Web system for self-learning of english language (SEL) for primary students

Abstract

As all schools have started to become computerized recently and many families have at least a computer at home with access to the Internet, many schools gradually explore web-based learning systems which provide learning exercises and answers on their websites for students. Presently, there are many learning systems developed by different companies. These systems provide learning exercises and answers, but not the personalized ones. Therefore, none of these systems alone is suitable for every learner. Teachers get less and less time to take care of their students after school. They spend lots of time for seminars and meetings in order to cope with the new plans and systems initiated by the Education and Manpower Bureau of the HKSAR Government. In addition, there are quite a number of young new immigrants who do not have the same level of English ability as that of the local children. They mostly came from the mainland and some other Asian countries. They need more time to learn English in order to keep up with the local students. So, there is an emergent need for a computerized self-learning system for English. With such a system, the teacher can use the computer to upgrade and drill the weak students in English language. They do not need to focus on the routine marking work because students can consolidate their learning of English grammar through the computer. Teachers do not need to provide and prepare lots of questions for their students because all the questions will be stored in the system. All they need to do is to sort out the appropriate topic of questions for students, and then students can work on the questions by themselves. Some students may forget some crucial factors and make mistakes. But if the system can provide some important hints that remind pupils to re-do the questions correctly, it can save up lots of time for teachers. Moreover, teachers can understand the areas in which their students are weak by checking the results of their students from the computer. Then, they can teach their students about the topic or that part again. Once teachers can concentrate on teaching students, they can prepare their lessons much better. For the students, if they realize that they are not good at certain kinds of grammar, they can practice that part on the computer again and again. If they find that they actually do not understand the topic, they still can go to see their teachers and seek for help. I hereby introduce a method for Self-learning of English Language by applying Item Response Theory (IRT) and select the pathway for a student to solve personalized exercises. This system, implemented in C#.net and SQL Server. The system can personalize the exercises given to students and differentiate each student’s ability level and sort the appropriate questions for them so that students can learn grammar by themselves. Also, the questions are based on the students’ need and it can provide different forms and topics of grammar. It would be better rather than the existing learning systems provided by the publishers that provide lots of questions based on the learning tasks of their own textbooks.