The ESL Loop

WEB SITES ON AMERICAN LANGUAGE, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL), AND ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL)

Analytical Webliography and Bibliography Prepared by

Sofiya Lochilova

Sofiya Lochilova is a Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Miras who served as a visiting scholar from Kazakhstan at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2003-04. She worked on research and pedagogical issues with faculty in the School of World Studies and the School of Education, and she prepared this analytical webliography and bibliography as a special project for this summer’s American Language and Culture Workshops hosted by the VCU School of World Studies.

1) The ESL Loop

www.linguistic-funland.com/esloop

ESLoop is a collection of sites relevant to English Language Teaching and Learning on the World-Wide Web. Each site is linked to the next, so that no matter where you start, you will eventually make your way around all the sites and end up back at the beginning.

The software allows a user to skip a site or to get a list of the next 5 sites in the loop. In addition, it makes it so that members will not have to change their code if a site goes down or changes addresses. A list of all sites in the ESLoop is available for viewing. Just pick a site, and on each page, look for the "ESLoop" links. These links will eventually take you around all sites in the 'Loop. Don't worry if a site is down: just click the "Back" button on your browser, and choose the "Skip" or "Next 5" link to go past the downed site.

ESLoop sites are all relevant to English language teaching and learning in some manner, from student projects and activities to scholarly papers to English for Science and Technology and job opportunities.

A list of all sites in the ESLoop is available for viewing.

Here are some of the most significant:

Site ID: 28
Title: The ESL Cyberschool URL: http://www.study.com/index01_02.html
Run by: David Winet
Description: Free online English language classes.

Site ID: 102
Title: NetLearn Languages URL: http://www.nll.co.uk/
Run by: NetLearn Languages
Description: With us you can study live via the Internet with experienced and qualified native-speaker teachers of English. You can hear, see, talk and write to your teacher, plus share files and pictures. We offer group and one-to-one lessons for G

Site ID: 142
Title: Study for the US citizenship test URL: http://www.uscitizenship.org/
Run by: Charles LaRue
Description: Our site will provide the online opportunity to study for the U.S. Citizenship test. Written and oral quizzes will provide the practice needed to pass the U.S. Citizenship test and we will have links to other citizenship related web pages.

Site ID: 105
Title: The Internet TESL Journal URL: http://iteslj.org/
Run by: ITESLJ
Description: A monthly web journal with lesson plans, articles, research papers. This is also a large database of links of interest to ESL teachers as well as Activities for ESL Students.

Site ID: 58
Title: Emile's WebEnglish URL: http://www.angelfire.com/az2/webenglish/
Run by: Emile Dodds
Description: A practical site with internet activities for EFL teachers

Site ID: 148
Title: English-Zone.Com URL: http://www.english-zone.com/
Run by: Kaye Mallory
Description: English-Zone.Com has something for everyone: Teachers, students and visitors interested in the English Language. You will find grammar, games, printable materials, jokes, idioms, and more.

Site ID: 25
Title: Sounds of English URL: http://www.soundsofenglish.org
Run by: S. Widmayer & H. Gray
Description: Sounds of English provides information about English pronunciation, a list of links to web sites for listening and pronunciation, activities and exercises, and links to Widmayer & Gray's conference presentations.

Site ID: 224
Title: The English Forum URL: http://greenspun.com/bboard/policy.tcl?topic=English
Run by: Randal Matheny
Description: The English Forum answers your questions about language, grammar, vocabulary, and usage. Several teachers provide various perspectives on your questions.

Site ID: 152
Title: ESL Resource Center URL: http://www.eslus.com/eslcenter.htm
Run by: Mark Feder
Description: ESL (English as a Second Language) resources for international students including free language lessons and links to other useful sites.

Site ID: 92
Title: Internet/Computer Writing Resources for a Content- URL: http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/tesol98/home.html
Run by: Michael Krauss
Description: An extensive site for those wanting to utilize computer resources in content-based teaching. Focus on writing-based resources.

Site ID: 97
Title: Brenda Townsend Hall's World of Words URL: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/3621/
Run by: Brenda Townsend Hall
Description: Site dedicated mainly to discussions and materials for English language teachers, including business English trainers, and exercises for students.

Site ID: 22
Title: The English Language Institute's Technology Tip of URL: http://www.orst.edu/Dept/eli/techtip.html
Run by: Deborah Healey
Description: The Tech Tip of the Month from the ELI at Oregon State University offers practical advice and lesson plans for English language teachers using technology in their classrooms.

Site ID: 16
Title: TOPICS Online Magazine URL: http://www.topics-mag.com
Run by: Sandy and Thomas Peters
Description: TOPICS is an ezine (i.e., on-line magazine) where learners of English can publish their writing. It includes a section where teachers present student projects.

Site ID: 40
Title: John's ESL Resources URL: http://www.johnsesl.com
Run by: John Erskin
Description: Resources for both students and teachers of ESL/EFL. Site has many on-line study aids including grammar tips, quizzes, and games. Teachers will find many lessons and classroom activities which can be used freely.

