The Best 5 Tools.

After listing and reviewing 10 different tools, we have come up with the

THE BEST FIVE TOOLS

that will help UKM students or any student to improve their English

and overcome all the problems of learning English that we have mentioned before.

1. English Cafe

(it helps you in terms of improving your grammar which later able to increase your

self-confidence)

2. Overstream

(improving grammar and vocabulary)

3. izzati's one?

4. Ismadi's one?

5. Voki

(improve your speaking skills and enhance self-confidence)

The Biggest Secret About Improving Spoken English!

GOOD FOR BEGINNERS AND PEOPLE THAT HAVE PROBLEM IN MASTERING ENGLISH WITH CONFUSION IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE.

BY: IZZATI

5 Tips to Speak English Fluently & Confidently

REMEMBER! SPEAK WITH CONFIDENCE!!

A MESSAGE FROM ME: IZZATI

Confidence

Sometimes, we tend to have problems in speaking the language just because we don't have the CONFIDENCE We really need the confidence to speak out thoughts out loud. When i asked my colleague on their problems regarding English language learning, majority of them did answered that they have less confidence. Even though they did learned grammar and sometimes mastered it, but they try to arrange the phrases too perfectly until they loss their confidence to speak. Phrase structure and word choices are one of their common problems in English. They repeat words certain time due to their lack of vocabularies. Vocabularies can be improved by reading English materials and start to use it frequently. As a student, you can also try to search video on tips to speak in English or to master the language. Figure out something that make u fun in learning. I will provide videos on English speaking zone with good pronunciation and confidence in my next post. Stay with us. Thank you.

Nur 'Izzati Zalaluddin (A 134507)

How to Create a Voki

In this video, you will get the idea on how to create your own Voki. This is a very clear and well-sequenced tutorial.

So, what are you waiting for?

Lets create your own Voki ! :D

by,

Ezza Nabila bt Azman (A134321)

Learning English - Lesson Thirteen ( Grammar! )

Grammar is the most important part in spoken and written language.
Mastering it is crucial for every English language user. Here is a video that explains a little bit on the contents of grammar together with the examples.



Enjoy it guys=)

Muhamad Nizam Ashraff Bin Mohd Taharim (A131950)

English websites

Since our respondents have difficulties on Grammar, we looked for suitables resources to help them to overcome this situation.

Those are:

(1)www.eslcafe.com

(2)www.1-language.com/englishcourse/index.htm

(3)http://www.learn4good.com/languages_evrenglish.htm

(4)http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowImproveGrammarSkills/zndx/post.htm

(5)http://www.grammarnow.com/

(6)http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/

(7)http://www.roadtogrammar.com/

(8)http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

(9)http://a4esl.org/q/h/grammar.html

(10)http://www.englishpage.com/

Tool 10: FunnelBrain

"OH GOD, HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO REMEMBER ALL THIS FACT?"

"CAN I MAKE IT SIMPLER AND EASIER TO READ?"

Don't worry, in this review I will introduce to all of you this one cool tool! The last tool that I am going to talk about is 'FunnelBrain'. If you want to take a look at it, click here. FunnelBrain is a website that enables users to create their own flashcards. It is basically contains various types of academic materials that are made by other users. It also acts as a platform for users to build their personal multi-media flashcards and online student study group.

Recently, I read about FunnelBrain and I intend to give it a try. I was planning to make a simple flashcards for my English grammar subject. Then, I found a few set of flashcards made by other users regarding the same topic that I want to do. It was very helpful as I can see what others write about the topic. One thing that makes me interested in using FunnelBrain is that the application or software used is easy and simple. It is not too complicated which is easy to be used by students. I personally think FunnelBrain can help students to avoid from getting information overload. What I mean by this is that, they can be selective in putting information that they want to include in their flashcards. Most students tend to cramp all unnecessary information in their notes. By having flashcard, they need to select only the main points.The flashcard basically based on question and you give the answer. Thus, it makes students to remember faster and easier.

