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- NewsEdSurge16 Jul 2026
AI Meets ESL, and Teachers Are Intrigued
This news article discusses how artificial intelligence is being used to support bilingual and ESL learners by adapting materials, providing scaffolding in home languages, and enabling chatbots for student-parent dialogues. Teachers and researchers express optimism about AI's potential to close gaps in multilingual education, though they emphasize careful implementation.
Original abstract
<p>As he instructs bilingual learners in the humanities and social studies, Daniel Gomez sees big promise in artificial intelligence.</p><p>“Teachers in general cannot be knowledgeable about every single subject,” and certainly not in multiple languages, says Gomez, who teaches at the bilingual K-12 Ideal School in Tampa, Florida. AI can help close the gaps. “It will be able to pick up any topic students are interested in and handle the topic reasonably well.”</p><p>He isn’t alone in this assessment. Harvard researchers, for example, are actively exploring how AI-powered chatbots can support bilingual student learning and parent–child dialogues.</p><p>“There are lots of opportunities to use AI to adapt learning materials into different languages, which can expand access for bilingual learners,” says<a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/directory/faculty/ying-xu"> <u>Ying Xu</u></a>, an assistant professor of education at Harvard and one of the researchers involved in the work.</p><p>“Some projects are also exploring how AI can provide additional scaffolding to help children comprehend content in their home language,” she adds. “For example, a multilingual language model might keep the core learning content in English while offering explanations, prompts or supports in the child’s home language.”</p><p>Experts see great potential for AI to elevate bilingual education — if it’s done right.</p><h2><strong>Chatbots as Educational Aids</strong></h2><p>“Bilingual learners are obviously learning the language and culture of the classroom and the environment that they’re in,” says<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystlesalas/"> <u>Krystle Salas</u></a>, assistant director of special populations at Second Mile, which operates alternative education charter schools for at-risk students in several states.</p><p>“They don’t necessarily have access to the instructional materials or even just the conversations going on in the classroom — and certainly not at the level of their p