DUE WEEK 4, February 2 to February 5: BLOG POST 2 -- Evaluation of Sample CALL Software/Websites for Teaching Reading and Writing.
Thanks for your very interesting comments and suggestions about CALL Vocabulary and Grammar software/websites in our Blog Post 1! I hope you will read all the other posts by members of the class. I'm looking forward to reading your next posts.
Chapelle and Jamieson , Chapter 3, Reading
ReplyDeleteSome questions that arouse in my mind on this chapter:
-How can we make sure that these texts provided are all authentic materials?
-Should the reading text have an audio file as well? If yes, does it become a listening task rather than reading?
-Should do reading text include highlighted vocabulary items with links to the definitions?
- Is there empirical data supporting that using online sources or software for reading purposes change a lot in terms of reading comprehensibility?
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ReplyDeleteOther online resources:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rong-chang.com/qa2/ : there are 100 short stories each with audio files. Within the reading texts there are exercises as vocabulary, cloze, crossword, yes/no questions, wh- questions, question forming, open questions, dictation. (especially the vocabulary part is in need of improvement)
http://www.onestopenglish.com/: a free registration is required but a great web-site for all kinds of skills including reading as well. It also provides worksheets as reading task.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/: a good web-site especially if you are in need of authentic reading topics which are up-to- date but be careful with the level of your students. The vocabulary and the language used may be overwhelming as the texts are newspaper articles.
Evaluation of the sources given in the chapter:
ReplyDeleteOpenbook.com: I could not find even a demo? Is it really reading or pronunciation?
Readingenlish.net: There were exercises before reading the text. It was weird. However, I liked the website because you have the chance to read listen and write. (Though it does not provide English-Turkish dictionary translation) After writing a summary at the end as an activity, there appears this note; “When you are done writing, copy-and-paste your paragraph into an e-mail and send it to me at sina@readingenglish.net.” What will happen then? Am I going to get a feedback? Who is going to assess it? But we can still implement the exercise by asking our students to send it to our e-mail addresses right?
What I have experienced with the reading materials online so far is that they have great advantages and some disadvantages as well. Especially as EFL teachers, we have to be very careful while choosing a reading passage. We may think that a web-page is very well set and has whatever you want in terms of the features like “reader friendly”, “interactive”, “creative” etc.; however, the question of “is it really appropriate to use your time on that text?” should come first. It should definitely be appropriate to the level of students; otherwise, they will spend more time on using the online dictionary than reading the text.
Another issue should be whether or not the topic is appropriate. Believe me it is as important as the text level, for example, if you choose a topic that deals with the research that says that learning a language is very difficult indeed, this will not, of course, encourage your language learners even if it has all the colors, pictures and web-links you like.
Another point is that the online resource you are looking for should not only consist of a reading text itself; it should include all the processes of a reading activity, such as pre-reading and post-reading activities. In this perspective, English Interactive program introduced in this chapter seems that it combines all these features above. (Free software is not possible unfortunately)
www.learningupgrade.com/readup: can be a useful software and it can be used in the writing classes. In the demo, you can listen; correct answer is provided, and it is interactive. It is good about teaching writing skills but do you think that is it what we are looking for a reading class? I do not think so. Additionally there are so many levels and they do not make any sense at the beginning.
Links on the highlighted words to give their meanings: Sometimes I think that it has negative effects on reading fluency. In some of my classes I remember using such a web-based reading material and the students kept on clicking each and every word that has a link automatically even if they knew the meaning of that word. I think the teacher should have a control of these links somehow. Sometimes there are some words that students do not have any idea of so who decides which words to have a link and according to what?
promise this is the last post!
ReplyDeleteChapter 4, Writing
Some questions;
- Is filling in the blanks in a paragraph can be considered as a writing exercise? ( see http://www.esl-galaxy.com/writing/new/smartshopping.pdf)
-Does writing only consist of teaching writing comparative, argumentative, descriptive paragraphs, letter writing etc.? What about software or online sources for teaching academic writing (which is not mentioned in our chapter)?
