Wordle is a unique visual representation tool for all the words in a pasted text and creat a word cloud with different colors and layout to choose from. The size of the word in this cloud is accrodance with its use frequency in the specific text.
Why is this particular tool or technology relevant to language learning? What approaches to language to language learning or research underpin the use of this technology?
Here is the video about how to use wordle.
This is a free tool and uses a Java to produce the 'magical' clouds. These clouds can be instantly uploaded to a public gallery for the world to see or printed off. You can also trace your own wordle cloud if you named your product and search them in the repository for all kinds of clouds across the globe. The biggest feature of wordle is that it can present a text in a totally fashionable and attractive way and users can choose the layout, color and font on their own. These novel features can make teaching materials more movitating for studens. The following one is a paragraph in a blog-related article. The bigger the word is, the more frequent it's used in this text.
How might you use it to foster language learning in class/outside class?
- Teachers can show the new vocab in a interesting way and make them more impressive for students.
- Teachers can show the wordle cloud of an reading material and design something pre-reading activities like work in pairs to discuss what's this text is talking about based on the keys words presented in the cloud.
- Students can also use wordle to better their writing skills. For instance, they can avoid overusing some particular words and try to come up with some subsitutable words to polish their product.
- Moodle's normal running should depend on Java.
- It's not easy to find your wordle cloud once it's going into the gallery becasue thousands of clouds are going there nearly every second.
