Task 1: ESL Website Evaluation

Name of Website: www.manythings.org

1.   What does the application/website attempt to “teach”?

       The website attempts to teach ESL learners common English used in a typical daily life – at least in a typical American life. Almost all of the materials are based in an American setting and it provides practise space for ESL learners to improve their English. Most of the content focuses on new vocabulary, listening, pronunciation (speaking) and reading. Not much teaching emphasis on grammar and writing is given besides quizzes and games.

2.   What sort of things are the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

       The user is expected to improve and perfect their language, in terms of their vocabulary, pronunciation, listening, with a side of grammar, reading, and writing by doing the games and activities offered on the web.

       To encourage their users in learning English every day, the website has a special feature called the Daily Page (http://www.manythings.org/daily/). The Daily Page offers the users a selected collection of things that they have to learn or do on that particular day, and the content changes every day. So users have daily ‘lessons’ that they have to complete every day and it definitely promotes students to learn and practise their English every day. The Daily Page features the following:

·         Word/Proverb/Slang of the Day

·         Quiz of the Day

·         Daily Listening

·         Daily Pronunciation Practise

·         Daily Vocabulary Word

·         Popular Search Engines

·         and Dictionary links

3.   What sort of computer skills does the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

 Reading the About page of the website (http://www.manythings.org/e/about.html), it states that the site design follows most of the Guidelines for Designing a Good Website for ESL Students (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kelly-Guidelines.html) and that Guideline 1 is: Make your site usable by everyone if possible.

       Based on Guideline 1, the creators of the website would want their content to get through to even the novice/beginner computer users. So the users are expected to just have the very basic skills of the computer and Internet surfing. The most that the users would have to do is to learn how to set up their audio device – be it speakers, headphones or earphones – and install Java and Flash applications on their browser. If the users find that their Internet browser is incompatible with Java or Flash – or they just cannot seem to understand what Java or Flash is – they can still opt for similar content in HTML form.

       The website is simple and easy to use, so it will be very easy for the users to use and learn.

4.   While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

       The Read Along section and pronunciation practise from the website really reminded me of the activities that I did in English Class during Primary and Lower Secondary School. Most of my English teachers asked the class to read along a text together and we would all read together in unison. The pronunciation practise is also very similar to what I had to do in class. Normally there would be a few words highlighted in the text given by the teacher. The teacher would say the words out loud and we students would repeat the word a few times until the teacher is satisfied with our pronunciation. Then the teacher would explain the meaning of the word to us.

       The quizzes in the website are also very much alike the cloze passages that I’ve done in exercise books, test and exams. So the quizzes were not unfamiliar to me and it would definitely help ESL students to get more practise by doing these quizzes.

5.   Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying in the application?

Upon going through the website’s contents, I can see that there is a lot of influence from the Audiolingual Method. This is evident through the way new vocabulary and pronunciation is introduced. The website makes it that the new word can be repeated from two to infinity, stressing on its pronunciation, while the student tries to repeat the word with the correct pronunciation. The introduction words and phrases are depended on mimicry, memorisation of set phrases, and over-learning (Brown, 2001).

The website also has some elements of the Grammar Translation Method, especially in terms or memorising new vocabulary and their meaning. The vocabulary exercises are disconnected from each other and very little attention is paid to the context of text in the grammar quizzes (Brown, 2001).

6.   How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?

       According to Santrock (2009), the constructivist approach is a learner-centered approach that emphasises the importance of individuals actively constructing their knowledge and understanding with guidance from the teacher. Based on that definition, we can say that the website is true to the constructivist theory in the sense that it provides accessible material for ESL students to do their own construction of knowledge and understanding. The students can go to this website and explore the available activities and materials to improve their English. The teacher can help guide the students through the website and suggest specific activities to different students, according to which area that they need the most help in. So, the students can take a more active role in their learning by doing more activities in the area that they are weaker in and also explore additional knowledge that they would like to do.

7.   In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on whether the computer was a “master” or a “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

A master will control you and tell you to do things. A slave on the other hand will do anything that they are told to do. While doing the evaluation, I found that the computer was neither the master nor the slave. The computer did have a little control as in giving instructions on the exercises but the website users are free to choose what activity that they want to do. The computer also could not do everything that the users may need, for example, live feedback on reading and pronunciation performance. The only feedback that the website can immediately give is in numerical, statistical form – very helpful feedback but not really a hundred percent informative and cannot cover subjective areas that need human interaction. Thus, the computer’s role, according to my evaluation, is as a facilitator to language learning and teaching. The computer could not entirely replace the role of the teacher and it also could not do everything that the students want them to do.

I also personally believe that a teacher’s role in language learning and teaching could not be replaced by a computer because language is such a complex human ability and is hard to replicate in a computer without being stilted and unnatural.

8.   Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?

Yes/No? Give reasons:

       Yes, because I find that the website offers a wide and rich compilation of materials that I can use in my English lessons. The exercises are perfect to be used in schools’ language/computer labs as it does not take long to load – thanks to the simple design of the website.

       If I could not access the Internet at school, I could just easily download the listening/reading exercises that are available in MP3 format, and play it on a computer, MP3 player or CD player in my listening/reading class.

       The materials available also range in different levels of difficulty, making it easier for the teachers to pick out the appropriate materials with the level of their students.

Suggestions/Recommendations:

     My biggest suggestion for the website is that they highlight the Daily Page as one of their main features of the website. Currently, the Daily Page is located inconspicuously under ‘Others’ in the main menu of the page. It is not even included in the quick menu, located on the right side of the web page. I think that the Daily Page is a very useful web page for students who are eager to learn English on their own, every day. It gives them some structure as to what is to be learnt on a particular day – as it can be overwhelming to some ESL learners when they have to decide what they have to learn on their own. I find it a huge waste that this Daily Page is not highlighted enough, considering the benefits students can have from this web page.

     Another suggestion that I have for the website is that they provide instructions to their Listen and Read Along Player – example here http://www.manythings.org/listen/loneliness/. Even though it is a simple player to use, I did have some trouble figuring out how the player works. It took me some time to figure out that the button with the number on it indicates how many times the recording will repeat itself.

     Lastly, I think the web designers can do a better job with the web design, layout and organisation of the website. I know that they want to make the website fast to load and available to everyone, but I do not think that it would hurt to use more fun and vibrant colours for this website. Also, a few relevant pictures would do wonders to make the web page livelier and encouraging to students. It is important to make a website fast loading and available to everyone, but what use is it when people are not going to use it when they are put off by the dull colours and the absence of pictures. Reeling people in is as important as making the website accessible to all.

References:

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education Company.

Kelly, C. (2000, March). Kelly - Guidelines or Designing a Good Web Site for ESL Students. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from The Internet TESL Journal for Teachers of English as a Second Language: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kelly-Guidelines.html

Santrock, J. W. (2009). Educational Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.