In our Materials Development course last semester, we have discussed in our class that within the communicative language teaching ideas all over the world, the skill of writing has been neglected. After reading this chapter, I have found out that it is not only the neglected part but also the most expensive part. As you might have noticed almost all of the programs introduced or the web-links provided should be purchased.
If you would like to combine writing for the beginner students with some grammar, vocabulary, this web-site can be useful for you. http://www.autoenglish.org/writing.htm
While I was searching the net for writing resources, I have come across with this weird web-link that asks me to chat with a robot called Mike as a free writing activity. What do you think friends? Would you consider chatting with a robot as a free writing activity in your future classes? (now go to the page to meet “the” Mike; http://www.rong-chang.com/tutor.htm )
I am sorry I must miss class on Tuesday, and regret that I won’t be able to hear what everyone has to say about the reading/writing chapters. If Betul’s posts are any indication, these chapters are sure to provoke many questions and lively conversation.
ReplyDeleteHere I will evaluate WebLadder from readingEnglish.net (from page 75). This site enhances the VOA site by linking every word to an online dictionary, and selecting level-appropriate subsequent texts based on the number of times a reader clicks for a definition. According to Chapelle and Jamieson, this is good because it “provides learners with opportunities to interact with the computer for getting help with the language in the text,” and facilitates teacher’s ability to select level-appropriate texts. In case you are not familiar with VOA, you can access their site directly at VOA.org. They broadcast and publish audio and written texts, designed for non-fluent English speakers, in many parts of the world. According to their Web site (and a glance at the text will confirm this) they use only 1,500 common words and don’t use complex sentences or idioms in order to keep the text accessible to non-fluent English speakers, and the announcers record the audio at a slower speaking rate than normal. But, though the writing is not very authentic, the topics are intriguing and wide ranging. The readingenglish.net site precedes each text with a vocabulary matching activity – two columns, words and definitions. These lists have around 25 words each, which, needless to say, is quite long. I selected a text labeled “very difficult” and found words which I wouldn’t characterize as such: “clothes,” “culture,” “problem.” After the reading (and clickng, as necessary, for definitions), the student is instructed to compose a summary paragraph. This can be handed into the teacher for feedback – which would then provide the recommended “evaluation of learners’ comprehension and language knowledge.” And, ideally, a teacher could assign one or more of these readings as homework, and students could discuss it during the following class, thus sparking the ‘interaction among learners” suggested in Tip 4.
So, one could say that this site reflects four out of the seven tips suggested by Chapelle and Jamieson, which doesn’t sound so bad. However, I am not impressed with the site because I feel the texts are too simplified. And Chapelle & Jamieson classify it as intermediate to advanced! I would want my intermediate to advanced students to be learning idioms and complex sentences, and a greater range of vocabulary (and I won’t even get into what’s wrong with the listening, since this is a reading chapter).
I really liked Enda Tuomey's WriteFix: Argument and Opinion website. It brings together many of the features I would look for in a well developed technology-based pedagogogical solution: its source is fully and clearly identified (i.e. we know who the author is, and how to contact her. We know the exact date of publication (May 2003) and we also know that this web site was the result of an academic assignment for an online course, thus we may assume it is grounded in sound pedagogical principles.
ReplyDeleteAs for the content, while a piece of criticism that might be leveled at this website is its limitation of scope (i.e. helping learners prepare for the essay writing component of the IELTS examination, I personally find that apparent limitation to be a strength: teachers and learners who do use this website know exactly what they're aiming at. The abundance of model essays is a welcome feature, I'm sure, for many learners. As someone preparing to sit an EAP examination such as the IELTS, I want to be exposed to as many models as possible, against which I can compare my own written production. Academic language test essays constitute a scary genre for many learners, as not only do they see their general writing ability in a foreign language tested, but also their ability for producing text that is appropriate to a particular register that is riddled with subtleties. I like the matter-of-fact style used in explaining the genre and its elements, and the straightforward step-by-step guide to essay writing. I also like the inclusion of an extensive list of essay prompts, which provide a good deal of writing practice. Another thing I like about this site is that the author invites visitors' feedback and contributions (as in, for example, more model essays), offering to give due credit. What this speaks to, in my opinion, is confidence in the soundness of her product, and a genuine belief that, working in an education-related field in the digital age, you really can't afford to operate in isolation.
