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    What really makes students like a web site? What are the implications for designing web-based language learning sites?


    Hughes, Jane and McAvinia, Claire and King, Terry (2004) What really makes students like a web site? What are the implications for designing web-based language learning sites? ReCALL, 16 (1). pp. 85-102.

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    Abstract

    Faced with reduced numbers choosing to study foreign languages (as in England and Wales), strategies to create and maintain student interest need to be explored. One such strategy is to create ‘taster’ courses in languages, for potential university applicants. The findings presented arise from exploratory research, undertaken to inform the design of a selection of web-based taster courses for less widely taught languages. 687 school students, aged 14-18, were asked to identify a web site that they liked and to state their main reason for liking it. They were invited to include recreational sites and told that their answers could help with web design for the taster courses. To explore the reasons, two focus groups were conducted and student feedback on the developing taster course site was collected. Students nominated search engines and academic sites, sites dedicated to hobbies, enthusiasms, youth culture and shopping. They liked them for their visual attributes, usability, interactivity, support for schoolwork and for their cultural and heritage associations, as well as their content and functionality. They emerged as sensitive readers of web content, visually aware and with clear views on how text should be presented. These findings informed design of the taster course site. They are broadly in line with existing design guidelines but add to our knowledge about school students’ use of the web and about designing web-based learning materials. They may also be relevant to web design at other levels, for example for undergraduates.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Web site, language learning sites
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Computer Science
    Centre for Teaching and Learning
    Item ID: 679
    Depositing User: Claire McAvinia
    Date Deposited: 22 Aug 2007
    Journal or Publication Title: ReCALL
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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