1. EASY TO SING
The Advantages :
It is in the form of digital compact disc (DVD) so it is quite convenient to be played either by using a DVD player with a TV set or a media player of a computer. Unlike using a cassette and a radio tape, with a digital compact disc it will be easy and time-saving for teachers to find the track of a song. It contains about fifteen children songs. It is interesting and motivating to be used as an authentic material or teaching aid for young learners of an English class since children are always attracted to songs and its rhyme. If it is not for the whole lesson, a teacher can use different songs for different topics, depend on the theme of the song, as a lead-in strategy. Whenever the teacher wants to apply the suggestopedia method, these songs can be very helpful to soothe the restless energetic children to make them feel calm and relaxed before they are ready to start the lesson.
The Disadvantages:
Because it is not produced and sung by the native speakers of English so it is not a very good model for proper pronunciation. Another disadvantage is about the visualization. The video clips are not contextual or coherent with the lyric of the songs. Consequently, teacher can not used the clips for further use like introducing or teaching vocabulary. Besides, some of the songs are a little bit different from the known original rhyme and this will trigger complains from critical young learners.
2. SPEAK ENGLISH
The advantages:
The content is divided under some headings for students to choose of their interests non-sequentially. It presents a lot of pictures so students can also learn a lot of vocabulary under different topics. There is always a presenter to give the model of pronunciation and intonation. The sample of intonation is necessary since this program seems to focus more on expressions to be used for certain situation. Student can learn how to stress on certain words or syllables in wh- questions, yes or no questions and exclamations. This program provides buttons of playback, pause, stop, backward and forward in order to facilitate students to adjust their learning pace. Students can simply repeat the expressions whenever they want to learn more, skip any parts that they think easy or have been mastered, or stop the section at any time and choose another interesting topic from the main menu. Students are also given parts to practice their pronunciation and intonation by repeating after the speakers and recording their own voice.
The Disadvantages:
The categories of the content is only based on topics not levels of students’ ability so the expressions given seems mixed-up from the easiest or the simplest to the most complicated in one section. And actually it is often found that there are more than one unrelated topics under a heading. Then since all parts of the program only require students to do the repetition, it does not invite much of the students’ involvement or it is not interactive enough for them to explore more of the exercises. Because of this unchallenging program, it will possibly lead to immediate boredom. Moreover, the expressions are not properly put in contexts so it is very difficult for students to recognize exactly when, where or how to use them. It is better if they are packed and highlighted in dialogs with clear situation so they will not be too loose and mechanical. The only clue given for the use of the expressions is only the background still pictures that sometimes illustrated irrelevantly. It will look nicer and more interesting if the expressions are accompanied with motion pictures in order to make everything, including the speakers, look and sound more natural.
3. ISSUES IN ENGLISH
The Advantages:
This program offers some topics to be explored further based on levels of difficulty. Each level of a topic is introduced with a narration delivered by a speaker. This narration functions as a lead in strategy to give the main theme of the whole practices. What seems to be the most interesting is that this program has wonderfully integrated all skill practices from speaking, listening, reading and writing. Although certain exercises focus on a certain skill under a subheading, each of them has been carefully designed to accommodate the implementation of integrated skill practices. Considering not less important than other skill practices, this program also stress much on the grammar which is presented thematically and suited to the level of difficulty. For each aspect of grammar exercised, there is always the hint box for further explanation that can be opened anytime the students need it. Not only grammar aspect discussed in detail, but each level is also enriched with broad vocabulary. For teachers, teaching points are provided to guide them to choose the correct materials either to be used as main sources or just as supplementary exercises. About the technical support, the disc is easily and quickly installed. It does not require high hardware specification. The most important is the navigation system of this program which is created clear and easy to operate. Lastly, the feedback upon students’ responses is quite encouraging.
The Disadvantages:
At the first sight, the topics introduced in the main menu are not really common like euthanasia, discrimination, gambling and smoking. Discussing these topics may arouse controversies among the students especially in divergence classes whose students come from different social and cultural background. Another thing is about the grammar exercises which are not really suitable for elementary level of students since sometimes they are mixed-up with other aspects of different part of speech. And the last, any exercise requires correct answer. Consequently, whenever students can not give the right answers they can not depend on the answer key since it will never provide one. The students are the ones who have to try by themselves. But while they are searching and learning more for the answer, they can skip the difficult parts and go back later at anytime they are ready.
Songs for Kids
Jump*Start Pre-K for Ages 3-5, CD-ROM for Windows and Macintosh
Grammaractive Games for Active Learning Book and CD-ROM
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