Finally, for those teachers interested in a more comprehensive resource (i.e. one that transcends the argumentative and the opinion essay, I recommend the Using English for Academic Purposes: A Guide for Students in Academic Education (UEfAP) website. It reviews and provides models for a number of academic sub-genres and text types and contains a range of exercises on many of the subskills or mechanics of specific sub-genres.The URL for UEfAP: http://www.uefap.com/
In Chapter 4, Tips for Using CALL for Writing, I liked the web-site called WriteFix which aims to teach students how to write an argumentative or opinion essay. According to the site information, the main audience of WriteFix, are students who are preparing to take TOEFL or IELTS test. When I explored this web-site, I liked the way it is organized: it gives step-by-step instructions for the students how to organize an essay, and explains what the required parts of an argumentative essay are.
ReplyDeleteWhat I also liked about this web-site, is that it provides examples of each part of the essay separately. Students can read these examples, analyze them, and then use them as a model when they practice writing their own essay.
Furthermore, there are examples of the essays written on various topics for students to read and analyze. These model essays are written in a rather simple language, which would not discourage students and make them feel that they can write the same way.
Another good feature of this site is that it provides students with a list of more than one hundred topics of argumentative essays. I think this is a good way for the students to practice writing argumentative essay, since it gives them ideas what to write about.
I think this CALL resource can be used both by the students to practice writing essay at home on their own, and also by teachers as a useful addition in an ESL writing class.
In general, I think that this CALL resource may be a very useful for the students who are preparing for writing an essay as a part of TOEFL or IELTS test. And given the fact that this web-site if free and available to anyone with the Internet access, makes WriteFix a very helpful resource for teaching/learning students how to write an essay.
I would like to evaluate WordQ . There are several potential issues with the program. The first issue is cost, which runs anywhere from $100-$200. Another issue is that the words are recorded in citation form without regard to its connected form, which means when they are read it sounds quite stilted and odd. This is then giving the learner nonnative-like input, which could be detrimental to the learner. The last issue is when WordQ recommends words they are out of context. So, it is up to the learner to use the program as a resource, and not as an answer key. Despite the minor issues, I feel this program has the potential to be an amazing aid for an emerging writer. The first issue mentioned was the cost, but there is a 30-day free trial. The second issue mentions the problem with fluency, but the recordings are of an actual native speaker. Also, the program has the potential to recognize punctuation marks and change its intonation accordingly. So, even though the rhythm may be a little off, it’s still intelligible. The last issue mentioned was the words that are recommended to the learner may not be correct. I think this isn’t an issue at all because it forces the learner to think specifically about that piece. Research shows that drawing emphasis to a form is extremely valuable for a learner. Also, giving the learner options could help the learner not get stuck, which would decrease the level of learner frustration. Overall I think that the good far outweighs the bad, and the program could be a valuable tool in the acquisition of writing.
ReplyDeleteThe software that Marsha mentioned in her presentation that I wanted to get a further look at was the TESOL pen pals site (www.tesol.net/penpals/).The most enticing part about this site for me now is partly that it is free, and I could use it with volunteer work in the future that I will have little to no funding for the fancy and expensive software offered for writing. This site seemed easy to navigate. A person could set up a request as a teacher for a whole class to receive pen pals or make an individual request for a pen pal. To narrow down the chance of being paired to someone with a dissimilar objective for the relationship, a person could list details to explain what type of interaction he or she wanted with his or her pen pal. However, even with the large amount of listings given on the site, I felt that for a teacher to set up pen pals in this manner for their class may be a hit or miss opportunity. I say that due to the fact that I did not see a listing similar to the class that I am teaching now in age range, size, or target language. Regardless, this is a great tool to start off with as a teacher looking for pen pals for a class. If I were to make a few changes on this site, I would try to include more options for practicing writing, especially giving students some tips on how to write a letter and correspond with a pen pal. This advice would be very informative as long as the advice giver mentions and specifies the different cultural preferences.
