I wrote about some ideas I had about 'emergent language' after reading an article by Richard Chinn in The University Grapevine. I wasn't entirely happy with what I had written so I asked ChatGPT, "Can you challenge me on the points I make here with a view to me finding better ways of expressing them?"
I was offered two responses and from the one I preferred I selected some changes to make. I put these to ChatGPT and was offered some suitable titles, subtitles and an introductory paragraph. I chose the ones I liked best. There was another round of changes, but I didn't feel the resulting text was written in 'my voice'. So I planned to offer my website as an example of 'my voice' and ask for the article to be written that way. (I had to wait till one o'clock the next day to try that as I use a free account!)
I said, "If I add the URL of my blog, can you try to replicate my voice in a new version of this article? https://onewaytotefl.*****.com/"
Here's a link to the whole conversation showing how ChatGPT helped me.
The article below is the result. Do you agree with everything in it?
Emergent Language and GenAI: New Opportunities for Learner Autonomy
Exploring how spontaneous language, AI feedback, and task repetition can foster independent, lifelong learning.
Broadening the definition
Emergent language is often defined by what teachers notice and work with during a lesson. It’s usually tied to how a teacher reacts to something a student says in real time — for example, picking up on a phrase, drawing attention to it, and building an activity around it.
But in practice, emergent language isn’t owned by the teacher. It’s any spontaneous communicative language that learners produce, whether or not it’s noticed, corrected, or exploited. And that broader view is more useful now than ever, because learners have tools at their disposal that can help them exploit emergent language for themselves.
What emergent language is
Emergent language is the language learners produce spontaneously to express ideas. It can be spoken or written, in or out of class.
Teachers can choose to work with it — by highlighting an interesting word, unpacking a grammar point, or showing alternative ways of phrasing. But emergent language doesn’t depend on teacher action. It exists whenever learners communicate in real time. Even without feedback, using the language is part of the learning process.
From teacher-led to learner-driven
Traditionally, it’s been the teacher’s role to guide learners in noticing and refining emergent language — through scaffolding, feedback, and prioritising what’s worth focusing on.
But today learners have access to GenAI tools that can play part of this role. They can paste in something they’ve written or record themselves speaking, then ask the AI to respond in useful ways.
A teacher still has a role here: helping learners ask better questions, interpret responses, and decide what to take away. For instance, a learner might ask for a correction, but a more productive prompt might be:
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“Give me three alternative ways to say this.”
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“How could I make this sound more polite?”
These prompts don’t just fix mistakes; they show learners new choices.
Experimenting with prompts
Learners should experiment with prompts and see which kinds of feedback they find most helpful. The “best” response often depends on the type of text or task. Sometimes a short alternative is enough; at other times, it helps to see a reworked version of the whole text.
This experimentation is part of developing autonomy. Learners discover how they like to learn, and what makes feedback stick.
Task repetition and practice
Once learners have feedback, the next step is practice. Repeating a task immediately after feedback helps consolidate learning. Repeating it again later — as in spaced practice — strengthens retention.
There’s no single formula for timing or frequency, but a combination of immediate and delayed repetition works well. The important thing is that learners feel they’re progressing, not just repeating for the sake of it.
The teacher’s role
Can learners do all this on their own? Possibly. But teachers still add value. They can help learners become more efficient, avoid overwhelm, and focus on what’s most useful.
Our aim shouldn’t be to keep control of emergent language, but to help learners take ownership of it. Encouraging learners to notice, reflect, and act on their own emergent language — with or without AI — is part of preparing them to be lifelong learners.
Final thought
Emergent language happens whenever learners use the language to communicate. Teachers can work with it, but learners can also exploit it themselves — especially with the support of AI. If we, as teachers, help them develop the skills to use feedback effectively, we’re not just teaching language for the moment. We’re equipping learners with habits and strategies they can use for a lifetime.
