A RANDOM WALK ALONG THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY Part I
A RANDOM WALK ALONG
THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
Part 1: Resourceful Sites Worth Looking Into
by
KENNETH J. DICKSON
ABSTRACT
This author has found, through various encounters, that many teachers often have difficulty navigating themselves around the Internet and getting productive results from it. The purpose of this series of three articles is to outline some of the potential that can be exploited by language teachers. This current offering, the first of three, will describe some of the better resources available to instructors, explore some specific ESL media, and finally encourage teachers to create their own online materials. It is intended to be written in the descriptive and fairly straightforward manner of a guidebook. Subsequent articles will look at specific sites online that may be of interest to language instructors, and the creation of a Web Pages that can be used in class. Given the nature of the Internet, especially its rapid development since inception and the increased rate of change, readers are warned that statistics, sites and information are liable to become outdated at Internet speed.
Introduction
“The Internet is an information resource that acts like I did when I was 13 years old: At times, it is forthcoming, amiable, and responsible; at other times, it can be rebellious, disorganized and unreliable” (Ballenger 59). This quotation illustrates the nature of the beast that most educators surfing the Internet for the first time have to contend with. Yet perhaps the most fundamental issue to newbies is: Is it really worth the frustration, time and expense?
And yet, if we are to judge from the Wall Street Journal statistics that in the United States alone, some 19 percent of households have a modem or fax/modem (Wall Street Journal, 477) and that by the year 2000 approximately 40 percent of American households will be online, the answer is clearly that the effort is worthwhile. Nor is the United States alone in this growth of online availability: Asia/Pacific Rim countries are projected to have 15 percent of the total number of online households worldwide in the same year (Wall Street Journal, 478). Even here in the Republic of China, the number of online users has soared toward the government’s target of three million households (Babb).
If we want to take part in this virtual revolution as language educators, we are going to have to face the challenge of not only staring down this beast, but also taming it to our own particular ends.
The purpose of this series of three articles is to outline some of the better resources available to language instructors, explore some specific TEFL/TESL media, and finally to encourage teachers to create their own online materials. In this first article, I propose merely to introduce the aspects of the Internet with potential for language educators, explain some of the issues relevant to understand the Internet, and, lastly, give the readers a map, a torch and send them off to prospect for Internet gold, much as the California gold miners did in the 1850s. One thing is certain: You will have a lot more fun than the miners did! But bear in mind that much of this article was researched using online information, as a way to bring home the point that the Internet has much to offer the user, whatever his or her interest. This article is organized in the following way: First, we will look at some general background issues to the Internet, and then we will take a detailed look at many of the excellent TESOL-related resources. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we will look at other sites and activities that the Internet can offer educators.
Background
There are many aspects to the Internet; however, the “net newbie” is really only concerned with three of the most commonly used aspects: electronic mail (e-mail), the World Wide Web, and Usenet. Nowadays, most computers operating with Windows 95 or Windows 98 and the latest Apple MacOs 8.0 + have the capability to handle everything mentioned in this article without further software. For the purposes of this article, it has also been assumed that readers are already familiar with the basics of these systems
Electronic Mail. Known largely by the simple term e-mail, this technology is a messaging system that allows individuals connected to the internet to send messages to other individuals. These messages, or e-mails, may then be read at their own convenience. “For many users, e-mail is their first real exposure to, and use of, networks” (Dern 131). E-mail has a number of functions beyond this: sending the same message to many recipients; sending text and picture files; subscribing to discussion lists (see TESL-L below); creating e-mail publications for limited readerships; and so on. Familiarity with e-mail is perhaps the best stepping stone to more successful use of the internet itself. Typical software required for this includes Microsoft’s Outlook 98 or Outlook Express, Netscape’s Navigator, or Qualcomm’s Eudora Lite.
The World Wide Web. Most usually recognized as the famous “triple W,” the WWW is the most recent and significant development on the Internet, being less than 10 years since the original web browsing system was first set up at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. In that single decade, the graphical nature of the Internet has become recognized as its primary feature. Its graphical nature, with hyperlinks and mouse clicks, has facilitated a virtual explosion. It has been estimated that there are now over 320 million WebPages around the world.
