SURVEY REVIEW web
sites for the language
teacher
Search engines, web
directories, and sites for
news and current affairs
David Eastment
Introduction The World Wide Web continues to grow. 800 million pages last year, an estimated
1.5 billion pages by the end of 2000. Many sites are reliably maintained and well designed. The
Web is open to all, however, and as long as anyone can publish, the junk will remain: the ‘cobweb’
sites, which have not been updated for years; the ‘under construction’ pages, which are never
completed; the trivial, the dull, and the simply misleading. For the teacher, finding worthwhile
material is not an easy task.
The aim of the listings page (which will be a regular feature in this volume
of ELTJ) is to provide details of sites which are interesting or useful for
English language teachers. Sites will be evaluated on the basis of the
following criteria:
Accuracy: is the information correct? Authority: is it clear who wrote the
page and is there an email address for
contact? Currency: is the information up-to-date and is
there an indication of
when the page or site was last updated? Presentation: are
the pages attractively designed and easy to navigate? How do you go
about finding good pages? Simple ‘surfing the Net’ is
unlikely to get you very far. For these listings, I shall be using search
engines and browsing web directories; looking out for personal
recommendations; and scouring ELT-specific ‘links pages’.
Search engines and The distinction between search engines and directories is blurring:
web directories many of the so-called ‘portal’ sites now offer both approaches. Googlehas
recently started its own directory service, based on the Open Directory. For the user, however, the
distinction remains:
– Use a search engine when you know exactly what you are looking for,
for example, a word, a phrase, or a name
– Use a web directory when you are looking for something more general,
for example, a subject, a theme, or a point of view.
©102 ELT Journal Volume 55/1 January 2001 Oxford University Press
Search engines Search engines have their place, and are vital for finding specific information on
an area. The newer ones, Googlein particular, can come up with spectacularly relevant results.
However, for the most part, in the search for worthwhile materials, engines are the last rather than
the first resort.
Engines such as Altavistaand Exciteare beguiling: you type in a search
word or phrase, and seconds later receive hundreds, possibly thousands
of results which match your search. Unless you are careful, you can
waste a good deal of time like this. It is important to remember that
search engines match words, not concepts.
AltaVista Altavista.com
Excite www.excite.com
Google www.google.com
Web directories Directories are the human face of the web, an attempt by human beings to bring
order to the chaos.
One of the first, and certainly the best-known of the directories, is Yahoo! It
is among the most-visited sites on the Web, and with good reason. Its 14
main categories and hundreds of sub-categories are easy to navigate, and
though they cover less than 20 per cent of the web, they list a very large
number of good-quality materials.
The Open Directory(originally called Newhoo) resembles Yahoo!in terms
of its hierarchical organization, but is managed by volunteers around the
world: over 30,000 at the last count. It has a less balanced coverage than
its rival, but is often wider in scope.
Aboutcalls itself ‘The Human Internet’. Each of its categories is managed
by a named, photographed individual, with a bio-statement which at least
gives you an idea as to whether you can trust their selections.
Britannicais more than ‘just’ an encyclopedia. In its web incarnation, when
you type in a search word or phrase it looks through its own database of
‘quality’ websites. Its directory service (on the left of the page) is tiny
compared with Yahoo!,but it lists and ranks some excellent sites.
Yahoo www.yahoo.com The Open
Directory dmoz.org About about.com
Britannica www.britannica.com Google
Directory directory.google.com
You can get a comprehensive list of directories at
directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/WWW/Searching_the_
Web/Directories/
Personal A good way to get suggestions is to join one of the many electronic
recommendations discussion lists, subscription is almost always free.
Web pages for the language teacher 103
The easiest way to sign up to a list is via Kristina Pfaff-Harris’ Lists page
on the Linguistic Funland(www.linguistic-funland.com). It does not cover
all the services available, but it does offer a quick and easy way to
subscribe and unsubscribe.
ELT -specific As far as ELT-specific materials are concerned, the most efficient method
‘links pages’ of finding pages is via a ‘link page’. These pages are typically part of a larger site,
and are maintained—in ELTas in other subjects—either by the site owner directly, or by inviting
the owners of other web pages to register their sites.
The Internet TESLJournalhas links to over 6,000 ELT-related web pages
that are well organized and well maintained.
Eva Easton’s sitecovers a range of languages, but focuses on English.
Materials are organized into Yahoo!-style categories, sometimes with
brief descriptions. She does not include information on when a particular
category was last checked, but the selections seem up-to-date and
reliable.
Last but not least, Dave Sperling’s ESL Cafénow includes a web guide with
over 3,000 links. These are less language focused than the Internet TESL
Journal, there are categories on movies, literature, tongue twisters, and
even zoos. Teachers are invited to add their favourite resources, and to
vote on the links already listed.
Internet TESL Journal www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/links/
E. L. Easton www.eleaston.com
The ESL Café Web Guide www.eslcafe.com/search/index.html
I shall be using all the above in drawing up a Listings Page for each issue.
If there are any sites you have found useful, or areas which you would like
me to explore, please drop me a line at david@eastment.com.
