LoudLit- Literature for Your Eyes and Ears

Today's Website~

●    LoudLit- Literature for Your Eyes and Ears

What is it about?

●  LoudLit provides literature work with audio, including novels, poetry, short stories,

    historical text.

●  The masterpiece is presented on the screen and the readers can click on "Read 

    and Listen" to start their imaginative world.

●  The audio can be downloaded into your MP3 player.  And you can listen to audio book

    anytime, anywhere.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  The masterpiece helps readers to appreciate the structure and artistic expression

    of written world, and the listening of the literature involves the reader in the writers'

    imaginative world.

●  Reading with eyes and ears helps learners link the words and sounds, and it also

    engages the readers in the writers' world.

●  Learners can learn spelling, punctuation, and the structure of the written work by reading,

    and at the same time, they can learn pronunciation, intonation when written work is

    presented by the audio form.

●  The masterpiece is the best tutor for English learning, especially for advanced learners,

    to learn the writing styles.

●  Children's stories are suitable for beginners to imitate the sentence patterns and the

    structure of the stories. 

●  Learners can choose which chapter they would like to listen, read and review again

    and again.

●  Reading good writing works (input) helps learners create good writing works (output) 

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  If it is for beginners, I would introduce one of the children's stories, and ask them 

    some questions about the stories, e.g. Who is the main character? What does the main 

    character do?  And write down the main ideas on the blackboard.

●  Have the students work in group and name some words that might be used in the story. 

●  Have students read the story first (without listening), and encourage them to write down 

    some words they don't recognize, which affect the understanding of the story. 

●  Encourage students to write down the words they don't know how to pronounce.

●  The teacher then explain some words and have students listen and read the stories

    at their own pace (They can rewind, replay according to their need).  The teacher 

    can walk around and check if students need help.

●  Encourage students to write down the sentences they like.

●  The teacher could have students in group to write 3-5 sentences to summarize

    the story or change the outcome of the story.

●  The teacher could also ask the students to read the story (or role play). 

●  If it is for higher level students, the teacher could choose certain chapter to have students 

    read and listen in class, and then ask them some questions about the work (it depends 

    on what aspects the teacher would like students to learn).
   
Limitations~

  

●  Reading on the screen might not be good for eyes. 

●  Students could not underline the words they don't know.

●  It takes a lot of time to do reading and listening in class.  

●  The quality of some readings is not good.    
 
●  Could be included some more good pieces of work, including good children's stories.

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 Example~

●  Choose one piece of work you would like your students to listen and read.

●  You can listen and read online or download the MP3 file.

  

●  You can choose the chapter and the page, or you could choose to read without audio.

    You could also rewind or replay.

●  Right-click and download the MP3 file.

Wordia- Learn Difinitions of Words Via Videos (Bring Words to Life)

Today's Website~


●    Wordia - Bring Words to Life

Wordia - Bring Words to Life!

What is it about?

●  It is a high-quality video online dictionary . 

●  The definitions of the words are presented not only in textual forms but also

    through the medium of videos.

●  You can search for a word through visual dictionary, and explore the meaning of

    a word, which might be explained and explored by different persons through videos,

    and you can watch different personal connotations of the word via videos.

●  You can explore the personal connotations of a word in your way and share its

    definition with others.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Videos help users to learn and recollect the meaning of words more easily.

●  The personal connotations of the words give the dictionary new contextual richness,

    which enable learners to learn words from different dimensions, such as from real

    life experiences that illustrate the words.  That is, bring words to life.

●  The definitions presented by experts, authors, stars, musicians, and famous people

     motivate learners, and the personal connotations of the words they share help learners

     understand the usage of the words and what contexts the words are used.

●  It helps connect the word and the meaning.

●  Learners can have their own definitions of one word and share them with others

     through videos.  It would be a nice language output.

●  Learners can be familiar with different accents and learn how to define a word

    precisely and concisely.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Take the video definition of the word "literacy" for example. 