This statistic is obviously somewhat dated, too. However, the WWW has given rise to a number of new technologies that create quite a variety on the internet, including: multimedia capability; messaging boards; homepage design software; etc. As Tim Berners-Lee states: “World Wide Web is a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents. The project merges the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system” (Dern 323). In his wildest imagination, Berners-Lee could never have foreseen what his pet project would have become. Typical software for this includes Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 4.0+ and Netscape’s Navigator 4.5.
Usenet. “The Usenet is (the Internet’s) bulletin board, its supermarket tabloid, classified ads, cable TV, magazine rack, giant wall of Post-It notes, and collective unconscious” (Dern 195). With such vigorous words did Dern describe Usenet in 1995; only five years later the Usenet has grown in size and scope to over 20,000 groups (Nicolai). Usenet is a worldwide community of electronic noticeboards covering a wide variety of healthy and not so healthy interests where messages are posted and replied to by its readers. One unique aspect of Usenet is that messages are often threaded, i.e. they link together by a common theme, situation or point. Most Internest Service Providers, or ISPs, host some or all of the Usenet boards that are available. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Netscape’s Navigator typically come set up with this option available. You might need to read the manual. Other options include FreeAgent 1.0.
The Nature of the Net
In a useful article on the World Wide Web, Kenji & S. Kathleen Kitao described the seven characteristics of the WWW as having: massive amounts of information, interactivity, hyperlinks, multimedia, ease of use, ease of spreading information, and a decentralized structure (Kitao). It is worth looking at what each of these means for the new user and, specifically, the net newbie.
Massive Amounts of Information. As Kenji notes, there is indeed a significant amount of information on the WWW covering an unimaginably wide range of interests. Indeed, with the development of new uses and increasing access by individuals, we are likely to see significantly more information becoming available. However, for users, this presents a number of issues that have to be resolved, including finding this information, referencing it, accessing it again and assessing its value. There are also issues of copyright, reliability, accuracy and authenticity all of which must be addressed.
Interactivity. Interaction takes place in a variety of ways and at a variety of levels. Typical tasks demanding a degree of interaction include e-mails, forums, message boards, preference settings and content selection. The typical interaction takes place between the user and the software (as in content selection, preference settings, etc.), between the user and another user (as in forums and e-mails), and between the user and other people also accessing the same page. This high level of interactivity is becoming increasingly important on the web for personally, professionally and commercially driven activities.
Hyperlinks. Most sites include links or connections to other places on their pages; these are called hyperlinks or sometimes simply links. These take different forms, such as directories, text links, maps, direct addresses, and even keyword searches. Together they are linked somewhat like a spider’s web (hence the frequent use of this image), making it very easy to jump from one place to another, whether it is on the same website or on a different site halfway across the world. And yet this hyperlinked nature is both a source of strength, connecting topics and sites together enabling users to surf related sites with relative ease, and a weakness.
The hyperlinked nature of the web leads to several educationally related issues: first, that users may just get sidetracked so easily from what they would like to achieve; second, that, in getting sidetracked, it may be difficult to retrace your steps exactly; third, that most individual users become collectors of links, so that their homepage just adds more links of links together without creating new content; and fourth, “the cognitive architecture of the hypertext is imposed by the author …. The web may entangle us: As readers, we may be the fly, not the spider” (Murray).
Multimedia. The inclusion of sound, pictures, video, live audio, chat sites, conferencing, etc., on the WWW has created a new dynamic nature to the Internet that is both visually appealing and rather more useful for language educators than just straightforward text. Increasingly these days, with software becoming more simple and Internet access spreading, individuals are now able to create quite sophisticated homepages and presentations making full use of the multimedia capabilities most home computers now have. The downside of this is that if users are connected on slower dialup modems, accessing these facilities may be at best slow, and, at worst, quite frustrating to the eager and impatient.
