Website Resource: One Stop English

-          Website address:  http://www.onestopenglish.com/

-          Copyright:  © Macmillan 2000-2011

-          Credentials:  One Stop English is published by part of the MacMillan Education Group, one of the world’s leading publishers of English language teaching resources.

-          Website Design and Ease of Navigation:

The design and visual appeal of this site is one of the best.  The colors are bright and cheerful, but not overwhelming.  The information is organized, and there are not a lot of extra ads or other non-relevant materials.  Groups of information or links are blocked together in different colors which makes it easy for the eye to scan the pages.

This site is designed for English language teachers of any kind, so it even holds information for business, down to specific industries.  The site organizes this information using tabs on the top of the page.  The first page for each tab gives an introduction to the section and lists the different areas within it using links and short descriptions.  Each page follows pretty much the same format, making it easy for the reader to find what he/she is looking for because they don’t have to familiarize themselves with the organization of each individual page.  The main tabs always stay at the top of the page, and there is a bar towards the top that tells you each link you clicked on to get you where you are (i.e., home>teenagers>skills).

-          Response and Recommendations for Use:

This site holds so much information for anyone teaching English language skills.  I primarily looked at the sections on exams, grammar, skills, and teenagers. One of the great resources is an entire section on different English language assessment exams.  I was not familiar with most of these exams, and this will be a great resource for me if I ever need to know more about them.

The grammar section is great for a couple of reasons.  First, it’s a great place for me to go to refresh my grammar knowledge.  It will also help me give explanations to my students about grammar issues that are hard to understand.  The section also provides a group of grammar games and worksheets that I can use as bell work or as activities to help my students brush up on their grammar skills.

The skills section has helpful tips, ideas for activities, and ways to teach everything from listening to vocabulary to speaking to reading to writing, plus a section for activities that integrate these skills!  I was really excited to find this because I hadn’t found very much information on teaching listening and speaking skills, which are very important skills for students.

The teenagers section has a variety of information all directed at teaching teenagers.  There is a section on methodology—learning about teens and how to more effectively motivate and teach them.  There are ideas about projects and topic-based activities.  The skills section gives a lot of great ideas about games and other fun activities to help students practice English skills.  A great thing about this section is that it also gives a great explanation of why it’s a good idea to use games and how they can be used as breaks or incentives.  Another thing I really liked was an article in the teenagers section that shows other areas on the site that would be also be applicable to teaching teens.