Introduction
So, we were asked to do an evaluation on either a website or a courseware related to ESL. After much thought, I decided to evaluate one of my favourite sources of ESL teaching and learning, which is
ESL PartyLand. I stumble upon this website a few years ago when I was first introduced to microteaching in my methodology classes. Since then, it has always been a place of referral for me for what to do in a lesson and how to run from normality and the mundane nature of a teacher-centred classroom. Here are my evaluation on the website.
1. What does the application attempt to "teach"?
The application or the website as a whole intend to teach a wide range of audience or users as it is separated into two parts, which are the teacher’s section and the student’s section. For the student’s section, the emphasis is put on conversational language and the lessons are based on situations that might happen in normal daily life and the topic ranges from simple things like foods to more intricate matters such as love and relationships. From the activities that have been provided by the website developer, it is apparent that the intention of all the activities is to let the students practice the language and also to teach them the correct vocabulary and the grammar to use in accordance to the context of the situation. As for the teacher’s section, what are being provided are ways to vary the classroom teaching and also ways to teach certain specific skills that are necessary to the students. Various examples of classroom activities and games are enclosed with clear instructions in order to enable the teachers to carry out the activities in their classroom.
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
For students, upon using the website, it is hoped that they will try to use the materials in daily interaction or as a form of practice with other learners through speech interaction. Then, there are also questions that require the learners to not only recall but also come out with new ideas and allow them to think critically as well as creatively. Besides that, the grammar lessons and the vocabulary fill in the blanks and multiple choice questions is determined to enable the learner to construct full and grammatical sentences in English. These sentences, besides being used in writing, also can be used in spoken form and add to the practice of the language by students.
Teachers, on the other hand, with the help of this website, is hoped to be able to use some of the activities and games provided to enhance their language teaching in the classroom. They can run away from the routine and mundane nature of a classroom and carry out their lesson in a different way. The content of the website also provides the teacher with materials beyond the text book such as films and videos besides articles and recordings. Apart from that, the lesson plans provided allow the teachers to actually let the students be the master of their own education and teacher only as the source of knowledge and also facilitator of the lesson or in other words, to a more autonomous teaching and learning. That are some of the contribution of the website to the teacher as well as the student and the lesson as a whole.
3. What sorts of computer skills in the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
The users of this website will need basic internet surfing skills since it is an easy website to access and manoeuvre around it. The website is managed in the form of links and the user will need to click the links in order to get access to the content of the website. The website also needs the users to have basic computer skills like typing and clicking as some exercise require you to type the answers and click the check button to check the correct answers. No special skills are needed since the website is so easy to use and it hardly need to run any application such as Flash or anything to do with animation.
4. While you are "playing"/"accessing" 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?
Since the website focuses on conversation, the feeling while using it really feels like I am in a class. Besides, the activities are centred in daily events and conversation or interaction that might happen in everyday life. So, it is very much similar to any classroom teaching. The exercises are also arranged in a sequence which starts from brainstorming and discussion among learners or if the user is the learning on their own, it involves recalling as well as managing ideas and uttering the ideas into words, either written or spoken. Then, as the exercise move on, users are introduced to grammar practice drills to make the users familiarise themselves with the sentence structure and the arrangement of words in grammatical way. Finally, new vocabulary is introduced and revision on the already acquired vocabulary from previous lesson is also done through vocabulary exercises. This is very similar to normal classroom in the actual world in terms of its sequencing and management of classroom.
From a teacher’s point of view, I could recall some of my teachers before this using some of the plans that the developer of the website has uploaded. For example, teaching speaking skills by asking questions to students and ask them to present their ideas to the whole class. Some of the games also I had played in class before such as role playing the job of my ambition and Broken Messages where you need to send message to one friend and the friend will need to send it to the next and by the end, we check what was the initial message and what has it becomes in the end. So, in going through this website, I could recall some of the school memories that I have had in learning the language and the way to use the game in classrooms.
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
There are several theories of language learning that the website has used in trying to impart knowledge to the users. One of them is innatism in language learning. This website is targeting at exposing the user to the many instances of the language in their daily life. This according to the innatism theorists will make the learners eventually know more about the language than they could reasonably have learnt if they had to depend on the input they are exposed to (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). Then, the contents are arranged in the form of from easiest to the hardest, both skill-wise and mental capacity-wise. This is best complement the input hypothesis in innatism theory. The content considers the users level and add one level higher in testing them and teaching them (easier explain by the equation i +1 in which i is the user’s current level and +1 is the level of difficulty added to help learning).
