Web Search Strategies: Learning English Online

Six Steps to Websearch

1 What 2Key- words/

ESL 3Synonyms

4 Spelling 5 Search Engines 6Evaluate

Step 1: State what you want to find

First, in one or two sentences, state

what you want to find on the Internet.

For example:

- I want to find examples of emails.

- I want to learn about indirect questions.

- I want to know how I can improve my

speaking skills.

1 What

Step 2: Identify keywords

Next, underline the main concepts in the

statement.

- I want to find some examples of emails.

- I want to learn about indirect questions.

- I want to know how I can improve my

speaking skills.

2Key- words/

ESL

Step 2: Identify key words

2Key- words/

ESL

When looking for online learning

material, it is often helpful to add:

- ESL (English as a Second Language), or

- EFL (English a Foreign Language), or

- ESOL (English for Speakers of Other

Languages), or

-EAL (English as an Additional Language).

Step 4: Check your spelling• It’s a good practice to always check

your spelling.

• Search engines return websites with

words that match your keywords.

But, don’t worry too much…search engines are

smart and able to identify spelling mistakes, and

still give you the results you are looking for!

4 Spelling

Step 4: Try different search enginesA lot of people say that they “google”

something when they look for information

online. The verb ‘to google something’ came

with the popularity of the Google search

engine. However, there are numerous search

engines out there, e.g.- Yahoo! www.yahoo.ca

- Bing www.bing.com

- Other http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines

5 Search Engines

Step 4: Evaluate the resultsYou are almost done

Now, explore some of the results (first 10

links) and choose your favourite one or two

or three…

Remember to save the links to your

Favourites (= bookmark them) so you can

easily find them in your Internet browser the

next time you want to do some learning.

6Evaluate

Let’s practiseScenario:

You want to improve your spelling skills and you need some interactive websites to practice.

Let’s see if there are some interesting websites.

Step 1: State what you want to find

“I want to improve my spelling skills and

you would like some interactive websites

to practice. “

1 What

Step 2: Identify keywords“I want to improve my spelling skills

and you would like some interactive

websites to practice. “

So far we can identify the following

keywords:-ESL (default)

-Improve spelling skills

-Interactive practice

2Key- words/

ESL

Step 3: Select synonyms

Use a thesaurus - http://thesaurus.com/- http://synonyms.memodata.com/

Synonyms found for spelling: orthography

3Synonyms

Our keywords

Our keywords for the web search are:

ESL, improve spelling skills, interactive practice, orthography

Step 4: Check your spelling

To check your spelling, use a spell-check

in your text editor or a dictionary.

Done? Yes, the spelling of the following

keywords is ok:

ESL, improve spelling skills, interactive practice,

orthography

4 Spelling

Step 4: Try different search engines

Open a few search engines and type

our keywords in them. 5 Search Engines

Step 4: Try different search engines

5 Search Engines

Image "Logo Google 2013 Official" by Google INC - Traced from File:Logo 2013 Google.png. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_Google_2013_Official.svg#/media/File:Logo_Google_2013_Official.svg

Step 4: Try different search engines

5 Search Engines

Original image http://bit.ly/1VaZoDs by Simon CC0

Step 4: Try different search engines

5 Search Engines

"Bing logo (2013)" by Logo is made by Microsoft. SVG version is created and uploaded by AxG (talk · contribs). - The logo comes from bing.com/explore/newbing. SVG version is created by AxG (talk · contribs).This vector image was created with Inkscape.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bing_logo_(2013).svg#/media/File:Bing_logo_(2013).svg

Step 4: Evaluate the resultsYou are almost done

Now, explore the results and choose your

favourite ones.

-http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/sc.cgi

-http://www.spellzone.com/unit02/page1.cfm

-http://www.spellzone.com/games/index.cfm

-http://www.angelfire.com/blues/writing/spellings.html

6Evaluate