TASK 1: ESL Website Evaluation (Answers)

ABCfrog.com

Introduction

The ESL website to be evaluated is ABCfrog.com. It is a fun and interesting website which is very suitable for kindergarten and primary school children. Its interactive activities and attractive games available would be very useful to motivate and encourage the children to learn English language at their own pace. The moderator of the website recommends the parents and teachers to use this ESL website to introduce their children or pupils to English and manipulate the application as the best homework for them.

Question 1: What does the application attempt to “teach”?

The application attempts to teach the learners to acquire the four skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing/typing skills) as well as grammar and vocabulary in English. If the users have explored the activities, exercises or games provided in the application, they can see that most of them emphasize on these skills. The activities and games available are categorized into four levels – level A, B, C, and D according to learners’ mastery level. For the beginners, they could start playing, accessing and assessing the easiest games or exercises provided at level A. The games and exercises available at this level attempt to teach the learners the basic skills in English language such as familiarize themselves with the vowel sounds and phonic system. Moreover, some games attempt to teach the learners on focusing and memorizing skills. The games such as listen and catch the words or pictures appeared require the learners to be focused. The games that require the learner to memorize are for instance, find all matching pictures. The children who had master the basic skills; they can choose other games that are more challenging for them to play. For example, the type speed activities attempt to teach students to type the words appeared on the screen as fast as possible. Another example is word searches that teach the learners on word attack skills. There are also exercises which test students on listening skill which require them to listen attentively to the sentence listened and then type it out on the screen. The time recorded as well as scores collected will be recorded to be used to determine in which level or range the users had successfully achieved.

Question 2: What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

For this particular website, first of all they are expected to be one of the members by signing up for free. Only then they would have unlimited access to play the games in the application. The teachers, parents or the children are very much welcomed to join the website to enable them to utilize the applications for English language teaching and learning purposes. Once they have successfully be the member of this website, they are given opportunity to select and browse through the links provided based on their own interest to the content area. The users are expected to select the suitable exercises or games to be played. Apart from that, this website requires minimal skills in browsing through the targeted pages because it generally uses “basic” features of a website and the links or buttons which connect the main page to the content is easy to reach. I would say that the most useful part of this page is the content where users can play the games featured in the “Games” section. In this section, users can choose the level of the questions according to their mastery levels. The scores and answers are given straight away after completing the exercise. Another useful feature in this “Games” section is the buttons. The application user should be able to listen repeatedly by clicking ‘Listen’ button, and ‘Help’ button, which provides more related information to help learners to learn and discover their weaknesses. Immediate feedback by the moderator is also useful to motivate the students and make them aware of their weaknesses when they use the application alone.

Question 3: What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

There are some computer skills that the users should have in order to operate access or use any application on the websites. In my point of view, this ESL website does not require any specific computer skills from users either the teachers or the learners. Basically, it is a simple and basic interactive website application which only requires minimal skills from its users such as typing skills, scrolling up and down, pointing and clicking the links or buttons provided in order to operate the websites. Besides, they do not need to install any devices in order to operate the application. Thus, anybody with the basic knowledge and skills of browsing the internet like parents and primary school children will be able to benefit from the website. Nonetheless, the young beginner users especially the kindergarten children still need their parents’ guidance to be able to help them in utilizing the website. They are also need to be controlled by the teachers or parents from time to time.

Question 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?

Yes, it does remind me of something that I did while in self-study. I always use the ESL website especially to enhance my grammatical skill and knowledge. I browsed the link related to the topic which I am weak on and went through the exercises repeatedly till I had successfully mastered the skills. Normally, I use the application that provides me immediate feedback such as “well done”, “excellent”, “good” or “sorry, try again”. Sometimes, there were exercises that provide me with explanation why the answers are wrong. Hence, those immediate feedback were actually did help me a lot during self-study for it enhance my motivation in learning and make me aware of my weaknesses. In short, the application I used are very beneficial and allowed me to proceed at my own pace just like the current application I chose to be evaluated.

