The website address - http://a4esl.org
1. What does the application attempt to "teach"?
Answer: The application attempts to teach the user or the learner of English as a Second Language the important elements in the language such as grammar and vocabulary which are presented in the form of quizzes, matching exercises, crossword puzzle and etc. The application also provides various language quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles for the learner of English as well as learners of other languages to improve their command of the language. Under the 'Podcasts & YouTube' section, this application gives the learner the options to learn English through audio and video files. For example the link VOA Special English (Listen and Read Along), it gives the opportunity for the learner to read the text while listening to the audio recording of the text (audiovisual method of learning) as well as learn the pronunciation of the words. Apart from learning English language, user who is interested in learning other languages (like I do) can also learn Arabic, Dutch, French in which have been linked with English language (Arabic-English, Dutch-English, French-English) and as many as 44 languages from this website (minimum requirement is to have a basic command of English language of course!). Indirectly, this application also teaches the user to be independent learner that able to make choices, learn from mistakes and learn at their own pace. In short, the main focus of this application is to teach the user about English language and at the same time giving the opportunity to learn other languages as well as some general knowledge such as Occupations, Body Parts etc in the topics prepared for the exercises/ tests/quizzes.
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
Answer: The application is quite simple to operate. However, the user is expected to have Adobe Flash Player and JavaScript installed in the computer before continuing utilizing the site. Upon opening the site, the user can see two different sections to be chosen, English Only or Two Languages. Under English Only section, there are Grammar Quizzes, Vocabulary Quizzes, Crossword Puzzles, Special, Podcasts & YouTube sections. Under Two Languages section, there are 44 Bilingual Quizzes. With regards to learning the content, the users only need to select which sections they want to practice/do based on the difficulty level easy, medium or difficult and continue with the exercises, quizzes or tests provided. For example, if the user wants to do grammar exercises, he/she needs to click on Grammar-Easy and choose any language segments he/she interested to play/test/do/answer such as prepositions, articles, coountable and uncountable nouns, word form, pronouns and etc and the user will get immediate feedback from the application for the answers chosen. If the answer is correct, the feedback will be displayed as 'OK', 'Correct' or the screen will display the correct answer chosen and if the answer is wrong it will be either the application will wait for you to answer correctly before moving on or it will show you the right answer before continuing with the next question and get back to those questions so that you will answer them correctly.
3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
Answer: As mentioned above, this application is easy to use. The basic computer skills expected of the user are knowing how to switch on the computer, being able to use a mouse, being able to use the computer keyboard and able to use the internet (Wikipedia). Depending on the exercises/test/quizzes the user chose, some of the basic skills expected are drag and drop (mainly for matching exercises), clicking and typing. For most quizzes, users are expected to choose the topic of interest to play/do by clicking on the topic. Typing skill is integrated with crossword puzzles in which the users need to type in the letters in the boxes provided. This application also makes use of flashcards of pictures and words to be matched with the correct answer. All the user needs to do is just click on the right answer and immediate feedback will be displayed.
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?
Answer: Yes. This website focuses mainly on multiple choice questions which most teachers usually do in a classroom as well as most tutorials books have. It does not include many interesting images, colours, graphics or animation to make it more livelier. Same with school teacher's method of drill and practice, the students are given tons of grammar/vocabulary questions and the answer can be chose from the available four/five options given. The students are then expected to know and remember the rules applied in the grammar questions (e.g. singular with 's', plural with no 's'). This application also reminds me of the Arabic class I took the previous semesters in which the bilingual exercises are mostly based on multiple choice questions. Other than that, this application reminds me of crossword puzzles I used to do in school, in the newspapers and also those I usually asked my students to do when I was doing my practicum last semester. Some of the exercises/quizzes are in the form of Flash format which commonly available in online trivia games like Facebook quizzes. The most prominent 'memory' while assessing this application was that some of the quizzes resemble the Hot Potatoes JMatch that I learn recently in CALL class.
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and / or teaching underlying the application?
