Deduce it like Sherlock!: AI meets Literature in the EFL classroom

Haido Fanara is an EFL teacher at the American Farm School of Thessaloniki. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature and an MA in Language, Literature, and Digital Media in Education from AUTh. Her academic interests include Literature, Technology, and Gamification in EFL.
	Konstantina Theodoridou is an EFL teacher in public education. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature and an MA in Language, Literature and Digital Media, AUTh. Her academic interests include Literature, Gamification, and Feminism in EFL.

Literature has long enriched the EFL classroom, while emerging technologies offer new ways to engage digitally oriented learners. This paper, presented at the 2nd Symposium on Language Education and Research (SLER2025) in Thessaloniki, explores how AI and gamification can enhance literary learning through an interactive teaching scenario based on a Sherlock Holmes short story.

EFL teachers have long relied on literature for classroom content, while recent years have seen them embrace digital tools in order to engage learners, as students are less and less active in an overly stimulating world. While literature and authentic texts bring a playfulness in the classroom, AI can enhance the immersive aspect of interacting with the literary text, making lesson planning more efficient at the same time.

Educational Technology: The breath of fresh air we have been waiting for

The 21st century has brought about the implementation of educational technology, defined as the “systematic and organized process of applying modern technology to improve the quality of education” (Stošić, 2015, p. 111). Since students are now extremely familiar with digital tools, educational technology can be employed to move teaching from traditional to more modern uses, making learning relevant to students’ lives and language needs (Kukulska-Hulme, Norris, & Donohue, 2015).

The implementation of educational technology became even more vital in 2022, with the arrival of AI tools. According to Ifenthaler et al. (2024), “AI has far more potential to transform the education arena than any technology before it” (p. 1695). Regarding learners, AI can help them “improve digital literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity” (Milberg, 2024). These are all essential skills students need to thrive in an ever-changing global world. Simultaneously, AI can offer a lending hand to EFL teachers as well, helping them tackle creativity blocks and the increased workload, by creating material, assessing, and giving feedback. According to Milberg (2024), “by automating routine duties and emphasizing human-centric teaching, we can create an environment where educators can thrive, creating a richer learning experience.”

Gamification: Tried and true

The implementation of Gamification Theory may seem like a new concept but it has actually been in play for a long time. Sayers (2015) defines it as “the use of game mechanics, such as high scores, badges, levels, tasks, and rewards to help people focus on tasks and activities that are not in themselves ‘games’.” According to Healey (2013), many of these are already incorporated in traditional teaching. Game mechanics are important in a classroom since they add the element of play and increase motivation and learner autonomy.

What is most important about gamification, though, is that it fosters learners’ mental, emotional and physical engagement. As cited in Cenejac (2021), Green claims that “[p]eople think of play as frivolous or trivial… When children are free to play, they play naturally at the ever-advancing edges of their mental and physical abilities.” Trivial or not, play seems to be the best way to motivate young learners, while empowering them with 21st-century skills.

Choosing Literature: An English teacher’s dream

The contribution of literature to the EFL setting has long been recognized. According to Lazar (1993), literature should be used as a resource to create engaging and purposeful activities, as it “provides meaningful and memorable contexts for processing and interpreting new language” (p. 17). Students are exposed to authentic language and can explore how it functions in the real world, leading them to boost their confidence.

Our foundational theoretical tool was Barthes’ (1974) notion of writerly texts—works that “make the reader no longer a consumer, but a producer of the text.” (p. 4) This perspective aligns perfectly with EFL pedagogy, where learners become active co-creators of meaning through discussion, interpretation, and language production.

Choosing the right text is crucial for motivation and engagement. Following Lazar’s (1993) criteria (pp. 51-56), we selected “How Watson Learned the Trick” (Conan Doyle, 1992). The story is essentially a dialogue between Sherlock and Watson. Watson makes observations about Sherlock and makes deductions about them, attempting to prove to Sherlock that the art of deduction is not really that difficult. At the end of the story, Sherlock proves him wrong by revealing the real reasons behind what Watson had observed.

