final_a comparative review of the bbc learning english - emad.docx

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AN EVALUATION REVIEW OF THE BBC LEARNING ENGLISH WEBSITE

Edited by: Emad A. Hawaig

MA in Applied Linguistics & TESOL/MA in TESOL

Leicester University

Date: 3 Nov., 2013


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Outline

Thesis: An evaluation of the BBC Learning English website depending on a checklist of criteriain terms of its presentation, content and authenticity.

I. Purpose and audienceA. Purpose.

1. The primary goal of the website.2. The relevant information supporting the purpose.

B. Audience1. The target users2. Appropriateness to a u sers needs in language.

II. Interface & DesignA. Websites layout.

1. Attractive and convincing to the user.2. Intuitive and impressive use of colors and graphics.

B. Organization of materials.1. Main boards.

a. A range of information. b. Easy navigation to side boards.

2. Side boards.

III. ContentA. A variety of relevant sources of learning material.

1. Appropriateness to the learner.2. Appropriateness to the teacher.

B. Communicative approach.1. Various communicative tools.2. Accessibility to publishing tools.

C. Authenticity1. Information about the authors.2. Materials can easily be attributed to sources.

D. Navigability1. Navigational system.2. Access to information through multiple media.

E. Strengths and weaknesses

1. Relevant or irrelevant website2. Quality of provided pedagogical materials.3. Accessibility to other supporting websites.


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Title: BBC Learning English

Author: The BBC Word Services

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Purpose of resource: English Language learning

Targeted Audience: EFL learners and teachers resources

Type of resource: Website

Key stage/age group: Intermediate and advanced levels

Adequate support material: Multimedia (audio, video, texts, etc.)

Category: Tutorial, information source and professional development

Introduction

The Internet has long been scrutinized as to its benefit in supporting language acquisition. it

provides a broad range of communicative learning through CALL tools, for instance, the E-mails,

wikis, blogs, Skype, etc., which invoke profound opportunities for language teachers and

learners. All these courseware tools are provided via language learning websites which are

established mainly to help educators and students develop a communicative fluency in English

as well as different languages. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate these many learning

websites based on based on authenticated evaluation criteria such as, among others,

authenticity and appropriateness.

The topic of this paper is, therefore, to highlight the many features of the BBC Learning English

website. Objectively stating, the subject website aims at supporting learners via self-learning of

English as a foreign or second language. The aim of this paper is to evaluate how effective and

adaptable the website and who it is relevant to its purpose. An evaluation is conducted of the

BBC Learning English website according to a checklist of factors, namely: the structure/design,

the appropriateness of the content, the teacher fit/learner fit, the authenticity, the
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/


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professionalism, presentation and currency of materials, and accessibility for teachers and

learners. The findings recommend the BBC Learning English for intermediate and advanced

learners as well as educators, taking into consideration the relevant authenticable information

enhancing learning of English as a foreign or second language.

Purpose and Audience

The purpose of the BBC Learning English is to provide support to learners and teachers through

self-learning of English as a foreign language, with concentration on development of the English

four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Thus, the program provides downloadable

learning materials for practice. The website also provides teachers with rich pedagogical

resources. It provides comprehensive materials for intermediate to advanced ESL learners from

the BBC World Service, using simplified news stories to present English in context.

Audience

The BBC Learning English website is mostly appropriate for intermediate to advanced ESL

learners. Therefore, the users should at least master a reliable command of English language to

be able to grasp and benefit from the range of information given by the website. However, the

teacher can select a range of instructional information and adapt it to the various levels of the

students, based on their disposition to respond and interact.

Interface & Design

The interface is clear and intuitive. The design of the BBC website is noticeable from the first

impression to convey a professional sense that the site is serious in its goal of supporting the

user seeking authorized instructional material over the Internet. The front page convinces the

learner of its usefulness, clarity, ease-of-use, efficiency and openness; and it raises the visitors

expectations of the high quality of the website.


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The web page layout is moderately constructed in harmonious unflashy colours that do not

distract the user. The main topic exists at the top under the heading BBC LEARNING. At the left

side of the main web page is a menu including an easy navigational guide leading to each topic

for the respective learning materia. See image (1)

Image (1)

An observer of the BBC website will be attracted by its professional presentation, which I

believe can bring motivation and enthusiasm to the visitor to browse its relevant content. In

addition, the different colours, images, and graphics introduced in the site come to a high

appeal to the visitor, whether a learner or a teacher who seeks to have the various learning

services integrated in his or her classroom. The interface impacts the attitude of a learner or

teacher. It is clearly presented in well-organized headings and subheadings on the side of the

webpage, and thus interpreting the accessibility to the learning sources. The font size is

relatively small, but it is clearly easy to read. The use of color is well distributed over the

webpage. The title appears in white color with a shady purple background. Each webpage


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introduces learning topic in both text and audio clips. A user can easily read, listen to, or watch

downloadable video, audio or text in pdf extension for current or later usage. See image (2).

Image (2).

Website Content

The webpage title is presented in so reliable and contextually related words that the reader will

identify its intended content. The content is elaborately categorized into subdivisions on the

left side of the page where the visitor can easily navigate and reach the learning material that

meets his or her needs. In addition, not only does the web page host a variety of meaningful

sources of English language learning, but it also gives access to a variety of other sources such

as news, sport, Radio, TV and research.

