Using word clouds for reading, writing and speaking

A word cloud is a graphic representation of a piece of text in which words are individually sized to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of the text. The amount of times a single word is put into a word cloud will determine the size of the word itself (i.e. the more a word is mentioned, the larger the word will appear in the image). Different images can be easily created with these words. Word clouds can be created from any type of texts including: class lectures, famous speeches, news articles, slogans, poems, websites or even words you have selected for a specific purpose.

Word clouds can be used for different activities including:

Reading:

Word clouds can be used as a “pre-reading” activity to identify key ideas and prompt a discussion. They can be used also as an “after reading” activity by asking students whether the words in the cloud match the themes they identified on their own in the text proposed.

Writing:

Word clouds can be an effective tool for analyzing student writing, particularly at a formative stage. A word cloud will quickly show students the words they have been using too frequently in an essay and if they have stayed or not on topic. This will lead to a reflective activity on writing skill.

Speaking:

Word clouds are often used by journalists to analyze important speeches. Equally, they can be used to analyze conversations and presentations in the target language. Word clouds, in this context, will give students clues about themes to focus on while working on the full transcripts presented.

The software here proposed is named Tagxedo and it is a free platform that can be easily used to turn words  into a visually informative word cloud.  Once you have uploaded or copied a text into this platform, you will see that the most frequently used words will be emphasized in accordance with the tightness and the overall word count. Word clouds can provide an interesting visual analysis of any data while offering the opportunity to analyze them in-depth with your students. It is acknowledged that there are certain limitations to this approach (Heimerl, Lohmann et al. 2014) however, word clouds offer a summative and visually informative representation of the keywords in context.

Upon completion of this task students will be able to:

  • Improve their writing and reading skills
  • Improve word recognition skills and vocabulary
  • Improve their critical thinking skills

Technology required

  • Any mobile device (smartphone, tablet computer) and/or laptop computer, desktop.
  • Internet connection is required.

Material and links

Please note that the following application is free:

Procedure

  1. Click on the Tagxedo link to access the website. Please note that Tagxedo requires Silverlight, and if you have it, you should see the application and the startup Tagxedo word cloud. Otherwise, please install Silverlight, which works on desktop Windows and Macs.
  2.  Click “Load” and add your text (by copying and pasting it from other texts) or click the area next to “Enter Text” and start typing your words.
  3. Click “submit” once the desired text is entered
  4. Choose a theme. There are many themes to choose from and they are located under respins on the toolbar.
  5. You can now, choose a color. On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a toolbar which will allow you to select a color.
  6. Select a font and a shape under the heading respins.
  7. Select the orientation you would like your words to appear as. This option is available on the toolbar.
  8. When you have finished, select “save” which is located at the top of the toolbar.
  • Tutorial on How to use  Tagxedo :

Suggestions for assessment 

Word clouds can be used to create a grammar game in the language class: students, for example, can classify words from a cloud into different parts of speech or different tenses. In addition,  a sentence structure game can be created by presenting a complex sentence or short series of sentences into a word cloud, and have students reconstruct them in the correct word order.

Word clouds can be used also to predict the content of a text (i.e.topics, style, purpose), to summarize a presentation or as a discussion starter (student can choose one word from the cloud to speak about).

Suggested next step  

This task can be linked to the Words and meaning: intercultural competence and communication activity.

Bibliography

Hayes, S. (2008). Wordle. Voices from the Middle, 16(2), 66-68.
Heimerl, F., Lohmann, S., Lange, S., & Ertl, T. (2014, January). Word cloud explorer: Text analytics based on word clouds. In System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 1833-1842). IEEE.
Miley, F., & Read, A. (2011). Using Word Clouds to Develop Proactive Learners. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(2), 91-110.
Ramsden, A., & Bate, A. (2008). Using word clouds in teaching and learning.

