WordAloud software "free" to English schools

WordAloud^® - teaching English and literacy worldwide

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." Benjamin Franklin

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WordAloud for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)

WordAloud provides a simple way to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL). It is a multimodal teaching tool for developing language skills: for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It helps the student to understand English as spoken and written. It shows the how the spoken word is related to the written word. You are free to use WordAloud with any text, any teaching material, any teaching method.

WordAloud is well suited to the synthetic phonics teaching method which we recommend. You are not constrained to any particular content or procedure, as you are with most teaching software. You can even use your own pictures or drawings to illustrate the text. You can teach students in class, in small groups, or individually. The students can practise reading and listening by themselves - known as "self-access".

WordAloud makes reading as simple and easy as possible. It works by displaying text a word at a time, in large letters across the middle of the screen. This provides a simple and natural means to read, since your eyes do not have to scan the text and can remain focussed in one place. You can step through the text, or you can let WordAloud step for you, slowly or at higher speeds.

WordAloud can speak the words as they are displayed, or you can speak the words, or you can get the student to read aloud. WordAloud can display text in whole sentences, and it can show pictures alongside the text as illustration. WordAloud helps to develop language skills required for understanding spoken English and for reading confidently and fluently:

• words are clearly separated in the speech stream;
• memory of words is reinforced by sight and sound together;
• pictures provide contextual clues for meaning and memory;
• the student sees the words as they are spoken, showing how speech is represented in writing;
• the student develops the listening skills required for natural conversation;
• the student develops word decoding and word recognition skills required for reading fluency;
• the student builds up short-term memory in order to understand whole sentences;
• you, the teacher, can quickly identify and correct any weaknesses in the student's reading ability;
• the student's skills can be reinforced through repetition and varied practice;
• progress can be monitored;
• the student can write and hear the words spoken as they are written;
• the student's attention and concentration is maintained.

WordAloud is highly configurable, e.g. allowing different text and background colours, thus helping students with special needs, especially those with dyslexia, visual impairment, attention deficit disorder (ADD or ADHD) or learning difficulties. It can be operated solely using the keyboard, or solely using a pointing device, such as a mouse.

WordAloud can be used with students of any age, and at any reading level. You can use it in a class setting, in small groups or for individual tuition. It is easy to use for anyone, including assistants and parents. Students can use it as a reading aid and to practice reading. You can use it with an interactive whiteboard for multimedia presentation; you can use it on a PC or laptop; or it can be used on a suite or network of PCs: Windows 95 through to XP.

WordAloud can read any material on the computer: it can read text files; it can read web pages and browse the web; it can read material that you type in; it can display pictures that you download from a digital camera. WordAloud supports phonics teaching, and some sample teaching material is supplied.