REVIEW OF OPEN ENGLISH
Review by Paula Winke, Michigan State University INTRODUCTION
One of the best things about acquiring an accent online is that you can learn no amount of breadth you are. And this is abnormally important for busy, fully-employed bodies who ability biking a lot and who are aloft that time in their lives aback on-campus classes, abstraction abroad, or contiguous affairs with advisers or accent ally are accessible and applicable options. Accessible English, a Venezuelan/US-based aggregation founded in 2007 (see http://www.openenglish.com/corporate/about/) appears to apperceive that there is absolute appeal for quality, online English instruction. They advertise subscriptions (1,000 USD for an antecedent 12 months,
Open English was advised accurately for built-in speakers of Spanish and Portuguese. According to James Daley (the Vice President of Accessible English Product, and to whom I batten via Skype on December 4, 2013), there are over 110,000 bodies acquiring English through its system, with 98% of the learners in Latin America. Accessible English is attractive to aggrandize its bazaar and is authoritative all-important adjustments to do so. For example, 2014 will see a rollout of tablet- and phone-based, adaptable access, with Android and
Macintosh versions included. College levels of English accent apprenticeship are actually created for the system. There are three options for the acquisitions platform's base-language (for aeronautics purposes): English, Spanish, or Portuguese. A user establishes this on his or her claimed contour page, but Accessible English may be abacus to those three options soon.
CLICK HERE OPEN ENGLISH
As of April 2014, Accessible English has six levels of English-language instruction. Subscribers accept admission to all of these, but only if their English is able to move through all six. By default, all users alpha at Akin 1, but can jump to a college akin by demography an online adjustment test. Otherwise, to move up a level, a abecedarian charge aboriginal complete 10 units of lessons, anniversary comprised of about 6 lessons, which in turn, accept about 9 activities each. The abstraction is that an abecedarian will complete one assignment per week, action through as abounding activities a day as desired. Afterwards learners complete the assignment of one unit, they charge canyon the assemblage appraisal to advance to the abutting level. If users pass,they are prompted to aftermath an autograph sample (based on an alone alert that elicits accent abstruse during the unit). Learners can abide this to a live teacher, who reads the article and provides human-generated feedback.
Because I advise online classes at Michigan State University, I was aflame to analyze Accessible English. They use an online classroom commitment belvedere (Blackboard Collaborate) that is agnate to what I use to advise alive classes online (I use Adobe Connect for eLearning). Accessible English has 80 software and web developers (who are computer science and programming experts), 600 English-language agents who advise the Accessible English agreeable in live, on-demand, online classes, and about 600 English agents who board autograph acknowledgment and acknowledgment questions via text. Thus, I knew Accessible English would be an eye-opener.I capital to see aloof what a large, acknowledged and growing aggregation does for the masses in agreement of online English-language instruction.
Here are some of the basics and bolts: Learners assurance up for an antecedent 12-month cable for 1,000 USD, and afterwards that, learners can alteration to an 80-USD account subscription. Mr. Daley raises that about 95% of the abecedarian abject currently pays for alone subscriptions (that is, the subscriptions are in the learners' alone names and the fees are paid by the individuals), while about 5% of the learners are subscribed beneath an aggregation name, suggesting that some companies may be about applying Accessible English to advance the English-language abilities of their workforce. According to Mr.Daley, revisions to the absolute online affairs in 2013 included a new chic that is based on the Common European Framework of Advertence for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) or CEFR. The affairs currently have six levels of English-language instruction, which correspond, according to Mr. Daley, to the lower levels of the CEFR.
When learners aboriginal log on, they are directed to a contour page, breadth they accept the advantage to upload a claimed picture, announce their built-in accent (Spanish or Portuguese are the only options during the autograph of this review), baddest the abject interface accent (English, Spanish, or Portuguese), and board some added demographics (see Amount 1).
Figure 1. The top of the Accessible English contour page.
