EDGT 940 Assessment 1 Part A

EDGT 940 Materials and Technology - Assessment 1.

a) Review of a Textbook: New Headway Video Intermediate

Along with a Teachers Book and DVD, this Student's Book is part of the overall New Headway Intermediate Series that features previously-introduced characters in a progressive 6 episode drama. The aims of this coursebook package are to provide opportunities through exercises that develop listening skills which promote comprehension and oral fluency. To enable optimum benefit to students, each episode is divided into three sections: 'Before you watch', While you watch' and 'After you watch' with a variety of exercises to be completed in each.  For example, in episode 1, before watching the DVD, students are shown a written advertisement for a rental flat which they read and then answer questions. This allows for learning of new vocabulary, pair-work discussion, prediction and comprehension of the context of an authentic scenario. The Teachers Book provides answers for immediate feedback to all activities. The DVD is then played in small sections and students have to answer brief questions while they watch which tests their observation and comprehension skills through a simple, tick the box method. Answers are given and subsequent discussion confirms student comprehension. The following activities in this section progress in level of difficulty. Activities provided for 'After watching’ the DVD include discussion and role-play which allow free speech and consolidation of comprehension skills, grammatical aspects and vocabulary. The DVD transcript is also available for students to check spelling of unfamiliar vocabulary and dialogue they may have missed.

The Students Book in this package presents clear instructions, coloured photographs and a variety of activities.

A different language focus for each episode is clearly outlined in the Teachers book. The format of watching a DVD in soap-opera-like episodes engages students and presents learning in a cohesive, user-friendly process through diverse activities including music. It provides revision and extension exercises while also consolidating grammatical, functional and lexical aspects of the English language that learners have been taught in the New Headway Video Beginner, Elementary and Pre-Intermediate courses. However, the Intermediate-level activities would appear to have appropriate, stand-alone applicability and can be successfully utilised as supplements to other textbooks aimed at the Intermediate level.

Highly recommended. ****

References:

English Language Teaching Worldwide. New Headway. Six-level general English course for adults. Image accessed 23/8/11 from http://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/adult_courses/new_headway/intermediate_fourth_edition/9780194581882?cc=global&selLanguage=en&mode=hub

Hardisty, D and Russell. R 2005 New Headway Vidoe Intermediate - Student's Book. Oxford University Press. Oxford, England.

EDGT 940 Materials and Technology - Assessment 1.

b) CRITICAL EVALUATION OF A SOFTWARE PACKAGE -

"TELL ME MORE"
accessed 23/8/11 at  http://www.tellmemorestore.co.uk/Articles.asp?ID=247

Tellmemore is a comprehensive Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) software package offering language learning in 9 languages at ten levels.  In the preamble on the home page, it claims to be the top-selling product of its kind in Europe with over seven million users including corporations, governments, schools, universities and libraries. Chapelle, (2001) asserts that recognised second language acquisition theory should be applied to CALL products and Tellmemore claims to deliver a program with a proven pedagogical approach, that of Communicative Language Teaching. The program is delivered under the acronym P.R.I.M.E which represents Progressive, Real-world, Interactive, Motivation and Effective. A guided tour explains the layout of activities and a free, seven day trial accesses whichever level and unit interested customers want to try.

 In the beginner to intermediate level, units such as greetings, the alphabet, age, countries, occupations, my family and pets were offered providing authentic application of learning to manageable and meaningful situations (Murray and Barnes, 1998).  Progression through each part of the unit titled Introductory Skills 1 is made prior to advancement. This particular level contains 9 hours 44 minutes of activity which involves all macro-skills but listening and speaking as the prominent foci.

The activities are diverse with opportunities to complete comprehension exercises, picture-word association, crosswords and word scrambles. Many exercises in all units allow listening to spoken words, making several attempts at production and hearing back the attempts along-with analytical data provided by way of pictures showing placement of lips and tongue for sound production and  wave form diagrams which illustrate weaknesses in pronunciation allowing for learner self-correction. The International Phonetic Alphabet is also utilised in speech pronunciation exercises. All activities have a high level of interactivity ensuring fun and engagement. The native speaker has a North American accent resulting in suprasegmental features such as stress and pronunciation being slightly different from Australian and British English perpetuating some cultural stereotypes such as the difference in production of the /t/ and /d/ sound as in “writer” (Murray and Barnes, 1998).

 Feedback to each activity is instantaneous allowing for repetition or progression. Tests are provided to assess starting level or to measure competency against official standards through practice for standardised tests according to the Council of Europe Levels equivalents.

Tellmemore would suit classroom integration providing opportunities for self-paced learning.

EDGT 940 Materials and Technology - Assessment 1.

Part C) Annotations of CALL software. The following software packages were chosen on the grounds that they addressed the ESL learning skill of speaking and so relevant terms used in the annotations appear in bolded font along with certain aspects of functionality, multi-media and links to other sites. Follow up teaching ideas are also provided.

1) Issues in English 2 (Version 1.5) accessed 25/8/11 at www.englishsoftware.com.au/esl/issues2.htm

 

Targeting learners from 12 years old, but specifically'tailored for adult learners', this package appears to have comprehensive content which addresses all macro-skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and other aspects of English Language learning such as vocabulary, grammar, spelling, dictation and pronunciation.  Delivery is through 700 interactive activities in four, self-paced levels of difficulty from beginner to advanced. Each level begins with clear instructions and then moves through activities for listening, vocabualry, grammar, pronunciation and writing. Provision is made for practice, help, feedback, tests via the Adaptive Recall function, and results. Special features of this package is the media content which includes instant spoken and written feedback from a native speaker, visuals of text and simultaneous video, and the voice recording and playback function. The eight topics utilised in the program include everyday communicative themes including sport, the wilderness and immigration.  An online demonstration is available. A Teaching idea for after-software use in the classroom would be to have students tell the class where and when they came to Australia and what their English speaking difficulties were at the time. Navigation of this package is uncomplicated, the instructions throughout are comprehensible with a visual example given at the beginning of each activity. The program can be applied to individual learners, whole-classes and mixed-ability classes and is priced at $99.00 for home customers.Links to other software packages available through englishsoftware.com.au are accessible from this site.

