and decide which words from the list are represented in the image and which ones are not, and how.
*Instructor encourages students to critically analyze the image and discuss what the AI tool did represent well, and what it did not represent well. This activity encourages active learning and a critical analysis of a technological tool for language learning.
What do you think?
amanecer, antigüedad, capilla, madrugada, milonga, pasear, recorrido, rodeado, destino, diseño, trasnochar.
dawn, ancient times, chapel, early morning, milonga, walk, tour, surrounded, destination, design, stay up late.
Summary
Introduction
Elaborate on what you want to discuss.
Out-of-class activity: Essential information
2
Instructor provides the following prompt to ChatGPT 4
Instructions to the students: Engage in a conversation with ChatGPT as you plan your dream vacation together. During the conversation, use the subjunctive mood where appropriate. For example, you will express your desires, doubts, and preferences. Please read the instructions carefully and complete all tasks.
Pre
Pre task activity (warm up or preparation)
During
Main part of task
Post
Post task activity (reflection or analysis)
PRE TASK
Preparing for conversation about dream vacation
*target language (Spanish)
student instructions
ON-TASK
Tell ChatGPT/AI tool about your plan and give it explicit instructions about how you would like it to interact with you in order to prompt use of the subjunctive in the context of your target country and personalized dream vacation. ��Input the following text into the chat message with ChatGPT, but replace the blanks with your custom information:
�Hello! I am planning a vacation to _________. The vacation will be 6 days long. When I take a vacation, I like to ________, ________, ________, _____ and _______. Please help me plan my vacation. Let’s first start with your personalized recommendations. Based on the information I have provided, please provide just 5 recommendations on places for me to visit, activities to do, and foods to try (for example). Please make sure you use an appropriate recommendation phrase and include the subjunctive mood in each of your 5 responses.
student instructions
student prompt to ChatGPT
target language forms • input for student
Discussing recommendations for dream vacation
In a separate document, the one you will turn in to your instructor, copy and paste your prompt and the AI’s results. Highlight or make note of a) uses of the subjunctive and its corresponding trigger, b) cases where you think the subjunctive should have been used, and briefly explain why it should have been used.
I am going to share with you five wishes and desires for my trip. I will use phrases which should trigger the subjunctive mood, and follow with a verb in the subjunctive mood. Your task is to respond back to each individual wish/desire, point by point, with a suggestion about how I might obtain that wish/desire.
student instructions
student prompt to ChatGPT
target language forms • student output
examples of target language forms • input for student
ON-TASK
Discussing recommendations for dream vacation
POST TASK
Linguistic analysis and critical analysis of AI tool’s responses
Turn in assignment
In your document you will turn in, please copy and paste your phrases and the response provided by ChatGPT. Please complete the following tasks:
To finish:
Please review your separate document and ensure your prompts, ChatGPT’s responses, and your highlights and notes are all clearly marked. You may consider using different font colors or markups to distinguish between the text.
Turn your final document in via Canvas.
student instructions
Summary
Takeaways
Solicit feedback
Context
Input, output & feedback
Test your prompts from several perspectives before providing to students
Get feedback from your students on their perceptions, experiences, and confidence in using the tools
Provide the AI tool with lots of details and context
Design communicative tasks where learners receive input and provide output and receive feedback
Test it yourself!
18
THANK YOU!
Lillian Jones
PhD Candidate, Associate Instructor
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
University of California, Davis
🐦 @Lily_Jones