Author: Silvia Benini


A <dfn>word cloud</dfn> is a graphic representation of a piece of text in which words are individually sized to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of the text. The amount of times a single word is put into a word cloud will determine the size of the word itself (i.e. the more a word is mentioned, the larger the word will appear in the image). Different images can be easily created with these words. Word clouds can be created from any type of texts including: class lectures, famous speeches, news articles, slogans, poems, websites or even words you have selected for a specific purpose.Word clouds can be used for different activities including:<strong>Reading:</strong>Word clouds can be used as a “pre-reading” activity to identify key ideas and prompt a discussion. They can be used also as an “after reading” activity by asking students whether the words in the cloud match the themes they identified on their own in the text proposed.<strong>Writing:</strong>Word clouds can be an effective tool for analyzing student writing, particularly at a formative stage. A word cloud will quickly show students the words they have been using too frequently in an essay and if they have stayed or not on topic. This will lead to a reflective activity on writing skill.<strong>Speaking:</strong>Word clouds are often used by journalists to analyze important speeches. Equally, they can be used to analyze conversations and presentations in the target language. Word clouds, in this context, will give students clues about themes to focus on while working on the full transcripts presented.The software here proposed is named <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> and it is a free platform that can be easily used to turn words  into a visually informative word cloud.  Once you have uploaded or copied a text into this platform, you will see that the most frequently used words will be emphasized in accordance with the tightness and the overall word count. Word clouds can provide an interesting visual analysis of any data while offering the opportunity to analyze them in-depth with your students. It is acknowledged that there are certain limitations to this approach (Heimerl, Lohmann et al. 2014) however, word clouds offer a summative and visually informative representation of the keywords in context.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:</span><li>Improve their writing and reading skills</li><li>Improve word recognition skills and vocabulary</li><li>Improve their critical thinking skills</li>
<b>Technology required </b><i><br />
</i><li>Any mobile device (smartphone, tablet computer) and/or laptop computer, desktop.</li><li>Internet connection is required.</li>
<b>Material and links</b>Please note that the following application is free:<li><a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a></li>
<b>Procedure</b><li>Click on the <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> link to access the website. Please note that Tagxedo requires Silverlight, and if you have it, you should see the application and the startup Tagxedo word cloud. Otherwise, please install Silverlight, which works on desktop Windows and Macs.</li><li> Click “Load” and add your text (by copying and pasting it from other texts) or click the area next to “Enter Text” and start typing your words.</li><li>Click “submit” once the desired text is entered</li><li>Choose a theme. There are many themes to choose from and they are located under respins on the toolbar.</li><li>You can now, choose a color. On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a toolbar which will allow you to select a color.</li><li>Select a font and a shape under the heading respins.</li><li>Select the orientation you would like your words to appear as. This option is available on the toolbar.</li><li>When you have finished, select “save” which is located at the top of the toolbar.</li>
<li>Tutorial on How to use  <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> :<br /><p data-wpview-marker=”%5Bembed%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6ZwVoqFP-NE%5B%2Fembed%5D”>.</p></li>
<br /><b>Suggestions for assessment </b>Word clouds can be used to create a <strong>grammar game</strong> in the language class: students, for example, can classify words from a cloud into different parts of speech or different tenses. In addition,  a <strong>sentence structure game</strong> can be created by presenting a complex sentence or short series of sentences into a word cloud, and have students reconstruct them in the correct word order.Word clouds can be used also to predict the content of a text (i.e.topics, style, purpose), to summarize a presentation or as a discussion starter (student can choose one word from the cloud to speak about).<b>Suggested next step  </b>This task can be linked to the <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/”>Words and meaning: intercultural competence and communication </a>activity.<strong>Bibliography</strong><br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Hayes, S. (2008). Wordle. <i>Voices from the Middle</i>, <i>16</i>(2), 66-68.</div><div class=”gs_citr”><br /></div>
Heimerl, F., Lohmann, S., Lange, S., & Ertl, T. (2014, January). Word cloud explorer: Text analytics based on word clouds. In <i>System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on</i> (pp. 1833-1842). IEEE.<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Miley, F., & Read, A. (2011). Using Word Clouds to Develop Proactive Learners. <i>Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning</i>, <i>11</i>(2), 91-110.</div>
<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Ramsden, A., & Bate, A. (2008). Using word clouds in teaching and learning.</div>
<strong>Author:</strong> Silvia Benini