Site ID: 80
Title: ESL Independent Study Lab URL: http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/toppicks/toppicks.html
Run by: Michael Krauss
Description: Over 150 high quality internet resources for ESL/EFL self-study. Sites graded by skill area and difficulty. Students can submit writing for posting at the Lab

Site ID: 55
Title: The ESL Center URL: http://members.aol.com/eslkathy/esl.htm
Run by: Kathy Chareonsup
Description: Links to English lessons, TOEFL, dictionaries, newspapers, schools; travel resources, links for living in the U.S.(government, measurements, phone books), links on "How to" do almost anything; links to Ann Arbor, Detroit and all Michigan.

Site ID: 143
Title: Martin's ESL Warehouse URL: http://surf.to/tesl
Run by:
Description: TESL Internet-based activities, links, and more!

Site ID: 12
Title: Linda Thalman: Volterre-Fr URL: http://www.wfi.fr/volterre/
Run by: Linda Thalman
Description: Resources for learning and teaching English and French as a foreign language. Edited by Linda Thalman since 1995.

Site ID: 176
Title: English on the run URL: http://www.geocities.com/gob72/englishontherun.html
Run by: Gabriel Obando
Description: This is a web page intended to serve as a tool for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. Here you will find explanations about using the net, links and exercises. Tips about grammar, writing, and reading.

Site ID: 177
Title: Free materials to learn/teach English URL: http://www.ToLearnEnglish.com
Run by: Laurent Camus
Description: Courses, documents, games, exercises, tests, interactive pages, plays, fonts, clip art, photos, jokes, cartoons, chat rooms, forums, e-mail accounts, search engines, international TVs and radios, polls, selections of books, selections of listening samples.

Site ID: 206
Title: English and Science for Students and Teachers URL: http://www.multimania.com/davidrees
Run by: David Rees
Description: English and Science for Students and Teachers provides language and science resources as well as databases for students and teachers of science, as well as many additional \'goodies\' and downloads.

Site ID: 215
Title: ESL Games and Quiz Corner URL: http://www.teflgames.com/games.html
Run by: Matt Errey
Description: Free ESL classroom games and quizzes with over 800 printable questions arranged into graded sets. Many other related materials also available.

Site ID: 257
Title: One Green Leaf URL: http://homepage.mac.com/deibuyagi/renata/pages/home.html
Run by: David Greenhalgh
Description: This site offers environmentally themed English teaching songs aimed at children up to the age of 10.

Site ID: 258
Title: The EFL Playhouse URL: http://www.esl4kids.net/
Run by: Julie Vickery
Description: A world of ESL and EFL resources for teachers of young learners including educational games, songs, finger plays, chants, craft ideas, and teaching tips. Includes activities suitable for preschool, kindergarten and early elementary.

Site ID: 299
Title: English Specialist URL: http://english.specialist.hu
Run by: English Specialist
Description: A site for students and teachers of English as a second language, with exercises, worksheets, texts, topics, grammar, distance learning, fiction, jokes, games, useful links and resources.

Site ID: 310
Title: Teacher Muriel EFL Site URL: http://home.scarlet.be/~muriraes
Run by: Muriel Raes
Description: EFL site offering exercises (immediate feedback), background information on English speaking countries, links, seasonal activities for lower to upper intermediate (adult) students. Includes an online dictionary.

Site ID: 314
Title: Lauri's ESL Website URL: http://fog.ccsf.edu/~lfried/
Run by: Lauri Fried-Lee
Description: An ESL site for different levels, includes original stories, listening activities, grammar activities, student writing, and links to ESL websites. Some of the activities are in Flash.

2) Dave’s ESL Café

www.eslcafe.com/index

This site offers information and many links to other sites for everyone interested in ESL/EFL.

For students: a chat room, a graffiti wall, a message exchange board, slang, idioms, quizzes, and much more, including a Help Center (where ESL/EFL Teacher quickly posts an answer onto the page to any question in Grammar, Writing, TOEFL, Vocabulary, Idioms or Slang)

For teachers: chat room, idea pages (Idea Cookbook) which present interesting ideas in Business English, Discipline, Group formation, Internet, Ice-breakers, Grammar, Listening, Writing, Reading, Speaking.

3) WWW.english-zone.com

This site has something for everyone: teachers, students, visitors interested in English Language. You will find grammar, games, printable materials, jokes, idioms, and more.

GRAMMAR
Adjectives and Adverbs, Articles, Comparatives, Clauses, Conditionals, Confusing Words, Nouns, Numbers, Prepositions and Conjunctions, Pronouns, Questions

VERBS
BE verb, Irregular Verbs, Modals & Auxiliaries, Gerunds & Infinitives, Passive Voice, Phrasal Verbs, Verb Tenses, Subject-Verb Agreement, Preposition Combinations

SPELLING
Adding Word Endings, Contractions, Punctuation, and Capitalization, Comparatives & Superlatives, Spelling Practice

VOCABULARY
Easy, Intermediate +, Advanced, Printable Lists, Games

DICTIONARIES
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, Preposition Combinations,

READING
Dolch Basic Word List, Aesop's Fables, The Monkey's Paw, and MORE!