The information is organized by sections, as follows: general and business English, grammar,

vocabulary and pronunciation, talking sport, quizzes, the flatmates, community, for teachers,

etc. The authority of the website can be validated t hrough the About us page that identifies


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the author of the content. Each section of the BBC Learning English website has specific

purpose. For example, the News English board provides language vocabulary definitions from

authentic BBC news reports. Also, business English can be taught through the Business English

board where users can develop their listening and speaking skills based on various business-

centered situations. Users can also exercise language through a variety of subsections, including

the English at Work, 6 Minute English, Express English, and Talk about English. Users are

provided with exercises such as multiple choice and open-ended questions. The Grammar and

Vocabulary section provides grammar points through various subsections including Todays

Phrase, words in the News, The English we Speak, and The Teacher. Furthermore, English

pronunciation and grammar explanations are also provided in this section.

Furthermore, there are communicative and discussion boards available as well under the maintitle Community, where a visitor can chat and text with the BBC Learning team via

communicative Internet tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; and they can post

comments to the staff on their blogs in the board Meet Our Team. In the Community section,

users are able to share their thoughts and ideas with others around the world by participating

in the message board, the Student Blog, and the Teacher Blog. A visitor can keep in touch with

other participants around the world by posting comments on their blogs. See image (3)


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Image (3)

There are several more sections: like the Quizzes section which introduces various types of

quizzes on language vocabulary, the Exam Skills which is a branch of the Quizzes section,

offering tips on how to do well in exams, the Flatmates section where users can listen to

conversations between real or animated characters, and the For Teacher section where

teachers can access authentic information about a range of topics. See image (4).


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Image (4)

Additionally, an excellent section in BBC Learning English website is Downloads which

exists both on the left side of the webpage and at the bottom. These two icons allow the user to

access a handful of audio and pdf files. However, the user is clearly instructed to consider the

copyright when downloading any authentic materials from the website.

Navigability

Each section has a navigational system. Every individual page is only accessible by a single

clickable URL; a user can navigate through a topic with a simple click to access the informationthat is displayed in audio, video and word illustrations.

The user can reach and enter many webpages through the original site. Navigation on the BBC

website can be rather confusing with the existence of peripheral sections along with large

attractive pictures in the middle of the webpage. By just a click on a picture or a topic-related

icon, the user can move to large content of his or her concern. At the first glance, I myself

thought that the main content is accessible by clicking on a picture icon that navigates me to

relevant information out of the main page I was viewing in the beginning. Another drawback in

the BBC LEARNING website is the main toolbar at the top of the page. See image (5).

Image (5): The top navigation toolbar leading to other topics than languages

These icons direct the user to different BBC websites about various irrelevant topics. So, the

user should be aware of this fact and needs to focus his or her search on the section of concern.

The navigation is very user friendly. The user can find the information by an effortless click.

Graphics are loaded quickly and links are functioning. It is operated in various languages which

are clearly displayed at the bottom of the webpage.


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Strengths and weaknesses of the resource

The purpose of the website is recognized without the need to read much. However, the BBC

Learning English does not address a specific stage of language learners. It fits more those who

have at least the foundations of English as an EFL or ESL. The learners who possess considerablefluency in the language, but they rather require further mastery of the language. The high level

of vocabulary and situations presented in the website does not at all fit the beginner learners.

In the meanwhile, one of the main strengths of the BBC website is the many irrelevant websites

appearing on the original homepage. The learner does not need to leave the site to access and

benefit from the boards news, Radio, TV, and weather in enriching his or her language practice

with current events. Furthermore, another restriction of the BBC Learning English is the Contact

Page. It does not contain any real addresses, phone numbers (toll free), except for a plainfeedback/contact mechanism such as editing comments. See image (6)

Image (6)

I believe that if there were no straightforward contract information, the reader or viewer would

definitely doubt the seriousness of communication with the authors. But perhaps this is

because it is a charity website where services are offered for free, so that user should not

expect spontaneous contact with the staff. Further to the easy-to-understand-and-navigate


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layout of BBC website, it is noteworthy that the BBC learning English website has a considerable

privilege over other language learning resources; that is, it provides the both learner and the

teacher with free-of-charge prosperous material for learning purposes.

Conclusion

The BBC Learning English is a good site in terms of providing learners with objective information

for educational purposes. The website assists both the teacher and the learner in finding

relevant instructional materials so that they should be learner fit and teacher fit. The learner

can easily navigate the various websites to choose the relevant topic. There is also a possibility

for the learner to post their comments and to seek responses from the BBC team/staff

members. However, the site lacks authentic spoken interactions among users in terms of the

limited opportunities of communication. Also, the videos and audios are rather restricted to

ready-tailored situations; there are few videos that users can watch. Finally, users cannot

directly contact the BBC staff, an issue that restricts the live communication for learners of

EFL/ESL who seek to communicate with English language speakers.

The References

Levy, M., & Stockwell, G. (in press). CALL dimensions: Options and issues in computer assisted

language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hubbard, P. (1988). An integrated framework for CALL courseware evaluation. CALICO Journal,

6 (2), 51-72. Also available online at http://calico.org/journalarticles. Html

Chapelle, C. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition: Foundations for

teaching, testing, and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mc Donough, J. and Shaw, C. (1993). Materials and method in ELT, Oxford: Blackwell

Publishers Ltd.

The BBC Learning English (web site). Retrieved from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish . Accessed on: 3 Nov, 2013.
http://calico.org/journalarticleshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglishhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglishhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglishhttp://calico.org/journalarticles


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CALICO Review [web site]. Retrieved from: http:/ / www.calico.org/CALICO/review . Accessed

on: 3 Nov, 2013.
http://www.calico.org/CALICO/reviewhttp://www.calico.org/CALICO/reviewhttp://www.calico.org/CALICO/reviewhttp://www.calico.org/CALICO/review

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