I think FunnelBrain gives a lot of benefits especially for students. The tool does not only enable them to create a flashcards but they can also create and collaborate in study teams. They can simply invite their classmates or friends and starts to have discussion together. In addition to that, they can update their information with classes, their school or any study teams that they have joined. Lecturers can take part too in the discussion. It was like an informal discussion after class where the students can ask questions to their lecturer. This tool is very practical and useful to both students and lecturers.

Even though flash cards can be made, manually but I think we should use the technology as maximum as we can. Especially when it comes to learning. Those all online tools that have we mentioned before are some of the greatest online tools that have ever been created. We should use it, but of course in a good way. Use it wisely. Technology does not bring harms to us if we manage to differentiate between good and bad. It is up to us to decide.

FunnelBrain

my own FunnelBrain account.

you can create your own flash cards!

Citation:

(1) SCOPUS/SciTopics

Retrieved from:

http://www.scitopics.com/Language_and_Cognition_Interaction_Mechanisms.html

"Our mind-brain understands the world around by matching contents of the brain memories (called representations, models) to sensory signals."

(2) The Chronicle of Higher Education

Retrieved from:

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/tools-for-synchronousasynchronous-classroom-discussion/22902

"Some learning management systems/e-learning systems/virtual learning environments have integrated synchronous tools within the delivery platform—here I’m thinking specifically about Blackboard’s integrated chat and whiteboard features. Although there are still software, hardware, and bandwidth requirements for these tools, the requirements are likely not as cost-prohibitive as those required for video conferencing."

by,

Ezza Nabila bt Azman (A134321)

Tool 9 : bubble.us

Retrieved from http://teachersfirst.com/20/getsource.cfm?id=1207 is an easy and free online tool allows you to brainstorm ideas, save your mind map as an image, share with students, and create colorful mind map organizers. My first impression of Bubble.us is that this online tool itself portrays the fun and excitement in learning new things. According to our respondent, he clearly stated that they use technology mostly in lectures and even for mind mapping, and for discussing things, online. Besides, if you have multiple tasks that need to be done, in Bubble.us, they offered multiple sheets that can be edited in tabs. In other words, you can apply your multitasking techniques onto this online tool. Another feature that I think is quite helpful for users is the drag and drop sheet sharing. This can be done with the copy and paste feature. With this feature, the flows of creating mind maps are flawless and quicker. After a user is done with his or her mind map and he or she is ready to present it with confident, the print button is always at the top of the page, and is a click away. I personally think that this online tool is somewhat perfect for users at any age since the features are once again, easy and simple to use. The first time a user open this tool, he or she can easily create a mind map by clicking on a button says “Start Here”. From there, you can simply click the arrow which shows to direction that you prefer. I honestly think that this tool should be used at both schools and university levels because the file can be transferred to any other users. Thus, according to this user, he or she tends to chat through discussion boards, and this online tool has its solution. When files are being transferred to other users, they can communicate and discuss upon any confusions and curiosity online. Therefore, this can also be considered as discussion board. This feature is by far, the most vital since users are exposed to few situations, which by our laptop can somewhat get stuck at all of the sudden, or even the battery ran out suddenly. When those things happen, you definitely do not have the time to save your work, and this is where this online tool comes in handy. Therefore, I think, auto saving is the most important feature among others.

By: Fatin Atiqah bt Rahim

Tool 6 : Blogger

For this second review, I will talk about another good tool that can help students in language learning and learning process itself. The tool is called blogger. What is Blogger? To those who still not familiar with it, Blogger is a blogging publishing service. This tool is good to use as it can bring many benefits especially to those who are having lack of confidence in not just speaking in English but also in speaking in front of people who they barely know.