The learners’ age and intellectual maturity allowed them to fully engage with the text. Regarding their linguistic proficiency, the majority of the vocabulary was at the targeted level when checked by ChatGPT, namely C1 CEFR. Additionally, the short story is an ideal literary genre for classroom use since learners could easily read the whole text even during class time (Dunning, 1968, pp. 1-2). The content of the specific text allowed us to gamify it, while teaching the targeted grammar.

Teaching Scenario

Lesson 1

●       Grammar mini lesson on Modal Perfect: A video created on Lumen5 and five examples to check students’ understanding provided by ChatGPT

●       Pre-teaching new vocabulary: Example sentences and a matching exercise, provided by ChatGPT

●       Deduction Quiz: Students are given observations with possible explanations. Two of those are from the original text and three are produced by ChatGPT and edited by us. In groups, students discuss and choose the most and least plausible explanations. Students are reminded to use the target grammar, record their answers, and be ready to justify them in class.

●       Homework: Canva worksheet with vocabulary fill-in-the-blanks and grammar activities, created with the help of ChatGPT.

Lesson 2

●       Short story reading: Students realize that the quiz they took is actually based on this text.

●       Deduction Quiz: Students present the deductions (from Lesson 1)  to the class, and they are scored based on their answers’ proximity to Sherlock’s.

●       Crime Mystery Homework: Students are given twelve clues about five suspects and a writing prompt which asks them to decide on one suspect and write their deductions and reasoning behind their choice. This scenario was created with the help of ChatGPT and there is not one correct answer.

Lesson 3

●       Crime Mystery Deductions Presentation

●       Chatting with Sherlock: The teacher uses the class computer to access ChatGPT and asks it to respond as Sherlock Holmes, while modifying the language at CEFR C1 level. Once “Sherlock” responds, she gives “him” the Crime Mystery and asks for “his” opinion on who committed the crime. The students experience first-hand the interaction with ChatGPT, see how to create a specific prompt, and enjoy the response provided. The students who matched “Sherlock’s” response get a badge or certificate for their advanced deduction skills.

●       Free interaction with “Sherlock”

Conclusion: Reflection and Challenges

Whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay. It is up to us to ease learners into it, train, and protect them. The teachers need training themselves, as well as experimentation, both of which will allow them to efficiently write prompts and use different AI apps. AI can take care of the burdensome work of formatting activities, creating lots of examples and exercises, and content suited to our specific needs–giving  the teacher time and space for creativity. On top of that, with a few tweaks by the teacher, students can interact with AI in a specific style and a targeted language level– breaking down classroom barriers and interacting with the text directly. Literature has and always will have an appeal for English teachers, so why not use state-of-the-art tools to make our learners fall in love with it as well?

References

Barthes, R. (1974). S/Z (R. Miller, Trans.). Blackwell.

Cenejac, J. (2014, November 14). How Gamification Is Reshaping The Language Learning Landscape. ELearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/gamification-reshaping-language-learning-landscape 

Conan Doyle, A. (1992). How Watson Learned the Trick. The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 15, 2025, from https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/How_Watson_Learned_the_Trick

Dunning, S. (1968). Teaching Literature to Adolescents: Short Stories. Scott, Foresman and Company.

Healey, D. (2025). Gamification for EL Teachers. TESOL | International Association. https://www.tesol.org/resource-center/gamification-for-el-teachers/ 

Ifenthaler, D., Majumdar, R., Gorissen, P., & others. (2024). Artificial Intelligence in Education: Implications for Policymakers, Researchers, and Practitioners. Tech Know Learn, 29, 1693–1710. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-024-09747-0

Kukulska-Hulme, A., Norris, L., & Donohue, J. (2015). Mobile Pedagogy for English Language Teaching: A Guide for Teachers. British Council.

Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and Language Teaching: A Guide for Teachers and Trainers. Cambridge University Press.

Milberg, T. (2024, April 28). The Future of Learning: AI is Revolutionizing Education 4.0. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/04/future-learning-ai-revolutionizing-education-4-0/ 

Sayers, J. (2015, June 3). Gamification with or without the Tech. ELTjam. https://eltjam.com/gamification-with-or-without-the-tech/

Stošić, L. (2015). The Importance of Educational Technology in Teaching. International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 3(1), 111–114. http://www.ijcrsee.com/index.php/ijcrsee/article/view/122