Question 5: Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
There are some theories of language learning and teaching underlying the application. Firstly, the theory with regard to language learning had been proposed by the best-known proponent of psychological theory, B. F. Skinner, is Behaviourist theory. Behaviourist theory explained language learning in terms of imitation, practice, reinforcement (or feedback on success), and habit formation” (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). In my point of view, I think that the website chosen applies this theory for language learning and teaching. It is proven that most of games and practices available in this application use imitation and reinforcement or immediate feedback to enhance users’ language learning. The theory is supported by the traditional behaviourists who hypothesized that “when children imitated the language produced by those around them, their attempts to reproduce what they heard received ‘positive reinforcement’”. For example, when the children imitate the sound or patterns produced in a way of writing, speaking or pointing, they are given immediate feedbacks for their  action such as ‘good’, ‘excellent’ for correct answers and ‘try again’ for inaccurate answers. The feedbacks such as appraisal and scores influence the children to “continue to imitate and practice these sounds and patterns until they formed ‘habits’ of correct language use” (Lightbown and Spada (2006). Furthermore, these reinforcements will enhance students’ motivation and make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses while learning the language as well.

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

Constructivism Theory believes that a learner should initiate and direct their own learning with the help of facilitators and adequate resources. As stated by Eby, Herrell, & Jordan, (2006); Halpern (2006); Kafai (2006),

“the constructivist approach is a learner-centered approach that emphasizes the importance of individuals actively constructing their knowledge and understanding with guidance from the teacher. In the constructivist view, teachers should not attempt to simply pour information into children’s mind. Rather, children should be encouraged to explore their world, discover knowledge, reflect, and think critically with careful monitoring and meaningful guidance from the teacher”.(Santrock, 2008, p.6).

Thus, in my opinion, the constructivist theory of learning is well applied to the chosen website. This is because; it matched perfectly with the way this website should be used. The self-directed learning environment has been established by the website for learners. Teachers or parents on the other hand could act as guidance or facilitators because the website already provided all the exercises and also feedbacks.

Question 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?

Based on the arguments on whether the computer is a ‘master’ or a ‘slave’ in the education process, I would say that computer is merely an obedient servant to the students in their learning process. It is because; the computer serves repeated exposure to the same material which is believed to be beneficial or even essential to learning. According to Behaviouristic CALL perspective, “a computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills since the machine “does not get bored with presenting the same material and it can provide non-judgmental immediate feedback” to the students (Kern& Warschauer, 2000; Warschauer , 1996: Warschauer , 2004). Nonetheless, in my personal opinion the computer still can never be replace teachers even though it can be a great tool especially in language teaching. This is because, in terms of the relationship between students and teachers, the computer or websites cannot act like a human-being. For example, even though the computer can be an obedient servant to students, it still cannot interpret students’ feelings, and decide which way of learning that the students should be in. In contrast, teachers know their students inside-out very well, and be able to motivate as well as can decide the best way of learning to cater for different students with different personality. Therefore, due to these factors,  I believe that the computer can never be replace teacher as master in teaching and learning process, but it did a good job as servant in that process.

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

ABCfrog.com is a very good website for English language learning especially for early education either in kindergarten or primary school level. If I were the kindergarten of primary school teacher, I would definitely choose this website as an option to be added to the lists of my teaching aids. It is believed that the games available in this application would be attractive enough to encourage my students to learn English in a fun and fastest way. Despites can be a good teaching aid for teachers; it also can be an excellent studying material for the children when they are at home. This is because, the parents or teachers who may want their children or pupils to use the application as their homework could select any number that represent any activities or games provided and put in the homework box. This feature enables the teachers and parents to manipulate the application for they know well which area of their children should be further improved.

Suggestions/Recommendations

Overall, the application serves the users with a lot of skills in language learning. Not only enrich the students with new vocabularies, this application also enhances students’ listening and typing as well as memorization skills through its interactive games. However, I would personally recommend the developers of this website to add more interactive activities other than games. The developer might enhance the use of application by integrating popular songs for grammar practices. It is believed that the students would be more motivated to engage in their learning. Moreover, the content of the lesson conveyed through the songs is believed to be more effective for children especially in early years of education.