Blogger can be used as a place where users can improve on the level of their shyness. Now let’s be honest, there are shy people out there. Even if they are not technically shy, we can still say that they are socially anxious. This is something that is natural. This scenario happens in almost everywhere. With blogger usage in learning process, students can overcome this problem. How so? Well in blogger, students can have conversations, changing opinions, do Q&A session with lecturers or their classmates without even need to be conscious as there is nobody there in front of them that can make them nervous. Where as in class with some students, such activities could not take place due to their shyness. In addition, lecturers can also ask their students to do presentation on what they have put in their blog. By doing this, students will learn to develop on their communication skills which at the end of the day will enable them to overcome their lack in confidence of speaking especially in public. Therefore, Blogger is quite good for building self-esteem among students.

Besides that, with blogger users can also create their own page where in that page, they can write anything they like. This is the medium where they can share their thoughts, ideas and opinions with the world especially on educational stuff. Users can write anything if they feel that is necessary. Besides that, users can also have discussion on particular topics with other bloggers if they want to gain more knowledge. By using this, students will be able to understand better about what they learn and discuss since they can see opinions of others in different perspectives.

Lastly, Blogger can also be beneficial to students especially to those students who are studying language courses in their universities. This is simply because Blogger encourages them to improve their skills in writing as the way of ideas and thoughts shared in the blog are through writing. Therefore, we can say that the more things students write in their blog, the more they will improve in their writing skills.

Blogger is totally free and fun to use. Those who wish to use it can just visit this link and sign up. www.blogger.com. Enjoy!!

By,

Muhamad Nizam Ashraff Bin Mohd Taharim (A131950)

citation:

1. SCOPUS/SciTopics

Retrieved from:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VCJ-52D51BG-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F16%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4a0ef59efb1070cc99485188ff45b0fd&searchtype=a

"The educational affordances of blogs offer opportunities for students to become self-directed learners in a supportive social environment."

2. The Chronicle of Higher Education

Retreieved from:

http://chronicle.com/article/Studies-Explore-Whether-the/44476/

"The rise of online media has helped raise a new generation of college students who write far more, and in more-diverse forms, than their predecessors did"

"Some scholars say that this new writing is more engaged and more connected to an audience, and that colleges should encourage students to bring lessons from that writing into the classroom"

"Digital technologies, computer networks, the Web —all of those things have led to an explosion in writing," Mr. Grabill says. "People write more now than ever.

What is web 2.0?

Most of us do not know what uis exactly Web 2.0

Here, I want to share with all of you what is the meaning of Web 2.0 and its characteristics.

I hope you will enjoy this video and get a clearer view of what is Web 2.0 :)

Thank you for watching! : )

by Ezza Nabila

technology

Want to know more about technology?

Let's watch this!

We hope you enjoy the video! :D

by Fatin Rahim.

Tool 5 : Voki

TOOL 5

Finally, the last tool that I am going to review is 'Voki'. To go to Voki, you can click here. I find this tool is very practical as it can be used for those who are having speaking and confidence problems. Voki is meant for non-commercial use and for social purposes. Thus, this tool does really meet the requirement for all students. Plus, Voki is free and there no charge applied for anyone who is using this tool. Isn't it's great? : )

I, myself have used Voki for learning purposes. This is another different yet fun and interesting method for learning. So, students can try new a new style and in directly they will become a creative person.

HOW VOKI CAN HELP STUDENTS TO OVERCOME SPEAKING AND CONFIDENCE PROBLEM?

Firstly, by using Voki, users can record themselves speaking and they can repeat it until they are satisfied with their recordings. I think this feature gives students an easy way to remember complicated things such as facts. For those who are having difficulties in memorizing facts, I recommend them to use Voki. In terms of speaking, they can actually practice to speak in Voki. They can try how to pronounce each word perfectly and correctly. In Voki, they can create a speaking character and they can add their own voice too. This is awesome and fun! Not only that, they can publish their recordings and share it with their friend. Other users will get the chance to hear their recordings. Thus, the listeners will gives their own review on they recording and so the speaker can improve their recording based on the comments given by the other users. Indirectly, they can correct each other and definitely it can helps to improve their speaking skills a little by little.