Answer: Based on the chapter 'A "Methodical" History of Language Teaching' in Brown's 'Teaching by Principle' (2001), there are a few language teaching method that have been applied into this application. The first theory is the Grammar Translation Method. It was formerly known as Classical Method in which it focuses on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and conjugations, translations of texts, doing written exercises (Brown p.18). Based on this method, the teaching of language is often rely on drills and practice, vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated words and little attention is given to the pronunciatino. Brown also mentioned about discovery learning. "Discovery learning", a popular educational trend of the 1960s, advocated less learning "by being told" and more learning by discovery for oneself various facts and principles. (Brown, p.29). The user of the application is expected to discover the meaning by themselves and learn independently. Another theory that can be associated with this application is Behaviorism. Behaviorism suggests that with constant repetition, appropriate feedback as well as reward and punishment, it will increase the likely of the behavior to occur. In this application, it can be seen clearly when the user makes a mistake, the screen will display immediate feedback telling the user the answer is wrong. Before the user ends the session, user is expected to answer all the wrong questions again and again until they finally have them correctly. This is very much alike with Behaviorism. Another theory that I managed to identify related to this application is Connectionism. Connectionists argue that learners gradually build up their knowledge of languages through exposure to the thousands of instances of the linguistics features they eventually hear (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). In the a4esl website, the users are presented with numerous activities, which are free for the users to choose and to explore/experiment with all the exercises. When enough exposure is given to the learners, they will accumulate the knowledge about the language and being able to use the language correctly in writing and daily interaction. Therefore, some of the learning theories underlying this application are Grammar Translation Method (Classical Method), Discovery Learning, Behaviorism and Connectionism Theory.
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
Answer: Constructivist theory of learning postulates that learner generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences. In other words, learner makes sense of the world by relating new understandings to the existing organization of ideas. As part of constructivist theory applied in this application is discovery learning as mentioned above originated from Jerome Bruner. Discovery learning is inquiry-based where the learner draws on his or her own past experience and existing knowledge to discover facts and relationships and new truths to be learned. Referring to this application, the learner must have had prior knowledge (comes from past experiences, culture and environment) of English language before continuing utilizing this website. The content of this web will help the learners to further expand the knowledge about the language that they have already have without the assistance from a teacher. Thus, this website promotes autonomy, responsibility and independence in the learner as proposed by constructivist theorists. In the other view, some of the quizzes require the students to guess the correct answer (when they are clueless of the right answer) in order to move on to the next sets of questions. By doing this, the learners will eventually connect the existing ideas of what they already have in mind and create new understanding and meaning from the newly acquired information. The example which I did myself was the "Nationalities 3" section. One of the questions was "A citizen of Monaco is called a ______." I typed Monacan and because it is false, I was given multiple choice answers. I clicked on Monacist, however the actual answer is Monegasque. After that, I constructed new information about nationalities of Monaco citizen is Monegasque. In conclusion, this website applied constructivist theory quite well in the exercises/application presented.
7. In 19802 and early 1990s, there was a major debate on whether the computer was "master" of or "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?
Answer: In my opinion, computer is just merely an obedient servant to the students. This is because the computer cannot replace the task of a teacher in any way especially in explaining the rules underlying the questions/statement as well as answering learners' inquisitive questions/opinion. Computer serves the needs to assist, facilitate and strengthen learners' knowledge of what have been taught by the teacher. In the context of language learning, the presence of a teacher is very important to teach, guide and to make corrections of students' mistakes. In addition, some application does not provide the user to learn all the language skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing). It is most crucial for speaking skills because it involves pronunciation of words to make the conversation comprehensible. However, for learners with strong will and determination, computer MAY be a replacement for teachers especially for those who are really independent learner and have previously successfully learn new things by using the computer only. (Still, I strongly believe computer is an obedient servant to students.
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
Answer: Yes. As part of integrating technologies into the classroom/teaching and learning, I would use the application in the future. As additional source of information, I found this website quite helpful in strengthening the knowledge of English language through the exercises given. It is also quite handy to learn other foreign languages (in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but not the sentence structure because some languages have different order of sentence structure - SVO, VSO). Besides the above, this website also provides general knowledge which is good for the learner to learn more about it. This application is a good platform for students to improve their English language in terms of enriching the grammar and vocabulary segments. For the teachers, this application offers wide range of materials that can be used to teach the students. The use of Flash, HTML and JavaScript applications seem as good introduction to learning about computer software and applications.
Suggestions / Recommendations.
This application could be better if images, graphics, sound, more colours and 'more rewarding' feedback added to the quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles prepared. The main page of this website should be more attractive and appealing so that learners will be more interested to learn the content of this website. The contents are good in which if they are fully utilized, it can really help the learners to learn English language and improve their command of the language. But it needs a little bit of improvement to make it better. The audio recording should be taken from authentic materials (BBC/CNN news) so that it sounds original and relates to the real life situation (not merely reading the text). Instead of focusing on drills and practice, it is also recommended that the exercises be in the form of interactive games (Speed Word, Hangaroo, Hangman). It will be so much fun playing and learning the language at the same time.
9/10
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