Today I’m going to craft a prompt that students can use to prepare for speaking tests. I am going to ask Gemini to act as if it were taking a speaking test and deliver the speech for me.
Learners can then look at how the ideas from the generated speech are organized and try to memorize chunks or even whole sentences from it to use in their speaking test. Some people may view this as cheating, and undoubtedly, there is truth in that. However, language progress does involve copying, imitating, appropriating and adopting what isn’t originally ours to make it our own to eventually achieve full autonomy. There is nothing wrong with learning things by heart and regurgitating them. In my view, time spent generating these sample outputs, evaluating them with a critical mind, and then committing words to memory before the exam is time well spent.
I am going to use this prompt for a speaking task from a past exam paper from the Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas in the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain. You can access this speaking exam paper on their website HERE.
Prompt: I am a C1 (Advanced) English student studying English at a Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Spain. Please create an example monologue for the speaking test with this task from the exam paper: “As out-of-town shopping centres and online shopping proliferate, our city centres are becoming picturesque pedestrianised areas of cafes, bars and restaurants. Talk about the repercussions for city life and for the cities of the future.” Act as if you were me taking the exam. Please include linkers, grammar and vocabulary typically found in ELT coursebooks at that language level so that I can ace the exam. Please make sure it sounds natural. The generated text should take about 3 minutes to read.
“Well, it’s an interesting trend, isn’t it? The rise of out-of-town shopping centers and online shopping has definitely reshaped our city centers. They’ve transformed into these picturesque, pedestrianized areas, bustling with cafes, bars, and restaurants.
On the one hand, this shift has undeniably improved the quality of life in many cities. Pedestrianized zones are more pleasant, less polluted, and safer for everyone, especially families with young children. They’ve become popular destinations for leisure activities, boosting local economies and creating jobs in the hospitality industry.
However, there are some downsides to consider. The decline of traditional retail stores has led to job losses and empty shopfronts in city centers. This can have a negative impact on local economies and communities. Additionally, the proliferation of chain stores and franchises can homogenize city landscapes, eroding local culture and character.
Looking ahead, it’s clear that cities of the future will need to adapt to these changes. A balance must be struck between preserving the unique identity of our cities and embracing modern trends. Perhaps a mixed-use approach, combining retail, residential, and commercial spaces, could be the answer.
Ultimately, the success of our cities will depend on our ability to create vibrant, sustainable environments that cater to the needs of both residents and visitors. By investing in public transportation, green spaces, and cultural amenities, we can ensure that our city centers remain thriving hubs of activity.”
The generated text fully addresses the task. The ideas are really well-organized with clear, smooth transitions. There is an introduction to the topic, a look at the positive aspects, a discussion of the downsides, and final considerations and projections for the future. There is a wide range of linkers and language chunks that are typical of the target level.
Learners could use this type of prompt for the various speaking tasks they may encounter in the exam and try to memorize, as mentioned before, language chunks or even whole sentences. An added advantage of using Gemini to generate this material is that learners can actually listen to the texts by clicking on the text-to-speech audio icon.
Let’s try this prompt for lower levels. This time, I will be choosing a speaking task from a past exam paper from Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas in the Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia in Spain. You can access this speaking exam paper on their website HERE.
Prompt: I am an A2 (Elementary) English student studying English at a Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Spain. Please create an example monologue for the speaking test based on this speaking task from the exam paper: “You are going to talk about a birthday party. Think about a birthday party you had or went to: place, clothes, food and drinks, people, presents.” Act as if you were me taking the exam. Please include linkers, grammar and vocabulary typically found in ELT coursebooks at that language level so that I can ace the exam. Please make sure it sounds natural. The generated text should take about 2 minutes to read.
“I had a birthday party last year. It was fun! We had the party at home. I wore a nice dress, it was blue. We had lots of food, like pizza and cake. We also had some drinks, like Coke and juice.
Many people came to my party. My friends and family were there. They gave me presents. I got a new toy car and a video game. It was a great day!”
I am not that pleased with the results this time, but let’s not forget that I asked Gemini to act as if it were an A2 student. The generated text seems to be a bit short (73 words). I might need to ask it to pretend it is a B1 student and change the estimated reading time from 2 to 3 minutes or, better still, provide a rough number of words (around 150 words). I am also going to state my age and provide some factual information about a birthday party I remember so that the content mirrors a real-life situation.
Last summer, I turned 57. To celebrate, I had a birthday party at my country house outside the city. It was a beautiful day, so we spent most of the time outdoors.
Everyone wore summer clothes, like shorts, t-shirts, and dresses. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. We had a barbecue in the garden, and the food was delicious. We ate grilled meat, sausages, and vegetables. We also had a variety of drinks, including Coke, Fanta, beer, and red wine.
I invited four of my closest friends. We had a great time chatting, laughing, and enjoying the good weather. They gave me some lovely presents, such as a birthday card, a new vacuum cleaner for my car, and a book.
It was a fantastic day, and I’m so grateful for my friends and family.
Gemini generated three drafts for me, and I am choosing number 2. We can clearly see that this longer text now is far beyond the targeted language level. Learners can, however, disregard things they don’t understand or that are difficult to memorize and retrieve. There is, nevertheless, very good learning material here that can feasibly be adopted at that language level: ‘I turned 57’, ‘outside the city’, ‘we spent most of the time outdoors’, ‘a relaxed atmosphere’, ‘we had a barbecue’, ‘grilled meat’, ‘a variety of drinks’, ‘four of my closest friends’.
AI in ELT 