This forenoon a novel online vocabulary tool popped upwards on my Twitter feed that claimed to create vocabulary activities from authentic texts inwards minutes. Of course, I couldn’t resist, hence I went to depository fiscal establishment check it out.
Word Booster is a website that allows yous to input the URL of an online text, such equally a tidings article, it as well as hence extracts a listing of words a learner is “likely to facial expression upwards inwards the dictionary”. From this, it generates a wordlist that includes lexicon definitions as well as follows upwards alongside a quiz based on these words, definitions as well as instance sentences. It is incredibly slow to piece of occupation as well as creates a reformatted version of the text, the wordlist alongside definitions as well as the quiz equally iii pdfs inwards merely a pair of minutes. The results are nicely presented and, I was pleased to see, give appropriate acknowledgements for both the text as well as the source of the lexicon definitions. The reformatted version of the text, which you’d impress out as well as give to students, gives non merely the details of the source, author, etc. at the travel yesteryear of the page, but it also has a QR code which students tin scan to accept them direct to the original– a overnice touch.
You tin in all likelihood feel there’s a ‘but’ coming though … I was right away wary for several cardinal reasons:
1 Selecting the vocabulary that’s most useful for students to facial expression upwards as well as and hence exercise from a text isn’t a unproblematic task. Do yous merely desire to pick out the potentially ‘unknown’ words which volition assist them to procedure the text for comprehension? In which case, the definitions powerfulness travel useful, but these powerfulness non travel peculiarly useful words to focus on as well as practise. Do yous desire to pick out higher-frequency words which powerfulness travel to a greater extent than useful to learn? In which case, yous demand to know something almost the learner (their level, context, etc.) inwards social club to brand those choices.
2 To my knowledge, no one’s yet come upwards up alongside a reliable computational method of distinguishing the right feel of words inwards context.
3 Activities based purely on lexicon definitions are, at best, real express as well as at worst, downright unhelpful, peculiarly without whatsoever human editing.
Because the link to the site came via a pair of respected sources, I was hopeful that this tool powerfulness receive got establish a agency of getting circular these problems. I tried it out alongside a tidings article from the Guardian than I used inwards a verbalize I gave before this yr almost choosing which vocabulary inwards a text to focus on. Because it was an article I’d already worked with, I had an take in which vocabulary I powerfulness await to crop up.
Text length: Because yous come inwards the URL of the text, the tool automatically uses the whole text. In an ELT class, yous oftentimes desire to shorten a text to acquire far fit to a greater extent than easily into a lesson as well as because the results are produced equally pdfs, they’re non easily edited. Not ideal, but something I could alive with.
Word selection: This was decidedly odd. The listing generated for this text was equally below, EVP CEFR levels shown inwards brackets where relevant.
weather (A1), autumn (A2), freezing (B1), shocking (B1), scary (B1), flood (B1), sunlight (B2), alarming (C1), continual (C1), retreat (C2), unprecedented (C2), vicious (C2), Danish, peak, anomaly, magnitude, moisture, perpetuate, polar, hiccup
Even if yous receive got niggles alongside the EVP classifications, I intend this is clearly a slightly foreign spread of vocabulary. For students tackling an authentic text of this kind, I would state the outset 6-8 words would travel unlikely look-ups as well as the outset handful would in all likelihood travel unhelpful fifty-fifty equally revision.
Sense identification: I was unsurprised to uncovering the tool didn’t ever deal to assign the right lexicon feel to words inwards context. The website acknowledges that it powerfulness sometimes acquire this wrong, but for this text the mistake charge per unit of measurement was five words out of 20, that’s 25% of the words wrongly assigned. That seems quite high to me as well as is non solely potentially pretty misleading for a learner, but awkward for the instructor who finds themselves inwards bird trying to explicate the mismatches. The clear errors hither were:
vicious: this appears inwards the text inwards the idiom ‘a vicious circle’, but sees the private describing word defined equally ‘deliberately roughshod as well as violent’
retreat: the text talks almost retreating polar ice, but the definition is specifically almost armies. The to a greater extent than general, commonly 2nd feel almost something ‘moving back’ would receive got fitted here.
flood: again, the definition picked hither is the first, most frequent feel involving water, but the text is truly talking almost warm air moving inwards suddenly, a slightly different sense.
weather: this is perchance the biggest gaffe equally it fails to fifty-fifty position the right business office of speech. It gives a verb definition for what’s truly a unproblematic substantive inwards the text. (The software is confused yesteryear the fact that it follows ‘to’: “Ice is real sensitive to weather.”)
hiccup: ane time more, nosotros acquire the most literal definition hither when the text is using the give-and-take inwards a metaphorical sense, to hateful ‘a fry problem’
Dictionary choice: Even setting those issues aside, my truly large os of tilt comes alongside the alternative of dictionary. The definitions used yesteryear Word Booster come upwards from Oxford Dictionaries, a reputable source yes, but alongside definitions taken from ane of their native speaker dictionaries, non a learner’s lexicon **big sigh, shoulders sag** I’m non going to acquire through the reasons for using learner’s dictionaries inwards ELT again, but let’s merely facial expression at ane definition from this text for ‘moisture’:
NS def used yesteryear Word Booster: water or other liquid diffused inwards a little quantity equally vapour, inside a solid, or condensed on a surface
NS def used yesteryear Word Booster: water or other liquid diffused inwards a little quantity equally vapour, inside a solid, or condensed on a surface
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: very little drops of H2O that are introduce inwards the air, on a surface or inwards a substance
Not solely does this brand many of the definitions incredibly unhelpful for the average learner (because many comprise words that are far higher upwards the bird of the give-and-take existence defined), but it makes many of the items inwards the follow-up quiz completely incomprehensible.
[STOP PRESS: It looks similar if yous register alongside Word Booster as well as download the Chrome extension, it may travel possible to pick out betwixt the OED as well as the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which would potentially solve this particular number - although the alternative for certain isn't obvious at outset sight. When I've had a adventure to investigate further, I'll study dorsum alongside unopen to other update ...]
[STOP PRESS: It looks similar if yous register alongside Word Booster as well as download the Chrome extension, it may travel possible to pick out betwixt the OED as well as the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which would potentially solve this particular number - although the alternative for certain isn't obvious at outset sight. When I've had a adventure to investigate further, I'll study dorsum alongside unopen to other update ...]
Quiz: I could acquire on to critique the quiz format, but to travel honest, there’s no point. Starting off alongside inappropriate definitions as well as instance sentences aimed at native speakers rather than learners, the confusion merely gets compounded. Then add together to that a multiple-choice action alongside randomly chosen definitions equally distractors as well as I tin no longer fifty-fifty deport to look.
If …: I was truly hoping that this was going to travel an exciting novel tool, as well as I intend the intention is good, but it merely falls at also many cardinal hurdles. I intend it could maybe piece of occupation if:
- it used a learner’s lexicon equally its source
- it allowed unopen to intervention from the instructor at the bird of give-and-take selection (it could maybe advise a wordlist that the instructor could as well as hence edit)
- it allowed instructor intervention ane time to a greater extent than to depository fiscal establishment check the feel selections
- it allowed teachers to edit the quiz
Of course, all that would acquire far much less of an instant tool providing a quickie, ready-made lesson. But alongside the tool doing a lot of the legwork as well as the instructor merely needing to intervene where necessary to tidy things up, I intend it would yet travel useful as well as it would for certain create much to a greater extent than credible results.
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