●  First, teachers can have their students work in group and list key words that could be

    used to define the word, or have students list related word.

●  Then, have students to think about how they learn to read and write.  Have them

     discuss it, write down how they learn, and share them with one another.

●  Have students watch the definition video and listen carefully to the definition

    and write it down (the definition: the ability to read and write).

●  Write down some questions and have students listen to some details 

    about literacy mentioned in the video.  For example, "Did she enjoy going


    to school?"  "She wouldn't have the job she has today if she wouldn't ~".



●  Teachers could also have students find the definitions from online dictionaries and 

     list the words that are used to define "literacy".

●  Have students work in group, define the word and at least illustrate a personal 

    example to present the meaning of the word.  (Students can either define it by role 

    play or construct the meaning together.)

Limitations~

  

●  Still many words don't have video definitions.

●  You will need broadband Internet to watch videos smoothly.

●  No clues about how to play the games, and even the hints are provided, we still

    have difficulty answering the questions.

●  Low-proficiency learners probably have difficulty understanding.

●  Teachers will have to make sure there is a video definition of the word they 

    would like to introduce to students.
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 Example~

● Personal Definition Video by Kate Humble, TV presenter.

● Look at the textual definition (by Collins).

● Have students look up the definition of "literacy" from different Online Dictionaries.

Longman Online Dictionary

MACMILLAN Online Dictionary

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Online)

Listen A Minute- Practicing Listening and Do Online Quizzes and Activities (for lower- level learners)

Today's Website~

●   Listen A Minute

  

    

What is it about?

●  This website provides short texts and MP3 files to practice listening skills.

●  These short texts focus on new words, grammar, pronunciation,

●  It provides online activities, handouts for discussion, survey and writing.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Provide various topics of short texts with MP3 files to practice listening

●  Learners can listen to one-minute text as many times as they like until they

    understand the whole text.

●  The handouts of the short texts (PDF files or Word files) can be downloaded.

    Students can either read the text and underline the key words or finish the

    activities on the handouts as homework or assessment.  In addition, students

    can keep the handouts and review the short texts easily.

●  The text constructing game and guessing activities are interactive and interesting.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Take the topic "Advertising" for example.

●  Have students work in group and talk about what they think advertising is 

    and what kind of advertising they can see around them.

●  Before students listen to audio, ask them specific questions about the text, 

    e.g.  what does the author think about ads?  Ask students to take notes.
.
●  Ask students to compare their notes with one another and discuss the questions.

●  Give students handouts and have them underline the new phrases or the sentences 

    they don't understand.  Encourage them to look up the words through online

    dictionary and write down the meanings in English. 

●  The teacher explains the new words and sentence patterns which students feel 

    confused.

●  Have students work in group to do online quiz 1 (construct the whole text).

●  Play the audio file and have students do online quiz 2 (no letter game).  Ask 

    students to listen and key in what they hear from the audio.  The teacher can 

    play the audio several times until each group finish the text. 

●  The teacher may ask each group to choose an English advertising they 

    are impressed and write a passage to introduce it to the classmates in 

    next lesson.

Limitations~

  

●  Like Breaking News English, there is only one broadcaster, and the quality of 

    the sound of broadcasting is not stable.

●  Too many ads and the layout looks complicated.  

●  Teachers will have to select appropriate articles for students, and may have

    to adjust lesson plans according to the teaching objects.

●  There are some mistakes in the handouts provided.

   

Breaking News English - Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking with Current Events (for higher level)

Today's Website~

●   Breaking News English

  

    

What is it about?

●  This website provides lesson plans and podcasts of current events and news

     for learning English.

●  It also provides PDF handouts with activities of all language skills for teachers

    to select to use in the classroom.  

●  The MP3 file can be downloaded.  You can either play it through the Internet or

     your MP3 player.
  
