Springboard Web
http://www.oup.com/elt/springboard

Steve Cornwell, Osaka Jogakuin Junior College

The Oxford University Press (OUP) Springboard web site http://www.oup.com/elt/springboard is an internet site that all teachers may want to bookmark. Although it is designed to be used with Springboard 1 and Springboard 2 (Richards, 1998), even teachers who are not using those texts will find it a gold-mine of resources. OUP describes it as a teacher resource that provides www-based links and activity suggestions, a forum to share teaching ideas with other colleagues who are using the course, and a convenient way to deliver photocopiable activities and other information. It is all of that and much more.

Before describing some of the web links in more detail, it may be helpful to discuss the home page. The home page consists of seven links, five of which provide background information about the site, the author, and the books, or provide information on how to contact OUP. Those links are: About this web site, About Springboard, Interview with the Author, Contact Us, and Idea Exchange. In the future Idea Exchange should prove to be a nice feature. While it is not up and running yet, it is designed to be a forum for teachers to share their classroom ideas and experience using Springboard. Finally the home page has links to web links related specifically to the individual units in the two books: Book 1 web links and reading and Book 2 web links and reading. The site is designed to be user-friendly. As the site is loading a message appears with technical information suggesting that the site looks best with Netscape version 4.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or newer. It goes on to say that size 12 fonts will look the best, and explains that some longer pages may take time to appear. The site also provides detailed information on various ways to print pages, how to navigate around the site, and on how to obtain and use Adobe Acrobat reader. In addition, in the Contact Us link mentioned above, Oxford asks for comments on how well the site is serving teachers.

Looking at the topics for Book 1 will give readers an idea of what is in store for them when they use the site. Twelve topics mirror the book units by the same name: Getting Started, Music, Learning for Life, Fashion, Great Escapes, Dating, Food for Thought, Personalities, Career Dreams, Customs, Around Town, and Movies. At the top of each unit a summary of that units links appears. The links are divided into activities and resources which are color-coded pink and yellow, respectively. The activities provide a link and give suggestions on how to use the activity. The suggestions are like a mini-lesson plan with two sections entitled, Preparation and In class. At the bottom of each unit screen is a reminder that due to the transitory nature of material posted on the World Wide Web, the publisher cannot guarantee the availability of the sites mentioned in the Springboard Website.

Examining three of my favorite topics, food, dating, and movies should provide a better idea of how the units are structured. The dating unit has three activities (A) and one resource (R); their summary is as follows:

(A) Great Dates Brainstorming and discussing dating ideas

(A) Fires within Reading and talking about a poem

(A) Dating Advice Finding solutions to dating problems

(R) Paris Guide

An entertainment guide to Paris

The food unit provides links to diverse sites ranging from Pizza Hut to Table Manners to Burger Nutrition to Fried Chicken. Pizza Hut, the first activity, features a quiz on pizza. The activity involves going to http://www.pizzahut.com/LeftNav/default.htm and making a quiz (detailed instructions are included). The quiz includes questions like How many cows are needed to produce cheese for Pizza Hut?, In what city is the busiest Pizza Hut in the world located?, and Pizza Hut once made deliveries to what famous leader? The activity then goes on to give suggestions for using the quiz in class. It ends with some follow-up discussion questions. The food unit finishes with resources that provides links to web sites for snack and fast food companies including Frito-Lay (Doritos and other chips), Hershey's Chocolate Company, Jelly Belly (gourmet jelly beans), McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Wendy's.

Still hungry for more information on what the Springboard site offers? In addition to several interesting activities, the movie unit provides a resource that many teachers will find useful. Using video clips of movies often entails transcription which is not an easy task. One of the Movie unit resources is called Movie Scripts Online http://www.script-o-rama.com. This site (Drew's Scripts-O-Rama) has hundreds of feature film scripts. Note, however, that some of these are drafts and not the final cut version of the film.

Additional topics found in book two include Money, Stress and Solutions, Friendship, Challenges, Globetrotters, Animals, Parties, Color and Design, Theme and Parks, Values, Adventures, and Mysteries and Beliefs. The reading sections in both book 1 and 2 provide topic-related, short readings along with questions. Since they do not offer any additional internet links, they are not addressed in detail.

This site is designed to be used by teachers; however, once familiar with it, a teacher might be able to guide students to appropriate links. Some themes offer links to entertaining, interactive activities that are well-suited to CALL lab classes. For example, the unit on personalities links students to several online personality quizzes which analyze students responses and generate individualized results.

Furthermore, teachers should be able to find activities suitable for a wide range of proficiency levels, and the activities' instructions are straight forward and easy to follow. Finally, I did not have any noticeable delays using the site with Macintosh Power Pcs either at home or at school. The Springboard web site provides a lot of resources and activities that will prove to be useful by anyone trying to generate more discussion and more conversation in their classes.

Steve Cornwell is a graduate of the School for International Training. A recent interest of his is teacher training via the Internet.