After entering the demographics, learners are prompted to accept their capital areas of interests so that the affairs can be presented accordingly. At the base of the page, four "learner tools" are provided.
These arise at the base of every folio in Accessible English. In the abbreviated video beneath (Figure 2), I appear the absorption breadth selections and additionally the tools: a dictionary, an autograph tool, a grammar guide, and a translator.
Figure 2. Video affirmation of the Accessible English contour page. Bang on the angel to see the audience at
The Capital Components of Accessible English
There are three capital pages (accessed by tabs) in Accessible English: Home, Progress, and Learn. The capital folio acceptance will use is the Home page: It is the aperture to the account lessons. The Progress folio presents arbitrary advice for the student. The Apprentice folio additionally has acquisitions content, like the Home page, but offers alternative acquisitions opportunities. I call these three in added detail below.
Home Page
The Home folio is the capital lesson-navigation folio for the learner. It shows the learner's Account Abstraction Plan, which is presented through boxed alternate graphics, with anniversary bright apery one action in the lesson. (See Amount 3.) The artlessness and glassy alignment of the week's activities on the Home folio is impressive. This folio is clear, shows absolutely what the abecedarian should do during the week's lessons, and allows the abecedarian to accept the adjustment in which to complete the activities. Every Account Abstraction Plan is laid out and presented in the aforementioned fashion, behindhand of the topic, unit, or level, giving learners abundant achievement in alive what to expect.
Figure 3. Account Abstraction Plan for a Grade 6 English-language learner.
The first, upper-right-hand action is consistently a window to entering a live class. Alive classes alpha on the hour, every hour, 24/7, except for on Christmas and New Year's Day. The adverse at the top of this window is the admission to aback the abutting chic starts. If you bang to participate in the alive class, you are directed to a Blackboard Collaborate site, breadth the abecedary and up to three classmates accompany in. The assignment plan can be affiliated to advance of time. It is consistently a PowerPoint adored as a PDF, and the abecedary uses it to absolute the lesson. There are two added action types in the Account Abstraction Plan: One is advantageous “Lesson,” the added “Practice.”In Amount 3, a Akin 6 Account Abstraction Plan, there are four Acquaint and four Convenance activities.
Lessons
Each Assignment contains an audio babble (almost consistently amid a man and a woman) apprehended aloud by articulation actors; the audio files are created for Accessible English and are not authentic. This may or may not be a limitation, depending upon one's appearance on whether lower-level language-learning abstracts should be from accurate sources. Assorted cant architecture drills and apperception questions go forth with anniversary dialog. These drills and questions are interspersed amid segments of the babble and arise in assorted forms: multiple-choice, true/false, drag-and-drop, cloze, abbreviate (single word) answer, and word-clutter activities (in which the abecedarian assembles a book from accolade up words and phrases).Aback a abecedarian completes every assignment aural a Lesson, they are directed aback to the Home page, and the completed Assignment is rejected in black to mark its completion. During Lessons, learners can appeal an automated “Hint” (ie, ask for and accept the answers to a drill), booty notes, babble via altercation with added learners who are in the aforementioned drill, and altercation questions to a live teacher. The Acquaint are what one would apprehend in a massive, online acquisitions environment. They present absolute that is awful structured. The dialogues are inauthentic, but linguistically at the appointed akin of the accent learners.The discrete-point testing works able-bodied in an online environment, and the assignment arrangement appeared to me to be about 100% bug chargeless (everything formed able-bodied on my appointment computer). But how abundant acquisitions absolutely takes abode due to the contest is an empirical question. One abuse I accept is that all dialogues currently are audio recordings with an angel (picture) of the absurd speakers. Assignment in accent processing has apparent that accent learners action and apprentice accent bigger aback it is accompanied by visuals (Sueyoshi & Hardison, 2005; Wagner, 2010). For example, gestures and lip movements advise admirers to anatomize words and sentences and to adapt meaning.Seeing how bodies stand, attending at anniversary others, and collaborate helps learners appreciate the accent act. In the future, if it is achievable technologically and economically, it would be better, I think,
Practice
In anniversary Convenance activity, a short, captioned video is shown. Learners watch the abounding video and afresh use voice-recording software to almanac their account aloud of the explanation segments in affiliation to the video segments. Learners can assay their own accentuation with the choir in the video, and accept the advantage to almanac and assay as abounding times as they like. In this sense, "Practice" can be seen as a video-based alert exercise, but apperception is not checked; rather, pronunciation, rhythm, and account out loud are accomplished and self-assessed. Afterwards recording, the affairs spits out an account (as apparent in Amount 4; “Nice 13;” bang on the amount angel to see a demo).As far as I can tell, the account is based on basic voice-recognition software: the bigger the recognition, the college the score.
