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| Reviewed: |
Oct 21, 2002 by World Languages Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
This material is for learning English as a second or foreign language
communicatively. The format integrates a great many aspects of contemporary U.S.
culture. Through weekly, entertaining dialogs learners see and hear slang and
idioms used in authentic speech and contexts. The main structure of each lesson
consists of a dialog, discussion, and quiz. There are five lessons that cover
music, movies, current events, slang, and real life situations. Each lesson is
assigned on a daily basis, Monday through Friday. The distinguishing language
learning feature is the facility for online communication with people from
around the world through message boards and chat rooms.
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| Strengths: |
This material is designed to improve listening and speaking skills. Learners can
listen to conversations spoken by native speakers of U.S. English. Lesson
content is updated on a weekly basis and delivers English that is spoken on the
streets in authentic contexts. This material thereby engages learners? interest
and provides a culturally and linguistically realistic context. There are many
slang words and idiomatic expressions that cannot be found in traditional
dictionaries of English or second language textbooks
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| Concerns: |
In the Quiz section of each lesson, scoring of learners? performance might
motivate learners to listen and try again.
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
This material is useful both for self study and as a teaching resource. For self
study, these materials provide learners with online communication with native
speakers both in asynchronous and synchronous formats. The message boards have
topics such as Ask a Pal! Music Mix, and Find Friends! This feature makes it
possible for learners to interact with hundreds of others who are both learning
English or who are native speakers. Through Pal Mail, learners make friends with
native English speakers interested in helping them improve their language
skills. For classroom use, teachers can certainly use these media resources as
they are updated on a weekly basis.
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| Concerns: |
This material may be more user friendly if it were categorized by level of
English ability.
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
A consistent interface and instructions make this site very easy to use. The
main menu icons are located at the bottom of every page so that learners do not
get lost while navigating the site. Interactive feedback features such as
interactive forms,
cgi scripts, and the chat format are provided to motivate
learners to be actively engaged in their learning processes. Downloading time
for the audio files is minimal so that learners proceed to the next task without
wasting time.
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