Name:
Free trial software “RocketReader” at http://www.rocketreader.com/
Skill:
This software focuses on increasing reading speed and reading comprehension skills.
Level:
Exercises are divided into two larger proficiency levels available in trial version (simple and advanced English). Each of these provides incrementally more difficult texts to read. Simple English, “level 1”, would be appropriate for Niagara College’s Level 3 reading classes. The advanced level is closer to an academic level of English.
ESL specific?
No, but it would work wonderfully for an ESL Reading class. Many of the exercises are based on traditional speed reading techniques. Speed reading techniques I have read about suggest using some kind of object such as your hand or a playing card to create continuous downward motion and to force your eyes to take in groups of word at a time. What slows reading down is too much concentration on single words. Ours eyes sometimes backtrack to unfamiliar single words. We do this because we are confused at a words meaning but going back and staring at a single word does not give us the meaning in context. Looking at text at the phrasal level does. Constant forward motion and text being revealed a line at a time, forces the reader to group words together, look at entire phrases and glean meaning from “function” rather than “grammar” words. This free trial software uses a scrolling screen that students can manipulate in the same way that you would use a card. It’s a great way to train ESL students to group words in this manner.
It also has exercises that concentrate on grouping by flashing entire groups of words on the screen.
Interactive?
Highly
Why would this be useful?
The reason that this would be useful in an ESL environment is that “speed reading” techniques force students to glean meaning from groups of words in context. This should aid in comprehension, speed and vocabulary development. More importantly though, its free. It could be used in class and once students knew how to use it, a teacher could encourage them to download it for supplementary practice at home.
Another useful thing about it is that it encourages students to keep track of their own progress and motivates them to do so through a videogame like aesthetic. All the graphics are “space themed”. Also, the way in which students manipulate the speed that text comes at them with mouse buttons, makes the control of the reading exercises feel like a videogame. After you are done reading the text and being tested on comprehension you are asked if you want to see your scores. These scores include percentages regarding your success rate on comprehension questions and your words-per-minute. The software remembers each user so you can also have your progress over time, displayed at any time. I think this is a really motivating way to show students what it is they have accomplished and get them wanting to “beat” their own best scores. The site claims that with only “15 minutes of training each day you should see remarkable progress within two weeks” (that is how long the trial version lasts so I would certainly be willing to test that claim).
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Canadian Slanguage REVIEW
Name:
Canadian Slanguage at: http://www.slanguage.com/canadian.html
Level :
If you are an ESL teacher in Canada, I think this website might be useful to you no matter what level you are teaching. I think it is hard to be aware of the idiosyncrasies of the Canadian dialect as Canadians. If students are going to hear Canadians use these terms, why not explain them (even if just fun)?
Skill :
This list of terms and meanings would be useful in a Speaking or Listening class.
Interactive:
No. In fact, it’s not much more than a list of Canadian slang terms, and their meanings.
ESL/Non-ESL:
Non-ESL
What makes it good?
It’s a fun thing to teach. You could use it teach a bit about Canadian culture, in a fun way. It might be useful to use in conjunction with some listening to different Canadian accents. Even if you didn’t do an entire lesson on it, there are a few terms that we use quite often that might confuse students. Using this site might give some hints to teachers as to what they are. For example:” The Leafs”. I’ve never heard anyone call them anything but “The Leafs”. How would students know they were a hockey team? I liked “How Zit Goan, (Eh)?”. I’ve heard Canadians use it, not often, but it happens.
WARNING:There is an unbelievable amount of pop-ups in this site (that my pop-up blocker was powerless to defend me from). It would probably be best to just copy and paste the whole thing into Word.
Canadian Slanguage at: http://www.slanguage.com/canadian.html
Level :
If you are an ESL teacher in Canada, I think this website might be useful to you no matter what level you are teaching. I think it is hard to be aware of the idiosyncrasies of the Canadian dialect as Canadians. If students are going to hear Canadians use these terms, why not explain them (even if just fun)?
Skill :
This list of terms and meanings would be useful in a Speaking or Listening class.
Interactive:
No. In fact, it’s not much more than a list of Canadian slang terms, and their meanings.
ESL/Non-ESL:
Non-ESL
What makes it good?
It’s a fun thing to teach. You could use it teach a bit about Canadian culture, in a fun way. It might be useful to use in conjunction with some listening to different Canadian accents. Even if you didn’t do an entire lesson on it, there are a few terms that we use quite often that might confuse students. Using this site might give some hints to teachers as to what they are. For example:” The Leafs”. I’ve never heard anyone call them anything but “The Leafs”. How would students know they were a hockey team? I liked “How Zit Goan, (Eh)?”. I’ve heard Canadians use it, not often, but it happens.