Next, in terms of self-confidence. Some people are afraid to speak in front of public as they have low self confidence. With the help of Voki, they do not have to feel that way anymore. Voki is one of the perfect tools that can be used in order to practice your speech. Most of us are afraid in saying or pronouncing words wrongly. Therefore, before giving their speech, they can record their speech first in Voki. By doing that, they can listen on what they should improve, on what words they should emphasize on and more. At the end, they will be more prepared and more confidence during the real speech. Cool right?

I choose these problems (speaking and lack of confidence) as my main focus as I also have been in the same situation before. Speaking is related very much to lack of confidence. If students do not good in speaking, they will eventually become ashamed and they feel afraid to speak in front of people especially if it is not their first language. Thus, I suggest Voki as the tool for I think it can really help students to overcome these two problems.

Voki home page

Customize your own avatar

That is all form me. I hope you will try this tool and I bet after using it you can speak like a pro! :D

THANK YOU.

Citation:

(1) SCOPUS/SciTopics

Retrieved from:

http://www.scitopics.com/Academic_Language_Proficiency.html

"Academic language proficiency for students learning English as a second language in school means that students have mastered advanced English oral language skills sufficiently to think and talk like books (Cummins, 2000; Silliman & Wilkinson 2004; 2000; Bailey, in press) and to participate in all classroom activities".

(2) The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)

Retrieved from:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407113

The fact that today’s students arrive at university having already “assimilated the internet and connectivity into their everyday lives” demands new learning and teaching techniques, it believes.

by,

Ezza Nabila bt Azman (A134321)

Tools 4: Overstream

Do you need technology in learning English?

Stated above is my question and obviously the main problem with my respondents has definitely got to do with technology. Four out of five respondents said that technology is needed in learning English, while the other one said technology does not really help in learning English.

OVERSTREAM

I

I believe everyone watched televisions since the inventions have created such a big impact on people, either positively or negatively. People learn English with many ways and by watching television is one of them. This tool is definitely great to those who hated to read long passages or paragraphs filled with words. Overstream is an online video which users could use to add read any subtitles of all languages. Since technology is the main factor of learning English, our respondents are comfortable to learn English while reading the subtitles. Watching television is definitely fun but it could be such a time consuming, if you don't make full use of it. Overstream; http://www.overstream.net/index.php is a free tool that allow users to add subtitles to online videos. Through my experience of a first- timer, I think that the tutorial that this online tool gives has perfect descriptions with details that first time users need to know. The tutorial teaches me the basics of how to use the tool and create subtitles. After you have done with editing, users are able to send the saved link of yours to other online users. This will ensure that users themselves can get the latest projects of one another, and they can definitely make comments after seeing the videos.

Clearly most of our respondents are visual learners since they rely their English studies upon technologies. With Overstream, people could easily browse other educational videos since in this online tool; it offers a search tool box with the language that users prefer to watch. In this context, our respondents must search for English subtitles and they can learn through it. I believe this online tool is quite cool since everyone can technically use and apply it in their daily lives. Watching videos online could not be that hard and most definitely, the features in Overstream are beyond stable and understandable. Thus, this online tool can be used in schools and also in universities.

Citation: (1) SCOPUS/SciTopics: Retrieved from: http://www.scitopics.com/Significance_exploring_the_nature_of_information_systems_and_technology.html

Stated that technology has indeed helped users from all over the world, not just from the aspect of communication, but also for learning purposes.

(2) The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Retrieved from: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=415433&c=2 Stated that doubtless reading long passages is boring, but for the sake of knowledge and to learn things, we should be thankful that gadgets have been created to make non-readers to be able to learn too.

by, Fatin Atiqah bt Rahim

Tool 1: English Cafe

Making mistakes when using grammar is common. Let’s face it. Even native speakers could not avoid themselves for doing such mistakes. Why is grammar important when acquiring English? Well it is the most basic part that one must master in order to be able to speak and write better in this so called International language. Failing to do so will result to his or her incompetency in mastering this language and it will eventually affects their self-confidence among other English users. For those of you who look at grammar in learning English as something that gives headache, worry no more as sometimes people make mistakes when it comes to the usage of grammar whether in their written or spoken language. Moreover, I have a wonderful tool that can help you to overcome this problem. The tool is called English Cafe. This is the link to English Café. www.englishcafe.com. So to those who have problems in Grammar in English. You should keep on reading this post. =)

How can English Cafe help students who are weak in Grammar?

