Online Tools for Language Teaching and Learning

Mary Lou McCloskey, PhD

Principles of Active, Interactive Online Learning (McCloskey et Al, 2008; Chapelle, 1998)

1. Learners are actively engaged2. Learning is interactive – opportunities for production of

language & negotiation of meaning3. Linguistic characteristics are clear4. Language is scaffolded for comprehensibility5. Learners get feedback & opportunities to correct6. Learners apply prior knowledge7. Language and content are integrated8. Learning strategies are developed9. Clear goals and feedback are provided

“COOL TOOLS” TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS

1) Text and vocabulary analysis tools for curriculum development and writing analysis2) Visualization software for vocabulary development3) Lesson planning software; 4) Downloadable software for language exercises and games 5) Multimedia sources for language and language-through-content learning6) Sound recording and playback for multimedia storytelling.

1Analyzing VocabularyVocabulary Profiler (VP)

VP-Kids

•Vocabulary lists/corpus listsFirst thousand words

Second thousand wordsAcademic word list

Children’s Spoken word frequency list

Analyze vocabulary to determine important terms that ELLs may not know but need to know.

Cool Tools: • Vocabulary Profiler Local

Paul Nation Tom Cobb • & VPKids • Academic Word List Local

Averil Coxhead

Vocabulary Profiler

• Web tool developed by Paul Nation, Tom Cobb & others. Available at www.lextutor.ca/vp

• Analyzes vocabulary by frequency (first 1000, second 1000, Academic Word List, off-list)

• Provides many descriptive statistics • Used to study text levels for reading and to

examine learners speaking and writing.

Nabil Dirar (adapted from Wikipedia)

Nabil Dirar, who was born on February 15, 1986 in Casablanca, is a football player from Morocco, who is currently employed by Club Brugge K.V. in Belgium. Dirar’s favorite position is attacking left midfielder. In May 2008, he signed a five year contract with Club Brugge. He was a member of the Moroccan Olympic national team and he made his first cap for the Atlas Lions, the Morocco national football team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Mauritania on October 11, 2008.

VOCABULARY PROFILER OUTPUT

Color Coding

Blue = most frequent 1000 word familiesGreen = second 2000 word familiesYellow = academic words not in first 2000Yellow = academic words not in first 2000Red = off-list words

Blue = most frequent 1000 word familiesGreen = second 2000 word familiesYellow = academic words not in first 2000Yellow = academic words not in first 2000Red = off-list words

Uses of the Vocabulary Profiler & Word Lists

• Lesson planning• Materials development• Research• Assessing learner progress

Looking at Saw Ba’s Vocabulary Developmenton the Vocabulary Profilerand the VP- Kids

Saw Ba Revised Writing Sample July 25, 2008

Writing helped us know what kids had learned and what they needed to learn.

Saw BA Writing Sample January 2009

Greg Mortenson trying to climb the second word mountain and he two friends die in the second word mountain and he was tired and he came down and he was sick and he hungry and HajiAli come met Greg Mortenson and HajiAli said salaam alaikum that work me peace be with you and HajiAli was take him to the village and give Greg Mortension tea and food Greg Mortenson said what did you need to help when he wehn back to America and he save he money 600$ and he wehn back to packistan and he build a new school.

Saw Ba Piece 4, VP

Total words: 100Different words 56Type/token ratio .54

Saw Ba -- Vocabulary AnalysisVocabulary Profiler

Time % K1 % K2 % Off-list

% Aca-demic Words

% K1 + K2

Total Words

Different Words

Type/ token ratio

1 (5/08) 96 0 4 0 96 52 35 .69

2 (6/08) 85 14 0 0 99 49 35 .54

3 (7/08) 86 10 4 0 96 51 33 .65

4 (1/09) 93 5 2 0 98 100 56 .54

Analysis:•Story length increased over 7 months.•Other than story length, patterns of development aren’t revealed at this level by the VP.

Analysis1. Growth doesn’t show up in 1-month

increments, but does in 6 months – in terms of quantity and expansion on the higher levels of the list.

2. VP-Kids may to be accurate in the order of vocabulary development by ELs

3. Interesting to pursue using the tool to get feedback on vocabulary development and to determine what words ELs might be directed to learn and use.

2 Visualizing Vocabulary

Cool tool: www.wordsift.com

Text: “A princess for the Planet”

WORDLE VISUALIZER

WORDLE HTTP://WWW.WORDLE.NET/

3. LessonWriter: a tool for planning lessons created by the New York Public Library

www.lessonwriter.com text: A Princess for the Planet

Princess Lesson Plan created with LessonWriter

4. Tool for teaching language through content

Cool Tool: Google Earth

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Uses of GoogleEarth

• Writing about where we’re from, where we’ve been.

• Locating events in the news• Virtual travel to…• Planning travel• Calculating distances and directions• Studying the language of geography

5. TOOLS FOR GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

Games and Activities

• http://www.manythings.org/lulu/ • http://www.vocabulary.co.il/• http://classtools.net/ • http://teachertube.com/

viewVideo.php?video_id=78798&title=Classtools_net (video on how to use ClassTools)

6. TOOLS FOR RECORDING SOUND; RECORDING AND EDITING MULTIMEDIA

Sound

• Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Video

• A-tube catcher atube-catcher.dsnetwb.com

ex: If Everyone Cared - Nickelback• Movie Maker / I-Movie (search for download for your OS) Fugees Family Time (Ziggy arley)

“cool tools” to achieve goals

1) Text and vocabulary analysis tools for curriculum development and writing analysis

2) Visualization software for vocabulary development

3) lesson planning software; 4) Downloadable software for language

exercises and games 5) Multimedia sources for language and

language-through-content learning6) Sound and video recording and playback for

multimedia storytelling.

Principles of Active, Interactive Online Learning (McCloskey et Al, 2008; Chapelle,

1998) 1. Learners are actively engaged2. Learning is interactive – opportunities for

production of language & negotiation of meaning3. Linguistic characteristics are clear4. Language is scaffolded for comprehensibility5. Learners get feedback & opportunities to

correct6. Learners apply prior knowledge7. Language and content are integrated8. Learning strategies are developed9. Clear goals and feedback are provided

THANK YOU!

www.mlmcc.com

Writing Sample June 2008

When I go to school in but I do not lisag for my tinching buecore I when lay in the cass. mr. dover so my hode. in the boy go to the beatchro. this you I got the atinche buecue nen lesay to my tinchin siad took a Book to reading.

Saw Ba Writing Sample 7/23/08