USEFUL RESOURCES & MUST-KNOW TOOLS

https://spark.ru/startup/anketolog/blog/64613/obzor-servisov-dlya-onlajn-testirovaniya
http://catherinehallamsf.wixsite.com/byodenglish/disadvantages

https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/the-edtech-eleven-this-months-must-know-tools?utm_source=What%27s_New_in_EdTech_2016_11_11&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly

http://nclrc.org/teachers_corner/tech_for_teachers/feature.html

January/February 2013

Tech for Teachers: Pronunciation and Speaking
By Jamie Suria
George Washington University Graduate Student

One of the most difficult communication skills to find time for in the language classroom is speaking. With more students in our classrooms, and more material to cover in the curriculum, dedicating time and energy to providing specific practice for speaking and pronunciation often becomes a low priority. Ideally students should be practicing their speaking frequently, which usually means practicing outside of class in addition to any in-class activities. Luckily, there are many resources available to language teachers to help their students work on their speaking and pronunciation skills inside or outside of the classroom.  

Pronunciation Resources

	Forvo is the largest pronunciation guide in the world, with millions of words pronounced in over 200 languages. Forvo is a crowd-sourced online dictionary where users submit, rate and share audio clips in order to practice proper language pronunciation. Audio files are mapped according to the speaker’s region, making it easy for students to learn and practice pronunciations from a variety of dialects.
	BBC Languages Quick Fix offers a selection of essential phrases in 40 languages. The list of phrases varies slightly for each language, but they all include greetings, and thematic phrases and vocabulary (for example, Shopping or Food & Drink).  Students can hear all of the phrases pronounced and print lists of vocabulary to help them practice. The pronunciations can also be downloaded as MP3 files for students to practice at a later time using their computer or iPod.
	Fonetiks.org is an online pronunciation guide for 9 varieties of the English language and 9 other languages as well. It offers instant audio pronunciations with samples from over 40 native speakers. There are over 1,000+ free pages that students can use to improve and practice their pronunciation skills.  The site also includes a page of Suggestions for Teachers with ideas and activities to help you best utilize the site’s resources in your classroom.

Speaking Resources

	Rich Internet Applications (RIA) is a collection of FREE online programs for recording, uploading, mixing, and interacting. The goal of the RIA project is to create tools that are informed by language acquisition research, and engage language learners in active learning. Using this toolkit, incorporating speaking and listening into your language class is easier and more flexible than ever! The tools can be used in many different ways: for in-class activities, student projects, homework, or assessment; and they will work with any textbook, language, and level. Best of all, the tools run in your web browser using Flash – nothing to download or install!
	Voxopop is a voice-based eLearning tool used by educators all over the world. Voxopop “talkgroups” are a fun, engaging and easy-to-use way to help students develop their speaking skills. They’re a bit like message boards, but use voice rather than text and a have a specialized user interface. No longer confined to a physical classroom, teachers and students of oral skills can interact from home, or even from opposite sides of the planet! Teachers can configure talkgroups to be public, restricted or entirely private.
	Google Voice lets you set up a new phone number and voicemail that is tied to your Google account, not to a device or a location. Although it is not intended to be an educational tool, there are many ways it can be used in the language classroom.  Students can call the number and leave messages that can be emailed, downloaded as MP3 files, or embedded as HTML in web sites, wikis or blogs. Now you don’t have to worry about computer labs, recording equipment or software – all the student needs is a phone! For more ideas, check out this blog: Let Google Voice Rule The Classroom!

Online resources such as these make it easier for students to practice speaking inside and outside of the language classroom. When used in class, they can be a fun and exciting way to keep students interested in speaking activities and motivated to participate. Taking advantage of technology to allow for further practice outside of class is perfect for shy students, or when the schedule just doesn’t allow for enough speaking in class!

Next issue we will be looking at podcasts and listening resources. Let us know how you use technology to enhance speaking and listening activities in your classroom!

Jamie Suria / jsuria@gwu.edu