ESL Website Evaluation

Website address: http://a4esl.org/

Question 1

            This website is focused more on the Grammar aspect. Instead of notes, this website’s contents range from quizzes to puzzles. The available quizzes and exercises are Grammar Quizzes, Vocabulary Quizzes, Crosswords Puzzles and Bilingual Quizzes. The Bilingual Quizzes are the most interesting because it covers approximately 49 languages, from Arabic to Malay to Russian. But the bilingual section only provides the very basic exercises that are meant to serve as a dictionary. The feedbacks are immediate. For example, in the Bilingual Quiz for Bahasa Malaysia, they are given with a Malay word and need to choose the correct translation in English by clicking the answer and the feedbacks are given there and then. If the students choose the wrong answer, the background colour will appear in the colour of grey together with the answer. But still, students still need to click on the right answer. Nevertheless, all these questions are doable because the quizzes are only comprised of multiple choice questions and not open-ended questions. For each of those exercises, there are about two to four levels of difficulty; easy, easy with pictures, medium and difficult hence, catering to different levels of proficiency.

Question 2

            There isn’t much that learners or visitors are required to do upon visiting this website. The first thing to do is to choose from 13 options; Grammar-E (Easy), Grammar-M (Medium), Grammar-D (Difficult), Vocabulary-E (Easy), Vocabulary-M (Medium), Vocabulary-D (Difficult), Crosswords-E (Easy), Crosswords-M (Medium), Crosswords-D (Difficult), Bilingual, JavaScript, Flash, HTML-Only and For Teachers. And from each of these options there are vast of topics to be covered but all these exercises’ focus falls on the Grammar aspect of the English language. However, since this website’s emphasis fall on drilling, this website would help to reinforce students’ knowledge.

Question 3

            This website reminded me much of my learning in secondary school whereby most of our activities and learning adhere to the drilling requirement set by the school. While the exercises are interactive, the design of the website seems dull and out of date. Even the colours used; yellow, grey and blue can take away students’ motivation just like it did me years ago. The Bilingual section however, reminded me of a pink book that my primary school teacher (English teacher) gave to us as a reference regarding grammar. They are almost alike. I find this part to be very useful especially for learners who are beginners and want to expand their word bank.

Question 4

            This website definitely presents learners with something that cannot be found in a normal and hardcopy worksheets. The first one would be the interactive questions. It is noted that teenagers have short attention span and in order to prolong it, we have to tap their interests. Generation Millennia nowadays love animation and interaction and this website moderately provides that with the exercises. Eventhough the use of colours seem a bit bland, nevertheless, this quality cannot be found in a normal worksheet because school’s budget would limit teachers’ capabilities of using coloured papers instead of white ones. What’s more, the different colours in hardcopy means more use of printer’s ink which consequently affect the school’s budget and this website can accomplish this task without wasting one cent. Secondly, the availability of HTML, JavaScript and Flash would definitely catch their attention. It gives a different medium to learners in the learning experience. Thirdly, is the Bilingual section. Rather than spoon-feeding learners with the translation, they have to try and guess the translation of their own mother tongue to English language. What’s interesting is that this website provides 49 languages which would enable users and learners from all over the world. Therefore, this website is not only suitable for ESL learners but also EFL learners. Lastly, this website also puts up external links to other ESL websites that may help learners to learn and find out more about English. There are also two links that will direct them to YouTube that will help them with their pronunciation skills.

 Question 5

            The first theory of language Abraham Maslow’s needs hierachy theory spans arousal and trait theories. Maslow emphasized on the motivation of learners; each may be different but at the same time, they may share generalised and common interests. For example, the Millennia generation loves animation and interactive things. This website provides just that but at a moderate level. The varieties of colours (although much to my distaste), will slightly contribute to their motivation.

Question 6

            Yes, this website has the potentials for language learning. Referring back to the Bottom Up Approach, some students learn more effectively by committing a mistake and then learning about the principles. This website allows learners to try the exercises first. The fact that there is an instant feedback makes it all the better. Students will immediately know the grammar mistakes they are making or this will give them a chance to break away from their grammar errors. However, the potentials for language learning are limited because the website doesn’t give an explanation or provides notes for users. Consequently, learners may know they are committing a mistake but wouldn’t know the reason why. Or, it could be the other way around. This could also spark the curiosity within the students to embark on a study on what they are doing wrong; which may help students to gradually reduce their spoon-feeding method.

Question 7

            Yes, I would use this application in my future work. Grammar is very important for TESL trainee teachers. Although this website is in drilling mode, but because I am at a stage where my attention span could be longer eventhough the subject may be dry, this will definitely help me keep my grammar in check. Besides that, I could also replicate the available worksheets and turn it into the hardcopy version or go online and ask students to answer these questions as one of the quizzes or PBS assessments. However, I do think that the website could be improved so much more to make it more interesting for younger generation of users.