CALL Vocabulary

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vocabulary.html

The initial appeal of this site to me is that it is a self- study vocabulary site. Students read a definition/example of the vocab word in question, and they have the option of either answering it, or asking for a hint. These questions can also be used in the classroom, if the teacher prints them out, rather than make them computer based.

The categories are first identified in terms of their difficulty- easy, easy-medium, medium, medium-difficult, etc- and then further sectioned by specific themes, such as days of the week or parts of the body. You can also find words categorized by the letter they begin with. For teachers, this would be an easy resource if you're looking for vocab for a specific purpose.

While I like some aspects of this site, I wouldn't use this as the entire vocabulary lesson, but rather, only one aspect of the lesson. I don't find the tests to be communicative tasks, because they don't include anything but the tests. I like the categorization of the words/tests, but I don't think the activities are strong enough to stand on their own.

SLA Reading Resource

http://www.eslgold.com/reading.html

The above website is a well-organized site that allows you to access a range of materials and resources, spanning from low beginning readers, all the way to advanced readers. The site offers exercises, quizzes, reading strategies, and articles/topics for discussion. One of my favorite parts of the site is the textbook recommendation link, which recommends books based on the specific level and skill you are targeting.

I chose one activity to explore, and it was based around the article "American Art in Delaware." The lesson included pre-reading vocab (with a matching activity), and pre/post-reading questions. While I personally would chose to modify some of the activities, I think the starting point that these activities offer is great.

Experience with CALL- post #1

I haven't had any official experience with CALL, other than reading articles and researching its place in the ESL world. I think technology in ESL classrooms is important, so I'm looking forward to learning all the aspects of computer- assisted learning. One question I could pose is do you think ESL students will be motivated by the idea of using computers to assist language learning, or is there a possibility that computers may intimidate some students?