A <dfn>word cloud</dfn> is a graphic representation of a piece of text in which words are individually sized to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of the text. The amount of times a single word is put into a word cloud will determine the size of the word itself (i.e. the more a word is mentioned, the larger the word will appear in the image). Different images can be easily created with these words. Word clouds can be created from any type of texts including: class lectures, famous speeches, news articles, slogans, poems, websites or even words you have selected for a specific purpose.Word clouds can be used for different activities including:<strong>Reading:</strong>Word clouds can be used as a “pre-reading” activity to identify key ideas and prompt a discussion. They can be used also as an “after reading” activity by asking students whether the words in the cloud match the themes they identified on their own in the text proposed.<strong>Writing:</strong>Word clouds can be an effective tool for analyzing student writing, particularly at a formative stage. A word cloud will quickly show students the words they have been using too frequently in an essay and if they have stayed or not on topic. This will lead to a reflective activity on writing skill.<strong>Speaking:</strong>Word clouds are often used by journalists to analyze important speeches. Equally, they can be used to analyze conversations and presentations in the target language. Word clouds, in this context, will give students clues about themes to focus on while working on the full transcripts presented.The software here proposed is named <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> and it is a free platform that can be easily used to turn words  into a visually informative word cloud.  Once you have uploaded or copied a text into this platform, you will see that the most frequently used words will be emphasized in accordance with the tightness and the overall word count. Word clouds can provide an interesting visual analysis of any data while offering the opportunity to analyze them in-depth with your students. It is acknowledged that there are certain limitations to this approach (Heimerl, Lohmann et al. 2014) however, word clouds offer a summative and visually informative representation of the keywords in context.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:</span><li>Improve their writing and reading skills</li><li>Improve word recognition skills and vocabulary</li><li>Improve their critical thinking skills</li>
<b>Technology required </b><i><br />
</i><li>Any mobile device (smartphone, tablet computer) and/or laptop computer, desktop.</li><li>Internet connection is required.</li>
<b>Material and links</b>Please note that the following application is free:<li><a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a></li>
<b>Procedure</b><li>Click on the <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> link to access the website. Please note that Tagxedo requires Silverlight, and if you have it, you should see the application and the startup Tagxedo word cloud. Otherwise, please install Silverlight, which works on desktop Windows and Macs.</li><li> Click “Load” and add your text (by copying and pasting it from other texts) or click the area next to “Enter Text” and start typing your words.</li><li>Click “submit” once the desired text is entered</li><li>Choose a theme. There are many themes to choose from and they are located under respins on the toolbar.</li><li>You can now, choose a color. On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a toolbar which will allow you to select a color.</li><li>Select a font and a shape under the heading respins.</li><li>Select the orientation you would like your words to appear as. This option is available on the toolbar.</li><li>When you have finished, select “save” which is located at the top of the toolbar.</li>
<li>Tutorial on How to use  <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> :<br /><p data-wpview-marker=”%5Bembed%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6ZwVoqFP-NE%5B%2Fembed%5D”>.</p></li>
<br /><b>Suggestions for assessment </b>Word clouds can be used to create a <strong>grammar game</strong> in the language class: students, for example, can classify words from a cloud into different parts of speech or different tenses. In addition,  a <strong>sentence structure game</strong> can be created by presenting a complex sentence or short series of sentences into a word cloud, and have students reconstruct them in the correct word order.Word clouds can be used also to predict the content of a text (i.e.topics, style, purpose), to summarize a presentation or as a discussion starter (student can choose one word from the cloud to speak about).<b>Suggested next step  </b>This task can be linked to the <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/”>Words and meaning: intercultural competence and communication </a>activity.<strong>Bibliography</strong><br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Hayes, S. (2008). Wordle. <i>Voices from the Middle</i>, <i>16</i>(2), 66-68.</div><div class=”gs_citr”><br /></div>
Heimerl, F., Lohmann, S., Lange, S., & Ertl, T. (2014, January). Word cloud explorer: Text analytics based on word clouds. In <i>System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on</i> (pp. 1833-1842). IEEE.<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Miley, F., & Read, A. (2011). Using Word Clouds to Develop Proactive Learners. <i>Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning</i>, <i>11</i>(2), 91-110.</div>
<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Ramsden, A., & Bate, A. (2008). Using word clouds in teaching and learning.</div>
<strong>Author:</strong> Silvia Benini

