English language learners need opportunities to use language for meaningful purposes: asking questions, explaining ideas, understanding a text, and taking part in conversations. They may also need support with particular vocabulary, pronunciation, or writing conventions. Those needs can vary across activities, even for the same learner.
AI tools can provide additional practice and help teachers prepare materials. A learner might rehearse a conversation with an AI partner, examine feedback on a paragraph, or listen to a passage while following the text. Teachers can use AI to draft vocabulary supports and adapt language without losing the subject content.
Below are several AI tools for English language learners, including student-facing practice apps and tools for teachers. Choose according to the language goal, learners’ ages, and your school’s account requirements. A tool for adult speaking practice is not automatically suitable for a primary classroom.
AI Tools for English Language Learners at a Glance
| Tool | Main focus | Possible use |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude | Flexible language practice and resource drafting | Rehearse a dialogue or create contextual vocabulary examples |
| ELSA Speak | Speaking and pronunciation feedback | Practise a role-play and revisit selected pronunciation points |
| Speak | Spoken interaction and guided language lessons | Rehearse an everyday conversation |
| Grammarly | Writing feedback | Review and explain selected edits to an original paragraph |
| Diffit | Adapted reading resources | Prepare accessible background reading for a shared lesson |
| Brisk Teaching | Reading-level adjustment and translation | Adapt an article or provide language support |
| Microsoft Immersive Reader | Reading access and read-aloud support | Listen to a passage while following the words |
1. AI Chatbots: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude
ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can help teachers prepare dialogues, vocabulary explanations, short readings, and language practice activities. They can also act as text-based conversation partners. Voice options depend on the service, account, and available features.
Be specific about what learners should practise. You could ask for a conversation about borrowing a library book, requesting clarification in class, or describing a problem. Set the language level and ask the chatbot to wait for a response.
Sample prompt:
Help me practise asking for information at a community centre. Use everyday English suitable for an intermediate learner.
Play the receptionist and ask one question at a time. Wait for my answer. If I do not understand, rephrase the question before giving an explanation.
After six exchanges, explain two useful language points from my responses. Preserve my intended meaning and give me a chance to try again.
For teachers, a useful variation is to request a dialogue with missing responses that students complete together. This lets you use AI for preparation while keeping the interaction between learners.
Use approved accounts for student access. Check generated explanations and examples before treating them as teaching material.
2. ELSA Speak
ELSA Speak offers AI-powered speaking and pronunciation practice. Its role-play features allow learners to practise situations and receive feedback on their English.
This is worth exploring when learners want repeated opportunities to say something aloud and revisit specific pronunciation points. A possible activity is to rehearse a short conversation, review one part of the feedback, and try the conversation again.
I would connect the practice to a communicative goal. Can the listener understand the request? Is the speaker using stress to make the intended meaning clearer? An automated score is one source of feedback, and it needs to be considered alongside actual communication.
Avoid making accent imitation the default goal. Select feedback that helps learners communicate clearly and confidently.
3. Speak
Speak combines language lessons with AI conversation practice. Its Speak Tutor supports back-and-forth conversations, including practice around scenarios learners choose. English course availability depends on the learner’s starting language, so check the supported course options.
It could suit learners who want additional spoken practice outside a lesson. They might rehearse introducing themselves, asking for directions, or explaining a workplace issue before using similar language with another person.
Give the practice a follow-up. After a session, ask learners to record a useful expression, explain where they could use it, and try it in a new conversation with a partner. This gives the activity a purpose beyond completing an app session.
4. Grammarly
Grammarly provides feedback on grammar, spelling, and punctuation, with additional writing suggestions depending on the plan. Its broader writing tools also include rewriting and tone assistance.
For language learning, I would focus on reviewing a small number of suggestions. Students could write a paragraph independently, select two suggested changes, and explain whether each one improves their meaning.
You can also ask students to look for a pattern. If several edits involve verb tense, they could revise those sentences and then write a new example using the same form.
Keep the original draft. Comparing versions helps students see what changed and gives the teacher a clearer view of their decisions. Accepting every edit automatically offers less opportunity to examine the language.
5. Diffit
Diffit helps teachers create and adapt reading resources. It supports reading-level adjustments and activities such as comprehension questions. Its differentiation guidance includes bringing learners together around a common discussion after reading different versions of a passage.
For English language learners, this could help provide access to background information in a subject lesson. Students might read a passage with clearer language before discussing the same science or history question as their classmates.
Retain essential subject vocabulary and add explanations where needed. A learner may need support with English while already understanding the concept well.
Compare adapted passages with the source. Check that important relationships, qualifications, and examples remain available for the lesson.
6. Brisk Teaching
Brisk Teaching offers tools for adjusting reading level and translating text. These can help teachers adapt an existing resource for language access.
For example, you could prepare an article with shorter sentences, then add a small glossary of the terms students need for discussion. A translation could provide an additional way to check understanding or connect new English vocabulary with an existing language.
Be clear about the purpose of each version. Reading a translation can support understanding of content; it provides different evidence from reading the English text independently.
Review translated instructions and important terminology, especially when an error would affect the task.
7. Microsoft Immersive Reader
Microsoft Immersive Reader provides reading-access features within several Microsoft applications. Depending on the application, options can include reading aloud, text customization, translation, and reading-focus tools.
It belongs here as an accessibility option alongside generative AI tools. It helps learners work with an existing text, without requiring a chatbot to rewrite it.
One activity is to listen to a short passage while following the words, reread it, and then explain its meaning in their own words. Learners can adjust available settings to find a useful pace and display.
Listening support should serve a clear purpose in the lesson. Decide whether you are supporting content understanding, practising listening, or examining independent reading.
Choosing Tools Around a Language Goal
Start with what learners need to do. For spoken rehearsal, explore ELSA Speak, Speak, or an approved chatbot. For examining writing, consider Grammarly or a carefully structured chatbot activity. For reading access and teacher preparation, look at Diffit, Brisk, and Immersive Reader.
Check current costs, usage limits, supported languages, age requirements, and school approval. Features can differ across individual and institutional accounts.
Build in an opportunity to use the language again: a new sentence, a partner conversation, a short explanation, or an independent response. That follow-up helps you see what learners can carry from the supported activity into their own communication.
