Websites in CALL Essentials (Chap.3)

Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
(http://www.esl-lab.com/)

※Since the framework that Florez mentions in this chapter may not fully appropriate to examine this website, I may modify the content of the framework slightly by myself in order to describe this website more precisely.

Focus: This website focuses on daily English listening comprehension. And to train learners’ speaking accent further.

Preparation: Make learners well prepared to a websites that contains various kinds of authentic topics and the difficulty also ranges from easy to very difficult. There are quizzes after each piece of conversation. Also let learners think about what is the goal of their learning. If they just want to know more about American lifestyle, then they can opt “general listening quizzes.” And if they train their listening for academic purpose, then they can choose another category in this website.

Presentation: There are five categories in this website: generally listening quizzes, listening quizzes for academic purpose, 20-minute ESL vocabulary lessons, language learning and life tips and long conversations with realvideo. In each category are several pieces of items for learners’ practice. In each item, there are pre-listening exercises, listening exercises and post-listening exercises. Listening exercise is the conversation to train learners’ listening in other words, while post-listening exercises are some quizzes to test learners.

Practice: Learners can use the quizzes to see how much they understand form the conversation. As they get better, learners may also start to emulate the speaking accent in the conversation.

Evaluation: I think the quizzes are good materials for learners to evaluate their learning.

Extension: Learners may gather to share with each other what they have learned from this website. Just as the anecdote that be mentioned in the first page of chapter three, learners can use this website effectively through teamwork. Some students print the study guide, and some students discuss the sound bites as they listen.

Well, I think this website will be instrumental for my listening comprehension to some extent. In fact, my listening comprehension is not good, let alone speaking proficiency. Speaking and listening correlated with each other considerably. Only when I can comprehend others’ talking, I can reply him or her accordingly. For example, I hear the words “a mess” a few days before, but I mistook it as the word “amaze.” What extremely different meanings they are! Sometimes I listen to Studio Classroom Advanced program to improve my listening, but I do not know whether I do really progress or not. I just keep listening to it if I am free. But there are quizzes in this website, so that I can know whether I really comprehend the conversation or not. I agree that “opportunities for speaking and listening require structure and planning if they are to support language development,” and carefully planned CALL activities can use computers to support listening and speaking. And this website has already achieve this goal, at least from my perspective. As for speaking proficiency, apart from online talking or chatting, I think activities such as role-play, story telling, show-and-tell presentation, and radio drama are all very interesting and can truly sharpen one’s speaking ability, from my own learning experience.