What is this?
- QuestGarden is an online authoring tool, community and hosting service for teachers to creat high quality webquests, which can be used in language teaching classroom.
- The following is a webquest sample from Internet. This webquest is designed for university students to enhance their reading and communication skills. The task in this wequest is interesting and related to a classic book as well as a famous film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- According to Dodge, 'A webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn form the web. Webquests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.'
Why is the content good for language learning?
- This webquest contains a clear introduction to the task, process of doing the task as well as evaluation criterion which can give students a comprehensive and effective guide to do a particular task.
- The task in the webquest is funny and students tend to be familiar with the original story ( Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). It can make the task-based learning more interesting and motivating.
- The webquest provides a lot of relevant online resources (such as language clues, preparation for the task and useful tools) to refer. It helps students to extend their mind and horizen and increase language input.
- The webquest gives a clear goal of doing the task, which makes students to know what they can achieve after completing the task.
- It involves integrative language skills, such as speaking and reading, as well as some communicative skills, such as negotiation and discussion, and team work.
- Different levels of evaluation criterion makes both teacher and students clear about their performance and language proficiency.
How might you use it in a language teaching context?
- Teacher divides students into several groups and introduce the task in the webquest and give a detail instruction or explaination about how to begin the task and what the goal and process is.
- Then allow the students to work in group and do the task. Teacher monitors the performance of different groups and gives suggestion.
- Teacher makes a webquest before a class and ask students to do the task on class or after class. Here is a webquest that I did.
Limitations
- Might be hard to do in very big classes
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