Try number 2
After working on my evaluation for 3 hours (when I was 99% finished), my mouse fell to the ground while I was typing and caused me to exit Word without saving, I lost it all. My advice is that you save you files often so you won't have to go through what I went through!
Software/Website Title: Anglais Facile (Easy English)
Website URL: http://www.anglaisfacile.com
Grade/Age Level: French Teenagers (Adults could use the information as a review)
Language & Content: Target Language is English, the website is in French.
I have decided to do a website evaluation about a website called Anglais Facile (Easy English). I figured that I would evaluate this site because it will help me understand what types of support and materials that are out there for students learning English in France and if I will ever teach English again, it will be in France as a foreign language for the students.
Anglais Facile is a website that any French speaker can find when searching for an English learning language website on Google. If you type "apprendre l'anglais (learn English)" in Google, this will be the first website on the results page. I wonder how many visitors the site has a day, I bet there are a lot! I even know a few French friends that personally use this site to revise their English.
This is a website created for the French, by the French. The main purpose of it is to serve as an addition to French Teenagers' English classes and it is presented in a very similar method to the French way of language teaching. The materials on the website are for students that are going to take the BAC (a test that is required to pass high school where one of the subjects is English) and a lot of the information presented on the site is close to the Grammar-Translation method. This can be seen throughout the site, such as the "Countdown until the BAC" or the font that reminds me of the fonts and icons that usually adolescents use, it is needless to say that it does not appear to be the most professional looking website. Anglais Facile could also be used by adults that are looking for a simple review of their English classes that they had during middle school or high school. This website is not for advanced learners nor is it for people trying to learn English in order to participate in the global market.
The content found on Anglais Facile is presented in a method very similar to English teachers' methods in French classrooms because the Guide de travail (study guide) was supposedly created by an English teacher. One strength of the website is the fact that there is a lot of information provided, there are a lot of links to other useful sites such as links to American or English radio stations.
Anglais Facile is interesting to the target audience because of the importance that English has in France and almost every French student takes English as their first foreign language. In addition, a good knowledge of English is often required when students attempt to enter programs or universities after high school and look for employment.
A positive aspect of Anglais Facile is the fact that the website is completely free and that the learner is not bombarded with ads. One of the drawbacks to the site is its out-of-date appearance and its not-so-clear navigation. If the learner knows what he or she would like to learn, they do not have too much difficulty finding the information but if the learner is more interested in following the study guide and follow his or her progress, this can be a little more difficult.
Anglais Facile has a lot of strengths and a lot of areas that certainly need improvement when it comes to the content offered to the learners. For example, French learning is very much based on grammar and on the understanding of written language than on spoken language and the creation of language and this can easily be seen it the site. The site does make an attempt to provide listening exercises but, in my opinion, unfortunately serve more as a phonetics exercise than a listening exercise because the pages include the script of the dialogue. One way to improve the effectiveness of their listening exercises would be to remove the written dialogue and put it on another page. If you would like an example of their audio exercises, take a look at this example: http://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-1/exercice-anglais-669.php
One of the sites main strengths is the large amount of quizzes and tests (multiple choice) that can be found throughout the site that provide for instant feedback to the learner. In general, these things are good for learning but in my opinion, I don't think that they are effective as they could be. For example, anyone can create a quiz or a test and sometimes the creators might not have the proper tools (pedagogical or linguistic) to create something useful. In addition, the quizzes do not have much variation nor do they require much reflection on behalf of the learner. Also, they could easily be boring to the learning.
Another way to improve the site would be to culture (British, American, Canadian, Australian, etc.) but there does not seem to be very much. It is incredible to think that this site is just full of information and ways of how to understand English better but hardly mentions culture.
Direct translation, in my opinion, is not the best way of learning a language. There are quite a few examples on the site where the student will see something written first in French, then English as seen in the lesson http://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-8902.php One way to improve this lesson would be to remove the French and but notes to the learner elsewhere on the page.
I believe that this site is the way that it is because of how education is set up in France and would drastically change if the Education Nationale were to change its goals and theories for foreign language learning. Anglais Facile follows the progression suggested by the French Ministry of Education, http://www.primlangues.education.fr/php/textes_officiels.php
Brian, I agree with you when you say that there is a lot to Anglais facile but also a lot to improve on. You can certainly tell that there is no central theme to how the lessons and exercises are created. The site could improve dramatically by choosing a central visual theme and by creating basic templates for the exercises and quizzes users create. I'm glad to know about this site though; I always like to see how speakers of other languages (in other countries) approach English.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I have to second you on the fact that the French do not much emphasize spoken conversation. When I was being a teaching assistant, I saw each student maybe three or four times during the whole time I was present at Lycee Pape Clement. The rest of the time the students were in an over-heated and over-crowded classroom doing grammar drills. The only ones who did not were the BTS students who were working to learn specific forms of English for their jobs.
Lastly, how frustrating is it when a French waiter or shopkeeper hears your English accent and refuses to speak French even though your French is infinitely better than his/her English. Argh!
Again, I thank you Brian and Gwen for pointing out how there are differences in how English is taught to ELLs in the US to how English is taught as a foreign language in France. As your goal, Brian, is to possibly teach EFL in France, I think it is important to explore the attitudes towards EFL education prior to going to France.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that translation is not the way to teach another language. Our brain learns languages in a different hemisphere than our brain translates languages; therefore, we will have a much more difficult time actually learning the language if we are constantly translating.