VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Reading comprehension remains a major challenge for many EFL students, particularly in Vietnamese high school classrooms where learners often work with dense textbook passages, abstract ideas, and unfamiliar vocabulary. In mixed-ability classes, these difficulties can reduce learner engagement, limit participation, and negatively affect vocabulary retention. Traditional reading instruction may not always provide sufficient contextual or visual support to help students process information effectively. With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), new opportunities have emerged to make reading lessons more accessible, engaging, and learner-centered through AI-assisted reading scaffolding. This hands-on workshop introduces Gemini Storybook as a practical tool for transforming traditional reading passages into visually supported stories that enhance comprehension and contextualized vocabulary learning. Drawing on classroom implementation in Vietnamese urban high school settings, the presenter will demonstrate how teachers can use Gemini Storybook to simplify reading materials, generate visual narratives, and create differentiated versions of texts for learners with different proficiency levels. Through classroom demonstrations, interactive activities, and student learning samples, participants will explore practical strategies for designing visual pre-reading tasks, vocabulary prediction activities, collaborative discussions, and post-reading retelling tasks. The workshop will highlight how multimodal learning and AI-generated visual stories can improve learner engagement, reading comprehension, vocabulary retention, and confidence in reading activities. By the end of the workshop, participants will gain practical strategies for integrating Gemini Storybook into EFL reading lessons to create more supportive, visually enriched, and learner-centered reading experiences that improve learner confidence, comprehension, and vocabulary retention.