AI Tools for ESL and ELL Teachers

By Med Kharbach, PhD

Educational Technology Original Source: February 25, 2026

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🧠 Executive Insight for School Leaders

Teaching English learners has always involved balancing complexity.

Within a single classroom, educators often support students at dramatically different stages of language development — newcomers sitting beside near-fluent peers. Traditionally, this has required extraordinary preparation time and constant instructional adjustment.

As Med Kharbach explains, artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape what differentiation looks like in multilingual classrooms.

AI tools do not replace the teacher’s expertise — but they dramatically expand the teacher’s reach.

They help close personalization gaps that once felt impossible to manage.

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🌍 Where AI Is Transforming Language Learning

Language learning simultaneously engages:

• Speaking • Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Pronunciation

AI tools now support each of these domains.

Their greatest contribution is precision — allowing teachers to tailor supports without spending hours creating separate materials.

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🧰 Six High-Impact Applications

1️⃣ Individual Speaking Practice

AI-powered conversation apps provide learners with a low-pressure speaking partner available anytime.

Students can practice fluency and pronunciation without the anxiety of public performance.

Real-time feedback at the phoneme level accelerates skill development.

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2️⃣ Text-Level Adaptation

AI tools can rewrite complex material at multiple proficiency levels within seconds.

A science article or primary source can be transformed so both beginners and advanced learners engage with the same concept.

This supports access without lowering intellectual rigor.

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3️⃣ Rapid Writing Feedback

AI writing tools offer grammar corrections and vocabulary suggestions quickly.

Some platforms even translate feedback into a student’s home language, increasing comprehension of improvement targets.

This shortens feedback cycles from weeks to hours.

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4️⃣ Translation for Families

Education-specific translation tools now support communication across more than 100 languages.

Newsletters, report cards, and school messages can be translated efficiently — strengthening family engagement.

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5️⃣ On-Demand Exercises

Lesson generators produce:

• Gap-fill activities • Vocabulary practice
• Reading passages
• Grammar drills

Aligned to CEFR proficiency levels.

Preparation time drops significantly.

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6️⃣ Audio Accessibility

Text-to-speech tools allow students to hear and read simultaneously.

Dual input strengthens comprehension, especially for auditory learners.

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⚖️ Leadership Considerations

While AI expands capability, Kharbach emphasizes the importance of professional judgment.

🔹 1. AI Feedback Requires Review

Many tools are trained on native English norms and may misinterpret multilingual patterns.

Educator expertise remains essential.

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🔹 2. Translation Should Scaffold — Not Replace — Learning

The goal is access, not avoidance.

Translation supports understanding when paired with instruction.

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🔹 3. Prompt Precision Matters

Clear inputs produce meaningful outputs.

Specifying proficiency levels and target skills improves results.

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🔹 4. Human Feedback Still Matters

AI handles mechanics.

Teachers provide nuance and encouragement.

The combination is most effective.

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🔹 5. Data Privacy Must Guide Adoption

District approval and protection of student information are essential.

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🏫 Implications for Schools

AI’s greatest impact lies in personalization.

Each student can receive:

• Level-appropriate reading • Individual speaking practice
• Tailored writing feedback

Teachers still bring:

• Cultural understanding • Relationship-building
• Instructional judgment

AI simply helps scale that expertise across diverse learners.

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🎯 School Leadership 2.0 Takeaway

AI does not replace language teaching.

It amplifies it.

In multilingual classrooms, the challenge has never been identifying student needs — it has been meeting them simultaneously.

AI tools offer a pathway to:

• Greater differentiation • Faster feedback
• Stronger family engagement

The future of ESL instruction will depend on thoughtful integration — pairing technological precision with human insight.

When used wisely, AI extends the teacher’s impact while preserving the relational core of language learning.

Original Article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (5.2) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com