Here is a podcast generated by NotebookLM which provides an overview of the ideas below.
Supporting CLT, high Cornish use in class, and confident community speaking (without generating any Cornish)
General tips:
- try out several chatbots to see which ones give you the most useful responses
- don't forget to question the chatbot!
- don't ask chatbots to generate Cornish as they are currently unreliable
- avoid asking chatbots to do power-hungry tasks like creating images
There are ideas below (a co-production between Claude and humans).
What it is: Tell the AI your communicative goal (e.g., "learners can greet someone naturally at a community event"), and ask for a lesson outline structured around interaction: warm-up → task → language focus → communicative practice.
Why it helps learners: Keeps every lesson centred on speaking Cornish with a purpose.
Example prompt: "Create a 60-minute lesson outline where A2 learners practise introducing themselves at a Yeth an Werin. Include timing for each stage."
Tip: Ask AI for variations: "What if I only have 30 minutes?" or "What if learners struggle with past tense?"
What it is: Paste your Cornish examples or vocabulary, and ask a chatbot to organise them into tidy tables, grids, or handouts (no rewriting).
Why it helps learners: Clean materials make it easier for learners to recall and use Cornish actively in class.
Example prompt: "Turn these 15 Cornish greetings into a three-column grid with headers: Cornish | English | When to use."
Tip: Useful for creating gap-fill exercises, matching activities, or reference sheets.
What it is: Ask AI: "Give me five activity types that would help learners practise talking about local events / giving directions / ordering food," etc.
Why it helps learners: You get a menu of CLT activities you can fill with Cornish content that mirrors real life.
Example prompt: "Suggest five communicative activity types for practising 'asking about someone's weekend' that work well in small classes."
Tip: Ask the chatbot to explain each activity type so you understand how it works before adapting it to Cornish. Combine this with #2 (get activity ideas), then format your Cornish content to fit them.
What it is: Ask the chatbot for clear teacher-facing instructions for pairwork, role-plays, information-gap tasks, or speaking rounds.
Why it helps learners: Smooth task setup means more time speaking Cornish, less time explaining in English.
Example prompt: "Give me a 30-second English explanation for an information-gap task where learners complete each other's maps, then suggest ways I can demonstrate rather than explain."
Tip: Ask AI for setup scripts that minimize English and maximize Cornish use during the activity itself.
What it is: Paste English articles about communicative teaching, and ask for a summary or key principles.
Why it helps learners: Helps teachers keep lessons focused on meaningful communication and learner confidence.
Example prompt: "Summarise this article on error correction in CLT and explain how I could apply these principles in a mixed-level Cornish class."
Tip: Paste articles about error correction, fluency vs accuracy, or task-based learning. Ask the chatbot to relate pedagogical concepts to your specific teaching context. A good place to find articles is scholar.google.co.uk
What it is: Describe the classroom routines you want (e.g., greeting circles, quick-fire review, pair recap moments), and ask a chatbot to help sequence or refine them, in English.
Why it helps learners: Establishes predictable moments where Cornish is spoken naturally every class.
Example prompt: "Design a 5-minute 'greeting circle' warmup where each learner answers one question. Suggest questions that work for A1 level and build community."
Tip: Ask AI to suggest routines for lesson start, transitions, and endings.
What it is: Ask a chatbot for short checklists like: "Did every learner get meaningful speaking time?" or "Was the communicative purpose clear?"
Why it helps learners: Helps you continuously adjust your approach to maximise Cornish output.
Example prompt: "Create a quick post-lesson reflection template I can complete in 2 minutes that focuses on learner speaking time and task clarity."
Tip: Use the chatbot to analyse patterns: "I've done 5 lessons. Here are my reflection notes [paste]. What am I doing well? What could I focus on improving?"
What it is: Give a chatbot a rough list of your Cornish phrases or teaching notes, and ask it to sort them into categories such as everyday routines, personal topics, giving information, community interactions, etc.
Why it helps learners: Makes it easier to build lessons around authentic real-world communication.
Example prompt: "Sort these Cornish phrases [paste list] into functional categories: greetings & small talk, describing routines, talking about the past, making plans, community events."
Tip: This helps you quickly find relevant Cornish content when planning lessons around real-world functions. Ask AI to suggest which domains match learner priorities or community contexts.
