Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 6; November 03

Catalan resources for language learning on the net

Núria Brichs nbrichs@pangea.org

Foreign language teaching, and specially English teaching, have always taken advantage of the fact that most of the contents on the internet are in English, thus providing a never-ending source of authentic, visually attractive and motivating materials.

The fact that the Catalan Department of Education launched a project to promote foreign languages in schools just a few years ago, in combination with the increasing relevance of ICT and its inclusion in the curricula, contributed to a rise in the number of websites with educational content. Nowadays, two sections of the Catalan Education Department provide materials for schools: the SGTI (ICT in Education Programme) and the CRLE (Resource Centre for Foreign Languages), and more and more teachers and students are using them in their everyday practice.

Since ICT is a sign of modern times, so private schools and companies are also offering online courses as added value to their ordinary courses.

Below you will find an overview of the resources available to learn and practice a foreign language in Catalonia nowadays. It is by no means a complete list, but it gives an idea of the variety on offer.

In the first place, the SGTI has a Virtual School developed by International House Net Languages www.xtec.es/aulanet/virtualschool/. There are three classrooms at secondary and pre-university level in this school. Each contains 10 interactive units which deal with reading, vocabulary, grammar, listening, pronunciation, writing, and there is also a net search exercise and a test. Like all schools, it also has a library with additional reference material to practice English; a café to relax, chat with other students, browse a magazine or play games; and a teacher's room with teaching guide and notes. Unfortunately, the access to this site through this address is only accessible to registered students.

Edu365 www.edu35.com, is a portal for students. Both in the primary www.edu365.com/primaria/muds/angles/, www.edu365.com/primaria/muds/frances/ and secondary sections www.edu365.com/eso/muds/angles/, www.edu365.com/eso/muds/frances/ we find the MUDs (mini didactic units). They are short Flash films which explain difficult points of the language – or at least the ones most students have problems with – and are complemented with interactive exercises in the sections Avalúa't and Practica. The ask-a-teacher online service provides a further opportunity to sort out pupils' questions.

The CRLE www.xtec.es/crle offers materials and support for teachers of English, French and German, both at primary and secondary levels. In their web we find

• Downloadable materials to be used in class which combine English, ICT and a cross-curricular component: Philadelphia, Mystery in the Middle Ages, Weaving your Own Adventure http://www.xtec.es/crle/02/02_5s.htm are a few examples for secondary students, and Pauline la Poule, Henny the Hen, Little Monster at School http://www.xtec.es/crle/02/02_5.htm are for primary school.

• Didactic units to be done online, in English http://www.xtec.es/aulanet/ud/angles/index.htm and French http://www.xtec.es/aulanet/ud/frances/index.htm. They all contain the activities for students, teacher's notes and assessment tasks. All of them were awarded a prize by the Catalan Ministry of Education.

• Web quests www.xtec.es/recursos/webquests dealing with a variety of topics. A few of them are in English or French.

• Diari a l'escola (the newspaper at school) www.edu365.com/diariescola/ is a collection of articles that make up a newspaper for students. For some of the articles in English there is a lesson plan to be done, either on paper or online.

The students facing the university entrance exam may prepare at Posa't a prova www10.gencat.net/dursi/AppJava/posat.jsp. Among other subjects, they practice reading, vocabulary and writing skills in English, French and German.

At University level we find a virtual language school: the EVIU www.eviu.com/ . The virtual campus contains a 3-level course, which is easily adaptable to each student's needs thanks to a personalized learning plan. Since it is self-access, students work at their own pace. They may choose among several varieties of learning plans. In each there are grammar explanations, interactive multimedia exercises in multiple formats, self-assessment tests and other internet resources. A management tool allows students to control their progress in each of the activities and tests.

International House offers a General English Course on the net created by Santillana Net Languages www.netlanguages.com/home/home.htm The course is divided into six levels. Each level contains 10 units with 15 sections which cover the basic skills, including a test halfway through the unit, a review, and a couple of tutorials to comment on the student's work with the tutor. There are all the sections that may be found in a school: a reception to find information on the courses and do the registration; the classrooms where to do the course; a study room to meet with other students, a library with reference material; a café to do other kind of more relaxing activities and a teacher's room to contact the tutor.

Cambridge School has a very attractive web page made with Flash, www.anglesonline.net The four doors lead you to different sections: cinema, music, TV room and games, with several activities each. They all include sound and video.