Figure 4. The voice-recording software in anniversary “Practice” action in the Account Assignment Plan. Bang on
The videos themselves are awful entertaining, of an acceptable quality, and authentic. For example, at both Levels 1 and 6, I watched commercials, cine trailers, science reports, account segments, business tips, biking suggestions, and similar music videos. I don't anticipate learners could anytime get apathetic with the videos, which sample abounding varieties of English, but they may acquire the post-watching, “SPEAK” action to be repetitive, abnormally if they are accomplishing this four to bristles times per week . The assignment to apprehend out loud over and over afresh reminded me of Crazy English, an English-language teaching adjustment from China in which learners convenance (and learn) through the repetitive account out loud (and actual loud at that) of text.The abstraction actuality is somewhat the same: that through practice, accent patterns will become automatized, routinized, and learned. But compared to Crazy English, in Accessible English the account is done added quietly, online, in affiliation to video, and with recording accessories so the abecedarian can accept and self-assay his or her speech. In both Crazy English and Accessible English, this is “output practice” in the best stripped-down faculty of the term; it is an audio-lingual approach. What is missing actuality is alternation (Gass & Mackey, 2007), although that can be activated in additional places in this online acquisitions program.In both Crazy English and Accessible English, this is “output practice” in the best stripped-down faculty of the term; it is an audio-lingual approach. What is missing actuality is alternation (Gass & Mackey, 2007), although that can be activated in additional places in this online acquisitions program. In both Crazy English and Accessible English, this is “output practice” in the best stripped-down faculty of the term; it is an audio-lingual approach. What is missing actuality is alternation (Gass & Mackey, 2007), although that can be activated in additional places in this online acquisitions program.
Progress
The Progress folio maps for the abecedarian breadth he or she is in the chic and additionally provides amplitude for the abecedarian to booty added notes. It has links to a log of all acknowledgment provided to the abecedarian from any of the online teachers. Aural Lessons, if the abecedarian takes notes, those addendum are additionally logged here.
Learn
The Apprentice tab has three subtabs: (a) Alive Classes, (b) Units and Acquaint (which redirects to the Account Abstraction Plan Lessons), and (c) Practice. Beneath Alive Classes, an account of all alive online acquaintance that are actually offered in the abutting 24 hours and over the abutting seven canicule are presented. From this page, learners can access live classes, as they can from their Account Abstraction Plan. Every day, two online classes are offered, one alleged the “Classic” lesson, and one alleged the “Casual” lesson.According to Elaine Wheatley, Vice President of Alive Apprenticeship at Accessible English (personal email communication, April 11, 2014), the Classic acquaintance focus added on cant and grammar building, while the Casual acquaintance focus on babble practice. I took one of the classic acquaintance on the affair of tea and coffee,
The Casual classes appeared to me to aspire to a high level of English (perhaps at the B1 or B2 level). But Ms. Wheatley explained in her e-mail that “each architecture is offered in assorted levels to board acceptance based on the akin in which they accept placed.” Accessible English is planning to add a third akin or blazon of classes, and placeholder (or thumbnail) spaces already circumscribe breadth those will abide on the page.
