21st Century Language Skills

More Than a Word Cloud

OLGA FILATOVA
Miami University
Word cloud generating applications were originally designed to
add visual attractiveness to posters, websites, slide show presentations, and the like. They can also be an effective tool in
reading and writing classes in English as a second language
(ESL) for all levels of English proficiency. They can reduce reading time and help to improve writing skills and vocabulary
comprehension. They can also be used to address elements of
rhetoric in students essays and instructors assignment descriptions and syllabi. Word clouds can be used as a visual aid to
present new vocabulary and a study tool for quizzes. Most
applications work with printed and online texts and students
authentic writing. They find corpus vocabulary in texts and use
it to create word clouds. Knowing key words helps students
understand and summarize the texts they read. When students
determine which words they use most often in their writing,
they are advised to learn the spelling and collocations of those
words, find synonyms to avoid repetition, and use word maps
to create a particular tone of voice to sound (for example)
humorous or sad. This article introduces word cloud generators,
which are free, user-friendly online tools that can be easily
incorporated into ESL classroom activities to enhance student
learning experience.
doi: 10.1002/tesj.251

There is no argument that technology has become an integral

part of our students lives. They spend much of their time using
different electronic devices for leisure, social, and study purposes.
Hence, technology can be and has already become a powerful and
useful resource in the classroom. It is somewhat expected from a
modern day instructor that he or she is familiar with online
technologies and tools and regularly uses them in the educational
process. Various course management systems like Canvas and
Blackboard, Google+ tools, discussion and voice boards, journals
438

TESOL Journal 7.2, June 2016

2016 TESOL International Association

and blogs, Skype, Wiki, and many other emerging technologies

and apps are successfully used by instructors to create engaging
learning situations for learners of English as a second language
(ESL). Many textbooks come with an electronic workbook or other
supplemental electronic materials. I would like to add word cloud
generator applications to the list and describe how they can be
used in the ESL classroom.
According to Christopher Pappas, the six free best word cloud
apps are Word It Out, TagCrowd, Wordle, About ABCYa!, Word
Clouds, and Tagul (Pappas, 2013). Although the use of web clouds
in the classroom has been mentioned in a number of publications
and blogs (Gorman, 2012; Kern, 2012; Magana & Marzano, 2013;
Nelson, 2008; Smith, 2013), there is little or no discussion about its
benefits for ESL students. Word clouds can be used in reading and
writing ESL classes for all levels of English proficiency. They are
effective in addressing elements of rhetoric in students essays and
instructors assignment descriptions and syllabi. Their use can
reduce reading time and help improve writing skills and
vocabulary comprehension. Word clouds can be used as a visual
aid to present new vocabulary and a study tool for quizzes.

DESCRIPTION
Originally word cloud generating apps were designed to add
visual attractiveness to posters, websites, slide show presentations,
and the like. They work with printed and online texts and
students and instructors authentic writing. However, they
represent more than a visual tool. They identify key words in
texts. In other words, they find corpus vocabulary and use it to
create word clouds. The more often the word appears in the text,
the larger it will be on the word cloud. They, so to speak, give a
pictorial representation of the text. Users can change the fonts,
layouts, and colors of their word clouds. They can also print, copy,
make screenshots, and send or save their images. They have a
choice of either pasting in a text or entering a uniform resource
locator (url) to create a word cloud. Users also have an option of
randomizing different word cloud formats, completely deleting a
word from the cloud, or choosing a minimum number of words
they want to be shown. A detailed description of how to use the
More Than a Word Cloud

439

various applications is given on the app websites themselves and

is reflected in online publications by Michael Gorman, Christopher
Pappas, and Helen Smith (Gorman, 2012; Pappas, 2013; Smith,
2013).

WORD CLOUDS FOR READING

Whenever students are assigned an article or an online text to
read, they can create a world cloud prior to reading it. An
instructor can create a world cloud even before assigning the
article and use it for a pre-reading discussion. Looking at and
analyzing key words can help generate student interest in the text.
There could be a discussion on what the article might be about.
Students can make predictions and inferences about the main idea.
Then they can start working with vocabulary. They can look up
unknown key words from the cloud in the dictionary or translate
them. Since the words from the cloud would be repeated in the
text multiple times, knowing their meaning before starting to read
will reduce reading time and improve contextual comprehension.
In my experience, ESL students are more comfortable when
they have a list of words they can use to summarize the article or
produce an oral or written response to it. Word clouds provide
exactly thatthey create visually appealing lists of key words.
Word clouds can also be helpful with outlining and text
organization. They help to find main ideas and major and minor
supporting details. The larger the word on the word cloud is, the
more likely it can be found in sentences stating main ideas and
major supporting details. The next group of large words is likely
to be in sentences describing minor supporting details. If students
need to compare or contrast several articles, word clouds can help
them identify prominent features to compare or evaluate.
Example: The following article is assigned for reading: Brooks,
D. (2013, March 1). The learning virtues. New York Times. Retrieved
August 1, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/
opinion/brooks-the-learning-virtues.html?_r=2. Associated word
clouds are displayed in Figures 1 and 2.
The key words for the article are: Chinese, learning, students,
culture, American trend, emphasize, and school. They appear in the
sentences containing main ideas and major supporting details.
440

TESOL Journal

Figure 1. Word cloud for the article

Figure 2. A different word cloud for the same article

Students can look up in the dictionary the next group of large

words they might not know (e.g., curiosity, motto, arduous, innate,
virtues). These can be found in sentences describing major and
minor supporting details. Students can use corpus vocabulary to
predict the content of the article before reading it and then use it
for outlining and summarizing the reading.
More Than a Word Cloud

