Purchasing ESL Learning Software

Hello Folks,

A University here in Taiwan and it’s newly formed Language Center wants to purchase some ESL software so that it can set up a self-directed learning environment for it’s students.

The whole program -and there are loads of other initiatives- is being aimed at improving the level of English proficiancy for non-English-majors throughout the university.

Besides all of the TOFL and TOEIC and GEPT software out there (developed both inside and outside of Taiwan) I’m hoping folks can recommend some good ESL learning software that might be available.

It can be stand-alone software like: Rosetta Stone (although thats very basic)

rosettastone.com/en/?a=b

Or it can be subscription based software whereby the school will purchase licences for use by the students. An example of this might be something like ‘Criterion’ whereby students submit essays which are then critiqued and corrected by an AI program and then sent back to the student.

etsln28.ets.org/cwe/

The center is looking for software that can help students with:

Grammar
Writing
Pronunciation
Listening
Reading Comprehension

The budget is not so much of an issue. There are tens of thousands of NT available. Specific funds have been allocated for this program so any money being spent is not taking away from other initiatives (i.e. hiring tutors for students etc…)

Any recommendation would be really swell.

Thanks in advance,

Sedition

Nobody has any ideas…?

Bueller …anyone?

probably your largest problem will be apathy on the part of students - “self-directed” learning is very difficult to achieve here, from my experience and those i’ve spoken with who are involved in higher education.

if it’s not “required”, it may not matter what you install …

[quote=“sedition”]Nobody has any ideas…?

Bueller …anyone?[/quote]

esl-pro.com/store.aspx

That has lots of programs that should help…

According to some in the EFL field, there is no effective language learning software, and furthermore, using software or computer resources would typically lead to a greater divide between students and teachers. However, it’s generally argued that “educational” material such as an educational TV show or an educational software package serves its purpose. If students really want to pursue EFL learning that really works, build a nice (large) library of books for their extensive reading purposes and teach them how to read for fluency.

That being said, there are a lot of pages of links to EFL (and ESL) software available. Try http://www.tesol.net/teslmat.html for one.