Task 1: ESL Website Evaluation

Name : Nurnaimmah Bt Mohamad Hafizan

Student Id: 2014855138

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/

1. What does the website or MOOC or app or tool attempt to “teach”? Are exercises or activities included in the website? What are the types of exercise or activities included? Are there immediate feedbacks? Are there different levels of difficulty for different proficiency levels? {You can add any other comments you deem necessary)

The website that I have chosen to evaluate for this task is called ‘Englisch-Hilfen’ which means English aids. This website aims to provide language teaching and learning experience more fun and enjoyable which is why it incorporates interactive lesson, games, quizzes, forum, and test. The main focus of this website is to provide learners and teachers with various materials for learning and teaching grammar and vocabulary. This website contains almost 900 online exercises that cover a different topic for grammar and vocabulary. There are various kinds of exercises and activities in this platform. Some example of the types of exercises included in this website would be fill in the gaps, word formation, spelling, pronunciation, match and pair and etc. The activities on this website are also very engaging and meaningful for the students as it uses games and quizzes to capture students’ interest towards learning the English language. In addition, one of the benefits of using this website is it provides immediate feedback. As I mentioned earlier, this website has so many exercises to be done so it is vital to receive feedback on the task that the students have completed. An example is students receive an immediate score of the task that they have completed. Therefore, the students are made aware of their mistake and shown that there is always room for improvement for the students. This website also provides exercises and material for different levels of proficiency so it caters the needs of students from beginner, intermediate and advanced level.   

2. What are the learners/visitors required to do with regards to learning the content of the website or MOOC or apps?

This website is designed to be simple and user-friendly. It is online-based and most importantly free to use without having to sign up or subscribe. Learners or visitors need only to choose from four different main sections that can be found on the left side of the website. There are Grammar and vocabulary, Tests and Exams, English and School, and English and Free time. The learners and visitors can just click on each section that they desired and find various materials that are applicable to them without much difficulty. They will find that in each section, there will be an explanation and a guide for them to follow easily before immersing themselves in the learning experience that is very interesting and unique. For learners, they can test their knowledge by taking simple quizzes and later on take on the test to ensure that they have fully comprehended the knowledge learned through this website. On the other hand, for educators, they can find materials for their lesson such as worksheets or teaching ideas from this website. They can find materials that suit to the different level of proficiency of their students easily as it has already been provided.  

3. Does the website or MOOC or app or tools present learners with something that cannot be done in a face-to-face classroom? If yes, how so?

Yes. This website offers learners with the ability to learn at their own pace and gives the opportunity to explore and discover advanced tools provided in the websites that cannot be done in a face-to-face classroom. This is because in a face-to-face classroom, time is very limited and it is hard for the teacher to give the students the freedom to discover things by themselves. The teacher needs to achieve certain objectives in their lesson, therefore, it could be that some things cannot be done in the classroom. I believe that this website that is easily accessible anywhere can be used as a platform for the learners to gain a more in-depth explanation of the topic easily.

4. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

Yes. Based on the activities and exercises, we can see that the Structural approach teaching is used in the websites. Structural approach is a technique where the learner masters the pattern of the sentence before acquiring the language. The advantage of this approach is that learners can learn the structure of the language first before they acquire the language itself. This websites use grammar and vocabulary as its foundation. Therefore, we can see that in order to master language learning, learners must equip themselves with proper grammar and vocabulary skills. This can be seen as all of this websites’ focus is emphasize on those two skills. Other than that, this websites also promote student-centered learning. This is because the websites are designed for the students to have autonomy to choose what they want to learn and to focus on the skills that they are weak on. Students have control in choosing their most preferred activities and exercises based on their proficiency level.

5. An important criterion for evaluating a CALL program, task or activity is the potential for language learning (i.e. will the student learn something?) Does the website or MOOC or app fulfill this criterion? If yes, how so? If no, why?

In my opinion, I believe that this website has good potential and meets the criteria for a good CALL program that can help enhancing learners’ language learning. This website is useful both for the students and also teachers. This is because this website is a good online platform where students can find a lot of information about the English language. They can learn new English words, practice grammar, look at the basic rules of grammar and vocabulary, prepare for their exams, do tests or just have fun playing English games. Students will definitely learn a lot of things regarding grammar and vocabulary if they truly use this website properly. Other than that, this websites provide an online forum that can be used for discussion purposes in which it is very important to enhance the mastery of language for the learners. It also has online dictionaries that learners can refer to and make use to find the meaning of any difficult words that they encounter. Some examples of the online dictionaries present in this website are Cambridge Dictionary, Collins Dictionary, Macmillan Dictionary, and Merriam Webster.

6. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work? Yes? Provide reason(s), No? Provide (reason)

As for me, I would definitely use this website for teaching and learning process for my classroom in the future. This is because it is very useful for teachers to find materials to be used in the classroom as it offers various types of exercises that are divided into different levels of proficiency. It can help teachers to cater to the students’ needs and create a lesson that is fully engaging for the students. Apart from that, this website is a good opportunity to promote self-learning for my students in the future as the website offers a lot of useful tips and techniques to fully understand grammar and vocabulary. Not only it provides an in-depth explanation of the grammar rules and vocabulary, it also gives immediate feedback for the students.