WARNING:There is an unbelievable amount of pop-ups in this site (that my pop-up blocker was powerless to defend me from). It would probably be best to just copy and paste the whole thing into Word.
Guide to Grammar and Writing REVIEW
Name:
Guide to Grammar and Writing at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/
Skill:
The skills concentrated on are Grammar and writing but being as this is a text based website, reading is also integrated.
Level:
low-intermediate and up (L2 writing using Niagara College’s levels)
Interactive:
Definitely. I very much like that students can have the site grade their performance on many activities. Many sites seem to have this option, but it seems less valuable when there is only a single quiz on a certain subject. If you were to do badly, the information would not be of much use because it wouldn’t help you much to take the exact same test again.
ESL/Non-ESL:
It is not specifically designed for ESL students but it could certainly be useful for both ESL students (as a reference of grammar/writing structures as well as a source of practice exercises). It also gives you a message when you click on certain activities that says “This activity is probably more appropriate for ESL students than Native Speakers.”
What makes it good?
The site itself is fairly user friendly and easy to navigate. It has a quite a wealth of information and activities and they are well organized and easy to find. Being a site that specializes in Grammar in Writing has allowed categorizing the information within in a highly useful way. The main categories are “Word and sentence level”, “paragraph level”, “essay and research paper” etc… If you were teaching a writing course, this would allow you to find pertinent information quickly based on topic rather than level. This is also useful I feel for keeping the information adaptable. Even when exercises are involved, ESL level terminology is not used. If you wanted to use a recognizing prepositions activity” you could find one quickly, put it into “Word” and change it to meets the needs of your level.
Finding the insight link to the “Guide to grammar and writing” from the homepage http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/ was a little difficult. For anyone planning to use this resource in the future I would suggest saving “http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/” as the link.
Guide to Grammar and Writing at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/
Skill:
The skills concentrated on are Grammar and writing but being as this is a text based website, reading is also integrated.
Level:
low-intermediate and up (L2 writing using Niagara College’s levels)
Interactive:
Definitely. I very much like that students can have the site grade their performance on many activities. Many sites seem to have this option, but it seems less valuable when there is only a single quiz on a certain subject. If you were to do badly, the information would not be of much use because it wouldn’t help you much to take the exact same test again.
ESL/Non-ESL:
It is not specifically designed for ESL students but it could certainly be useful for both ESL students (as a reference of grammar/writing structures as well as a source of practice exercises). It also gives you a message when you click on certain activities that says “This activity is probably more appropriate for ESL students than Native Speakers.”
What makes it good?
The site itself is fairly user friendly and easy to navigate. It has a quite a wealth of information and activities and they are well organized and easy to find. Being a site that specializes in Grammar in Writing has allowed categorizing the information within in a highly useful way. The main categories are “Word and sentence level”, “paragraph level”, “essay and research paper” etc… If you were teaching a writing course, this would allow you to find pertinent information quickly based on topic rather than level. This is also useful I feel for keeping the information adaptable. Even when exercises are involved, ESL level terminology is not used. If you wanted to use a recognizing prepositions activity” you could find one quickly, put it into “Word” and change it to meets the needs of your level.
Finding the insight link to the “Guide to grammar and writing” from the homepage http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/ was a little difficult. For anyone planning to use this resource in the future I would suggest saving “http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/” as the link.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Site for internet-based TOEFL prep (and teaching the technology required to do the test)
NAME:
“ETS.org” (TOEFL iBT Home)
ADDRESS: http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=eb872d3631df4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=b23cd898c84f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD
RELEVANT IN-SIGHT RESOURCE:
TOEFL iBT Tour
LEVEL:
Relevant to advanced students.
INTERACTIVITY:
Very much so. This site’s potential use as a way of familiarizing students who are preparing for the TOEFL iBT test, with the many interactive elements they will encounter on that test, is its most useful function.
ESL/NON-ESL:
This page within the site (not the entire site) and the in-sight link I have provided latter on in this entry, are ESL specific in content.
DESCRIPTION:
This is a corporate site that aims to sell products and services aiding teachers and students with TOEFL iBT (internet-based testing) preparation. However that is not to say it isn’t useful.
There seems to surprising few sites that offer teachers and students free resources and materials for TOEFL iBT test preparation. The reason for this is that the new internet based TOEFL is logistically difficult to provide resources for. A simply paper based test allowed for text documents and even a large number of interactive (self-marking) preparation exercises and practice tests to be offered, and they still are.