It is also worth mentioning It's online www.its-online.com/ the online version of the magazine for teachers of English. The web contains six different websites. Its-english, its-myworld and its-magazines are oriented to students, with interactive exercises, audios and reading texts, whereas teachers may download lesson plans and find methodology ideas at its-teachers or go to the 3sixty5 section for teaching activities for each day of the year. The print magazines and other materials are on sale at its-open. The contents of the web are available to subscribers only.

But the most important part of the resources for language learning comes from teachers. APAC www.apac.es/, the Association of English Teachers, provides a collection of links to teaching materials, courses and a discussion forum, similarly to the Assocation de Professeurs de Français de Catalogne www.xtec.es/entitats/apfc/index.htm

Other teachers, on an individual basis, create their own materials and put them on the net for their students. Below is a selection of the most interesting websites classified according to language. English

• English to young learners http://www.xtec.es/~msilvest/ is a well-organised web page for primary school teachers. In the Materials section there are lesson plans, printable materials and online activities and ideas for Halloween.

• Games and activities for TESL www.xtec.es/~jcabrer1/ contains ideas and step by step activities to put into practice with the youngest students.

• Animalia www.xtec.es/~jortega7/animalia.htm Some reading texts introduce basic vocabulary on animals which is then practised in a number of interactive exercises.

• When I was young www.xtec.es/~mfont122/Uniprogr/index.htm is a didactic unit for primary school children which focuses on speaking and pronunciation through the performance of a short play. There are some accompanying interactive exercises and assessment tasks.

• Anglès 365 www.angles365.com/ This website for primary teachers contains some downloadable ready-to-use activities and games, a list of software suitable for young students, articles on language teaching and useful links.

• La Güebera www.xtec.es/~psanz/gueb/exers/ Güeb is a freeware program to create interactive exercises for the net. On these pages there is a collection of exercises made with this program by language teachers. The program may be downloaded here. Unfortunately, the instructions are only in Catalan.

• SWIM - See What I Mean www.xtec.es/~iboluna/swim/aa.htm. This website's main aim is to enhance reading and writing skills at four different levels of difficulty, and revise grammar structures and vocabulary at the same time. There are pre-reading, while-reading and after-reading tasks that prepare the student for a final writing task, which is to be sent to the tutor for correction and support.

• Cat-anglo www.cat-anglo.com/ The frase maleïda (the cursed sentence) is a translation game with different levels of difficulty. A sentence is presented in Catalan. If the translation into English is correct, another more difficult sentence is presented, and so on. There is also a mailing list.

• Olga Godoy's personal web page www.xtec.es/~ogodoy/ The vocabulary pages for beginners consist of a picture dictionary with sounds; there are some grammar and vocabulary notes in pdf format; the cultural issues offer some introductory readings about a topic and links to related sites to learn more about it.

• Sílvia Lag's English page www.xtec.es/~silvilag/ offers resources to practice reading, grammar, writing and listening in the English classroom. Teachers may print the notes, grammar exercises and songs, or have the students do some online practice. Some examples of students' productions can be found here as well.

• EnglishGate www.xtec.es/~eromo2/englishgate/index.html Grammar, vocabulary and culture online exercises, and also links to other sites for extra practice and research.

• Víctor Feliu's English www.xtec.es/~vfeliu/ This teacher offers grammar notes, writing tips and reading tasks for his higher secondary students preparing for the university entrance exam. In Songs there is a collection of lyrics classified according to genre.

• The English Wall www.xtec.es/~aadroer/ contains a few interactive activities dealing with grammar and a selection of internet resources.

French

• Les pages du FLE www.xtec.es/~sgirona Grammar explanations with online exercises, and also tips with corresponding activities to practise the four skills, a huge collection of links for language learning and French culture and tutorials for teachers who use ICT.

• Le Coin du français www.xtec.es/~ctorrent/ Very good online exercises at Netquiz, educational resources for teachers, texts, writing workshop and resources for learners of French.

• Neus Pascual's www.xtec.es/~npascua1/ contains a small collection of grammar and reading comprehension exercises, and a few links.

Italian

La pagina dell'italiano www.geocities.com/angelsb.geo/ A collection of links to practice Italian and learn about Italy. In the section Inpariamo italiano there are some interactive exercises.

German

Josep M. Moreno-Calvo's
usuarios.lycos.es/alemanyeoisabadell/ This is a German self-access centre. It contains interactive exercises in five different levels, and also reading texts and useful links to practice German and learn about Germany.