2) Rosetta Stone English Level 1 accessed on 25/8/11 at http://www.therosettastone.com.au/ 

 

The whole package targets Beginner to Intermediate level, mainly in schools but also catering to adult learners. Specifically, the ESL component focuses on functional, conversational skills using themes such as greetings, introductions, shopping, questions and answers through immersion software with a heavily visual approach and uses multimedia such as audio, video and speech recognition technology which aids in pronunciation practice. This multi-media program also offers Mobile Phone Applications for learners to take home or to wherever they are. The home page suggests that the package will allow the learner to speak, read, write and think in English and as well as formal lessons, interactive games are provided for learner engagement. The package has over 200 hours of activities and can be sampled in the online demonstration although comprehensive personal contact details are required for access to this and it appears to be aimed at teachers and institutions - providers of ESL courses, rather than individuals and is accordingly priced at $179.00. There are a number of smaller demonstration videos throughout the website, one of them being a sample of how speaking is taught through interactive exercises (product overview page of website). Links to other Rosetta Stone programs are available on this site.An idea for teaching might be to take students to a coffee shop after they have viewed the lesson on ordering coffee in a restaurant, putting the learning into an authentic situation.

 

3) Eyespeak English Premium Edition accessed 25/8/11 at http://www.eyespeakenglish.com/en/products/premium/index.php

This 'fully interactive' software package has a strong focus on listening and speaking targeting ESL/EFL learners wanting to improve their pronunciation. If provides one-on-one multi-media technology where students listen to native speech via a 'teacher' and then record their own attempts which are measured in terms of pitch, volume, timing and pronunciation accuracy. Immediate feedback is provided 'using visual mouth diagrams, wave form diagrams and audio recordings' in comparitive, clear and functional illustations. The use of the International Phonetic Alphabet is integrated into exercises in singular words and sentences representing authentic contexts of conversational English so reading and grammar components are also included. The program offers a self-tutoring and monitoring system in  Business English, Travel English, Student English and Practical English at Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels as described by the website: 'Personalized English coaching based on your individual English learning needs and accent'.The Student English page recommends the software to TOEIC and TOEFL  and similar standardised test students. The overall site is easily navigated with explicit description of how the program works. An online demonstration and free trial period are offered pre-purchase. The program price is $165.00. An idea for follow-up classroom teaching would be to have the students write a sentence beginning with "After class today, I will....." which is first modeled by the teacher. Students tell a partner what they will do, providing peer feedback opportunities. Then each student reports to the class on what their partner will do, using either the person's name or appropriate pronoun. This activity utilises listening, writing, speaking through discussion, individual speaking and grammatical aspects of tense and pronouns.

 4) Connected Speech accessed 27/8/11 at /www.clarityenglish.com/program/connectedspeech.php

As the name suggests, this software package focusses on all aspects of speech and pronunciation by identifying and analysing the suprasegmental components of speech production, namely Language, Pause Groups, Stress, Pitch Change, Linking, Sounds (which utilises the International Phonetic Alphabet) and Syllables. Over 350 easily navigable activities are provided through three levels of proficiency from Intermediate to Advanced ESL learners. Exposure to authentic speech in International, North American and Australian Englishes is offered through functional, multi-media applications such as video/audio interaction where learners can listen and then record their attempts at speech and then receive feedback. Other activities include spoken and written cloze passages, pause marking and pronunciation exercises, and writing, spelling and vocabulary. Feedback with explanations of errors is provided and written text is shown simultaneously with videos for students to see as they hear the dialogue. An excellent demonstration video is available and the software is offered for sale to  standalone or network applicants however, the cost is not specified on this website, probably due to the globality of the product and the associated variables involved. A teaching idea is to provide students with a passage of writing and get them to first mark the pauses and then read aloud using correct pausing. Done in pairs or individually, it provides further opportunity for feedback. This site is part of the software produced by Clarity Language Consultants Ltd which offer many other programs, the links of which are accessible.

5) The CGEA CD-ROM accessed 25/8/11 at www.englishsoftware.com.au/adult%20literacy/cgea.htm

Produced by the Adult Education Resource and Information Service for Language Australia, the Certificates in  General Education for Adults (CGEA) CD-ROM offers accredited literacy and numeracy courses for ESL learners aged 12 to adult through levels 2,3, and 4 of its literacy, numeracy and oracy streams. The website claims to offer lessons based on 'real-life activities' with 'verbal, context-specific' correction methods. Each learning outcome includes extra practice activities which can consolidate learning and be used by the teacher for assessment purposes. The reading and writing components focus on English for practical purposes, for self-expression, for general knowledge and for 'public debate' and give step-by-step instructions for the procedure to be followed.  Oral activities teach issue research, problem solving and practical applications through active listening to authentic Australian English and speaking. Video and audio interaction is a multi-media feature of this software package. Some activities have worksheet printing capability.

 A Teaching Idea stemming from this could be to write and role-play with a partner to negotiate arrangements to go somewhere. This package is $63.00 for home use and $126.50 for schools. A demo is available on the website. Links to other software packages available through englishsoftware.com.au are accessible from this site.