What is nice about this folio is that learners can actually go to participate in classes that may be decidedly arduous for them. Because the capacity and chic PowerPoints are provided, learners can judge for themselves if they appetite to or are accessible to booty an online class, and if they want, they can be a lurker in a class—that is, arise but not participate. Ms. Wheatley explained in her April 11 e-mail that aback acceptance access a class, they access with acceptance at the aforementioned akin of English accomplishment and are akin to an abecedary who speaks their aggregate L1 (if the L1 is Spanish or Portuguese). I accept acceptance in a accustomed chic are about at the aforementioned akin of proficiency, but I additionally anticipate the accomplishment ambit is good:one can be absolutely challenged aback in a chic with hardly higher-level speakers, or one could sit back and focus on an assertive skill, such as pronunciation, if the others in the chic are hardly beneath one's accomplishment level. The added affection of agenda beneath Apprentice is the Convenience tab. Here, new account beliefs are presented daily. Mr. Daley explained to me that Accessible English abstracts designers, who generally bifold as instructors, acquisition accepted account belief or texts (personal communication, December 4, 2013). They afresh adapt them, abbreviation the adversity akin of the language, to bout the abilities of the capricious levels of The added affection of agenda beneath Apprentice is the Convenience tab.Here, new account beliefs are presented daily. Mr. Daley explained to me that Accessible English abstracts designers, who generally bifold as instructors, acquisition accepted account belief or texts (personal communication, December 4, 2013). They afresh adapt them, abbreviation the adversity akin of the language, to bout the abilities of the capricious levels of The added affection of agenda beneath Apprentice is the Convenience tab. Here, new account beliefs are presented daily. Mr. Daley explained to me that Accessible English abstracts designers, who generally bifold as instructors, acquisition accepted account belief or texts (personal communication, December 4, 2013).They afresh adapt them, abbreviation the adversity akin of the language, to bout the abilities of the capricious levels of
the accent learners. With the tech staff, they appearance cant in the altercation and adjoin to anniversary altercation a cardinal of apperception questions (multiple-choice or true/false). Acceptance see the akin of altercation and questions that bout their accomplishment level. To accord an abstraction of the blazon of account belief that are presented, on March 20, 2014, the Akin 6 account were these: “New World Cup Anthem,” “People through Paint for Holi,” and “Lifestyle: Tribal Fusion Dance. " While an array of accepted contests are presented, advancing or demanding capacity in the account are not. The abstracts designers arise to alone baddest account that is ablaze and entertaining, for bigger or worse. (See Amount 5)
Figure 5. An account articulation from the Convenience area beneath the Apprentice tab.
Open English's Live, Online Classes
As explained above, learners can accompany any live, online class, and these classes alpha on the hour, every hour. I abutting a Akin 1 chic on acquisitions how to allocution about tea and coffee. I was abundantly afraid at how acceptable the abecedary was. She was a built-in apostle of English, but was additionally acutely chatty in Spanish. She greeted me and the added three students, asked us about ourselves, and told us a bit about herself. She afresh started the lesson, action through the agreeable categorical on the PowerPoint slides (available for learners to download advanced of time). She wrote addendum on the PowerPoint slides in advertisement to our comments, questions, and errors.She additionally had pop-up pictures and accentuation tips to advise us with what charge be commonly-produced errors by speakers of Spanish and Portuguese. (See Amount 6, in which I blocked out the identifiers of the abecedary and the added students.) The abecedary elicited accent from the learners, generally allurement us to apprehend out loud genitalia of the admonition and sentences on the slides and adapted our pronunciation. She had us convenance dialogues with her and among ourselves, and were accustomed to bend from scripts and allege freely. She asked us questions about what we admired to serve guests and whether we adopted tea or coffee and why. We could ask any questions anon or blazon them into the babble box.To my surprise, the abecedary angry to Spanish to explain difficult concepts or to ask questions of acceptance who appeared to be accurate novices in English. Whether this convenance is broadly aggregated amidst agents in Accessible English is a catechism I had, but in accord with Ms.
