I apologize that I started a new post. I meant for this to be a comment to Kris' post on the frequency word count below, but for some reason I could not get my comment to post.
I took a look at the word frequency website (http://language.tiu.ac.jp/flc/), and it actually seems quite helpful. All you have to do is cut and paste (or type) your sentence, paragraph, etc. into the box, and the frequency word count is done for you. The website Chris lists above separates the words into various levels (which are explained), and you also have the option to color code your results as well.
I decided to try it. I cut and pasted one of the blog posts into the box, and voila! I had a color coded paragraph along with the which words are more or less frequent. This tool may not be the most accurate (i.e. it parses 'words' such as websites or initials in the counts), but it's very helpful in general and could save us time in choosing whether a specific article/section is appropriate for our students reading level and/or appropriate for what we're using it for (intensive reading vs. extensive reading).
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I'm glad you made a separate post, Jill. Since that website has somewhat 'dated' appearance, I'd really missed the point.
ReplyDeleteOnce we interpret the output, it certainly forces a teacher look at things from the students' perspective!
Yeah that was a good explanation. Thanks Jill! When I first visited the site, I was trying to put the URL in the text box but it does require a cut and paste into the provided text box.
ReplyDeleteI do see improvements I would make to make it more informative to providing the information I need to make decisions. When in a previous class, I used excel 2007 to process words from several different websites so that I could identify the highest frequency words for specific contexts. It would be nice to have a tool that would do that for several different websites and look for patterns with gathering ESL materials as the focus.
However, Nation had recommended this URL and I do see it does have some useful information in it. It also outlines the words that fall outside its lists so I can review and make decisions accordingly.
Thanks Jill! Since we have been discussing modifying content to appropriate levels, this is such a helpful website. Glad this was posted separately.
ReplyDelete(Theabroma = Sharon) Just ran part of my presentation for Thursday, 2/24 through it ... and found that the reading is mostly Level 1 & 2 ... which is great, because that means it will not require a lot of vocabulary prep for a practice quick read. So the test of comprehension that follows the reading will likely be a bit more meaningful as a test of comprehension ... no struggling with vocab.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool tool ... thanks, Clint & Jill. It will give me a guideline when I prepare my own materials for a class ... I can get an idea of whether I am under- or over-shooting my students level.