Innovation in Language Learning

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its infiltration into the educational field—whether informally through its (often intensive) use by students as an assistant, exercise-solver, or assignment-generator, or “officially” through the training of educators in utilizing AI tools for producing educational material and enhancing the learning process—raises significant concerns but also inspires great expectations. This presentation aims to propose ways in which AI can function beneficially in the teaching of the mother tongue. How can it be utilized in such a way that it does not suppress the creative and critical thinking of adolescent students or weaken their language skills? How can it be integrated into language teaching in a way that it does not serve as a crutch or a substitute for the student, but rather as a tool for self-improvement, comprehension, and practice of linguistic competencies? The presentation introduces tested proposals from the Greek high school context for the use of AI tools (primarily ChatGPT and Gemini) in language lesson activities (in the mother tongue), aiming at the mastery of condensation mechanisms, practice in word formation activities, familiarization with peer correction as a means of linguistic self-improvement, vocabulary enrichment, and more. In short, the proposal outlines targeted activities so that AI can function in the language classroom as a writing assistant, personalized tutor, and catalyst for motivation—even for students with learning difficulties—while minimizing potential side effects that may arise from the unplanned use of AI.

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