There are many educational tools for English Language
Learners (ELL). The tools focus on reading, writing, and articulation. The iPad
offers many of these tools to assist students improve their ability to learn English
in a non-threatening manner.Furthermore, for easy of use the iPad App Store offers a separate section
dedicated specifically to this area with categories for reading, vocabulary and
grammar, speaking and listening, and dictionaries. Some of these apps are
useful to all emergent learners. For example, one of the apps for reading is
Bob Books. This app is great for all children learning to reading.The voice memo function is another great way to get students to hear something and then record themselves to hear how they sound speaking English.
However, I really like the dictionary apps. Of course these apps rely on the students ability to speak well in their native language. They offer a more compact way of looking up and translating sayings. I remember learning Spanish and having to carry around a large “pocket” dictionary I had to use to translate single words from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Honestly, I have no clue whose pockets those fit into and their ridiculously small writing was frustrating. These apps offer so much more. I downloaded iTranslate for free. You can type in a phrase in one language and it will produce the translation and it will also speak the translation. I had fun playing around with it while visiting my mother-in-law. My wife and her mother both moved to the United States over 25 years ago from Poland. My mother-in-law does still speak Polish to her relatives and it was fun to use this app to say some things in Polish. My wife learned through immersion in the language. She was thrown to the wolves and expected to learn the language with no support. It was quite traumatizing and difficult for her. She was able to overcome this obstacle but would have benefited greatly from additional support like an app that could translate for her. She was given the strategy to look up unknown words in the dictionary only to be frustrated by words in the definition she did no know. An app like iTranslate would have been very useful for her to ease into learning English, rather than the sink or swim mentality she experienced. Furthermore, while it is useful to hear the phrase spoken I do question the ability of these apps to translate different dialects into English.
Again with all apps and all learners it is best to know your students specific needs and strengths and go from there to choose an app. The same app may not work for 2 different students working on the same skill. You are the best judge of apps and should be deciding which apps work best for the outcome you are looking for.
However, I really like the dictionary apps. Of course these apps rely on the students ability to speak well in their native language. They offer a more compact way of looking up and translating sayings. I remember learning Spanish and having to carry around a large “pocket” dictionary I had to use to translate single words from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Honestly, I have no clue whose pockets those fit into and their ridiculously small writing was frustrating. These apps offer so much more. I downloaded iTranslate for free. You can type in a phrase in one language and it will produce the translation and it will also speak the translation. I had fun playing around with it while visiting my mother-in-law. My wife and her mother both moved to the United States over 25 years ago from Poland. My mother-in-law does still speak Polish to her relatives and it was fun to use this app to say some things in Polish. My wife learned through immersion in the language. She was thrown to the wolves and expected to learn the language with no support. It was quite traumatizing and difficult for her. She was able to overcome this obstacle but would have benefited greatly from additional support like an app that could translate for her. She was given the strategy to look up unknown words in the dictionary only to be frustrated by words in the definition she did no know. An app like iTranslate would have been very useful for her to ease into learning English, rather than the sink or swim mentality she experienced. Furthermore, while it is useful to hear the phrase spoken I do question the ability of these apps to translate different dialects into English.
Again with all apps and all learners it is best to know your students specific needs and strengths and go from there to choose an app. The same app may not work for 2 different students working on the same skill. You are the best judge of apps and should be deciding which apps work best for the outcome you are looking for.
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