Zeynep BAŞER
Audio-Visual Aids in ELT
Critical Review 2
PRONUNCIATION POWER IDIOMS
PART 1: Description Of The Product
Pronunciation Power Idioms is a product developed by English Computerized Learning Inc. (ECL), which aims to meet the demands of the people related to English pronunciation. They try to produce user-friendly and qualified ESL materials delivered by CD-ROM or the internet. Their products are respectively 8 in 1 English Dictionary, Pronunciation Power 1, Pronunciation Power 2 ,Pronunciation Power Idioms and lastly Introductory Grammar and Vocabulary with Color Key. The creators also point out the fact that they win an award with Pronunciation Power 2 which is now recommended by several foundations all around the world.Unfortunately, their products are not free of charge. The prices are basically:
Pronunciation Power Idioms : $ 25.95 US (+ shipping – $ 29.95 US)
8 in 1 English Dictionary: $49.95 US (+ shipping - $59.95 US)
Pronunciation Power 1: $125.95 US (+shipping – $154.95 US) *includes 8 in 1 English Dictionary
Pronunciation Power 2 : $77.95 US (+ shipping - $93.95 US) * includes an extensive 40 page manual
Introductory English Grammar and Vocabulary with Color Key: $49.95 US
There are also some special combinations and even one can reach to these products by online subscription by paying $ 49.70 US for 90 days and $ 79. 70 US for 180 days. However, the creators indicate that Macintosh users can not reach to the online subscription for the time being because they are still working on it. One can reach to the more information through their website http://www.englishelearning.com/. Besides all, for this critical review, it will be better to talk about Pronunciation Power Idioms which tries to meet the most problematic point of a language learner and even a teacher. Its creators decribe the product as saying “Pronunciation Power Idioms uses memorable and unique illustrations to aid you in remembering English idioms!”. This sentence certainly a summary of the product ‘Pronunciation Power Idioms’. Thanks to this product, one can reach to 104 idioms, their meanings, descriptions and a sample sentence related to each idiom. The features of the product are not limited with them. The clear pictures which one can picture what the idiom (phrases that can not be taken literally/ the whole meaning is different from each part of it) means are provided. Moreover, One can listen to the sample sentences just by clicking on the picture of earphone at the bottom. One has not to follow the sequence of the product, s/he can pass whatever idiom they want to study. In order to do so, s/he can either look into the idiom list which is at the bottom or just type the number of the idiom which is on the same line with the list. While one can do those things under the title ‘Lesson: Idioms’, s/he can also find 3 exercise sections which each of them includes ten parts. In these exercises, s/he try to find the correct idiom according to the given situation and the exact meaning of the idiom. As it is indicated by its creators, one can find over 300 questions to test themselvels. S/he also can see where s/he made mistake and get feedback. Besides these exercise sections, there is a quiz part which also includes 10 separate parts under it. Here one can directly try to find the exact meaning of the idioms. The idiom is given and asked to find the correct meaning among the options. Also at the end of the quiz, s/he can see where they are missing and review them or redo the exercise. Lastly, it should be indicated that one can print out anything during lesson part so that they can follow the idioms and have the written versions in the hand.
PART 2: Critical Review Of The Product In Terms Of Language Learning
To use Pronunciation Power Idioms is not a diffciult work. It is certainly too user friendly. Even though the instructions are so clear, a link on the product ‘help’ provides a more detailed explanation about how to use the product step by step. One does not need to download any new thing onto their computers for this product or internet connection to work with it. It is enough to place the CD-Rom and install via it. As for how beneficial this product is for a language class, we can look into this matter from two different aspects. The first one is related to how a language teacher can have benefit from it in the classroom and how useful it is for autonomous learning. Before explaining how Pronuncation Power Idioms can be used, it is also important to point out how idioms are challenging to learn although they are significant to have a high proficiency level of English. So , to have such a qualified tool is really a big chance for a language learners and even the teachers because it makes their works easier and the lesson enjoyable. However, in order to be able to use this product in the classroom efficiently , the class should have at least one computer, overhead projector and the neccessary sound system if there is not any language lab in the school which each student can have a separate computer with adequate listening system. Although the teacher can print out the lesson part of idioms, distrubute its copies to the whole class and work on them, it would be better to get all the students’ attention on the scene and listen to the sentences because it will motivate the students more and more and the teacher will have the opportunity to provide correct pronunciation of the words via listening to the sample sentences. Because the tool provides description of the idioms, picture related to the meaning of the meaning and a sample sentence, it makes those complex idioms really understandable and clear. The teacher can work on it as it is, and then s/he can ask the students to produce some sentences including those idioms without hesitating and go on practice like this. Moreover, because the product provides exercises and quizes based on these idioms , the teacher can use them to check if the students have learned the idioms or not without spening lots of time to prepare new exercises related to those idioms. In short, thanks to this product, a teacher can manage one of the most challenging part of the language easily and make the lesson enjoyable and motivating for the learners not a confusing and frightening one. As for its facilities for autonomous learning, this product certainly enchances it. Because the instructions are clear, sample examples are given in suitable situations, and they can reach to an idiom list which they can follow like a syllabus, the learner can work on their own and understand the idioms without having difficulty. What’s more , they can test themselves by using several exercises provided by the product. Although unlike the other Pronunciation Power products , one can not record their voices and compare them to the native speaker’s or watch their developement in pronunciation because now there are long sentences as compared to the sounds or simple words in them , still the learner have the chance to hear native speaker’s pronunciation of the idioms even in the long sentences. This also helps the learners to work on their pronunciation by hearing them again and again. To conclude, it is obvious that Pronunciation Power Idioms , as similar to other products of English Computerized Learning Product, is a very successful tool which is not only helpful not only for the teacher to save time and make the lesson related to idioms easy and enjoyable but also but also for the language learners who either do not have time to go to English courses or extra study on this topic.