Ease of Use. Kitao claims that the WWW has ease of use, as users are able to click to many pages, bookmark sites, and copy or print easily (Kitao). While all of this is indeed true, users, including educators, still find computers and the Internet quite daunting. “A survey of 507 educators by Sun Microsystems revealed that 93 percent believe using the Internet in the classroom is an excellent idea, but 53 percent gave themselves a C or D in Internet knowledge, and 19 percent gave themselves an F” (Murray).
But in practice, as this article demonstrates, both educators and students need to be introduced to the Internet and the WWW. This requires a significant commitment of time, energy and capital with little immediate benefit. Additionally, educators need to be convinced that ease of use translates into ease of learning among their students, in order for them to justify the extra, sometimes intensive, commitment of these resources by the educators and their representative establishments.
Ease of Spreading Information. We have already described the three main aspects of the Internet today: e-mail, the WWW and Usenet. Nowadays, with the increasing sophistication and easy to use browsers’ webauthoring software available (such as Netscape’s Composer, or Microsoft’s Frontpage 98), web pages and homepages have soared in use among all users of the Internet. This is undoubtedly the most favored method for distributing information today.
Decentralization. The decentralized nature of the internet has its origins in the foundation of the Internet itself. And it is perhaps this aspect of the Internet that the writer of the opening quotation was alluding to. There is “no central place to collect information” (Murray), no central authority, no ombudsman, no controller, no overseer. It is this aspect that gives it something of the air of California during the gold rush days of the 1850s. And perhaps it is this that gives the user the most cause for concern.
Some Cautions on Using the Net
Ballenger highlights three cautions that should be heeded by all users of the Internet, not just researchers (Ballenger 59). First, information on the Internet is disorganized; second, due to the decentralized structure of the Internet, it is frequently unreliable; and third, it is easy to waste a lot of time without getting any productive results.
Information is Disorganized. By virtue of the decentralized nature of the Internet, the Internet can appear very disorganized. This has a number of consequences for educators: It makes finding anything at best difficult and at worst impossible. Search engines have come some way to taming and organizing the Internet and making results available to us; however, substantial problems still exist in searching, including the sheer volume of pages available, the ever-changing nature of the Internet, inadequate search engine technology and language incompatibilities. Strategies exist to solve some of these problems. However, a realistic expectation is the user’s best friend.
Information is Unreliable. Ballenger highlights some of the problems: “How reliable is the information I find there? Will it still be there tomorrow? And how can I establish the authority of Internet sources, especially since so much information is available anonymously?” (Ballenger 60) In addition, information is often incomplete or unavailable online. Many journals only offer print editions, many magazines and newspapers only offer print subscriptions or partial online content. And much of the other content is little more than vanity publishing. True, it creates a lively fun atmosphere, but a pinch of salt is also a necessary ingredient.
James Stellar, dean of the college of arts and sciences at Northeastern University, like most college officials and professors nationwide, quoted in the Boston Daily Globe, said the lack of editing or peer review of World Wide Web sites (processes that books and magazine articles typically undergo before publication) does not prevent him from encouraging students to use the Internet. A number of academics point out that many traditional texts and periodicals likewise contain errors or are noticeably biased, and it is therefore the job of teachers to help their students assess and gather good information regardless of its source (Pertman 1).
Frustrations and Distractions. Inexperienced users, and even experienced ones, have come across the many different kinds of internet frustrations and distractions that crop up regularly. These can be classified into different groups:
a.) straightforward crashes of local computers, servers or connections.
b.) moved, deleted or unavailable resources.
c.) net congestion and busy signals.
d.) the linked nature of the net often leads users far from their goal.
Each of these is a possibility every time the Internet is accessed and will decrease the productive use of the equipment, time and effort of the user. In addition to these, another significant aspect not so far discussed is the issue of how users behave in the virtual world.