Firstly, English Café has English Library for its users. English Library gives users the opportunity to learn grammar as it has many topics related to grammar that are posted by users everywhere. For example, If a student would like to learn on nouns, he or she just need to type the word “nouns” in the search section and the results will appear in many forms. Such forms include lesson, blog, chatting area, quizzes and etc. This feature is really effective as it is free as well as it gives users to learn about grammar in just nick of time.

Secondly, English Cafe also provides a section called “Connect” where as in this section, users get the opportunity to improve not just writing but also their speaking skills especially the grammar part. This is simply because users in English Café come from various background in English learning as well as different levels of mastery. The good part is that those people in this section always help each other as they help each other mistakes in using the grammar. Besides that, what makes this section great is the fact that it also allow users to share and talk about other things instead of just grammar and others that are related to English learning only. For example, they could share about their cultures, customs, etc.

Lastly, if you still think that the two points above are not good enough to help you in learning grammar in English. You can always go for other alternative. By this I mean the “Learn” section. What is this “Learn” section? “Learn” section is a place where users can find English teachers and book them. Besides that, users also can learn lessons and take quizzes related to the topic that they learn ( in this case is the grammar) provided by their teachers. In order to use this section, users need to have credits or to make it clearer, they need to pay for this service. But if users are willing to do so, then they should be good. This is another good way of learning grammar as it has two-way communication among a teacher and a student just like in normal classroom. Only this way is more into virtual type of learning.

I myself have signed up for English Cafe as it is a good site that can help users to learn not just about English but also about other interesting things. Therefore I urge you to join so that you can also enjoy the benefits.=)

By,

Muhamad Nizam Ashraff Bin Mohd Taharim (A131950)

1. Imej Article

Retreieved from:

http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2001/1/05/index.asp

"Web-mediated and computer-assisted language learning, along with recent more globally oriented curricular trends, are stretching the boundaries of traditional university foreign language and literature programs, offering multiple opportunities for cross-cultural communication, and enabling a promising new pedagogy."

Problems

As a result, we have listed four major problems that our respondents have had all these while.

(1) Grammar

(2) Vocabulary

(3) Lack of confidence

(4) Not fluent in English.

Therefore, in our next post, we will suggest some of the learning tools that might help them to overcome those problems.

We use this website as our main source:

http://www.onlinedegree.net/100-essential-2-0-tools-for-teachers/

analysis table and results:

This is the table that we made based on the answers given by the respondents.

Click at the table for larger view :)

TABLE 1:

TABLE 2:

TABLE3:

TABLE 4:

TABLE 5:

TABLE 6:

Therefore, in our next post we will list out some of the best tools that will help them to overcome those problems.

the first step :

The task is:

We need to interview different students in UKM to identify their problems in learning English. We have interviewed five students from different courses.

We came up with 6 questions and they aree:

(1) How often do you use English?
(2) Can you understand others when they speak English?
(3) What is your biggest problem in learning English?
(4) Do you need technology in learning English?
(5) How tdo you find technology has helped you in learning English?
(6) How do you wish technology could help you in learning English?

let's get it started!

SALAM AND HELLO TO EVERYONE, :)

First of all, we are the first year students of English Language Study, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

• Muhamad Nizam Ashraff B Mohd Taharim
• Ezza Nabila Bt Azman
• Nur 'Izzati Bt Zalaluddin
• Fatin Atiqah Bt Rahim
• Ismadi B Ibrahim

The main reason why we created this blog is because to fulfill the task for SKBP1023 (Language and ICT) given by our respected lecturer, Dr. Afendi Hamat.

There are some questions that we will discuss on, where we have interviewed some of the students from different faculties.

Before we end, we hope that our blog will give you some new information regarding language and ICT.

THANK YOU :)