Website Reviews
This page reviews several websites, along with their hyperlinks, that might be useful for those who are in the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) field.
This web site is sponsored by nanana.com, which appears to
be a Japanese based organization that has other web sites of different natures.
On their home page is listing of these various web sites, with English as
a Second Language (ESL) resources as one of them. While the
site provides an e-mail address for future contact reference, it does not state
the author of the site itself. Also,
while the material presented is copyrighted by nanana.com, there is no
information regarding the qualifications or credentials of the sponsor.
The objective of the web site appears to provide English as
a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers and students with learning activities and games to make English
learning fun. While it is not
explicitly addressed in this manner, the accessibility of the links and other
related resources points to this conclusion.
In addition to the various links, the web site contains other advertising
information. One in particular that
is noted throughout the site is Amazon.com, which is an internet store for
books.
There are a number of links listed on the page,
conveniently categorized into ESL games, resources, songs, activities, lesson
plans, chat, ESL/EFL schools, and books. Yet,
there is no mention of when it has last been updated or if it is updated on a
regular basis. Yet, as I browsed
through the links, they all seem to be current and relevant to the objective of
the site.
While this page does not require additional software for
viewing, some of the links do. Yet,
a viewer can see the majority of the links without downloading any special
software into their computer. The
page is free, which makes it accessible to ESL/EFL teacher and students alike.
The overall presentation of the web site is clear and accessible. While I question the authority and accuracy of the web site, it is a good resource for ESL/EFL teachers and students who are seeking additional games and learning activities. For students seeking learning opportunities or teachers seeking employment, the category entitled, “schools” lists links to various ESL/EFL schools. From evaluating the web site, the page is a helpful tool for teachers and students as they are able to browse through a variety of related sites under the theme of games and learning activities.
Games Activities and Lesson Plans - Asia
In evaluating the web site, it is not clear who is responsible for the contents of the page. While it links to a main page entitled, “EFL in Asia,” there is no listed information regarding the sponsoring organization. Also, the material presented appears to not be protected by copyright. The page is weak as there is no contact information of its author, which leads to many questions of his or her qualifications of producing the web site. In terms of the authority and accuracy of the web site, this page is not reliable.
The web site serves viewers as a link page to numerous ESL/EFL
learning activities and games links. While
there are no explicit viewpoints on the document, there are advertisements for
“Geocities.” Since
“Geocities” is a home page community, it appears that this web site was
produced for easy accessibility for teachers who are in need of learning
activities and games for the ESL/EFL classroom. While the goals and objectives of the page are not explicitly
listed, it appears that the page does meet the possibly hidden objective of
providing an accessible tool for the ESL/EFL teacher, as the links are clearly
organized into various and understandable categories.
While it is unclear when the web site was produced, it was last updated on April 5, 2002, which is fairly recently. In reviewing the links, many of them are current as I only found a few that are dead. Generally, the web site is conveniently categorized into adult learners, children, lesson plans, handouts, and other resources, which all complement the theme of the document: games activities and lesson plans. Although the web site is free and does not require additional software for viewing, some of the links do require special software. Overall, while this web site lacks the authority and accuracy of the document’s theme, it does act as a good resource for ESL/EFL teachers who seek learning activities and games for the classroom.
The Internet TESL Journal is an excellent website for teachers and students that are interested in English as a second language.
The
Internet TESL (ITESL) Journal website is clearly marked, with the title at the top of
the page. The subheading also
includes the basic interests and contents of the website, which are “articles,
research papers, lesson plans, classroom handouts, teaching ideas, and links”
that the web surfer can find on the web site.
Each
of the articles are clearly marked with the author's name and ways that they can
be contacted. However, it is not
clearly evident who the editors of the homepage are. The only method of
contacting the editors is through a link for the ITESL Journal.
The options that are given for writing an email to ITESL are to submit an
article, submit a link, or to send a message.
It is also mentioned that this homepage can be used as a link, without
asking for explicit permission. And
actually, this is encouraged for students and teachers.
As
best as can be determined, the information that is listed on the ITESL Journal website
homepage is written in journal form, where each of the articles have their own
references. The presentation and
information are professional, free of grammatical, spelling, and other
typographical errors. All of the
links are clearly marked in blue and underlined, such that the browser would be
able to quickly determine the links.
Since
this is a journal, the articles that are listed are under the discretion of the
editors. However, as stated before,
it is not quite clear who the editors are, but comments could be given to the
journal through email. There are no
advertisement links on the homepage.
For
the Internet TESL Journal, the most current journal article is posted is the
March 2002 edition. The date for
this review is April 15, 2002, showing that the website is not fully up to date,
especially when the journal is advertised at the top of the web page as a
monthly web journal. There were no
dead links that could be determined.
The
ITESL Journal is a continuing journal that has articles dated since 1995.
Since this is a monthly web journal, it can be assumed that the articles
would be updated monthly. The title
of the journal indicates that the main media method through which the journal is
transmitted is through the internet, with no indication of a print edition. The
ITESL Journal is free of charge and a valuable resource for both teachers and students
who are interested in the English language.
The TESL-EJ website is an academic journal that was created scholars who desired to speed up the publication process.
In the introduction link, the editor and technical editors are named and
information on how one may be able to contact them are given through email
links. There is also information on
who is currently serving as the editorial board in the different jobs of editor,
co-editor, book reviews, forum, media reviews, and internet.
The members of the board and the former members of the board are also
listed on the same page. The
people's affiliation is clearly marked but lack the ability to easily contact
them through email. There are
several access links, mirror sites that allow for the retrieval of articles,
that range from University of California Berkeley, Japan, Germany, and
Australia.
The
only credentials for the editorial board that are given is the university that
they are affiliated with. The same
goes for the members of the board. However,
since this is a journal, the information about the authors of the individual
articles are given within their article. This
includes the name, the educational institution that they may be affiliated with,
an email link, and a short blurb about them at the end of the article.
The
goal of the TESL-EJ is to allow for articles to be published in a shorter time
than if it were to be published in a printed form. Thus, the main form of media transmittal is through the world
wide web, with all of the articles published within the TESL-EJ website.
The
TESL-EJ website appears to go through some lengths to remain objective.
It is stated that each article goes through a review by at least two
knowledgeable scholars. There are no advertisement links that pop up when searching
through the homepage and various articles.
As
of April 15, 2002, the most current journal article is March 2002.
The dates that the journal is to be updated is not consistent.
It is not clear when the next journal is to be published, except that one
could expect for there to be four journals within each volume.
The date for the guideline for the APA format link is a little dated,
with it being the 4th edition and the most recent revision to the APA format
page is November 1997. All of the
articles are accessible through the links but there was a dead link found on
volume 1, number 1, in the section titled "Internet."
There
is no fee required for the access of the site.
There is a free subscription that allows for the notification of a new
issue by contacting the website. All
of the copyrights are within the TESL-EJ, but there is no information whether
one could link the site to their own without permission.
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