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ENGLISH as a SECOND LANGUAGE SOFTWARE

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MATHS SOFTWARE

"I have watched a young middle-eastern woman who has never been to school, teach herself the strange shapes, sounds and names of the Roman alphabet... and all of this using a computer!"
Pam McKean, Vatime Newsletter

"The Alphabet is suitable for readers at the very early stages of the reading continuum. Each unit combines newly learned skills with one new component, making the progress gradual and manageable for new learners."
Lucy Scanlon, Metro Toronto Association for Community Living.

"This program offers learners an excellent means of learning the alphabet at their own pace. Highly recommended." Karen Bryant, Interchange.

[The Alphabet - More information]

"This is a very practical way for students to broaden their vocabulary and improve their spelling. It is extremely easy to use, as are all the Australian Protea CDs! Words are divided into categories and subcategories. The item highlighted from list is highlighted and the spelling displayed. The word is placed in context within a sentence. The word can be analysed in terms of the number of syllables it contains. Students can test themselves on their spelling and get immediate feedback."
Iris Nastaski, ESL Teacher, Casimir College, Sydney

" a clear, instructionally valid, entertaining learning tool." Teresa De Fazio, On-Call

"The Interactive Picture Dictionary makes good use of sound and photos and is simple to operate." Anne Glover, Your Computer

"Fantastic graphics, easily identified by learners of all ages. Excellent, top of the rating for use-friendliness." Angela Culshaw-Kaisa, Literacy Works, New Zealand

"The graphic interface makes navigation easy and verbal and visual clues will assist the students when using the dictionary." Barbara Combes, Education Department of W.A.

[Interactive Picture Dictionary - More information]

"The layout of this CD is excellent. Students can easily navigate the activities. The activities become increasingly challenging as students progress through four levels. The dictation is particularly challenging, but well worthwhile as students can print their final piece of text.
As I work with new arrivals, this may be the only piece of writing they complete that day and they feel satisfaction that it is a perfect text. Activities are centered around issues that relate to several KLAs and therefore have added meaning.
For teachers who have little experience using CD ROMs, this CD virtually installs itself and the students need very little direction on how to use it."
Iris Nastaski, ESL Teacher, Casimir College, Sydney

" ... Self-paced learning that is supportive and stress free."
Angela Culshaw-Kaisa, Literacy Works, New Zealand

"The content of Issues in English is informative, Stimulating and current. .. lends itself easily to pair work and independent study, is user friendly and relevant to adult issues."
Eslinc. Canada

"Genre and functional grammar are encompassed using a theme based approach, while traditional grammar is used within specific exercises. The thematic continuity serves as a meaningful context that links activities."
Kathy Cox and Ian Brown, EA. Journal

[Issued in English - More information]

"Phonics Alive! is a must for every Australian Primary School."
Anne Glover, Education Writer, Your Computer Magazine

"It's always a pleasure to come across a program which simply does what it's meant to do, with a minimum of fuss and bother. Phonics Alive! sets out to to teach an awareness of phonics and succeeds admirably"
Les Pobjie, computer software reviewer, Computer Bytes

"Wonderful! I based all my phonics program on Phonics Alive! and I'm excited to get the next version." Elizabeth Littlewood, Whitsunday Anglican School, Early Education Centre, QLD

"Very impressed with the treatment of sounds, the graphics and especially the type script"
Sandy Rogers, Mullaley Primary School, NSW

[Phonics Alive! 1 - More information]

"Phonics Alive! 1 teaches the sounds of letters in the alphabet as beginning, medial and ending sounds. Now its fine sequel, Phonics Alive! 2 The Sound Blender, presents sound blends essential for students to confidently decode unknown words and helps them to spell correctly. Through finely structured and amusing activities, the Sound Blender teaches (yes really!) digraphs, diphthongs, silent letters and suffixes, for example "ch, sh, een, kn, ar, aw, au ith, wr and et".

At school, while teachers teach class groups, individual students can work at their own pace through 12 sequenced modules, each taking approximately 15 minutes to complete. Each module contains an introduction, rhyming exercises, blending exercises and a keyboard exercise while stickers in lower case letters help familiarise younger students with the keyboard.

Both Phonics Alive! 1 and the Sound Blender are unusual in that they can be profitably used by any student who needs help with phonetic spelling, and who finds it difficult to figure out new words. It's also great for ESL students. Both programs track student's progress so that in the classroom, you can cycle students through the activity, and check later to see which blends individuals and the group have mastered, and which you may need to teach the class as a group next.
Every primary school class and teacher would benefit from having a copy."
Reviewed by Linda Bruce, Australian PC User - February 1998

[Phonics Alive!2, The Sound Blender - More information]

There is a saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and he can feed himself for a lifetime."

