Software Evaluation:
Learn English Punctuation1 by Standard Deviants

Introduction

This evaluation report is written with an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) class in mind. Students generally are involved in a combination of first year university courses and high-level English writing classes. The majority of the students will have had extensive English experience in an English as a Foreign Language context. The purpose of this software evaluation is to offer insight into a beginner English punctuation software program and to make recommendations regarding its effectiveness.

Software

This software is part of a series designed for students to learn and review punctuation marks in a fun and relaxed format. With skits, colorful graphics, live action and contextualized usage of language, this DVD-format video aims to instruct punctuation in a non-traditional yet interesting manner. The main menu includes the following categories: program overview, punctuation lessons, punctuation review, help session, final exam and information for more products. The interlocutors present in this DVD represent a “typical” cross-section of the American population which includes many visible minorities. Most of the punctuation rules are generally explained orally with periodic written support. The colour scheme is eye-catching with graphic support to reinforce the target form. In the quiz and the final exam sections, the software provides correct answers immediately after student input regardless of the accuracy of the students’ response.

Technical Evaluation

Generally speaking this software is easy to use and does not have to be installed onto the computer. The main menu is easy to navigate from and return to. Unfortunately, once the learner has chosen a specific topic, there is no secondary menu within the section to allow for navigation within a given section. For example, one needs to either go through the entire lesson/section or use the scan forward feature on the DVD control in order to locate the desired portion of the lesson. Due to the DVD-video format, there is no link capability outside of internal menu navigation. It also does not allow interactive communication between learner and the software.

Pedagogical Evaluation

This program offers language learning potential focusing on form, meaning and use appropriate for learners at this level as previously described. Through the use of clever graphics, it promotes noticing of punctuation usage. The explanations are clear and present punctuation in a variety of formats. For each punctuation point, the learner is given an oral explanation followed by visual reinforcement in the main lesson; summarized in the review section; and reinforced using quizzes and a final exam. Due to the graphic nature of punctuation, focus on form is one of the true strengths of this particular software. Another important aspect of the software is its use of authentic speech and a variety of native speakers. Despite the fact that the focus of this software is on punctuation, the interactive language used by the interlocutors is also relevant in authentic situations.

Although learners might find this program initially enjoyable, the continued use of the same music bite, color scheme and pop-up graphics throughout may become irritating for the user. In addition, the limited capability of the menu links frustrates learner freedom and impedes movement throughout the program. There is neither opportunity for modification of input nor effective punctuation point feedback. Even though the software developers have chosen to use a variety of visible minorities to present content, they have neglected to include cultural content.

Conclusion

Based on our experience, this software would work well as a supplementary classroom resource for writing classes. It provides learners with quick access to punctuation usage rules that are supported by genuine language samples. Although there are a few shortcomings, the fact that this DVD only has a running time of 26 minutes allows the learners to navigate through the content without being overwhelmed. Therefore, on a usefulness scale from 1 to 10, we would give it a rank of 7.5 and recommend it as supplementary material for this particular EAP class.