●  It also provides interactive quizzes and games related to the content.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Provide the latest news and up-to-date events, and they are short.

     (Authentic English)

●  Provide audio files which can be downloaded.  Learners can practice listening and

    do listening activities as many times as they like.

●  Various activities and games help learners learn new vocabulary and be familiar

    with its meaning.  The sentences constructing game is challenging and fun.

●  The PDF handouts and activities can be used by teachers in class to encourage

    students to practice all the skills, particularly for the speaking part.

●  The interactive games and activities could be done many times without feeling bored.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

● Take "the word "Dear" disappearing in e-mail" for example.

●  Have students work in group and talk about their experiences in writing e-mail 

    and letters.

●  Have students listen to the news and then talk about the main idea they hear.

●  Provide students with handouts, have them underline the new vocabulary and

     guess the meaning from the context.

●  Have students play "Flash cards" in their group.  When they are familiar with the 

    new vocabulary and the meanings, have them to play the "Match" game. 

    Encourage them to try "Fill in the blank" and "Hangman" at home to be familiar

    with the vocabulary.

●  Have each group play "Sentence jumble" to construct the whole news.  Those 

    who finish "Sentence jumble" could then challenge the "No letter" game. 

●  Have students work individually to play "Missing words".  Students listen and 

    type in the words in the spaces.

●  Ask students some questions about the content (could use the ones in the 

    handout), and encourage them to have a discussion, take notes and present

    in class.

●  Have students write a 200-word e-mail sharing their opinions about the 

    content as homework. 

Limitations~

  

●  There seems to be only one broadcaster reading all the news and the quality 

    of the sound of the broadcasting is not stable.

●  The layout of the web page looks complicated and fills with ads in between, 

    which makes it hard to get the information.

●   Teachers have to select the news which is suitable for students' level.   

●   The news is difficult for lower-level students.   

   

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Example~ 

●  Flash cards

     the meaning of the vocabulary:

      
     Flip the card- the matched vocabulary:

   

●  Match  

    Choose the matched vocabulary.

    


● Sentence jumble  

    What comes next?  Construct the news.

   
 
● No letter game 

    Guess the words in the news.  See how many words do you remember. 

     Notice the sentence patterns and you can easily construct the whole text.

   

●  Missing words 

     Dictation and check if you could spell the words correctly.

Dot Sub- Videos (Transcription and Translation) for English Learning

Today's Website~

●   dot SUB Video with Subtitles in Multiple Language

  

What is it about?

●  This website provides videos with subtitles in many languages.

●  You can upload your videos, transcribe the videos and create your own

    subtitles.  

●  You can also translate the subtitles of some good videos that other people

    uploaded into your mother tongue and share them with others.

●  You can work collaboratively with others to translate the unfinished subtitles

    into your language with others.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Provides videos with subtitles in many languages, especially in English

●  Videos with English subtitles help learners practice listening, and figure

    out the unknown vocabulary, complex syntax, the meanings they don't

    understand, or the linguistic features they miss when watching (or listening

    to) the presentation, videos or films.

●  Students can work collaboratively to translate English into their mother tongue(s),

    and vice versa. 

●  The translation activity help learners perceive the nuance of English, and the

    differences between English and their mother tongue(s).

●  Learners learn not only the language but also the cultures and critical issues

    around the world.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Have students work in group

●  Select a video according to students level. (See examples below)

●  Divide the video into several parts (according to your time), and 

    play the video without subtitle.  Have students watch together.

●  Ask students to write down the words they hear, discuss what the main 

    idea is, and compare them with one another.

●  Discuss the omission, linking words and some incomplete sentences they

    feel ambiguous.  And have them watch the video with subtitle together. 

●  Have students work in group talk about the features of language, such as 

    intonation, pauses, fillers, or slang in the video (Students can watch the video

    as many times as they like in their group).

●  Have students choose one part of the video the teacher assigns and work 

    together to translate it into the assigned language (usually their official language).