[In the alive classes,] acceptance are mutual with an abecedary who has accurate accent abilities in the students' built-in language… so that they [the teachers] can advise explain circuitous admonition in the built-in accent if needed. Our agents focus on English-only in the classroom, however, if they see that an apprentice needs additional direction, they are able to explain in the students' built-in language. We currently accept agents appointed for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking students.
It has been debated in the SLA abstract as to whether a classroom in which there is an aggregate aboriginal accent (L1) should carefully and blindly abide in the ambitious accent at all times (Campa & Nassaji, 2009). The altercation is that applying the aggregate L1 can advice abate the learners' cerebral amount aback agents are answer circuitous grammar in chic (Scott & De La Fuente, 2008). The abecedary of the online chic I was in absolutely acclimated Spanish to advise analyze grammar and to back the accentuation tips she was providing. She said, for example, the afterwards in Spanish to call how one pronounces an English “r” (as in “drink”). At the aforementioned time she put on the web a bright (seen in Amount 6) of a duke arced back, which represented the curved-back tongue:
I appetite you to attend at this, aquí está. Yeah. This is your tongue. Su lengua. Okay? Eso es su lengua. Okay, [name]? Su lengua está- es plana, plana, plana la lengua cuando dice eh o ah. Okay? Eh o aah. Eh. Lengua plana. Okay ahorita los dos. Todos digan eh, aah. Para decir la r, curvamos la puntita de la lengua para adentro. No tocamos los dientes. Eer. Aar. [Name] amuse echo eh, aah; eer, aar.
To construe loosely, the abecedary was instructing the acceptance to “Curve your argot aback aback you say r!” Conveying that comprehensibly in English to low-level English speakers would prove to be abundantly difficult if not impossible, abnormally in an online environment; We did not accept a live video augment of this teacher. The claiming will be with Accessible English's expansion. If added speakers of Chinese, for example, activate to booty their classes, the explanations in Spanish will accept to abatement by the wayside.
Figure 6. A screen-shot of a live, online, accessible English chic at Akin 1.
CONCLUSION
Open English is a good, affordable way for Spanish and Portuguese speakers to learn or advance their English-language skills. The belvedere for acquisitions is robust, stable, and founded on acceptable attempt in online adopted accent teaching and learning. The agents are excellent, and the agreeable of the acquaintance are able-bodied crafted and expertly delivered. My two capital quibbles are these: first, scripted audio files are overused. To accomplish the conversations a bit added authentic, it would be bigger to accept videos of speakers.
Likewise, it would be acceptable to accept video feeds of the agents in the online classes. Alert is, after all, about never in a beheld void, unless one is alert to the radio or talking on the telephone. The axle abutment offered by visuals could be bigger represented in Accessible English. Second, afterwards an assemblage lesson, learners can optionally abide by an autograph sample, and they do get acknowledgment on that autograph sample from a live teacher. But accepting acknowledgment and not applying it (to revise) may be no bigger than not accepting any acknowledgment at all (Hartshorn, Evans, Merrill, Sudweeks, Strong-Krause, & Anderson, 2010; Sachs & Polio, 2007).Conceivably in consecutive versions of Accessible English, the learners will be able to alter and resubmit their autograph for addition annular of feedback. Such an advantage may necessitate an added subscriber fee because animal activity is acceptable one of the above costs of active the program. But, it can be accounted for in the continued run.
In sum, I awful acclaim Accessible English for speakers of Spanish and Portuguese who appetite to apprentice English online. It is a cost-effective and well-designed program. Accessible English may additionally be an acceptable advantage for businesses that appetite to action English-language classes (ie, abode English classes) to their employees, abnormally aback the workers are built-in speakers of Spanish. In Accessible English, such learners will account from abutment through the program's Spanish-language interface and through the teachers' Spanish-language axle in class.But for speakers of added built-in languages (ie, Chinese, German, Russian), I would advance with caution, as the accepted agents and the interface are still slanted against instructing built-in speakers of Spanish and Portuguese. But with time,