TASK 1: ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION (10%)

ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION

The ESL website that I have chosen is Learn English Today. The website provides a wide range of free resources for ESL learners from grammar, word games, quotes and down to the English for business. On the left corner of the website, there is a panel on the topics that the learners can choose and click. Besides that, on the homepage of the website, there is an overview of the content for each topic or subject offered in the website.  

1)     This website "teach" the learners English grammar particularly and also exposes them to idioms, proverbs, vocabulary, new english words, phrasal verbs, and famous quotations. Besides that, the website leads the learners to series of smaller branches of the main topic of the grammar lessons.  Not only that, the website also includes lesson or guide on Business English which provides lists of vocabulary, useful phrases and terms used in all areas of business and also guidelines for letter-writing and presentations, business conversation topics, exercises, idioms and word games in the topic of business. This website provides notes on the subject of the learners' choice and if the learners want to assess their understanding, they can click on the quiz button provided at the end of the notes. Learner can also click on the Grammar lessons and/or Grammar exercises on the left panel of the website, to access to a wider range of grammar topics and can also access to grammar exercises from there. Some of the exercises are available online only and some are meant to be printed out only; but most of the exercises are available in both online and printed version. Exercises that are available online gives immediate feedback to the learners, while the printed version provides answers at the foot of the page. The exercises on grammar basically test the learners at a sentence level and are not divided in different levels of proficiency.  The only exercises that are divided into different levels of difficulty are if the learners clicked to Word games. There, the activities are divided into easy, medium, more difficult and challenging.

2)     The website is an open source and free to be used by the learners. There is no subscription needed and learners do not have to create account of that sort to get access to the notes, exercises and such. Learners just have to type in the name of the website and choose the topic that they want from the left panel of the website. What is interesting about this website is that the learners can click to "Study Resources" and the website will have a long list of links of other websites for the learners to study English and other things like "online education" and "studying abroad".

3)     Upon seeing the exercises and quizzes in the website, it does reminded of the handout on grammar and the exercises that were given in school by the teacher and it is fair to say that most of the reference book on grammar, offer the same style of notes with the same type of exercises for the learners.  In learning English grammar, a lot of exercises are required and this particular ESL website offers exactly what is needed.  However, even if the format and style of the exercises are the same, the difference is that the website does not offer exercises with different rate of difficulty, therefore, does not allow the learners to challenge their understanding in the particular topic of grammar. However, if the learners wish to do activities based on the levels of difficulty, they can always click to "Word Games" and there, it has different word games with four level of difficulties which are easy, medium, more difficult and challenging.  Even these word games reminded of activities given by the teacher back in school especially the crosswords.

4)     As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the website offers the same manner of notes and exercises as in textbook/workbook.  However, it can not be deny that the website can give immediate feedback unlike the exercises in the textbook.  Besides that, what is amazing about this website is that, it can give what the learners want by directing them to different ESL websites that contain the topic that it does not have.  This website is somehow a one-stop for the learners in learning English. For example, learners can click on "Fun Activities" and click on the games that they want and it will direct to the website with the particular game chosen.

5)     The language learning theory underlying in the website, is behaviourism.  This website provides a lot of English grammar exercises.  These exercises are basically to drill the learners, so that they will use the correct grammar as a result of formation of habit due to frequent practice in grammar. Besides that, the immediate feedbacks from the exercises allow the learners to immediately realise their mistakes to avoid fossilisation and also due to the fact that the key to success in drilling is for the learners to know exactly what it is they should be repeating, and in this case, the usage of correct grammar.

6)     An important criterion for evaluating a CALL program, task or activity is the potential for language learning; and this website is a good website to learn English grammar.  However, the notes are not sufficient enough for the learners to rely solely on this website.  Especially to the learners who use this without a guide of a teacher.  The notes provided are as a guide to remind and refresh the learners' memory of the topic of the grammar that they have learned, before they start with the exercises or the quizzes.  This website allows the learners to practice and polish their English grammar by answering the exercises and the quizzes provided by it.

7)     As mentioned earlier, this website provides a lot of grammar exercises. Therefore, in future work, probably in preparing worksheet for grammar for my students, I would definitely use this website even though I might have to pick and choose the questions so that the exercises that I will give to my students are suitable according to their level of proficiency. Besides that, I would bring the students to the computer lab and play the "Word games" activity in class as a group activity. This way, it will be a different activity than the usual paper and pen activity. In preparing notes for the students in the future, I will use the notes only as a guide and example in helping the students to further understand the grammar rules. For my own personal reference, I would definitely use this website to refresh my memory on the grammar rules as it is direct and it is easy to use.

Task 1: Introduction

TASK 1

1. Introduce yourself.

My name is Nur Amalina Naazira Zainal.  I am from Selayang.

2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)

Probably Novice.  Because I know some things related to the skills but i don't know the terms for certain things.

3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?

Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, windows movie maker, and sound voice (i don't remember the exact name).

4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online courses, using courseware, websites etc)?

Yes.  There are a lot of things that i learned from the internet and it is not only limited to my education but also general knowledge and self development.

5. Did you try to incorporate technology in some of your lessons during your practicum? Was it a success or a failure? If you did not what was/were the reason(s)?

No I did not.  the reason for it is because the teachers did not agree with me to bring the students to the computer lab as it is almost to final examination.  they feel that bringing the students to the computer lab is a waste of time.

6. What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?

I think it is a good approach to the students to learn in a different environment.  However it is all depend on the students.  Some of them see the the technology and websites are used for fun and games only not to learn something.  Some might find it interesting as it is different from the traditional methods of teaching and learning in class.

7. What are your expectations from this course?

I hope I can be more literate and able to use many different platforms via computer/technology to create a more fun activities that can help the students to learn while having fun.

8. What is the topic chosen for your Academic Exercise? Why have you chosen the topic? Who is your supervisor?  How do you plan to complete your AE so that it follows the designated processes (chapter by chapter) and can be submitted on time?

The Approaches of Teaching Literature in Secondary Classroom.  Because I like literature but i found that most of the students do not like literature.  Therefore, I want to investigate the methods and approaches of different teachers in teaching literature in school to see which of these approaches are 'better' approaches for their students.  My supervisor is Mdm Rosalind.

I planned to collect the data first and then I will start with the rest of the chapter.  (This is also recommended by Mdm Rosalind).