ESL Website:http://www.ego4u.com
Moderator: Heike Pahlow, Mario Müller, Stefanie Czapla (German)
Partner site: http://www.englisch-hilfen.de
1. What does the application attempt to "teach"?
I choose this ESL website because of this website is very informative. It teaches people who wants to learn English from the basic one to the higher level. This website focuses more on grammar and their mainly target people are students but it is also applicable to the adults as there are sections for business communications and also the sections for the teachers in order to find ideas in their language teaching. There are also other aspects that had been focused in this website other than grammar such as; writing, vocabulary, daily english words and also pronunciation. This website also can be considered as an interactive website as there are skills that can be integrated here such as reading skills and also communication skills whereby visitors can discuss their problems in language learning through the discussion board. There is one interesting part that can attract visitors to access this website that is at the "Chill Out" section. This section provides games, riddles, e-cards and also chat with EGON(the moderator i guest).
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
Users of this application are required to have the knowledge of surfing skills because this website requires their visitors to know their own weaknesses in language learning. So that is why this website had separated several sections in learning the basic english such as grammar part, reading part etc. When the visitors can identify their weaknesses, then they can proceed to learn english easily. In this website, all the subtopics have the explanations together with the exercises so that after they have read the notes, they can evaluate themselves how far they had learned and understand the topics. In my opinion, this website had provided the simple and easy to understand notes and this can be useful for students to learn english especially for the beginner level.
3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use this application?
The application users need to have the basic computer skills such as typing, handling the mouse and also browsing. Typing skills are required when the users want to answer the questions of the exercises and also when the users want to have a chat with EGON for example. There is no other complicated skills that the users need to have in order to involve in the activities in this website. This website is also user-friendly whereby it might not give any problems to the beginner language learner.
4. While you are 'playing'/'accessing'/'assessing' the application, does it reminds you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow calssmate, or in self-study?
The activities in this website remind me the time when i was in primary school. I'm sure that everybody had experienced with this type of exercises where the students need to fill the answers in the blank slots. Even though during my time the exercises were in papers but not in the computer, but the way the students need to solve them are almost the same. This type of activities in this website will absolutely give opportunities for the students to answer the questions easily because they had faced the same situation with the teachers. Other than that, i also experienced this type of activities during my micro teaching with the fellow classmates.
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/ or teaching underlying the application?
There are several theories of language learning and teaching underlying the application. For example, the Direct Method. In this website, grammar had been taught inductively whereby students have to know the rules first before apply it to the exercises. There are only everyday words and sentences were taught. Other than that, this website also indicates the problem-solving approach whereby learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned, meaning here, this website had included each subtopics with their own exercises, so that, students can refer the notes whenever they cant answer the questions. This website also encourage students to discover by themselves rather than remember and repeat on what they have to learn.
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
In my opinion, this website has a very much emphasis on the constructivist theory of learning too. This is because this website requires these three aspects that are;1)The nature of the learner, 2)The role of the instructor, 3)The nature of the learning process. The nature of the learner is more likely emphasis on the importance of background and the learning of the culture. Through this website, students will gain motivation to learn English as there are sections which differentiate the level of the learner. In this website, the instructions seen as the facilitator that facilitate the learner on what to do.
7. In 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was a major debate on whether a computer was a “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?
For this question, i dont think that teachers can be replaced with the computer. This is because students still need a teacher even to use a computer. Students also need teachers to give feedbacks to them as the feedbacks also may vary. If the students use the computer in language learning for example, without a teacher to facilitate, students will encounter problems whenever they want to practice the communication skills as the computer may just provide a one way of communication. For me computer still not an integrative tool for students to learn language.
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
I will absolutely use this application in my future work as this website can be a reference for me in giving ideas to teach language. This website provides enough information from the basic/beginner level to the complex one. Even adults also can use this application because there is business section for them. One thing that i like so much about this website is it provides with adequate information and relevant exercises especially focus more on grammar.
9. Suggestions/ Recommendations
I would suggest to this website to put more activities not only focus on the students so that everybody can enjoy surfing and learning English through this website. Besides that, the moderator also may put a forum for students so that they can share their problems in learning language.
