Website Evaluation: New Internationalist Easier English Wiki

The New Internationalist is a progressive magazine published in the UK that focuses on issues of global justice. They have created an easier English wiki page that provides the same articles from the magazine, but with easier vocabulary and grammar. In addition to the articles, there are dozens of ready lessons available.

Website Title: New Internationalist Easier English Wiki

Website URL: http://eewiki.newint.org/index.php/Main_Page

Grade/Age/Proficiency Level: This website is ideal for intermediate to advanced level university students or adults, but it could possibly used with younger learners.

Language & Content: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary, Grammar, Culture, and Critical Thinking

Here are a couple of screenshots showing the main page:

Articles

There are a couple of different ways to access the articles, which actually seems a bit redundant. One way is by clicking on the image of the magazine cover, another option is to find the issue number on the left hand menu, and the third is to scroll down below the magazine cover images to find a list of issues. Whichever option users choose, they will be redirected to a page like this:

I just randomly selected a recent issue, which was updated on April 29, 2015, but there have been a couple more issues added since then. A new issue comes out every month.

On the issue page, users can select an article of their choice, or find the ready lesson for that month's articles at the bottom. Clicking on an article will take you to another page that includes the article written in easier English. At the bottom of the article, users can click on the link that takes them to the original article published on the New Internationalist webpage.

Ready Lessons

The ready lessons can be found on the page for the monthly issue, or users can select Ready Lessons from the menu on the left, which will take them to this page:

Users can scroll down and find lessons on topics of their choice. There are also brief descriptions of the language focus of each of the lessons. There are a wide range of activities and they vary lesson to lesson. They are always interactive with plenty of discussion and include different aspects of reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar. Some even include links to YouTube videos or other websites on related topics.

Users can open the ready lessons in either .pdf or .ppt format. The PowerPoint is particularly useful because it includes notes, such as recommendations for teachers and answer keys. I have selected a few random pages to show here, but I would encourage you all to check out some of the other lessons:

Quizzes

Another feature of this website is that users can take quizzes to test their knowledge of global issues. There are multiple choice questions that users can make guesses on. After the quiz, they can click a link to an article that will answer the questions from the quiz. Here are a few screenshots showing the quiz feature:

Reflections

I found this website a while ago and bookmarked it, but I never actually used it in a class. While preparing for this evaluation assignment, I was looking back through the pages I had previously bookmarked and decided to look more closely at this one. I'm glad I did! At first I thought it seemed a bit cluttered and unorganized, but as I continued to browse I started to realize that the design is quite simple to navigate, despite a few links leading to blank pages (although these seem more related to site maintenance and not the articles and lessons). There are a lot of great pictures included on different pages, and the menu on the left has everything. Although this is a wiki, it is not possible to edit the pages without logging in. I am not sure how many contributors there are.

The contributors of this wiki are obviously very passionate about what they do. They rewrite multiple articles into easier English every month and create detailed lessons about a wide range of global justice issues. The website is unabashedly progressive, so this would certainly not appeal to everyone. They are hoping to increase awareness of global justice issues and encourage English learners to become activists who will work for social and global change. However, many of these issues are highly controversial. Teachers would have to know their students well enough to avoid topics that could be too sensitive.

In settings where discussion and debate on controversial topics is welcomed, I would highly recommend this website. The easier English articles are definitely more comprehensible for English learners. I also like that they include the link to the original article so that students can compare them on their own. The activities in the ready lessons are well designed and engaging. They include a wide range of tasks that cover different aspects of language learning and would appeal to different learning styles. They include tips for both teachers and students, and students are able to check their work through the answer keys. The material is authentic because it focuses on real issues that impact students' lives. It also allows for some learner autonomy. Because there are so many different articles and lessons to choose from, it is likely that everyone can find something they are interested in.

Overall, for English learners and teachers who are interested in learning about and discussing issues of global justice while also improving their English proficiency, I think this is an excellent website. One possible suggestion for improvement would be to include a space for commenting on the articles. That way users could have some discussion with an authentic audience. It might also be interesting if there was a live chat feature. There is an option of following on Twitter or emailing the website, though.

Go check out the New Internationalist Easier English Wiki!