Web Resources for English Language Teaching and Learning

Technology can help and assist the teaching of the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in a diverse range of ways. There is a connection between technology and the aspects of these skills today. Technology provides access to many different materials for students to read and write also to master their listening and speaking skills. In this writing, we will look into some the web resources that are available for teaching and learning English language.

1.    Reading

As technology provides access to so many different materials for students to read, teachers can select texts form the internet for their students. Students and teachers can choose the text of their interest. For example,

On the Voice of America (https://www.voanews.com/) website, students can access stories about current events. This up-to-date website includes news stories from the U.S. and around the world as well as stories about science, health, culture, and many more topics Students and teachers can read and discuss on these stories.

The U.S government website, American English (http://americanenglish.state.gov/) provides various texts that all teachers and students have access to around the world. This website provides vocabulary notes and discussion questions, so it’s a very useful tool for teaching reading. There are some texts in this website which have been simplified so that students are able to read. Texts are also can be found in chapter wise so that the students can download and use in class.

Another website naming American Teen Talks (https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/american-teens-talk) has a collection of interviews with American high school students available in written format and in audio format. These written interviews can be pick for reading lesson.

There is a website called Gutenberg Project (https://www.gutenberg.org/) which has a wider collection of books that have been written and used and enjoyed for many years all in one website for users to read. There are hundreds and thousands of websites available that have reading materials that might be used for reading class. 

BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/) is a British source of current events around the world. Teachers and students can select a certain current story and read and discuss on that.

Breaking News English (http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/) is an online resource where readings for English language learners on current events, with lessons plans, quizzes, and a variety of activities can be found. There are dictations in five different speeds, and podcasts and quizzes on a wide range of topics. Student can click on the two-page lesson to get a larger view and be able to download it easily.

English Conversations (https://www.eslfast.com/robot/) there are some basic English dialogue on a variety of topics with accompanying audio files for students to listen and read along.

Lit2Go (http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/)  This website provides MP3 and audiobook stories and poems with downloadable options to use for readalongs.

Many Things (http://www.manythings.org/e/listening.htm) A variety of reading and listening exercises including links to Voice of America’s Special English program are available in this website. For lower levels, there are listen and repeat sentences for intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation, and passages to listen to and read along at the same time. In addition, the site has vocabulary games for all levels.

U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs’ ShareAmerica (https://share.america.gov/theme/theme-education/theme-english-learning/) Everyday conversations of a family traveling through the United States for listeners to learn something about each state. This can be an interesting site for students and teachers to go through for reading purpose.

 

2.    Writing

There is a plethora of online resources available for teaching and learning the writing skills. Some are presented below.

George Mason University Writing Center (http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/) Resources for general writing and writing for academia, business, humanities, and science are available on this website. This site also provides guidance for research writing, tips on notetaking and reading critically, and links to resources for ESL writers.

Hippocampus (http://www.hippocampus.org/HippoCampus/English) This is a free online repository of thousands of multimedia learning objects. It is a part of the NROC project, a non-profit organization that collaborates with institutions to deliver courses and tools to address college readiness for students. The English section gives guidance on writing.

Marking Mate (http://readingandwritingtools.com/mm/markingmate.html) An automated writing tutor website where learners can copy/paste their writing into the website and receive feedback and corrections on their writing. 

Ohio University English Language Improvement Program (https://www.ohio.edu/cas/linguistics/elip/writing/index.cfm) A series of videos for international students writing for academic purposes. Videos are organized by skills needed before writing begins, resources for students during the writing process, and editing/revising resources for after the main writing has occurred.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) This website includes various suggested resources, mainly help with writing skills as professional writers, with adult basic education, and for grades 7–12 instructors and students.

Quill (https://www.quill.org/) A website created to provide structured grammar and writing activities for low-income K-12 students in the United States. Each activity provides step-by-step feedback as students combine or rewrite sentences.

Reading and Writing Tools – Sentence Rephraser (http://readingandwritingtools.com/rp/rephraser.html)  Learners are presented with an original sentence and a revised version of the sentence with the words obscured. Learners must guess the words included in the revised sentence; each correct guess earns them more points.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center (https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/) Handouts on all kinds of writing topics for college-level students and videos on specific techniques.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center (https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/) Handbook for writers covering all major genres and styles of writing for university undergraduates. Subheadings include analysis papers, job applications, research papers, and writing reviews.

Write in the Middle (http://www.learner.org) The Annenberg Foundation’s series of workshops on teaching writing to middle school students.

Writing Center at Harvard University (https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/resources) Instructional handouts and materials are available.

Writing Commons (https://writingcommons.org) As stated on the home page, Writing Commons is “a free, comprehensive, peer-reviewed, award-winning Open Text for students and faculty in college-level courses that require writing and research.”

 

Listening and Speaking

 

Annenberg Foundation’s Connect with English (http://www.learner.org/) A free video series which follows the adventures of Rebecca Casey across the U.S. Closed captioning is available, and the dialogue is simplified. Watch the videos then click on the Practice tab to find exercises, quizzes, lesson plans, and grammar pointers.

BrainPOP ELL (https://ell.brainpop.com/) A website of English as a Second Language (ESL) activities on a variety of topics, skills, and levels. Each level features a “Hear It, Say It” section where learners can listen to a movie then record themselves speaking the same sentence.

ESL Video (http://www.eslvideo.com/) Free videos on a wide range of topics at five levels, from beginner to advanced. Each video has a quiz to take online and get immediate results.

National Public Radio (http://www.npr.org/) Excellent resource for national and world news as well as stories on business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts, and culture. The site has podcasts which can be downloaded and listened to later and transcripts for reading along while listening.

Sounds of English (https://www.soundsofenglish.org/) A website with pronunciation and phonetics resources and guides for minimal pairs in English.

Speech Accent Archive (http://accent.gmu.edu) Features 300 speech samples from around the world reading the same English paragraph.

TED Videos (www.ted.com) TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design) is owned by a non-profit organization whose goal is to spread great ideas and spark conversation through powerful and inspiring short talks. 

Voice of America’s Learning English (https://learningenglish.voanews.com/) VOA’s Learning English was formerly Special English and is a broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It is a multimedia source of news and information so people can read, listen, and learn American English through online texts, MP3s, and podcasts. The captioned videos are written using vocabulary at the intermediate and upper-beginner levels, and the programs are read one-third slower than normal English speed.

VowelCat (https://sourceforge.net/projects/vowelcat/) Real-time speech visualizer that allows users to see their pronunciation on a vowel formant map to assist in developing speaking skills. This is a downloadable software developed by linguistics and computer science students at Ohio University.

Literacy

 

International Literacy Association (http://www.literacyworldwide.org/) An international reading association webpage with open access articles, sample journal issues, recommended book lists, and a daily blog.

Seminole State College Practice English Tutorials and Test Projects (https://www.seminolestate.edu/adult-ed/els/pett/reading) A series of ESL/EFL tutorials in PowerPoint format and practice reading tests for advanced-level learners.