Responsibility and Netiquette. The Internet, like other aspects of human civilization, has also developed rules governing the behavior and interaction of participants. As previously noted, the absence of a single authority on the Internet makes these matters complex and, at times, somewhat arbitrary. However, such appropriate use is determined by the organizer or owner of the equipment/system, etc. It is wise to become familiar with any rules that exist, and follow them. Typically, your ISP will issue you with specific rules for acceptable use; any communities or lists that you take part in will also set out guidelines and policies that should be observed.
In addition to these three concerns, there are also issues of internet security, identity, viruses, scams, authenticity and copyright, to mention just a few. Naturally, the more experienced a user becomes, the more astute he or she will be in dealing with some of the seedier aspects of the Internet. However, I will end with just one tip for the intrepid instructor venturing online for the first time: Never reveal your passwords, or indeed any sensitive information, to anyone under any circumstances.
Destinations
We have reached the point where we can confidently look into some of the more useful destinations on the information superhighway. Users should be aware that these sites represent only a highly select and somewhat subjective choice of what is available. (For more information and suggestions, check Appendix B). Your own mileage may vary considerably from what has been found in the making of this article.
Mailing Lists
These mailing lists are a popular discussion format for a great variety of subjects. They are usually hosted by individuals and can run to many thousands of subscribers. Mail is sent to a central location for subsequent checking and distribution to “list members.” There are a wide variety of lists for language educators on the net. However the largest, and arguably the most successful, is TESL-L. Others include ELTASIA-L at <majordomo@nucleus.nectec.or.th> or FLTeach at < listserv @subvm.cc.buffalo.edu>. They all work in a similar way to TESL-L.
TESL-L and Branches. Perhaps one of the best known and earliest TESOL forums on the Internet, the TESL Teachers List (TESL-L) is actually an e-mail mailing list that subscribers can join. Currently there are about 23,000 members worldwide. Subscribers receive daily e-mail messages on an endless variety of classroom topics and, if they wish, may post both questions, discussions and information considered relevant. This list is moderated so you do not receive “junk mailings.” There are even seven sub-lists that you may also join which cater for special interest sections, such as children (TESLK-12) or job information (TESLJB-L), or TESLCA-L for computer uses in EFL/ESL education. In addition to the regular postings, each list maintains extensive searchable archives of past postings, articles, conference notes, etc. In order to join this list, you must mail the command info TESL-L in the body of the e-mail to <listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu>. After a few minutes, you will receive a welcome response from the program running the list, with more information. Read the welcome response carefully. To post, follow the guidelines carefully or your posting will not be distributed.
NETEACH-L. The owners of NETEACH-L choose to describe their list as “an on-line forum through which international EFL/ESL teachers can discuss issues related to using technology as an educational tool. This list was created for the purpose of not only sharing success stories and activity ideas, but also helping computer-phobic teachers overcome their fears in order to use the technology to their students’ (and their own) full advantage” (Moody). Since it’s introduction in July, 1995, it has, as of August, 1998, grown to approximately 1,500 members. Sperling rates this resource as highly recommended! (Sperling 32) To join this list, you may go to the link at http://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/english/neteach/main.html and follow the instructions.
Other Lists. There are literally thousands of lists available on an amazing variety of topics. To find other lists, select one of these three sites and search for key word terms:
Online Journals
For more coherent and detailed information, there are also a number of ESL/EFL journals and magazines published on the web. The three that are most relevant to ESL teachers would include: 1.) The Internet TESL Journal; 2.) The Language Teacher Online; and 3.) TESL Electronic Journal. All are updated regularly and provide an archive of past issues to search and read.
TESL Electronic Journal. This publication, TESL-EJ, is perhaps the oldest of the EFL/ESL journals available online, with its first publication coming out in the spring of 1994. It is published quarterly and all articles are refereed. Also available are book or media reviews and conference information. They maintain an extensive archive of articles going back to the first issue.
Contact: http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ
Language Teacher Online. This magazine is an offering of the Japan Association of Language Teachers’ online publications. They also have book reviews, articles, conference information and so on. This magazine has extensive online archives for all of its issues except the last six months for which they just publish selected items. JALT writes in its blurb: “(Our) publications and events serve as vehicles for the exchange of new ideas and techniques, and a means of keeping abreast of new developments in a rapidly changing field.”
