The resource that I chose is a webpage called Babelnet Theme Park and if you click here it will take you to their homepage. The only requirements to use the page is a computer with access to Internet and then the page is ready to be used.
The site is an interactive page for learning English and it is divided in to Beginners, Independent and Proficient users. The tasks are based on knowledge skills, Grammar exercises, vocabulary practice, crosswords and much more.
There are task that suit students with different language skills but it might not be suitable for students who only recently started to study English since they need at least basic skills of the language in order to be able to complete the tasks.
The webpage is divided into four different themes;
Castle: Takes you on a tour through British History with interesting facts and questions that you have to answer in order to be able to move forward.
Services: What does different things cost? Which countries uses the Euro? Go shopping for clothes or food, have dinner in a restaurant or even stay a night at a hotel.
Attractions: Go to the movies, a treasure hunt or attend a sports event. Fill in the gap questions, matching exercises or questions about movies and sports.
Nature reserve: Meet animals at the Zoo or in the forest. Learn about the rain forest, do a quiz about Gorillas or test your Grammar skills in the Grammar bank.
How can this resource be used by the students?
The webpage is a great way for the students to learn English in a natural and relaxed way. There are many different aspects to the tasks such as history, mystery, environmental issues, how to use money et cetera. The integration of subjects provide many learning opportunities for the students. The various questions and tasks are very much authentic and taken from real life situations which makes them familiar for the students.
The students can either be given a specific task that they are asked to complete or they can explore it's different aspects on their own, just as a fun exercise.
How can this resource be used by the teacher?
The teacher can include the webpage in to a bigger theme, for example about Great Britain or when discussing the environment since there are tasks that involves these subjects. It can also be a part of Math since it, in the Services section, discusses how you make a reservation for a hotel or what clothes to buy and this can be a great addition to Math tasks that the students are working with. The site offers many opportunities to practice new words through gap filling exercises and there are also numerous Grammar tasks that can be integrated with the every day school work.
If the classroom does not have computers for all students the teacher can print some of the exercises so that the students can take turns by working with the computer or with pen and paper.
What do you need to consider when using this webpage?
Since there are so many features to the page the students might need some guidance on which tasks they should do so that they do not end up doing a much too difficult task and lose interest.
There are no commercials or popup windows on the webpage so there is little risk of the students clicking on something and ending up somewhere they should not be.
Analysis – Babelnet Theme Park
ReplyDeleteThis website was an interesting and varying way of learning the English language. This because I really like the themes they have chosen to work with. Services and attractions are big parts of for example a vacation trip and for many students this is the first contact with the English language outside the classroom and on the media (TV/movies, music, internet). For a student learning the English language with activities that they actually have a use for in real life is of great importance which both authors Jeremy Harmer and Lynne Cameron agree with.
If working with Great Britain this can absolutely be a good website to learn about the country and a good resource for the students to find information.
I agree on what you mention under the consideration part, that the students might need some guidance on what to focus on. This because of that the site contains very much information and to find the right task and the right level of the task so that it is suitable for each student can be hard for themselves to do.
The teachers that have put this website together are all teachers working all over the world with language learning which is a positive indication. They seem to have the knowledge and there are good presentations of each of them explaining who they are and what they work with.
Here are some more critical thoughts on the website:
The website is divided into Beginners, Independent and Proficient users but I cannot find what content are meant to belong to which. This is maybe up to the teacher to decide?
When I made the first click on this website, a popup window appeared from Vistaprint. The second click took me to University of St. Gallen. So the website has some kind of advertising on the front page if you click somewhere on the background.
The last update for this website was 6th January 2003. The website is therefore more than eight years old and even if the content still can be very useful, we must take in consideration (critical eye) that some off the techniques and methods may have changed a bit since then.
Best regards Marcus