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.
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2 years ago
Deena, I agree with you. It sounds like you think the "A" in the "CALL" aspect of this site is just an assistance to the instructor in making quizzes rather than assisting the students in any deep processing of the vocabulary. What's you take on the benefit, if any, of the hint vs answer option for students?
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding the link. The site looks very useful. What are your thoughts on the categories they have listed?
ReplyDeleteI think this site is only OK. I think it's a good resource for teachers, like you said, to get vocabulary words for specific lessons, but not for the students. I might have missed the "hint" part, but all I saw were the actual answers. I think if you had students look at this website, they may only click and forget it two seconds later. I agree with you about the lack of "deep processing."
ReplyDeleteI think teachers could use the tools in the specific website only as a part of their vocabulary lesson or as a source of reference for words. I am not sure to what extent students will be able to remember in the long the new vocabulary words and apply them in the appropriate context.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue of concern is the complete absence of sound support. I think that apart from the graphic representation of the new vocabulary, the website should provide sound support, so that students become familiar with the pronunciation of the specific words.
I agree that there is A LOT of modifying necessary to use this website as a lesson. I think the only real benefit is getting students on computers, but I probably wouldn't use this as anything more than a warm-up.
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