Contact: http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/
The Internet TESL Journal. This site has been available on the Internet since November, 1995. Since then, it has published quite extensive articles, lessons, lesson plans, research papers, as well as regular projects and access to links. There are also classroom handouts on a variety of topics and plenty of inspiration for the busy teacher with their teaching ideas. Undoubtedly, it owes its success to its core values of simplicity of design, fast downloading, and focused nature.
Contact: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/
Other Resources
Because of the extensive range of other resources that could potentially be listed here, the categories have been divided into international and local sites. Additionally, all sites mentioned have been rated as among the best on offer. Also, all of these sites contain content and links that will take the web user to many other destinations.
International Sites
These are located internationally, have content that is internationally oriented and are well-visited by TESL professionals from around the world.
Dave’s ESL Cafe. One of the premier TESOL destinations on the web for both teachers and students, Dave’s ESL Cafe was conceived of as “a cozy place for people to hang out, talk, learn, and share information” (Oliver). However, the site now offers a wide variety of interactive services that may prove useful to educators, including the ESL Graffiti Wall, Idiom Page, Question Page, Messages and Discussion Centers, and links. The webmaster of the site is Dave Sperling and he has currently authored a book called The Internet Guide for English Language Teachers. As Oliver writes: “… the most important factors contributing to the continuing success of Dave’s ESL Cafe on the Web are its user-friendliness, its steady updating and addition of new components, its inclusion of high-interest areas for both students and teachers, and its emphasis on participatory elements” (Oliver).
Contact: http://www.eslcafe.com
Linguistic Funland. This website started off as a simple, personal collection of language related links and has grown into one of the best known sites on the web. The webmaster, Kristina Pfaff-Harris, notes that her goal is to enable instructors to “look at resources for use in class, study programs for yourself and for ESL students, job opportunities, and projects created by students.”
Contact: http://www.linguistic-funland.com
TESOL Journal Link Page. A page at the TESL Journal web site is devoted to maintaining one of the best sources of TESOL links on the Internet. This site is well-organized, well-maintained and quite reliable. If you are looking for a particular site or just browsing, this is one excellent guide post that can provide excellent directions.
Contact: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Links/Links.html
ESL Loop. One of the more unusual features of the internet, the ESL Loop is a ring of TESOL websites that are arranged in a kind of loop. The address provided below will take you to a description of the ESL Loop and to the master list of, currently, 113 sites. Often, though, you will see the ESL Loop link at the bottom of other popular websites; this will lead you into yet another TESOL related site.
Contact: http://www.linguistic-funland.com/esloop/esloop.html
Local and Locally-Related Resources
These sites have been chosen for there local interest and content. They are all organized and run by professionals with strong links to both China and Taiwan. In addition, these sites have demonstrated both a period of establishment and strong potential for development.
The Far East EFL Teachers Co-op. This site is fairly new to the Internet. It was begun by Geoff Lasley in 1998, with the envisioned objective of becoming not so much a source of information on general ESL/EFL theory and practice, but rather “a repository of accumulated experience and knowledge of how theory is applied to the teaching circumstances in which we here in the Far East find ourselves” (Lasley).
Contact: http://w2.occc.edu.tw/~lasley/
TEFL-China Teahouse. This site is run by Ben Lee and Roger Chrisman in the People’s Republic of China. What started out as a simple mailing list has now developed into a full website with a uniquely PRC flavor. Its welcome page identifies it as “a professional networking and discussion forum for English language teaching professionals in China, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao” (Chrisman and Lee). This site also contains numerous tips from educators with experience in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Contact: http://www.yale.edu/yalechin/tea/
Taiwan Teacher. Established by Doug Gilbert in Taiwan, this site has been around for quite some time. It has an increasing variety of information and interactivity, which makes this site worth coming back to. It has sections called Grammatics, EFL Ideas and an active EFL Forum for discussions.