Sites for news and In this section we take a look at two areas: sites for news and current
current affairs affairs, and sites for information and instructions. The Internet Public Libraryis a
key resource for teachers (and librarians.)
As well as a useful catalogue of over 13,000 online texts, and a super set
of Pathfinders (research guides to web materials), it has one of the fullest
listings of online newspapers available. Other directories specialize just in
newspapers: OnlineNewspapers.comhas an easy-to-use interface and is
particularly comprehensive.
Two newspapers stand out for English teachers: The Guardianand the
New York Times. The TEFLsectionof theGuardian Unlimitedsite has
articles, country profiles, and other information aimed specifically at EFL
teachers around the world, plus an interesting set of lesson plans. A
feature I particularly like is the photo gallery, which each day provides
about eight pictures ‘evoking current news events’.
The New York Timessite offers the New York Times Learning Network.
This is a site aimed at American school children (Grades 3–12), but with an
104 Sites for news and current affairs
emphasis on late secondary. Much of the material is appropriate for
young adults in international schools.
There is a daily news multiple choice quiz, with good thumbnail
photographs and links, not just to the answer, but to source articles. News
summaries are provided in slightly simplified English (with a direct
connection to the Merriam Websteronline dictionary for vocabulary help);
and a superbly implemented set of crosswords.
The lesson plans—all of which relate to current affairs issues—are worth a
look. Even if you don’t like the lesson, the high-quality links they give to
information elsewhere on the web make them useful. They are written by
practising teachers, and are adaptable to a range of different contexts. All
the plans are archived and sorted by theme. The Media Studies archive, for
example, has ideas ranging from ‘Examining the Pros and Cons of Print
Newspapers and Online News Sites’ to ‘Exploring Police Brutality and
Individual Rights’.
Listening to the news Many sites now carry news broadcasts in video or audio: CNNand the
BBCare the best known. The problem with most news services, though, is
that you can only listen to them while you are connected to the Internet.
Study centre managers might find the World News Reviewservice from
Wichita University useful. Every two months you can download a large file
of audio news, read at normal speed by an American native speaker.
Students listen to one of eight news clips, answer multiple choice
questions, and then get sight of the complete script. World News Review
has appeared every two months for the last two years—the archived
material can also be retrieved. Note that you have to download special
software before you can use the audio material, but it is a straightforward
process to install.
A key site for listening materials for the news is BritFM.com. This
site—supported by the British Embassy in the USA—provides a daily
update of international news with a slightly British bias. For each news
item, there is not only an audio feed, but also a transcript. What makes
the site unique is that the news is provided not only in
RealAudio—which is ‘streamed’ and therefore very difficult to
record—but in other formats, including MP3. If copyright restrictions
allow (and these will vary from country to country), you can therefore
download the clips for later.
Discussing the News For students interested in discussing news and current events, there are at
least two ELTdiscussion forums on the web: at the ESLPartylandand the ESL Café. They can be
lively, but often go some weeks between contributions. The Partylandalso has a page of games
and activities related to the news in general.
Instructions One thing many of us need is simple information about how to do things, whether for
practical purposes or to create material for teaching the language of instruction.
105 Sites for news and current affairs
The Ask Jeevessearch engine is particularly good at this sort of thing.
Provided your query is a common one, it can often come up with a
worthwhile answer. And the great bonus with Jeevesis that you don’t have
to use special syntax, you can just type in a normal English question. Try
asking Jeeves ‘How do I tie a bowtie?’
Ehowis an collection of over 14,000 step-by-step instructions on everything
from making Cajun sauce through giving your mate a manicure to
changing the oil in a car. You have to put up with some advertisements
and a shopping basket, but the site is not too commercial and has some
good photographic illustrations.
How Stuff Worksis another enormous site, less step-by-step in its
coverage, but with stunning illustrations and animations.
For more scientific queries, try How Things Workat the University of
Virginia. This site specializes in the physics of everyday life, with monthly
questions and answers and an archive organized by categories, from air
conditioners to wood stoves. HTW has no diagrams or illustrations, but
plenty of language examples.
Internet Public Library www.ipl.org
OnlineNewspapers.com www.onlinenewspapers.com
The Guardian Education Unlimited TEFL section
www.educationunlimited.co.uk/tefl/
New York Times Learning Network
www.nytimes.com/learning
World News Review www.mrc.twsu.edu/ielc-lab/wnr/
BritFM.com www.britfm.com ESL Partyland Discussion:
News and Current Events www.eslpartyland.com/disnews.htm/
ESL Partyland: The Media
Learning Page www.eslpartyland.com/students/nov/media.htm ESL Café
Discussion Center:
Current News www.eslcafe.com/discussion/dc/ Ask Jeeves
www.ask.com
www.aj.co.uk How Things
Work howthingswork.virginia.edu
rabi.phys.virginia.edu/HTW/
HowStuffWorks www.howstuffworks.com Ehow.com
www.ehow.com
In the next issue: ELT-specific sites.
106 Sites for news and current affairs