English+Langauge+Corner

=The English Language Corner= Siri Barrett-Lennard UWA StudySmarter team

The English Language Corner aims to assist UWA students to access resources, ideas and services that they can use to improve their English language skills while studying at the University. It provides suggestions on how to improve English language skills, what resources are available to help and what teaching and learning expectations apply at UWA.

The English Language Corner motivates learning through active questioning techniques and is structured according to common student need. The top level page acts as an overview page for first time visitors to the site. It includes a picture developed from a PowerPoint slide that describes what students can find on the site, a student photo, links to pages, and a tag cloud developed using Delicious software.

Among the sub-pages developed for this site are include a number of pages that make use of Web 2.0 technologies and that focus on speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar skills. Each of these pages features animated digital characters developed using SitePal software, a software that combines animation with podcast technology. Each digital character answers questions students commonly ask: 'What should I focus on?', 'How can I improve my skills?' and 'Where should I start?' When the questions are clicked, the audio recording begins to play, and the animated character 'speaks'.

Also on these pages are annotated links to a variety of services and resources offered by STUDYSmarter and by UWA more generally. These annotated links feed from Delicious bookmarks. Links to other relevant web resources are also provided. By using these different types of feed from Delicious, it is hoped that students will be encouraged to first make use of local English language development resources and services, including face-to-face group and peer learning services, and secondly to make use of other resources available online.

The English Language Corner is still under development, with work now focusing on developing pages on teaching, learning and assessment, and on incorporating interactive student generated content via RSS feeds. Technical challenges have arisen with some Web 2.0 features not being supported by all web browsers and by My Source pages becoming more complicated to edit when they include, for example, links to Flickr photo albums. Despite these challenges, early anecdotal student feedback suggests strong support for the continued development of this resource and similar resources that incorporate emerging technologies and that are specific to UWA study.

The English Language Corner can be found at: http://www.studentservices.uwa.edu.au/ss/learning/studying_smarter/English

Ms Siri Barrett-Lennard English Language and Learning Skills Adviser Learning, Language and Research Skills Phone 6488 1820 Fax 6488 1119 MBDP M302 Email Siri.Barrett-Lennard@uwa.edu.au