Online Tools for English Reference, Research, and Writing

I compiled these links for a college EFL class I am currently teaching. The students’ first language is Arabic, so an Arabic dictionary is included among the reference tools.

I will include a warning at the beginning that I left until the end on the handout I gave my students: I do not recommend using Google Translate for anything that you will turn in for a grade. Google Translate gives too little context for distinguishing different meanings and uses of a word, so stick with a traditional dictionary (even online) if you need to be sure that your translation is correct.

Dictionaries and Reference

Aljazem Arabic-English / English-Arabic Dictionary
http://www.aljazem.com/

British Council Quick Grammar Reference
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar

Collins English Thesaurus
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/english-thesaurus

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online
http://www.ldoceonline.com/

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/

Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/

Research and Writing

Purdue Online Writing Lab
Information on research, writing, and citation; includes a special section for English learners.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Writing Tips from American University’s Academic Support Center
http://www.american.edu/ocl/asc/Writing-Lab-Writing-Tips.cfm

My first WebQuest

The importance of commas

As part of a class I am taking on online ESL instruction, I have created a WebQuest on comma use in English. It’s a fairly basic first attempt, but take a look (and feel free to use it with your students) if you’re interested: The Elusive Comma.