Modality of language learning which has emerged and develop with the evolution of new technologies in combination with the internet technologies. This form of language learning is based on online resources hosted in websites or web-based systems which allow the user, by interacting with them, to select, review and learn the contents they want at their own pace and guide them in the process. The main characteristics of these resources are: they are normally organized by language proficiency levels and skills within the hierarchical structure of the website or web-based system; learning contents and activities are based on texts, audios and videos on various subjects; depending on the website or system, users can record their tasks, get assessment or feedback, and track their learning progress.
Published in Chapter:
A Proposal of Evaluation Criteria for the Quality of ESL/EFL Websites for Autonomous Learning
Natividad Aguayo-Arrabal (Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain) and Cristina de las Montañas Ramírez-Delgado (Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1219-7.ch007
Abstract
In the current digital era, autonomous learning outside formal education has become a significant context for languages. In view of the huge number of websites for the study of foreign languages and their popularity due to the advantages of autonomous online learning, the authors' main goal is to evaluate the technical quality of a free online resource for the self-study of English: ESOL courses. For this purpose, this chapter presents the design of the evaluation tool: a checklist through which aspects concerning functionality and usability have been analyzed as essential characteristics of the technical dimension of a website, based on an extensive literature review and the initial technical analysis within LinguApp. The results show that non-compliance with the evaluated items leads to a deficient experience for independent users, unable to exploit all possibilities of the website due to the technical limitations they may encounter.