Chat mode gives students an AI conversation partner for dynamic, unscripted language practice. It sits alongside ImmerseMe's authentically filmed 360° scenarios and structured activities, giving students a way to apply familiar language in an exchange that responds to their choices.
This guide explains how to prepare students, use Chat in a lesson and interpret the objectives, scores and transcripts afterward.
What a Chat lesson includes
Each Chat lesson has a situation, an AI conversation partner, up to six learning objectives and a desired proficiency level. Current Chat situations and objectives are drawn from ImmerseMe's existing 360° scenarios. Teacher-defined objectives are planned for a future update.
The objectives give students a purpose, but the conversation is unscripted. Students decide what to ask and how to respond, and the AI partner replies to their contributions. Different students can take different routes through the same situation.
Before your students start
- Choose any lesson that connects with your current teaching. Read its situation, objectives and desired proficiency level, then try it yourself.
- Use the related filmed scenario and structured activities to introduce the setting and practice useful language. Students can then draw on that preparation during Chat.
- Discuss the objectives. Ask students to identify useful questions, expressions and ways to request clarification. Encourage flexible preparation rather than memorizing a complete dialogue.
- Check that students can hear the conversation and use their microphones. Headphones can help when several students are speaking in the same room.
- Explain that the conversation partner is AI, teachers can review the transcript and AI can make mistakes. Reinforce the Chat Rules before students begin.
During the conversation
Encourage students to listen to their partner's actual response before deciding what to say next. They should work toward the objectives while taking opportunities to ask questions, add relevant details and respond to follow-up questions.
For a food-stall conversation, students might ask for a recommendation, choose a meal, request a drink and ask about payment. Each choice can lead to a different reply from the vendor.
Useful strategies to practice include asking someone to repeat or clarify, describing a word they cannot remember and explaining a preference. Encourage contributions that suit the situation and level; longer answers alone do not demonstrate stronger communication.
A suggested classroom sequence
Adapt this sequence to your timetable and learners. The timings below are teaching suggestions, not Chat requirements.
- Prepare for about 5 minutes: revisit the filmed scenario, practice useful expressions and review the Chat objectives.
- Apply for about 5-10 minutes: students complete a Chat conversation using their preparation.
- Reflect for about 5 minutes: students identify one successful exchange, improve one response and choose a next step.
You can also use Chat for independent practice or homework, then discuss common strengths and difficulties in the next class.
Understanding the overall score
Students earn XP and receive an overall Chat score out of 100. The score measures performance against the lesson's desired proficiency level. Compare results with that target in mind: an 85 in a beginner lesson represents different language demands from an 85 in an advanced lesson.
| Area | Weight | What it considers |
|---|---|---|
| Content | 30% | Objective completion, plus relevance, development of ideas and appropriate detail. |
| Fluidity | 30% | How sentences and ideas connect, including structures and transitions between turns. |
| Vocabulary | 20% | The range, relevance and precision of words and expressions. |
| Grammar | 20% | Control of the target language's structures, including the frequency and severity of errors. |
Half of Content comes from the proportion of objectives completed; half comes from contribution quality. Objective completion therefore contributes up to 15 points to the overall score. Completing every objective does not automatically produce 100/100.
The grading rubric's target band, Meets level, spans 75-89. Higher bands recognize strong performance or performance beyond the target. Lower bands describe approaching or not yet meeting it. Interpret the overall result alongside the category breakdown and transcript.
Understanding the proficiency level
The score and proficiency placement answer different questions. The score describes performance against the lesson target. Placement describes the language consistently demonstrated across the conversation.
The placement rubric considers all ImmerseMe levels in each category, displayed through the learner's selected scale, such as ACTFL Novice Low to Distinguished or CEFR A1 to C2. A student may demonstrate different levels in Vocabulary and Grammar, for example.
Placement considers the whole exchange, rather than a single strong or weak reply. A short, simple situation may offer limited opportunities to demonstrate higher-level language, and missing evidence is treated differently from an attempted performance below the first level. These results support teacher judgment and are not formal proficiency certification.
Understanding pronunciation feedback
The number beside an individual spoken reply is separate from the overall Chat score. Expanding it can show Accuracy, Fluency and individual word scores. Prosody may show a dash when no value is available.
Use this feedback to identify words or phrases to practice. The overall rubric's Fluidity category concerns how language connects across the conversation; it is distinct from the Fluency metric in the speech feedback.
Reviewing transcripts and planning follow-up teaching
Review the objectives, category scores and transcript together. Translation and audio playback controls in the transcript can support your review. Look for specific evidence: did the student ask a relevant question, explain a choice, respond to new information or clarify a misunderstanding?
In our team's Spanish food-stall test, all six objectives were marked complete and the overall score displayed was 82/100. This illustrates why task completion and communication quality should be considered together.
Choose one manageable next step. A learner might extend an answer with a reason, practice a difficult phrase or ask a follow-up question. Across a class, recurring difficulties can suggest a short teaching focus before students practice again.
Supporting different languages and learners
The rubric includes guidance for applying the criteria to each target language's own structures. For example, a naturally omitted subject should not be treated as an incomplete sentence simply because English would require one. Obvious speech-transcription artifacts are also excluded by the grading guidance.
The target language is the language students are learning. Their base language supports the interface and translations. ImmerseMe has expanded its base-language options; check the site's language settings for the current choices.
Helping students use Chat responsibly
Reinforce the four Chat Rules: Keep it private, Be respectful, Stay on topic, and AI can make mistakes. Students can use fictional details for role-play rather than disclose personal information.
Teachers can review conversations, and moderation helps identify content needing review. Consider flagged exchanges in context and follow your normal classroom procedures. Review AI-generated scores alongside the transcript and your knowledge of the learner.
For more information, see ImmerseMe's AI Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Custom learning objectives
Teachers cannot currently create their own Chat objectives. Today's lessons use objectives supplied by ImmerseMe and drawn from existing scenarios. We plan to introduce teacher-defined objectives in the future and will share details when they become available.