Boy, ChatGPT Sure Can Save ELL Teachers A LOT Of Time By Creating Conversation Sheets!

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NOTE: If you read through this post, you’ll find at least four downloadable packets of conversation sheets usable in an ELL classroom.

Whether I’m practicing conversations by leading from the front, or having peer tutors practicing with ELL students, “conversation sheets” are critical tools.

These sheets are collections of questions and answers, or sentence-starters as answers.

We have many versions in our books for ELL teachers – collections of fifty-to-one-hundred of them that have different purposes – simple conversation, use of academic vocabulary, etc.

The ones in our books are excellent (and all hand-outs, including conversation sheets, are freely downloadable with no registration required).

But they only last so long until students go through them all.

Then, what do you do?

Well, I turned to ChatGPT.

After a few minor prompt adjustments, I asked:

Please create a list of 100 conversational questions for beginner English learners, including sentence starters for the answers.

It gave me a very usable list, and you can download it here.

Then, I asked:

If I want to create another list like this, but with slightly more complex questions, what prompt should I use?

Here was its response:

To create a list of slightly more complex questions, you can modify the difficulty level by focusing on questions that:

1. Encourage longer responses (e.g., “Why do you prefer X?” instead of “What is your favorite X?”).
2. Use more complex sentence structures (e.g., “What would you do if…?” or “How do you feel about…?”).
3. Include past and future tense questions (e.g., “What did you do last weekend?” or “What will you do next summer?”).
4. Ask for opinions or comparisons (e.g., “Which do you like better, X or Y, and why?”).
5. Incorporate descriptive responses (e.g., “Can you describe your favorite place?”).

Prompt Example

You could use this prompt for generating a new list:

“Create a list of 100 conversational questions for beginner English learners that are slightly more complex. Include questions that encourage longer answers, use past and future tenses, ask for opinions or comparisons, and require some description. Provide sentence starters for the answers to guide students in forming complete responses.”

I certainly know where I’ll be getting new conversation sheets from!

I’m adding this info to:

• The Best Sites For Developing English Conversational Skills
• THE BEST POSTS ABOUT USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH ELLS

ADDENDUM: I tried its suggested prompt to get another more complex list, and you can download that one here.

Then, I asked it again:

What prompt would I use if I wanted an even more complex list?

Here was its response:

To create an even more complex list of conversational questions, you can focus on questions that:

1. **Require reasoning or explanation** (e.g., “Why do you think X happens?”).
2. **Introduce hypothetical scenarios** (e.g., “What would you do if…?”).
3. **Ask about processes or steps** (e.g., “How do you prepare for…?”).
4. **Explore abstract or cultural topics** (e.g., “What is something special about your culture?”).
5. **Include comparative or superlative structures** (e.g., “What is the most interesting place you have visited?”).

### Prompt Example:
> “Create a list of 100 conversational questions for beginner English learners that are slightly more complex than the previous list. Include questions that encourage reasoning, introduce hypothetical situations, explore cultural or abstract topics, describe processes or steps, and use comparative or superlative structures. Provide sentence starters for the answers to help students form complete responses.”

Would you like me to generate the next list for you using this prompt?

I did, indeed, and here’s the next list it generated.

And, yes, I asked yet again:

What would be a good prompt to make more that are even more complicated, but still accessible to English Language Learners?

Here was its response:

To create even more complex yet accessible conversational questions for English Language Learners, the focus should shift to:

1. Open-ended questions that require critical thinking or more in-depth reasoning.
2. Opinions with justification (e.g., “What do you think about…? Why?”).
3. Hypothetical scenarios involving decision-making (e.g., “If you could change one thing…”).
4. Questions that connect ideas or explore cause and effect (e.g., “How does X affect Y?”).
5. Encouraging storytelling by asking about experiences, emotions, or “how” and “why” something happened.

Suggested Prompt:

“Create a list of 100 conversational questions for English learners that are more complex but still accessible. Focus on open-ended questions that require critical thinking, explanations, opinions with reasons, hypothetical scenarios, storytelling, and exploring cause and effect. Provide sentence starters for the answers to support students in forming detailed and structured responses.”

This prompt emphasizes developing speaking skills through detailed answers, encouraging learners to use varied vocabulary and grammar. Would you like me to generate a list using this prompt?

Yes, I said again, and here is yet another list to download.

   NOTE: If you read through this post, you’ll find at least four downloadable packets of conversation sheets usable in an ELL classroom. Whether I’m practicing conversations by leading from the front, or having peer tutors practicing with ELL students, “conversation sheets” are critical tools. These sheets are collections of questions and answers, or sentence-starters AI, ESL Web Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…