●  Encourage students to check the related information online.

●  Students can always save it, change it and complete it later.

●  Once they finish the translation, have them watch together and discuss

    how to make the content more "readable and enjoyable".

●  Revise the content until they are satisfied.

●  Have students embed their work in their blog, share it with friends

    and have a reflect writing.

Limitations~

  

●  Need sufficient broadband for students to watch the video

●  Not sure if each group could log in together to work out on the same video 

    at the same time 

●  The substitle might not be synchronous with the video.  Might take time to deal

     with the technical problem.

●  The translation could be revise by others.  At the end, it might not be students' 

    original work.

●  Teachers have to select carefully an appropriate video that meets the 

     teaching object among loads of videos.

   

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 Instrustion ~ 

●  How to translate a video on dotSUB~ 




 Example 1 ~ 

●  Translating "Annoying Orange" into Chinese  (for lower level students)

    Check out "Choose Language", there is only English version in this video.

    Students could start to translate it into Chinese.  Make sure students know

    the "puns" used in this video.

 

 Example 2 ~

●  Translate "Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity into Chinese  
  
    (for higher level students)

    This one is already translated into Chinese (traditional).  You can have your

    students revise the translation if possible.  

    For exampl, at 4:58, "Frank sent this" (Actually it is "Frankincense").  Ask your

   studetns how they will translate it, and compare it with the original one. 

Learning Chocolate -Vocabulary Learning

Today's Website~

●   Learning Chocolate

  

What is it about?

●  Help the learners remember vocabulary in an easy and efficient way

●  Pictures and sounds come with the vocabulary.

●  Games are provided to make learning vocabulary fun

●  Select the category

●  Press the button of each vocabulary (below) the picture to listen

●  Try the games when you are familiar with the sounds and vocabulary

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Pictures and sound help linking the words to the meaning

●  Learners could practice as much as they like, which leads to self-direct learning

●  Individual learners can learn at their rate.

●  The interactive function makes learning vocabulary fun.

●  Games are motivating and sometimes learners like challenge.

●  The repeating function enhances listening and pronunciation

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Have students work individually

●  Select a category of vocabulary you'd like them to learn

●  Encourage them to listen carefully and try to remember as many words as they can

●  Encourage them to imitate and speak out the words

●  Ask them to write down or look up the words they are unfamiliar on the dictionary,

    and later they can compare them with their classmates.

●  Once they are familiar with the vocabulary, have them play the game.

●  Check their scores, and make sure they can pronounce each word

●  Encourage them to challenge "fill in" and "dictation" games when they are able to 
    
    spell the words.

●  If some of the students finished all of the session quickly, you can have them 

    challenge another related category of vocabulary. 
 
●  Encourage students to challenge each category of vocabulary at home.  It helps

    them foster their autonomous learning. 

Limitations~

  

●   Need sufficient computers for each students

●  The levels of vocabulary in each category are different.  Some are too difficult.

●  Vocabulary should be learned in sentences to learn how they are used.

   

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 Example~ 

The category:

●    Continents and Oceans

●  Review
    Learners can click the sound
                                                   

   Try to be familiar with the pronunciation, the continents and oceans and

   their locations
 

●  Match up 1 

     Learners click the sound and drag it to the matched word.
 

●  Match up 2

    Learners drag the continents and oceans to their locations.

●  Match up 3

     Learners drag the sound they hear to the matched continents and 

     oceans.
 

●  Fill in

    Learners fill in the continents and oceans they learn.
 

 ●  Dictation

    Learners click the sound and fill in what they hear.

Lyrics Training- Learn English from Lyrics and Songs

Today's Website~

●   Lyrics Training

  

What is it about?

●  Learn English (or other foreign language) through the music and lyrics of the songs

●  It helps you with listening and pronunciation.

●  Search for the song you'd like to learn and start to play

●  You can listen to a song many times.