A <dfn>word cloud</dfn> is a graphic representation of a piece of text in which words are individually sized to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of the text. The amount of times a single word is put into a word cloud will determine the size of the word itself (i.e. the more a word is mentioned, the larger the word will appear in the image). Different images can be easily created with these words. Word clouds can be created from any type of texts including: class lectures, famous speeches, news articles, slogans, poems, websites or even words you have selected for a specific purpose.Word clouds can be used for different activities including:<strong>Reading:</strong>Word clouds can be used as a “pre-reading” activity to identify key ideas and prompt a discussion. They can be used also as an “after reading” activity by asking students whether the words in the cloud match the themes they identified on their own in the text proposed.<strong>Writing:</strong>Word clouds can be an effective tool for analyzing student writing, particularly at a formative stage. A word cloud will quickly show students the words they have been using too frequently in an essay and if they have stayed or not on topic. This will lead to a reflective activity on writing skill.<strong>Speaking:</strong>Word clouds are often used by journalists to analyze important speeches. Equally, they can be used to analyze conversations and presentations in the target language. Word clouds, in this context, will give students clues about themes to focus on while working on the full transcripts presented.The software here proposed is named <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> and it is a free platform that can be easily used to turn words  into a visually informative word cloud.  Once you have uploaded or copied a text into this platform, you will see that the most frequently used words will be emphasized in accordance with the tightness and the overall word count. Word clouds can provide an interesting visual analysis of any data while offering the opportunity to analyze them in-depth with your students. It is acknowledged that there are certain limitations to this approach (Heimerl, Lohmann et al. 2014) however, word clouds offer a summative and visually informative representation of the keywords in context.<span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:</span><li>Improve their writing and reading skills</li><li>Improve word recognition skills and vocabulary</li><li>Improve their critical thinking skills</li>
<b>Technology required </b><i><br />
</i><li>Any mobile device (smartphone, tablet computer) and/or laptop computer, desktop.</li><li>Internet connection is required.</li>
<b>Material and links</b>Please note that the following application is free:<li><a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a></li>
<b>Procedure</b><li>Click on the <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> link to access the website. Please note that Tagxedo requires Silverlight, and if you have it, you should see the application and the startup Tagxedo word cloud. Otherwise, please install Silverlight, which works on desktop Windows and Macs.</li><li> Click “Load” and add your text (by copying and pasting it from other texts) or click the area next to “Enter Text” and start typing your words.</li><li>Click “submit” once the desired text is entered</li><li>Choose a theme. There are many themes to choose from and they are located under respins on the toolbar.</li><li>You can now, choose a color. On the left-hand side of the screen, there is a toolbar which will allow you to select a color.</li><li>Select a font and a shape under the heading respins.</li><li>Select the orientation you would like your words to appear as. This option is available on the toolbar.</li><li>When you have finished, select “save” which is located at the top of the toolbar.</li>
<li>Tutorial on How to use  <a href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.tagxedo.com/”>Tagxedo</a> :<br /><p data-wpview-marker=”%5Bembed%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6ZwVoqFP-NE%5B%2Fembed%5D”>.</p></li>
<br /><b>Suggestions for assessment </b>Word clouds can be used to create a <strong>grammar game</strong> in the language class: students, for example, can classify words from a cloud into different parts of speech or different tenses. In addition,  a <strong>sentence structure game</strong> can be created by presenting a complex sentence or short series of sentences into a word cloud, and have students reconstruct them in the correct word order.Word clouds can be used also to predict the content of a text (i.e.topics, style, purpose), to summarize a presentation or as a discussion starter (student can choose one word from the cloud to speak about).<b>Suggested next step  </b>This task can be linked to the <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/__trashed-2/”>Words and meaning: intercultural competence and communication </a>activity.<strong>Bibliography</strong><br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Hayes, S. (2008). Wordle. <i>Voices from the Middle</i>, <i>16</i>(2), 66-68.</div><div class=”gs_citr”><br /></div>
Heimerl, F., Lohmann, S., Lange, S., & Ertl, T. (2014, January). Word cloud explorer: Text analytics based on word clouds. In <i>System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on</i> (pp. 1833-1842). IEEE.<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Miley, F., & Read, A. (2011). Using Word Clouds to Develop Proactive Learners. <i>Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning</i>, <i>11</i>(2), 91-110.</div>
<br /><div id=”gs_cit1″ class=”gs_citr”>Ramsden, A., & Bate, A. (2008). Using word clouds in teaching and learning.</div>
<strong>Author:</strong> Silvia Benini