This Website is produced by the British Council, the United Kingdom?s international organization for education and cultural relations, offering opportunities to learn English as a foreign or second language through online courses, articles, and numerous other activities such as games, writing contests, songs and stories. There are also numerous resources for those teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Type of Material:
This site has numerous stories, audio files, graphics (postcards) to e-mail, and games for learning English. There is a magazine in the LearnEnglish Kidzone area that allows visitors to share their own stories of learning English.
Technical Requirements:
This website is most beneficially viewed with high-speed access (cable modem or DSL). It can be viewed with dial-up modem but the video and audio downloads will be slower.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Acquisition of English through a variety of learning activities.
Target Student Population:
The website targets various age levels and levels of English proficiency. There are many examples of specific areas designated towards different ages. This website specifically targets ages 8-12 in the LearnEnglish Kidzone, ages 9-12 at pre-intermediate English level in the Network English area, and professionals and business persons with the first section in this area of the website named MilitaryEnglish Zone. The LearnEnglish Magazine is of benefit to the adolescent to mature students at the advanced level.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
The unaided student will need moderate to advanced English and basic to moderate technology skills to navigate the site.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Although this website is geared toward students learning English as a second or foreign language, there is some value in the games, stories and worksheets for beginning reading readiness for native speakers, as well.
The breadth and depth of the activities provided on this website are exemplary. There are not only games for letter recognition for the beginner English student, but also articles such topics on biodiversity and current issues, such as gun control, for the intermediate to advanced English student. The use of video games can interest most of today's technologically minded students. The user can set the level of ability in the games to allow even the most novice of students the opportunity to learn and play a game. The external links provided are well needed (i.e., an English dictionary), relevant and placed in the exact place a student may need them. For example, a link to an English dictionary is available during game playing. Furthermore, in the magazine articles a student can double click on any word resulting in another window opening to provide the word meaning. (This feature is new and can be unpredictable.) This allows a student to keep his or her place within an article and consequently within the website.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The website appears to have endless resources. There are numerous links to benefit the teacher, specifically the Teaching English section. Teaching English has many links for methodology, pronunciation, and vocabulary. This website can maintain students? attention while they engage in numerous learning. The use of themes is a great resource for discussion and writing ideas.
LearnEnglish is primarily for a single user,
but could also be useful for a small group of students, if students are paired appropriately, balancing those with technological skills and those possessing sufficient English language skills. Thus, the website could be an asset to the language classroom.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
LearnEnglish is easily navigated. The quality of the games, video and audio files are very good to excellent. Most files load fast with links to the necessary programs needed for playing readily available (RealAudio Player and Macromedia Shockwave). The screens are easy to read but text intensive. The games, stories and videos are interesting to students and have great image quality. All pages and resources were easily printed. The website is frequently and regularly updated.
Concerns:
Beginning English students may have trouble reading the English words to navigate the first few times to the website. A specific recommendation would be the inclusion of more graphics to help the student make better connections to English words. Although picture to text recognition is part of many games, this is not evident on the text-intensive web pages. There is a distinct difference when one enters the LearnEnglish Kidzone area of the website: it is very "kid friendly," yet the site may be of no interest to the adult beginner English student who could also benefit from activities found within this area.
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