STUDY SKILLS
Reading Tips, Note-Taking, Symbols, and MORE!

BASIC SKILLS
Time and Money, The Calendar, Reading Skills , and MORE!

WRITING
Parts of a Story, Paragraph Writing, and MORE!

CONVERSATION / PRONUNCIATION
The Evil Landlady Conversation Maze, Final S Pronunciation, and MORE!

IDIOMS
Idioms Dictionary, Baseball Idioms, Food Idioms, and MORE!

LINKS
Grammar Links, Add-Your-Link, Lesson Plans, and MORE!

TEACHERS
Printable Worksheets, In-Class Games and Activities, Oral Drills, Teacher's Forms and Rubrics, Software and Product Reviews, Language Fun, Holidays, Visitor Contributions

FUN STUFF
Activities, Games, Win a Million Bananas!, Easy-to-Understand Jokes, Funny Pictures, Send a Postcard!

BOOK STORE
Pronunciation Power!, Grammar Books, Harry Potter, CliffsNotes, Books for Teachers

COMMUNICATE
Chat Room, Message Board, Guest Book, Email the Teacher

OTHER
What's New?, Meet Your Teacher, F.A.Q., Awards, Study English By-The-Book
SCE Students' Page

4) http://a4esl.org/

This site is for all levels of ESL students to practice grammar skills from the bottom up. It includes hundreds of grammar and vocabulary quizzes as well as crossword puzzles at levels of difficulty varying from easy, to medium, to highly difficult.

Quizzes are presented in up to six different levels, and the options are from different parts of sentences. They focus on structure, word choice, and word order. The quizzes are interactive, so that students can take them right on the computer, or back on the home page where there is a printable version available. Some sections of the vocabulary quizzes provide pictures. The sentence structures are simple, with limited, logical choices provided for fill- in-the-blank or multiple-choice answers. The activities are designed to build learners’ confidence in English grammar, vocabulary, and reading skills, and they are presented in an easy-to-follow and easy-to-manipulate format.

There is also a section for teachers where they can read journal articles, write a quiz, or find more information on other web sites.

5) http://www.ManyThings.org

This site provides a large selection of timed puzzles, games, quizzes and exercises which challenge ESL students to speed up their word recognition, reading, vocabulary and processing skills. They are presented in a variety of formats, including the hangman game, word searches, scrambled words and sentences, slider puzzles, and flash cards.

The site also includes a large section of photographs of many signs one might encounter while shopping, traveling, driving, or in other areas of everyday life.

On the other pages you can find exercises introducing 280 slang expressions and 230 proverbs.

There is also a section which provides practice in word discrimination in pronunciation.

6) http://www.eslgo.com

This is a free site for ESL students and ESL teachers.

Students get help learning English on-line through free ESL classes and practice message boards. ESL class helps Students with their grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, or listening, and prepares them for one of the ESL discussion forums, where they can communicate with other English speakers. English practice forums: while the guided practice provided by the classes is helpful, the most important thing is to communicate using English.

Teachers can find free classroom resources for teaching ESL speaking activities, Business English handouts, lesson plans. They can try or adapt any of these activities. Check out the ESL quizzes and ESL forums. These can be assigned to students as homework, especially if something done in class relates to content of the ESL quiz/forum you have chosen to use. It is possible to use a free ESL class as the basis of a lesson.

Eslgo.com is presented in association with Amazon.com and has links with other ESL web sites (weblog, ESL blog, Resume writing, Grade book, etc.) .

7) www.voanews.com

This is the special English site for Voice of America, where one can find news, stories, reports in clear English which is easy to follow and understand.

Under English teaching resources there are activities for younger learners; a pronunciation guide; a wordmaster (all about American English); all sorts of interactive fun developed by ESL teaching experts (games with words); talking dictionaries; reading exercises (each reading exercise contains the text of a recent report, followed by five questions. The correct answers are also put at learners’ disposal.).

English Teaching Forum Online is full of exciting teaching ideas, information about topics like the blues; it offers a wide range of subjects, and adapts textbook activities, instructional writing tools, and programmatics.

8) www.billpetro.com/HolidayHistory/default.htm

This is the site of brief histories of diverse holidays. It presents articles written and collected by a historian (Bill Petro). One can choose to receive the articles before each holiday via e-mail (by joining the mailing list). It is a free service.

9) www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/festivals_menu.html

The site “Holidays and Festivals around the world” gives some historical information about holidays/festivals and short descriptions of their celebrations in different countries (16).

To find the holiday/festival you are interested in you can choose among three options:

Select a holiday/festival

Select a country

Select a month

The site has links to the other internet resources concerning celebrations.