ReplyDeleteHaving just panned “Crossword Puzzles for ESL Students” for having no zing, I decided to review Reading Upgrade, which, by the illustration in the textbook, is dripping with zing, with a side order of extra zing. I was a bit suspicious, however, that a site long on zing might be short on content and usefulness, and I’m afraid I was right. :P
ReplyDeleteBefore checking out the software, I listened to the uproariously funny program description. If the commentator gets any more excited, he’s going to explode. This program is so GREAT! It’s so COOL! It’s research-based! It’s motivating! You can use it with anyone--ESL students, learning disabled students, children, adults, homeschoolers (why are they depicted writing with pencil and paper?), pets and zoo animals can all learn to read with our AMAZING program. (Did we mention how great it is?) Actually, their claims looked pretty good. If they could deliver on what they promised, I figured I’d be pretty impressed.
To make a long story short, I wasn’t impressed. The beginning levels are largely focused on phonetic decoding of decontextualized words, and completing decontextualized sentences. The reading comprehension section presents sample paragraphs that are not only decontextualized, but insipid and inauthentic as well. Wrong answers are met with “too bad” and an indication of the right response with no explanation of why the learner‘s answer is wrong, and no opportunity to try again. Furthermore, there is no attempt to teach vocabulary--the authors seem to assume that learners already possess a large vocabulary and merely need help learning to identify written words that they already know orally/aurally. This seems unlikely, at least for ESL students.
(As a side note, the first sample lesson told me we were going to “get “funk-ay with the short vowels,” which made me wonder what audience their choice of language was aimed at. Funk-ay? Is this supposed to appeal to retro-minded teenagers? Nostalgic adults? But I digress.)
In short, for all this site’s claims to innovation and originality (and coolness), I have to say it’s just the same old phonics and reading comprehension approaches, dressed up in flashy javascript and funk-ay music. Now, that flashy javascript can certainly be appealing to students, and some may find the points gathering system and the interactivity motivating, so if you want to use these traditional approaches, this would be a good program to look into. But if you’re interested in things like skills integration, context, and authenticity, look elsewhere. You won’t find those things here.
--Joyce
I really liked the website called www.readingupgrade.com. This website is in Chapter 3 and belongs to the Tip 6 (Include evaluation of learners' comprehension and language knowledge). Although at first sight it seems to complicated because the big bunch of readings and levels, it is not. It is indeed a user-friendly website.
ReplyDeleteThe reading program has fifty gradual reading lessons to be achieved in between 6 to 10 weeks. The readings are of a variety of topics such as poetry, drama, sports, biology, etc. Students can enjoy reading paragraphs or small texts accompanied by music or videos. Every time, learners finish a reading, they are immediately required to answer questions or exercises to measure their reading comprehension. Once learners know they score, they can realize if they are ready to jump into the next level or if they need to recheck some answers.
All the readings are for both k-12 learners and for adults as well. The readings are for any kind of English language proficiency level. It is a helpful program for students who just want to improve their comprehension skills or who want to prepare for any kind of test. Furthermore, learners can work at their own pace and independently whether at home or at school
Once learners have completed the fifty lessons, they receive a Bronze Certificate. In order to get the Silver Certificate, they need to repeat the readings with a score under 90% and score over this percentage up to 95%. Finally, to get the Gold Certificate, learners need to repeat the necessary readings so that every score must be over 95%.
The main drawback with this website is that it is not for free. Learners or institutions need to register by paying a fee. The only way of using this website for free is by registering for the free trial that is offered. Anyway, if a student or an institution can afford it, it is a really helpful tool to improve the learners' reading comprehension skills.
I thought I would focus on writing tools, and more specifically say something about our pals at Microsoft. I have not only heard a lot of disparaging comments about the suggestions given by Word’s grammar checker, but, in the past, I’ve made many. It does help me notice my own carelessness, much like the spell-checker, but it often gives me advice that I consider wrong. Rather than going over this well-trodden ground I looked briefly at a new tool from Microsoft, their ESL Assistant (beta).