Contact: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1979/index.html
Search Engines: Sites
One of the most problematic areas for everyone, and especially newbies on the Internet, is finding relevant information on the Internet. So search sites play a very important role. These sites catalogue millions of pages of information and provide a search system where you can enter keywords and find information that might suit what you are looking for.
Yahoo! The best known at the moment is Yahoo! which is actually a list of sites organized in a tree directory. These sites are all chosen or submitted by real people, too. Its clear organization makes it easier to jump around; however, links often become outdated and still remain on Yahoo!
Contact: http://www.yahoo.com
HotBot This is an automatic site that searches and produces results by the bucket load. It has easy to configure options on its first page, including media type, language options and phrase options. Just point and click to fine tune your search.
Contact: http://www.hotbot.com
Other search sites worth considering. There are a number of worthwhile, but less popular, search engines available for use. Chief among these are:
Of course, this list is far from exhaustive. You can find numerous other search engines simply by entering the following rather long “url” on your browser for Yahoo!’s own list of other search engines:
Search Engines: Using Them
Search engines are designed to facilitate the retrieval of information from the tangled mess that the Internet is. They are not without their own frustrations. So for beginners, the following seven rules represent sensible advice:
1.) Enter special or unusual words that are relevant to what you want.
2.) You do not need to search every result that a site will give you. Sometimes it will be in the thousands!
3.) Learn how to do advanced searches. Most sites will show you how to do that in their help pages.
4.) Try other sites for what you want, if you still do not have success.
5.) In general, the more specific the information you are looking for, the more specific the answers you get will be.
6.) Try to use a search engine specific to the nature of inquiry.
7.) Don’t give up if you cant find anything useful. Keep trying!
Bookmarking. It is worth noting that you can bookmark all of these sites and others on your browser using the add to favorites menu option. Then you will not need to remember or write down these complex addresses. You can simply call up your favorites list and find the one you want.
Conclusion
A study published last month by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles showed that 83 percent of college freshmen use the Internet as a research and educational tool. It was the first national poll of its kind, and the results surprised even its authors (Pertman 1). Clearly our students are now challenging the EFL/ESL profession to come to terms with the technology that they are themselves so familiar with. This article has contained many kinds of resources and websites on the Internet, professional links, general links, search engines, e-mail resources and Usenet information. In addition, it has tried to present an overview of the more positive aspects of the Internet, without ignoring the more problematic areas. By the time you have worked your way through these different areas of the Internet, you will already be on your way to passing the Test For Internet Fluency!
The rock band, Pink Floyd, in 1979 released a controversial song, Another Brick In The Wall (Part II), that captured the pent-up frustrations of students who see no relevance in the education they are receiving:
We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone (Waters)
Simply by getting yourself onto the information superhighway and seeing it for what it really is, you will be expanding your own horizons and, ultimately, those of your students.
Works Cited
Babb, Jeffrey. “Electronic commerce comes to Taiwan.” China Post 22 Feb. 1999. 12.
Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Researcher. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998. 58-60.
Chrisman, Roger and Lee, Benjamin. TEFL-China Teahouse. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.yale.edu/yalechin/tea/
Dern, Daniel P. The Internet Guide for New Users. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Japan Association for Language Teaching. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/backissues/ info.html
Kitao, Kenji and Kitao, S. Kathleen. “World Wide Web (WWW).” On-Line Resources and Journals: ELT, Linguistics, and Communication. 25 Oct., 1997. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/online/internet/art-www.htm
Lasley, Geoff. “Mission Statement.” The Far East EFL TEACHERS’ CO-OP. Mar. 1999. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://w2.occc.edu.tw/~lasley/introduction.htm
Moody, Suzan. “About NETEACH-L.” NETEACH-L. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/english/ eteach/main.html
Murray, Denise E. “Language and Society in Cyberspace, Part II.” TESOL Matters Online. 17 Oct. 1998. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.tesol.edu/assoc/articles/news9808-03.html
Nicolai, Carl R. TranSend Internet Co. (crn@transend.com.tw). “Re: Usenet Groups?” Email to recipient (kdickson@transend.com.tw). 26 Feb. 1999.