WHAT TEACHERS AND STUDENTS CAN USE IT FOR:
Whether you are a teacher or a student, before you start your TOEFL iBT test prep, you probably want to get a look at what the test looks like, the form of each question, and what skills are involved to complete the test (note-taking, and a number of computer-centric skills, not just language skills, are required).
Click on the TOEFL iBT Tour in-site link to take a very useful, albeit annoyingly corporate (sedative music, endless gifs of smiling students’ faces’) and highly interactive tour. You get to see every kind of question you will encounter on the test and practise using the idiosyncratic set of computer-based-skills needed to complete the test. If you are planning to prepare a student to take this test, it might not only require you to use technology to teach, but teach to technology.
The follwing is a summary of what I have learned from this online tour about what is on the TOEFL iBT exam and what skills are required:
READING:
Test takers will be asked to read 3 passages (each approximately 650 to 750 words long) and answer comprehension questions about each one
Questions take the form of: “multiple choice”, “clicking on the correct square to add a sentence to a passage” or “drag an answer choice to the appropriate location on the screen”.
Test takers can use the “glossary” to get a short definition of unfamiliar words
The “review” feature (an in-site dictionary) allows students to go back to any questions they have skipped or would like to try again.
Students must be able to use “buttons” and “scroll bars” to read.
LISTENING
The listening section consists of 2 conversations and 4 lectures.
Sometimes asking for the speakers “purpose” or “attitude”
Many of the questions are multiple choice.
Students are asked to listen for listening for both “main ideas” and “supporting ideas”.
During lectures “key phrases” are displayed as if the lecturer had written them on the board”. Lectures are approximately 2-3 minutes long, and students are allowed to take notes (note taking skills are essential!).
Lecture have real background noises (students talking) and students must be able to deal with distracting background noises heard in authentic listening situations.
WRITING
Tests ability to use writing to communicate in an academic environment. Understand material, make connections, write clearly, accurately and in a well-organized manner.
There are 2 types of tasks “Integrated” and “Independent”.
Integrated Writing Tasks:
The test taker will:
1) first read a short passage then:
2) second listen to a short lecture on the same subject
3) Using the information from the passage and the lecture students will be given approximately 15 minutes to prepare and type a response to a question. Students may use their notes. For example summarize the points made in the lecture and explain how they cast doubt on the points made in the reading.
Note taking is an important skill for this task.
Independent Task:
Test taker answers a question based on their own knowledge and experience. This will often be a 300 opinion based essay that students have 30 minutes to plan, write and revise. For example “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?”
“Always telling the truth is the most important consideration in relationships between people”
SPEAKING:
The speaking section is very similar to the writing component as it consists of 2 independent tasks that require you to speak on familiar topics and 4 integrated tasks that require you to integrate other skills when responding.
“ETS.org” (TOEFL iBT Home)
ADDRESS: http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=eb872d3631df4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=b23cd898c84f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD
RELEVANT IN-SIGHT RESOURCE:
TOEFL iBT Tour
LEVEL:
Relevant to advanced students.
INTERACTIVITY:
Very much so. This site’s potential use as a way of familiarizing students who are preparing for the TOEFL iBT test, with the many interactive elements they will encounter on that test, is its most useful function.
ESL/NON-ESL:
This page within the site (not the entire site) and the in-sight link I have provided latter on in this entry, are ESL specific in content.
DESCRIPTION:
This is a corporate site that aims to sell products and services aiding teachers and students with TOEFL iBT (internet-based testing) preparation. However that is not to say it isn’t useful.
There seems to surprising few sites that offer teachers and students free resources and materials for TOEFL iBT test preparation. The reason for this is that the new internet based TOEFL is logistically difficult to provide resources for. A simply paper based test allowed for text documents and even a large number of interactive (self-marking) preparation exercises and practice tests to be offered, and they still are.
WHAT TEACHERS AND STUDENTS CAN USE IT FOR:
Whether you are a teacher or a student, before you start your TOEFL iBT test prep, you probably want to get a look at what the test looks like, the form of each question, and what skills are involved to complete the test (note-taking, and a number of computer-centric skills, not just language skills, are required).
Click on the TOEFL iBT Tour in-site link to take a very useful, albeit annoyingly corporate (sedative music, endless gifs of smiling students’ faces’) and highly interactive tour. You get to see every kind of question you will encounter on the test and practise using the idiosyncratic set of computer-based-skills needed to complete the test. If you are planning to prepare a student to take this test, it might not only require you to use technology to teach, but teach to technology.
