Beelinguapp is an app where English is acquired through the parallel texts method. This method divides text-based content into two sections: the language the learner speaks and the language they want to learn. An audio option allows for hearing the text while reading along. Learners have access to a variety of free content that includes fairy tales, chapters from classic books, song lyrics, news articles on diverse topics and travel guides. The content is organized into four levels: materials that are appropriate for children, and adult beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Although instructors may want to incorporate this app into their lessons, it is an excellent tool to use for independent learning as students can access the app easily on their mobile phones. The app is available for both Android and iOs.
Reviewed August 2023
ClickView is a digital tool that lets you create interactive video lessons with videos within their collection (by topic area) or with videos you find online or that you’ve created on your own. It can be used with any level since the teacher can customize the questions within the timeline of the video: short-answer, multiple choice, and true/false questions. For beginner levels, you can add annotations to a video with the ClickView editor (e.g. define vocabulary or provide additional information). This would be suitable for independent or small group work. Completed lessons can be shared to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Canvas or any other LMS. Instructors have the ability to enable a special ClickView feature that prevents students from skipping ahead instead of watching the entire video. A tutorial for using Click View can be found here .
Added: July 2023
On this website, you'll find a colourful, animated program to learn keyboarding skills. The instructions are easy to follow, at the bottom of the screen. The narrator is a cartoon goat with a Scottish accent, who may be difficult to understand but can be ignored. Just focus on the instructions and illustrations.
This playlist produced and compiled by the University of Oregon's Centre for Applied Second Language Studies consists of sixteen short instructional videos that prepare students to participate in digital discourse. The playlist covers themes such as using hashtags, creating memes, game design and connecting with other language learners through MMOGs. These 1-2 minute videos would make good minds-on activities as part of a larger 'social media' theme
This playlist on YouTube, produced by the University of Oregon's Centre for Applied Second Language Studies, consists of nineteen short videos intended for independent learning by students. The topics covered would provide a very helpful introduction to intercultural communication and pragmatics, and could be assigned for independent viewing or as part of small group discussion. The various themes would allow for interesting and lively cross-cultural comparisons between rules around politeness, backchannelling, social distance, discourse markers and more.
The Online Learner CLB Assessment is a tool that provides learners with a means to gauge their language proficiency by assessing reading and listening skills and assigning an unofficial CLB level. The tool creates an approximate benchmark range following the assessment. (The page also contains a breakdown of each CLB). The results are intended for personal information only. Teachers may find this tool useful as a classroom activity or an individual activity for a learner who is anxious to determine her/his progress in reading and listening. There is no cost for the assessment.
These HTML-only "self-study" quizzes should work on any computer that is able to access the Web. These quizzes DO NOT require JavaScript, Java or a special plugin such as Flash.
There are about 1,000 of these "HTML-only quizzes" on our Activities for ESL Students website. All of these quizzes are also linked from our "grammar" and "vocabulary" menus.