ReplyDeleteKeeping in mind that this is just a beta, I was impressed. The web site is http://www.eslassistant.com/ , but I read that you’ll need Silverlight to get the sight to work properly. The interface is simple, you paste the text you’d like to check into a box at the top and press check. It marks the ‘suspect’ parts of the text. The clever part of the interface involves their using the Bing search engine to find examples of text with your original wording and their suggested substitutions. This is coupled with statistics to show the percentages that the search turned up for the various wordings.
I use www.livemocha.com to study Spanish and help people with English. There are writing exercises that you post there and get feedback from native speakers. I used this as a source for a few English writing samples, written by real ESL/EFL students, that I gave to the ESL Assistant. The tool performed very well in my very limited testing. Give it a look.
My favorite website on reading was http://www.eslreading.org/. I thought that its capability of allowing students to test their reading skills in a sequential manner can be very useful. In addition, the website contained video and audio files that facilitate the “building up” process of pre-reading activities. The materials selected, such as the video, audio and text components were all very attractive to students because they had interesting topics, good quality audio a well as well as shots of well produced videos. The website facilitates self-learning because it provides clear instructions on how to proceed when starting an activity.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the website has its downsides. There is still much inconvenient advertising on the top and the layout was not very friendly (the first time I went in there I thought that the page had been moved from the address). Regardless, once you find out, one realized that this model which is sequential and well developed could be used to design lesson plans or homework for students, which prompts me to think that CALL can be a good means for ESP and working on specific abilities in an online course.
Among the writing tools introduced in Chapter 4, WriteFix impressed me the most. First, it focuses on argumentative essays exclusively. For most of the foreign language learners, their English proficiency level would never be as important as when they are trying to pursue further academic success in an English-speaking country. Their performance in various kinds of English tests, like TOEFL may well determine whether they can get the opportunity of going abroad for further study. Argument writing, as an indispensable part of the writing section of these tests, also plays a very important role in interpreting the students’ overall English proficiency. Under this condition, teaching argumentative essays is very practical and satisfies the learners’ emergent needs. In addition, drawing their attention exclusively to argumentative essays can successfully avoid distracting the students by introducing some contradictory rules.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason of recommending this on-line software is that it provides the students with all the basic elements for writing an argument, like topics, different ideas, organization of the whole essay and each paragraph, and some useful expressions related to each topic. Although the preference for explicit topic is a personal issue, I really do not think it worthwhile to spend a long time in making a decision of what to write about like the way demonstrated in using DIWE. Critical thinking may be a challenge for some language learners with limited experience of argument writing. To solve this issue, the section with pros and cons ideas will be very helpful for learners to organize their thoughts. This special design can function as the process of brainstorming recommended by lots of experienced language teachers.
I like WriteFix also because it presents to the learners every strategy of composing an argumentative essay with examples. I find it easier to understand the rules involved in writing when specific examples are provided. Also the authentic writing samples can provide other knowledge in improving writing proficiency, like vocabulary or cohesive device
In the middle of January I was hired to teach a lower intermediate writing class already in progress at ESL Instruction and Consulting here in downtown. They handed me the book and said - “have at it.” With 2 days to prep for my first true writing class ever, I went scrambling for other materials. On of the first places I looked was in this Chapelle and Jamieson book, in the chapter on writing.
ReplyDeleteThe level of my students is relatively at level 3 in our IEP and the major goal of my class is to get them from a paragraph to an essay format, and out of the free websites (because I didn’t look at any of the other materials - what? I’m a poor grad student) available for review, I haven’t found much that I felt my students would think would be useful to them at their level. The free materials on English-Zone.com were useful for me as the teacher, planning activities to do in class time - but apart from that, the rest of the resources are either for a higher level, or are only available by purchase.
In fact, in my broader search for “appropriate models” for my students to emulate with their writing - I have found a serious dearth of authentic/engaging materials. I was tempted by the Linguistic Funland idea of pen pals writing assignments, but having searched for a situation that would mirror mine (I only have 4 students and my class will only go until the middle of march) I only found a few - and none of those teachers have responded to me yet. In general, I am frustrated with the lack of resources even worth evaluating.