The follwing is a summary of what I have learned from this online tour about what is on the TOEFL iBT exam and what skills are required:
READING:
Test takers will be asked to read 3 passages (each approximately 650 to 750 words long) and answer comprehension questions about each one
Questions take the form of: “multiple choice”, “clicking on the correct square to add a sentence to a passage” or “drag an answer choice to the appropriate location on the screen”.
Test takers can use the “glossary” to get a short definition of unfamiliar words
The “review” feature (an in-site dictionary) allows students to go back to any questions they have skipped or would like to try again.
Students must be able to use “buttons” and “scroll bars” to read.
LISTENING
The listening section consists of 2 conversations and 4 lectures.
Sometimes asking for the speakers “purpose” or “attitude”
Many of the questions are multiple choice.
Students are asked to listen for listening for both “main ideas” and “supporting ideas”.
During lectures “key phrases” are displayed as if the lecturer had written them on the board”. Lectures are approximately 2-3 minutes long, and students are allowed to take notes (note taking skills are essential!).
Lecture have real background noises (students talking) and students must be able to deal with distracting background noises heard in authentic listening situations.
WRITING
Tests ability to use writing to communicate in an academic environment. Understand material, make connections, write clearly, accurately and in a well-organized manner.
There are 2 types of tasks “Integrated” and “Independent”.
Integrated Writing Tasks:
The test taker will:
1) first read a short passage then:
2) second listen to a short lecture on the same subject
3) Using the information from the passage and the lecture students will be given approximately 15 minutes to prepare and type a response to a question. Students may use their notes. For example summarize the points made in the lecture and explain how they cast doubt on the points made in the reading.
Note taking is an important skill for this task.
Independent Task:
Test taker answers a question based on their own knowledge and experience. This will often be a 300 opinion based essay that students have 30 minutes to plan, write and revise. For example “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?”
“Always telling the truth is the most important consideration in relationships between people”
SPEAKING:
The speaking section is very similar to the writing component as it consists of 2 independent tasks that require you to speak on familiar topics and 4 integrated tasks that require you to integrate other skills when responding.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Review - Reuter’s “English-To-Go”
NAME: Reuter’s “English-To-Go” http://www.english-to-go.com/
LEVEL AND SKILL:
This sites proficiency scale has five levels. The lowest level however “elementary” was much more difficult then I would have guessed (similar to what most would call “intermediate”). There is little in this site for low level beginners.
The lessons "for teachers" are largely reading lessons. Although they contain activities that incorporate writing, listening and speaking skills, the topic of each lesson is based upon a general-interest type of newspaper article, and each activity is based around this text source.
INTERACTIVITY:
This site has online lessons students can use themselves that practice reading, writing and listening skills as well preparation for IELTS, FCE, TOEFL and TOEIC tests. There is a very useful “hint” button for students to click on when they are having trouble. Students have access to answer keys and can evaluate their own progress.
It also has online activities that supplement the lessons for teachers (which are inaccessible without a paid membership).
Although it does not relate directly to the topic of interactivity, an important feature of this site is that it appears to be regularly updated and offers “new articles each week on current issues” which serves to keep it interactive with world events and therefore relevant to a larger number of students.
ESL/Non-ESL:
This site is designed specifically for ESL/EFL use.
WHAT MAKES IT GOOD?
FEATURES:
-preparation for IELTS, FCE, TOEFL and TOEIC exams
-all the necessary materials are already made.
-online exercises supplementing each lesson for teachers.
-ability to file your favorite lessons onsite (for paid members).
-ability to design your own textbook (for paid members).
-reading activities consistently include pre-reading and post-reading tasks (and often integrate writing, speaking and listening skills as well)
-lessons are supplemented with “structured teachers’ notes”. These include examples of model answers for the different exercises and helpful hints for teaching each lesson.
For Teachers:
Like many sites that claim to offer pre-made lesson plans, this site does not really offer pre-made lesson plans, so much as a script of pre-made activities. That being said, I think this could be very useful because it’s a great source for providing, as well as providing ideas for, a large number of activities based around a single, short, text source.
There are quite a few activities in each lesson, not all of which will necessarily be relevant to your intended learning objectives. In the sample lesson I looked at most closely, “An Eel Pet”, the grammar points (which the lesson aims to practice rather than teach) are listed as being “pronouns and present perfect” but many other structures, and tenses in particular, are practiced in the lesson.
I think anyone teaching a reading/integrated course or even a small group of privates could make good use of these activities. However, I also found that many lessons were very similar in terms of structure, sequencing, kinds of activities involved and texts used. If you relied on this site as the basis of your lessons too often, I think they would become more than a little repetitive.
