ANIMAL

The web page was designed for young learners (preferably between the ages of 6-9) of EFL with the aim of teaching animal-related words and verbs. In designing the web page, Dreamweaver 8 was used, accompanied by Macromedia Fireworks as image editor. Additionally, sound files in mp3 format were used in order to teach children the pronunciation of the words. Furthermore, some mp3 files are animal sounds, which are said to be effective tools in teaching animal sounds in related activities and exercises. The exercises were designed using Hot Potatoes 6, and range from matching to quiz exercises.

There are navigation buttons on the left side bar, which help the teacher and the learners navigate between the vocabulary page, the activities and exercises. The vocabulary page includes the target words to be learned, with their pronunciations (audio files), additional sound files (sounds of the animals) and image files. The suggested activities to be found on the activities page are just some recommendations and can be expanded by the teacher. The exercise page includes sound and picture matching exercises, an odd-one-out quiz and a flash card exercise, which will be discussed below. Although the page was designed for classroom use, it can also be used as a self-learning tool, as the instructions are clear and the website is user-friendly. However, as Reinders & Lewis (2005) put it, materials that may be perfectly suitable for use in a classroom environment may not be in a self-access context. So clear instructions should be supplied by the teacher before the students are encouraged to use the activities and exercises themselves. 

As stated above, the vocabulary link includes the target words to be learned. The images of the animals can be clicked to listen to the sounds. In separate boxes, the verbs related to each animal are supplied. Additionally, again in separate boxes, the pronunciation of each word is given to the students, as pronunciation is considered to be an integral part of speaking skills. The teacher should use this page to introduce the words to students and this can be either accompanied by a story prepared by the teacher, or directly navigating through the image and sound files. It should be kept in mind that children learn best if learning is made fun for them.

source: Olcay sert, Newcastle University, UK (http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/animals)

1.      Vocabulary

 Design: merancang

Link: menghubungkan

Sound : suara

Accompanied : menemani

Separate : memisahkan

Mind: pikiran  

Focus on

Enrich vocabulary with games

The activities link consists of three suggested activities in which student are asked to form groups below are the games that presented on the web page:

1. Guess What

- First students are introduced with the animals and their sounds via the animal chart on the vocabulary page.  - Then the teacher forms two groups. - A child from the first group clicks one of the pictures and one child from the other group tries to say the name of the animal. - The child from the first group clicks to the player link to listen to the correct pronunciation. - The game continues until all animals have been reviewed.

2. Online Flash Cards

- In groups of 4 or 5, the students open the flash card page to review the animal sounds. - As the picture of the animal appears, one of the kids chooses someone from the group and asks for the appropriate verb. - If the student cannot remember the appropriate sound, he is asked to imitate the animal. - All students in the group repeat the full sentence.

3. Logical Reasoning

- The teacher opens the odd one out quiz.  - S/he introduces information about domestic, farm and wild animals. -The students try to find the odd-one-out and discuss.