I have always been interested in reading, ever since I tried to teach SAT reading to Korean immigrants (what a disaster!) Reading is so difficult to teach because each person brings their own schema to every text. Writers often assume that one word or image will activate part of that schema; this is why reading, especially SAT reading, is so culturally biased. Depending on your own life experiences and social context, your schema may be activated in different ways. That's why preview questions and comprehension checks are so necessary for second language reading. You want activate learner's schema in the right direction. So, you can understand why I'm a huge fan of eslreading.org.
ReplyDeleteIt has pre-reading questions before you access the passage. When you click on the question, the answer pops up. Unfortunately, it looks like one of those "you've been infected by a virus" or "Are you SURE you want to close this?" buttons. When it first popped up, I had a mini-anxiety attack. But once I realized what it was, I actually said aloud, "that's so cool!" These questions can activate readers background knowledge. And if the readers were thinking of something different, the answer can put them on the right track.
It also includes activities and quizzes to check your comprehension and work with the words (defined in a glossary) that you've learned. Another cause for worry though occurs when you click on the activities/quizzes button at the end of the page. It doesn't do anything. You have to scroll to the top and click on a different link. In addition, the google ads to the side have misleading names: fluent English, English activities, etc.
Despite its wonky links and deceptive google ads, this site seems like quite a valuable resource for practicing reading. Not only does it have pre-reading questions and comprehension checks, but it's organized into units. Many other materials on the net do not have any organization to them. When the ideas or themes are the same, learners can spend more time processing the language or focusing on words they don't know. I can definitely see myself using this website in the future.
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ReplyDeleteAs a future EAP teacher and writer junkie, I find Write Fix to be the most exciting site examined. It is my belief that this site can be used to teach English discourse patterns to EAP students. I give Write Fix high marks for its easy to follow paragraph componet explanation. Its sandwich metaphor on how to describe paragrpah construction is a good way to explain the concept to non native English writers. This site even goes further by providing a graphic organizer in which an essay is divided by topic, reason and conclusion. This is important, because it explictly teaches the topic.
ReplyDeleteIn additon to these descriptions, the site also provides many examples of essays. These essays provide teachers with a wonderful teaching tool. For instance, as a class, students could use these essays to identify the relevant parts. They could also use the essays to rank the effectiveness of the arguments presented. Both tasks will help build writing awareness.
Along with the essays, the site also provides a wealth of writing prompts. I believe these could be used in a free writing excercises to prepare students for the timed writing they will encounter in an academic setting. In additon, they could be used in class reports. This would provide students with the opportunity to learn new vocabulary and discussions about writing to different audiences could be introduced.
Despite the wealth of information here, I feel this site is more for teachers than students. I believe this is because the site's primary purpose seems to be reference than interactive. As I result, I think one would have to be a rather advanced writer to understand some of the concepts presented here. In addition, the site provides no evaluative feedback.
The ESL assistant by Microsoft was also of particular interest and I'm glad Martin has brought it to light in this blog. Though in BETA mode at this point, the program shows great promise. It greatly supersedes previous programs/websites that attempt to translate or analyze foreign language text, and they are plentiful. The primary area in which those are surpassed is in that of accuracy, which is naturally the most common area of complaint. Regardless of its Beta level, the ESL assistant already possesses what appears to be a very sophisticated and lengthy database of programming that can assess and "understand" what is inputed/pasted onto its program interface.
ReplyDeleteSuch developments in technology again bring to mind the oft-trodden issue of the necessity of ESOL teachers in the future. Certainly out of some bias but also (I imagine) due to a sufficient amount of thought and experience, I conclude that these programs and other resources online or in the form of computer programs (Rosetta Stone) remain as simply that, resources. I've too many friends who have attempted to abandon all instruction (let alone immersion) in favor of Rosetta Stone's "great wisdom and abilities" only to emerge disappointed to have only acquired semi-rudimentary language proficiency. No matter how hard scientists and businessmen may try a program will never surpass a (presumably able and proficient) human being in instructional ability, wealth of experience, interactional benefits, etc etc.
That is unless of course the success of Avatar and 3D manifests itself in the ESL technological realm!