For Students:
The completely online lessons for students looked like an excellent resource for supplementing in-class lessons, preparing for tests and seemed to be more tasked-based then the lessons for teachers (the free sample lesson for students practiced letter writing).
LEVEL AND SKILL:
This sites proficiency scale has five levels. The lowest level however “elementary” was much more difficult then I would have guessed (similar to what most would call “intermediate”). There is little in this site for low level beginners.
The lessons "for teachers" are largely reading lessons. Although they contain activities that incorporate writing, listening and speaking skills, the topic of each lesson is based upon a general-interest type of newspaper article, and each activity is based around this text source.
INTERACTIVITY:
This site has online lessons students can use themselves that practice reading, writing and listening skills as well preparation for IELTS, FCE, TOEFL and TOEIC tests. There is a very useful “hint” button for students to click on when they are having trouble. Students have access to answer keys and can evaluate their own progress.
It also has online activities that supplement the lessons for teachers (which are inaccessible without a paid membership).
Although it does not relate directly to the topic of interactivity, an important feature of this site is that it appears to be regularly updated and offers “new articles each week on current issues” which serves to keep it interactive with world events and therefore relevant to a larger number of students.
ESL/Non-ESL:
This site is designed specifically for ESL/EFL use.
WHAT MAKES IT GOOD?
FEATURES:
-preparation for IELTS, FCE, TOEFL and TOEIC exams
-all the necessary materials are already made.
-online exercises supplementing each lesson for teachers.
-ability to file your favorite lessons onsite (for paid members).
-ability to design your own textbook (for paid members).
-reading activities consistently include pre-reading and post-reading tasks (and often integrate writing, speaking and listening skills as well)
-lessons are supplemented with “structured teachers’ notes”. These include examples of model answers for the different exercises and helpful hints for teaching each lesson.
For Teachers:
Like many sites that claim to offer pre-made lesson plans, this site does not really offer pre-made lesson plans, so much as a script of pre-made activities. That being said, I think this could be very useful because it’s a great source for providing, as well as providing ideas for, a large number of activities based around a single, short, text source.
There are quite a few activities in each lesson, not all of which will necessarily be relevant to your intended learning objectives. In the sample lesson I looked at most closely, “An Eel Pet”, the grammar points (which the lesson aims to practice rather than teach) are listed as being “pronouns and present perfect” but many other structures, and tenses in particular, are practiced in the lesson.
I think anyone teaching a reading/integrated course or even a small group of privates could make good use of these activities. However, I also found that many lessons were very similar in terms of structure, sequencing, kinds of activities involved and texts used. If you relied on this site as the basis of your lessons too often, I think they would become more than a little repetitive.
For Students:
The completely online lessons for students looked like an excellent resource for supplementing in-class lessons, preparing for tests and seemed to be more tasked-based then the lessons for teachers (the free sample lesson for students practiced letter writing).
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Welcome
Greetings my soon-to-be adoring fans and avid readers. I suggest you sit down (if you read blogs standing up) and prepare yourself for the most exciting blog adventure in the history of the interweb as I, Eric, present to you, knowledge-hungry-blog-reader, a new "ESL-oriented-website-review", every week!!!!
The internet, as I’m sure you all know, is much akin to a wide and imposing ocean, an ocean, of knowledge. ESL-oriented-websites, like the myriad of life in the sea, are seemingly endless in number and variety. Come with me, as I chart these somewhat uncharted waters, as I guide you through their dark and murky depths of confusion, past the plethora of websites which “you think might have the stuff you are looking for, but might not, causing you to waste a lot of time” to a mystical blog where information about ESL websites is highly condensed, well-organized and imminently pertinent. Surf with me, and let me be your ESL-website-tour-guide on a submarine I like to call “Eric’s Weekly ESL-Website Review Blog”.
Cheers,
Eric McKay
The internet, as I’m sure you all know, is much akin to a wide and imposing ocean, an ocean, of knowledge. ESL-oriented-websites, like the myriad of life in the sea, are seemingly endless in number and variety. Come with me, as I chart these somewhat uncharted waters, as I guide you through their dark and murky depths of confusion, past the plethora of websites which “you think might have the stuff you are looking for, but might not, causing you to waste a lot of time” to a mystical blog where information about ESL websites is highly condensed, well-organized and imminently pertinent. Surf with me, and let me be your ESL-website-tour-guide on a submarine I like to call “Eric’s Weekly ESL-Website Review Blog”.
Cheers,
Eric McKay
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