Workplace Communications: web search

1. Web Search Strategies:
Learning English Online

2. Six Steps to Websearch
What
Key-
words/
ESL
Synonyms
Spelling
Search
Engines
Evaluate

3. Step 1: State what you want to find
First, in one or two sentences, state
what you want to find on the Internet.
For example:
- I want to find examples of emails.
- I want to learn about indirect questions.
- I want to know how I can improve my
speaking skills.
What

4. Step 2: Identify keywords
Next, underline the main concepts in the
statement.
- I want to find some examples of emails.
- I want to learn about indirect questions.
- I want to know how I can improve my
speaking skills.
Key-
words/
ESL

5. Step 2: Identify key words
Key-
words/
ESL
When looking for online learning
material, it is often helpful to add:
- ESL (English as a Second Language), or
- EFL (English a Foreign Language), or
- ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages), or
-EAL (English as an Additional Language).

6. Step 4: Check your spelling
• It’s a good practice to always check
your spelling.
• Search engines return websites with
words that match your keywords.
But, don’t worry too much…search engines are
smart and able to identify spelling mistakes, and
still give you the results you are looking for!
Spelling

7. Step 4: Try different search engines
A lot of people say that they “google”
something when they look for information
online. The verb ‘to google something’ came
with the popularity of the Google search
engine. However, there are numerous search
engines out there, e.g.
- Yahoo! www.yahoo.ca
- Bing www.bing.com
- Other http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines
Search
Engines

8. Step 4: Evaluate the results
You are almost done 
Now, explore some of the results (first 10
links) and choose your favourite one or two
or three…
Remember to save the links to your
Favourites (= bookmark them) so you can
easily find them in your Internet browser the
next time you want to do some learning.
Evaluate

9. Let’s practise
Scenario:
You want to improve your
spelling skills and you need
some interactive websites to
practice.
Let’s see if there are some
interesting websites.

10. Step 1: State what you want to find
“I want to improve my spelling skills and
you would like some interactive websites
to practice. “
What

11. Step 2: Identify keywords
“I want to improve my spelling skills
and you would like some interactive
websites to practice. “
So far we can identify the following
keywords:
-ESL (default)
-Improve spelling skills
-Interactive practice
Key-
words/
ESL

12. Step 3: Select synonyms
Use a thesaurus
- http://thesaurus.com/
- http://synonyms.memodata.com/
Synonyms found for spelling:
orthography
Synonyms

13. Our keywords
Our keywords for the web search are:
ESL, improve spelling skills, interactive practice, orthography

14. Step 4: Check your spelling
To check your spelling, use a spell-check
in your text editor or a dictionary.
Done? Yes, the spelling of the following
keywords is ok:
ESL, improve spelling skills, interactive practice,
orthography
Spelling

15. Step 4: Try different search engines
Open a few search engines and type
our keywords in them.
Search
Engines

16. Step 4: Try different search engines
Search
Engines
Image "Logo Google 2013 Official" by Google INC - Traced from File:Logo 2013 Google.png. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_Google_2013_Official.svg#/media/File:Logo_Google_2013_Official.svg

17. Step 4: Try different search engines
Search
Engines
Original image http://bit.ly/1VaZoDs by Simon CC0

18. Step 4: Try different search engines
Search
Engines
"Bing logo (2013)" by Logo is made by Microsoft. SVG version is created and uploaded by AxG (talk · contribs). - The logo comes from
bing.com/explore/newbing. SVG version is created by AxG (talk · contribs).This vector image was created with Inkscape.. Licensed under
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bing_logo_(2013).svg#/media/File:Bing_logo_(2013).svg

19. Step 4: Evaluate the results
You are almost done 
Now, explore the results and choose your
favourite ones.
-http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/sc.cgi
-http://www.spellzone.com/unit02/page1.cfm
-http://www.spellzone.com/games/index.cfm
-http://www.angelfire.com/blues/writing/spellings.html
Evaluate