Next, the cognitive theories are also considered. Cognitive majorly concerns about the mental processing in learning the language. One of the most apparent evidence of the cognitive theory is the information processing process. Information processing cares about the learners paying attention to the aspect of the language to understand the language. This is done on the website by letting the users to learn and inspect the elements of sentences in English by providing them with written articles and also grammar exercises. Besides that, as aforementioned, the users are exposed to many instances of the language and through this, they can make connection about the language and the usage and finally understands how the language works. This is known as connectionism and it is part of the cognitive and psychological theories in language learning.
Then, from the sociocultural perspective introduced by Lev Vygotsky, further developed by Jim Lantolf (1994) and Richard Donato (2000), learners acquire the language when they collaborate and interact with one another. This is the goal of this website, to enable the user to interact to one another using the language and for them to practice the language in speaking with others regarding the topics available on the page.
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
The constructivists believe that learners create reality based on hands on activities and their experience in it. As in the case of this website, the constructivist theory are very much in play as the users or learners are required to bring materials from their daily life into the lesson and then apply it in the language context. Since the discussion questions are open ended and free for interpretation, the users responses to the subject matter might vary from one another according to the reality that they have in their mind. Another look or perspective on this matter is if the user were to have no schemata on the subject matter, what they see on the page will be their hands on experience on such instances and they will create their own reality on such topic based on the conversation, interaction and sharing session with the other learners of the teachers. Plus, from here also they can learn about the important vocabulary related to such issues and later can help them in pursuing their studies on their own once they are on their own. So, the interaction and the introduction to materials really are the catalyst of the constructivism in the website.
7. In 1980s 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?
From my point of view of the website that I am using at the moment, computer is not the replacement for teachers but it works as assistance to make the lesson more varied thus increasing the chance of the lesson to be effective. The content of this website focus mainly on the learners to practice usage of the language but the teaching is not done on the website. It is actually dependent to the learners’ knowledge of the language and what way do they have to obtain the knowledge if not by referring to an individual or the teachers. Hence it is comprehensible why the website is separated into two sides which are the students’ and the teachers’ side. It shows that no matter how great is the computer, you will need to be taught by a person in order to let the interaction to happen since the artificial intelligence created are not able to respond to unprogrammed input. The lesson plans uploaded here is to assist teachers in handling their lesson and to be carried out by the teachers, not by the computers. That is actually a proof that the computers do not work as the replacement of teachers but as an assistance to make the lesson more effective.
Language learning is something that will need interaction in order to make it more effective and comprehensible as a whole. Computers, being a machine and functioning through all the applications programmed in it can never teach someone in language since it is unable to reply to all utterances. Besides that, an important aspect in learning is the affective side of the learning. Language can be used to express feelings and not just the surface meaning and this is one skill only can be taught by a human with the same ability to feel as the students. Students’ interest is also an important matter to consider and a computer is not agile in decision making process as it only functions based on how it is programmed. If a teacher were to see students are not into the lesson, they can turn the lesson to favour the students more to make the lesson more meaningful at that moment to the students. So, a human touch is needed in teaching especially in language due to the vast interpretation and function of the language that exceeds the computer ability at the moment. In the future, it is unknown what will happen but in my belief, language is something made by human for human and it will remain that way.
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
Yes? Give reasons:
No? Give reasons:
Yes, I will use this application in the future work. Since I am learning to become a teacher and the website can provide me with some ideas on how to handle my lesson and how to make it more interesting. Besides, the website also has links to other websites that is of similar interest and can help learning for both teachers and students. The content of this website is suitable for all stage of learners and students will be able to do activities based on their level and not be overwhelm by the language. The topic discussed is also related to the current syllabus that they are learning in school so the lesson will add to their knowledge and can be brought to class to be discussed together by everyone. It is also a way of allowing the students to learn the language in a more autonomous manner. Since it is easy to use and accessible as long as internet connection is available, learning of the language can happen anywhere as long as they are willing to learn. As for the teachers, the website can provide them with many resource to bring to class and to make the lesson more lively and finally benefit not only the students but also the teacher as success of the students is the best reward a teacher can have.
Another reason that I will use this website is because of the articles they have in here. The articles talk about the importance of learning the English language and how they can manage their own learning. This can somehow give the students a sense of purpose in learning and will motivate them more. They also have articles for teachers for self-improvement and to remind themselves about why they become a teacher and what good are they doing to the students. It is a motivation booster for the teachers. It is good as it is creating a positive image for the teachers on their vocation.
Recommendations/Suggestions
As the user of this website, what I would love to see is if they have more explanation on certain topic since the website focuses much on drilling and exercise. For example, grammar rules explanation should be added to let the students to understand more about the rules. Because of the absence of this feature, self-learning is made impossible because those without the basic knowledge of the language cannot use the website to start their learning.