●  Select your level

●  Listen and write in the missing words

●  The song won't start until write in the missing words.

●  You could click on "help" to see the instructions. 

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Music and songs help learning language effectively

●  Can be familiar with the pop culture of the target country

●  Authentic English/World Englishes

●  Learning with sounds and video makes it interesting and deepens the impression.

●  Interactive, challenging, and motivating

●  The repeating function enhances listening, pronunciation and memory.

●  Foster autonomous learning if students are willing to try it at home.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Have students work in group, and play the song first.

●  Encourage them to listen carefully and hum the melody

●  Remind them of noticing some linking sounds

●  Have students guess the meaning from the video and the lyrice they hear

●  Then have them to start to listen and write in group

●  Encourage students to imitate the pronunciation and sing the song

●  Have them write down or look up the words they are unfamiliar on the dictionary

●  After they finish the activity, introduce related sentence patterns or vocabulary

●  Students' performance (singing the song) could be an assessment.

●  Encourage students to sign in and practice their favorite songs.

Limitations~

  

●  Might take time to finish the whole activity

●  Teachers have to select appropriate songs beforehand.

●  The levels of the songs are variable.  And some pronunciation is hard to figure out.

●  Need computers and sufficient broadband Internet. 

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 Example~

 Beatles: Yesterday

●  Lyrics Training Instruction- "Yesterday" by Beatles

●  Select the Mode.  Here we choose Beginner: Fill in the blanks

●  Start to fill in the blanks.

●  See your score or check the high scores

●  Check out the "Help" key.  The three keys you use the most often are:


    Backspace → Replay line

    Tab →  Skip word

    Enter → Play/Pause

Listen and Write - Using Videos and Audios to improve Listening Skills

Today's Website~

●   Listen and Write

  

 

 What is it about?

●  Listen and Write is a free website for you to practice listening. 

●  You could select a video or an audio according to your level.

●  The listening practice is divided into several tracks.

●  Dictate and listen to the content as many times as you want.

●  Try to listen and write until you have your dictation all correct.

●  You may use "hint" or change different Modes according to your learning rate. 

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Variety of topics from the latest one to the knowledgeable one.

●  Can be familiar with different accent .

●  Authentic English/World Englishes.

●  Listening with visual aids makes it fun.

●  Interactive, challenging, and motivating.

●  Automatic repeating enhance listening.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  Have your students work in group.

●  Ask them to think about the vocabulary or sentences about the topic.

●  Write down or look up the words they are unfamiliar on the dictionary.

●  Make sure they can tell some linking sounds.

●  Could let students try Blank Mode first to fill in the blank.

●  Try Full Mode to be familiar with the content if time is sufficient.

●  Try Quick Mode if they are beginners.  They only write down the first sound of the word.

●  Learners can always try a more challenging Mode if they like. 

●  Encourage learners to use the "hint" function when they are in trouble. 

●  Ask them to write down the words they miss.

●  Encourage students to use the "dictionary lookup" function. (Problem Solving)

●  Encourage students to practice listening at home.   (Learner Autonomy)

●  Provide learners guidelines and select the appropriate video or audio for individual

  
    students (according to their levels) to practice at home.

Limitations~

  

●  It probably will be hard to work in group if students have to log in and listen together.

●  There are no sufficient materials for lower level learners.

●  The measurement of the levels seem inconsistent.  Some clips are easy 

    
    but they are classified  into a higher level.

 

●  There are still some technical problems.  For example, at the end of some tracks, the

    

    sound of the last word is cut off or can not hear clearly.

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Example~

●  Listen and Write Bridget Jones: The edge of reason

●  Select Full Mode

●  Start to dictate

●  Use the "Hint" key.  If you can't figure out the word, click "Hint".

●  Make use of "Dictionary Lookup" function.  For example, click the word "diary".

●  Select Blank Mode

●  Fill in the blanks