Forvo.com Evaluation

Purpose/Brief Description
Interactive site. This site allows users to listen to pronunciations of words as recorded by native speakers of a given language. Thus, learners of any language can go to the site, type in the word in question, and find an audio file that gives the correct pronunciation. The speed and ease with which this can be accomplished can help ELLs learn proper pronunciation and avoid possible embarrassment.

Learner Fit
This site is an excellent fit for all levels of ELLs: regardless of proficiency level, all ELLs will encounter words whose pronunciation is unknown. When this happens, a mouse click and a few keystrokes will yield a standard pronunciation by a native speaker.

The site meets some of the Conditions for Optimal Language Learning Environments, as listed in Figure 1-2. The student interacts with an authentic audience, albeit asynchronously, as he/she listens to the native pronunciation of the word in question. Learner autonomy in this application is absolute: the student gets accurate feedback as fast as he/she can navigate to forvo.com.

Teacher Fit
This site, by design, is an instant reference. As such, its content does not lend itself to structured, linear lessons.

How Can It Be Used?
Most importantly, the site is used to verify pronunciation of words as students encounter them in spoken or written form. In practical terms, the impetus to verify would probably come more often when the word is encountered in written form, i.e, the spelling of the word is evident but the sounds of its syllables are not. Conceivably, a student could hear an word, pronounced correctly or not, make an attempt to transcribe it, then check that spelling in forvo. Additionally, forvo offers a “Listen and Learn” page. This page contains a list of randomly generated words whose pronunciations can be played back. However, these words are not limited to English.

Likes/Dislikes
Likes:
The type-click-play sequence to get the proper pronunciation is intuitive and fun. Also, the search capabilities and the categories list allow the user to quickly find individual words and groups of related words, respectively.

Dislikes:
The “Listen and Learn” page would be even more useful if it could be generated in a single language. Also, the majority of English pronunciations are in British English. A larger number of American English pronunciations may be useful.