Oliver, Dennis. “Dave’s ESL Cafe on the Web: A Site Review.” The Internet TESL Journal. Vol. II, No. 12. Dec. 1996. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/Web/Oliver-ESLCafe.html
Pertman, Adam. “Net Savvy Students Shelving Libraries.” Boston Globe. (1999). n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/053/metro/Net_savvy_students_shelving_ libraries+.shtml
Sperling, Dave. The Internet Guide For English Language Teachers. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents, 1997. 34.
Wall Street Journal Almanac 1998. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. 473-79.
Waters, Roger. “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.” The Wall. Pink Floyd. New York Columbia. 8 Dec., 1979. PC2 36183. As quoted by Fitch, Vernon. “Pink Floyd U.S. LP Discography.” The Pink Floyd Archives 1997-1999. n.pag. Online. Internet. 25 Feb. 1999. Available WWW: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ PFArchives/DUSLP.htm#Wall2
Appendix A
Glossary of Terms
| archive | (n) | a storage of past email, articles or other information. |
| bookmark | (n) | a way to remember where you have been. |
| browser | (n) | a program that allows you to view the World Wide Web. |
| dialup modem | (n) | a box to connect to the Internet via a normal telephoneline. |
| download | (v) | copy from the Internet and save it on your own computer. |
| (n) | a way to send messages via computer to another person. | |
| e-mail address | (n) | a unique address given to each person who usesEmail. |
| homepage | (n) | see website. |
| http:// | (n) | part of the address that tells you that it is a webpage. |
| hyperlink | (n) | a link which will transfer you to another page, usuallya picture. |
| hypertext | (n) | a word or words that will do the same as a hyperlink. |
| ISP | (n) | the company that connects individuals to the net, e.g.Hinet. |
| newbie | (n) | someone who is new to the Internet. |
| search engine | (n) | a website that is for searching for information, such as Yahoo! |
| site | (n) | see website. |
| surf | (v) | to look at different pages on the internet. |
| thread | (n) | a part of an ongoing discussion relating to one particulartopic. |
| url | (n) | Universal Resource Locator or the address. |
| virus | (n) | a piece of software that can damage your computer or data. |
| web | (n) | common usage for World Wide Web. |
| website | (n) | a page or group of pages collected at one location. |
| WWW | (n) | known as theWorld Wide Web, graphical aspect of the Internet. |
Appendix B
General Internet Resources
Here is a bakers dozen collection of my favorite general resources, with a few
comments about each. I believe these are all worthwhile visiting.
| Name | Category | Comments | Location (http://) | |
| 1 | Amazon | Bookstore | Wide selection, easy to use | www.amazon.com |
| 2 | CNN | News | News oriented site, lots of usable materials | www.cnn.com |
| 3 | Cybertaiwan | Local | Local site with many Taiwan links | www.cybertaiwan.com |
| 4 | DejaNews | Usenet | Offers access to usenet via the web | www.dejanews.com |
| 5 | GeoCities | Internet | Lots of personal community sites | www.geocities.com |
| 6 | ICRT | Radio | Live Internet Radio | www.icrt.com |
| 7 | Internet Movie Database | Entertainment | Complete reviews and informationon movies | www.imdb.com |
| 8 | Merriam Webster’s | Language | Excellent dictionary | www.m-w.com |
| 9 | Motley Fool | Finance | Business, investing, financial | www.fool.com |
| 10 | New York Times | Newspaper | Excellent online version | www.nytimes.com |
| 11 | TESOL Online | TESOL | TESOL’s website | www.tesol.edu |
| 12 | Yahoo! | Information | Offers wide range of information | www.yahoo.com |
| 13 | Ziff-Davis | Computers | Excellent information on PCs/Internet | www.zdnet.com |
Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL, Number 5, 1999, pp. 51-70. Copyright 1999. Language Center, Chinese Culture University.
Last updated: 22/05/00 9:49:48 PM
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