I believe that the same is true for spelling. A good speller has mastered many words, but a truly good speller has learnt much more than the correct spelling of a specific word list. A good speller knows the spelling rules and knows when to use them. A good speller knows how to spell.

A good speller knows: · how to use the alphabet · how to apply the spelling rules · how to predict spelling rule exceptions · how to apply this knowledge to spell new words.

Learning how to spell goes hand-in-hand with knowing why the spelling of a specific word follows a certain rule.

A truly good speller knows: · why the plurals for tomatoes and ponchos follow different rules · why some root words double their final consonant when adding a suffix (e.g. forget/forgetting) but why only some suffixes have this effect (forget/forgetful) · why some root words drop their silent 'e' when adding a suffix (e.g. hope/hoping) but why only some suffixes have this effect (hope/hopeful) · why some root words are never effected by the addition of a suffix (sulk/sulking; soak/soaking) · why there appears so many rule exceptions (e.g. good spellers know why not to use a rule such as the "i before e except after c" rule to spell vacancies)

I believe too, that learning to spell should be fun and adhere to the proven learning theory that learners should "see it, hear it and do it!"

Learning is a lifetime matter. We are never too old to learn. Phonics Alive! 3 -The Speller is a fun-filled interactive computer program that will enhance the spelling skills of any learner, aged between 8 and 108!
Enjoy!
Judith Hall M.A. (Hons), M.Ed. (Hons), B.Ed.,Grad.Dip.Ed.Stud.(Spec. Ed.), Dip.Teach.

[Phonics Alive! 3, The Speller - More information]

"Unlike other products, EyeSpeak has provided me with an excellent means of improving my pronunciation. It has a world leading visual feedback system to ensure that I can see what I have done incorrectly. This system also provides personalized advice as to how to improve my pronunciation. EyeSpeak has unlimited training time, and is customized to my personal needs. I thoroughly recommend EyeSpeak to any non-English speakers who want to either communicate with friends and their loved ones or progress in the business world of today, Enjoy your EyeSpeak!" - Sammy Wong, Vice President NZCBC

"ELC has been using the EyeSpeak pronunciation software with great success since 2003. Our students feel comfortable using technology such as PCs and demand increasing personalization in their learning experience to maximize their return on investment. They enjoy using EyeSpeak finding it intuitive and easy to use while enabling them to choose the content and pace of their learning. They like the challenge of being able to compare their own pronunciation with that of a native English speaker and work toward matching the pronunciation. In an educational environment that continually seeks better and more efficient ways of communicating to the learner, EyeSpeak is a valuable and relevant resource." - Director, English Language College

[EyeSpeak English - More information]

"Our Aboriginal students are learning how to learn with Saltwater Crocodiles from SpinOut Stories. Because they live in crocodile country in Northern Territory and swim in the sea and places where crocodiles may be found, this story is very relevant to them.

In the past, it has been difficult to gain their attention and interest to learn how to read. However with SpinOut Stories they have been very enthusiastic, staying back at school until 6 o'clock playing the extra learning puzzles and reconstruction sentences relating to saltwater crocodiles and reptiles. They are doing it over and over! They are also beginning to read the text aloud with the computer.

Reference words like 'the', 'a' or 'an' are not generally used in Australian languages in the way they are used in English. In the jigsaw puzzle in SpinOut Stories, the sentences have to be reconstructed in the correct word order and these reference words must be found for their correct places. Out students' attention is being drawn to this as they really enjoy this puzzle feature.

I highly recommend SpinOut Stories to other teachers to encourage Indigenous students to read and develop communication skills."

Marilyn Huddleston, Principal
Gawa Christian School, Northern Territory, Australia

[SpinOut Stories - More information]

Click here to go to a comprehensive teacher's review of SpinOut Stories Blue Pack

"We use the SuperSpell programs in our Language Development Centre and with other special needs students.
The content is developmental, the children's progress is measurable and the students enjoy using the programs. As an educational tool it is hard to beat, as it covers all bases.
Some comments from the 3rd and 4th grade children:
" You get prizes from the shops and some of them are really funny; I like the diving game."
Some comments from teachers:
"The kids love it; It can be integrated into the daily spelling program;
Good choice of games; Offers the children a chance to learn by rote and in a sentence context;
Words increase in difficulty and are grouped together in lists according to rule;
Children at our centre have specific language impairments which often make spelling a very difficult thing. This has a negative effect of their confidence to attempt spelling. The very motivating and easy-to-use nature of the activities in SuperSpell increases their confidence."
Andrew Horn, Balcatta Primary School, Balcatta. W.A.

[SuperSpell, A Day at the Beach - More information]