What it is: Ask a chatbot for types of speaking tasks that learners can prepare for in English but practise and perform in Cornish: e.g., "Bring three things to describe," "Interview a family member using pre-taught questions," etc.
Why it helps learners: Reinforces confidence and bridges classroom Cornish to community Cornish.
Example prompt: "Suggest five ways learners can practise 'describing my day' at home using the Cornish phrases we learned. Tasks should allow preparation time but require speaking Cornish."
Tip: Ask AI for homework that requires speaking Cornish but allows preparation time to reduce anxiety.
What it is: Tell AI the kind of community interaction you want learners to attempt (e.g., attending a meetup, greeting a neighbour in Cornish), and ask for a scaffolded pathway: classroom tasks → reflection → optional follow-up.
Why it helps learners: Helps teachers design lessons that naturally lead to real-world Cornish use.
Example prompt: "Break down the goal 'learner attends Yeth an Werin and has a 3-minute conversation' into 4 weekly classroom tasks with increasing authenticity."
Example pathway:
Week 1: Role-play greetings and introductions in pairs
Week 2: Practice small talk with rotating partners (speed-chatting)
Week 3: Prepare personal questions and answers for real meetup scenarios
Week 4: Attend meetup, report back on one conversation
What it is: Ask a chatbot how to adapt a task for mixed-level groups or for learners who finish early.
Why it helps learners: Keeps all learners engaged and speaking at appropriate levels.
Example prompt: "I'm planning an information-gap task about daily routines. How can I differentiate this for a class with three A1 learners and four A2 learners? Suggest modifications for each level."
Tip: Ask for extension activities that maintain the communicative focus rather than just "more of the same."
What it is: Describe a recurring learner error (in English) and ask a chatbot for correction techniques that don't disrupt fluency.
Why it helps learners: Balances accuracy work with communicative confidence.
Example prompt: "My learners consistently confuse present and past tense forms when speaking. Suggest three error correction techniques I can use during fluency activities that won't interrupt communication."
Tip: Ask AI about delayed correction, reformulation, or focus-on-form moments that fit into CLT lessons.
What it is: Ask AI for informal speaking assessment ideas: observation checklists, can-do statements, peer feedback structures.
Why it helps learners: Tracks progress toward community speaking goals without test anxiety.
Example prompt: "Create a simple observation checklist I can use during pairwork to track whether learners are meeting these goals: [list 3-4 communicative goals]. Make it quick to use while circulating."
Tip: Focus on functional "can-do" statements: "Can greet someone and ask how they are," "Can describe their weekend," etc. (See CEFR section for more information about can-do statements)
What it is: Export dialogues from Whatsapp. Upload to Chatbot. Ask it to extract only Cornish and anonymise it. Then ask it to organisationanise the language by topic.
Why it helps learners: Gives them models of Cornish used in real Cornish-language settings.
Example prompt:
“Here is a WhatsApp export from a Cornish-language chat group. Please do three things:
(1) Extract only the Cornish-language text.
(2) Remove all names, emojis, and any personal or identifying details.
(3) Organise the remaining Cornish into topic groups such as greetings, checking in, making plans, arranging times, sharing news, or giving opinions.
Do not generate any new Cornish. Only sort the existing content.”
Tip:
Keep the extracts short and manageable. A few lines from a conversation can produce a rich set of useful expressions without overwhelming learners, and it minimises energy use while protecting privacy. Click on the button below to download the result.
What it is: After a lesson, paste your reflection notes into chatbot with a reflective prompt.
Why it helps: Turns teaching experience into professional growth without needing a supervisor or peer observer.
Example prompt template:
Lesson context: A2 learners, topic was [daily routines], goal was [learners can describe their morning]
What happened: [Warm-up went well, but the pairwork felt rushed. Some learners finished in 3 minutes while others needed 10. Quieter students didn't speak much.]
My concern: [How do I manage timing better with mixed-level pairs?]
Help me: identify what went well, suggest one specific improvement for next lesson, and explain why it would help.
Sample AI response structure: The response will typically identify strengths (e.g., "Clear communicative goal"), diagnose the issue (e.g., "Mixed proficiency without differentiation"), and suggest one concrete change (e.g., "Give faster finishers an extension prompt card").
Tip: Use this after every 2-3 lessons to build a reflective practice habit. Keep your notes brief—AI works well with bullet points.