British Council Learn English
Fatimah Mardhiah binti Omar
2015149957
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 think is important to point out).
The website that I choose for my evaluation
is British Council. Despite the fact that this website is created for adult
learners of English to improve their English language proficiency, it is still
suitable to be accessed by younger learners. There are plenty of exercises and
activities included on the website and they are categorized accordingly based
on the level of proficiency of the users which mean that since they use CEFR as
their standard, the levels are divided into A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. The types
of exercise and activities included cover all skill of language including
grammar. On top of that, the website also provides game-based activities, audio
and video materials to make it more interesting for visual and auditory
learners and they are all set to different levels of difficulty for different
proficiency levels. The most interesting part of this website is that it
provides a list of their specially designed applications to learn English at
home, at work or on the move, basically anywhere at any time. At the end of
every activity, there is only short feedback provided and in my opinion this is
why a teacher is needed when a learning process takes place because the teacher
will be able to point out in details to the learners which part that need
improvement as well as to suggest solution and clarification to the learners.
2. What are the learners/visitors required to do with regards
to learning the content of the website or MOOC or apps?
In order to gain access to the content of
the website, learners just have to visit https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
and they are free to make full use of the activities and exercises provided,
unless for adult learners, if they intend to take online courses from British
Council in order to improve their ability to find and apply for the right jobs,
develop interview skills and learn how to perform in the workplace with
confidence, they can subscribe to them. At each level, tutor videos and
workplace scenarios guide them through the materials, explain key language and
grammar points and offer vocabulary that they can use in everyday business
life. For normal users, they can start by taking the free English test on the
website to know their level of English proficiency which range from beginner
(A1) to mastery (C2) and later find lessons that suits their level. In order
not to miss any important events from the website, the learner can sing up to
their newsletter to keep them update.
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?
It is true that real classroom with the
presence of a teacher with a face-to-face and social interaction is a better
choice. But, this website also presents learners with something that cannot be
done in face-to-face classroom. It indeed provides learners with abundance of
materials to be used in improving their English language proficiency, fluency and
accuracy level yet sometimes in real classroom, the right and condition of
self-government which is also known as autonomy is rarely given to the
learners. By using this website, learners have control on their own pace of
learning and taking into account the English test provided to get to know their
own proficiency level, learners would be able to learn something at their level
rather than if they are in mixed-proficiency class where sometimes the lessons
might be too easy or too difficult which can lead to boredom and lack of
interest in lessons.
Many students do not have the confidence to
use the language orally and feel stressed whenever they need to produce it and
this is known as language ego, a sense of inferiority as one tries to learn a
new language. This website is a better option to serve as the platform for the
learners to practice speaking in English. It offers plenty of exercise to
practise speaking and learner would be comfortable to learn in their own skin. The
thought that someone is watching them and fear of making mistakes in speaking can
be reduced when using this website.
4. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning
and/or teaching underlying the application?
From what I see, the theory of language
learning underlying this website is most probably Constructivism, a theory about
how people learn where it propose the idea that people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and
reflecting on those experiences. When we come across something new, we have to relate
it with our schema and previous knowledge, maybe changing what we believe, or
maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active
creators of our own knowledge and to able ourselves to do this, we must ask questions,
explore, and assess what we know. Due to the fact that this website offers
self-assessed activity and exercise, the learners themselves must be aware of
their learning process, and how it takes place and the room of improvement available
in order to advance further.
5. An important criterion for evaluating a CALL program,
task or activity is the potential for language learning (i.e. will student learn
something?) Does the website or MOOC or app fulfill this criterion? If yes, how
so? If no, why?
Regardless of the circumstance that it is a
digital platform with no face-to-face interaction, this website can still be
considered as a potential medium for language learning because of the
authenticity of the materials provided. The examples as well as the situations
described in the activity are related to the real world context in which the
learners will be able to apply the input learned from the website in real
situation. The context of the activity and exercise vary from casual ones like
everyday activity and daily conversation to a more formal one like attending
job interview and fact-related discussion.
6. Would you like to use the application yourself in
your future work? Yes? Provide reason(s), No? Provide (reason).
In the future, I will definitely use the
website to facilitate my teaching, if I become an educator, because not only this
website offers material for adult learners, it also provides material for younger
learners such as teenagers and children. Hence, it would be much easier for me
to find material needed that suits different level of learners at different
age. On top of that, I will also make use of this website to assist me in
language learning as learning is a lifelong process and there will always be something
new to discover. Since English is my second language and I will always prone to
use my native language in most of the situation, this website will be a great
help to keep me in check with my English language proficiency.
ok, 15.5/20
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