441

WORD CLOUDS FOR WRITING

Would clouds can be used with students authentic writing.
Finding key words in written texts can help in a number of ways.
Students with lower levels of English proficiency can determine
which words they use most often and learn their collocations. It
will help with repetitive mistakes. They can also look up
synonyms and antonyms of these words to avoid unnecessary
repetitions and improve the receptive and active vocabulary
command. Finally, they can learn the spelling of these words.
Students with higher levels of English proficiency can work
with word clouds to improve their writing style. They can try to
replace the most repeated words with more descriptive synonyms.
Word clouds also help to check the focus of the writing, so
students can shift it if they are not happy with the outcomes.
Word clouds can help in creating a particular tone of voice in
writing. First, students would have to create a word web to sound
humorous, sad, neutral, and so on. For example, if they want to
sound humorous, they would list the words they associate with
humor. They could be laughter, funny, smile, joy, and so on. Then
they create the second layer and list the words they associate with
funnyfor example, joke, clown, laughter, giggles, chuckles, irony,
paradox. Then they would list the words they associate with smile
for example, happy, blush, grin. If students consistently use the words
from their word web in their actual writing, they will achieve the
desired tone of voice. Then they can use a word cloud app to check
how many words from their word web they see in the word cloud.
If the words from the web appear on the cloud, it is most likely that
a student has created the desired tone of voice, and the paper will
indeed sound funny or humorous (or whatever tone was sought).
When students need to write reports or synthesize several
sources in their writing, word clouds can help identify key
elements that need to be included.
Example: A Chinese student Lulu Liu (intermediate level of
English proficiency) writes the following paragraph:
Last Friday afternoon, I took part in the activity called Canvas
Learning U in Shriver Center. This activity lasted whole day
from 9am to 5pm. When I got to the Shriver Center after the
442

TESOL Journal

classes, the activity was about to end. Actually, I was going to

find my friends because they told me I could join in the activity
and win a prize. This is an activity designed to teach faculty and
students how to use Canvas learning management system. It had
two processes. First, we needed to finish the questions on the
Canvas that followed the instructions, including how to submit
the assignment, how to add the comment, how to see grades and
so on. Then we watched the video about Canvas. You also could
receive an interview. You could say the thoughts or comments
about the Canvas or anything about yourself. I did not do this
because I was so nervous to face the camera. This activity was
quite helpful for us to learn how to use Canvas. And we also got
the delicious candies, and wore props which let you look hilarious. Then we took pictures. It was an interesting study activity.

The word cloud for her writing is displayed in Figures 3 and 4. The
student can see that she repetitively uses the words Canvas and
activity (Figure 3). In the second draft of her paragraph, she replaced
the word activity with seminar, gathering, and workshop (Figure 4).

WORD CLOUDS FOR INSTRUCTOR

Instructors can use word clouds to check the focus and the tone of
voice in syllabi and assignment descriptions and also to fill in the
time gaps during the lesson. Creating a word cloud from a
syllabus can be insightful. Do the large words on a word cloud
represent what we want our students to take from reading
assignment instructions or the syllabus? Word clouds can help
instructors to tweak their writing to sound more precise,
understandable, student-friendly, and informative.

Figure 3. Word cloud for students writing

More Than a Word Cloud

443

Figure 4. Word cloud for the same writing

When instructors are conducting in-class conferences or doing

other instruction-related tasks like taking attendance, students can
create word clouds out of vocabulary lists. They can randomize
them and thus revise the vocabulary and learn it. Students can
create word clouds out of popular song lyrics, poems, and short
stories to generate discussions and engage in group work. Word
clouds can be good time fillers and time management tools.
Example: A professor explains a group multimedia project
assignment:
You know that coming to a foreign country to study can be a
nerve-wracking experience. Now that you have been in the US
and at Miami University for several months, you probably have a
better idea of the information that would have helped prepare you
for the new culture and educational system. Working in groups,
you will compose a multimedia texta film, a web page, a hypertext document, a guidebook, anything that incorporates writing
and other media (sound and/or images)that will act as a guide
for incoming international students. You may look at anything
from finding a good place to eat in Oxford to US college culture to
getting help on assignments. You will draw on your own collective digital expertise and make use of the resources in the library.
444

TESOL Journal

Writing Guidelines:

The text should contain multiple sections (at least three), each
with a different topic.
The group should discuss and agree on what topics to
include in the text.
All group members must work together on this project.
I will be handing out a survey before the draft day to make sure that
everyone is doing their part.

After seeing the word clouds (Figure 5), the professor replaced
anything with a more specific word. In addition, she decided to
emphasize multimedia context of the project. Overall, the word
cloud helped students understand the rhetoric. The key words
text, group, and culture appear in the revised cloud (Figure 6).

WORD CLOUDS AS PRESENTATION TOOLS

Word clouds are most widely used to enhance visual appeal of
slide show presentations and computer and white board screens,
and the like. ESL instructors and students can use them for the

Figure 5. Word cloud for assignment description

More Than a Word Cloud

445

Figure 6. Different word cloud for the same assignment description

Figure 7. Word cloud for vocabulary presentation

same purposes. In addition to that, word clouds can be a way of

presenting new vocabulary. This will most likely be appreciated
by visual and kinesthetic learners as well as younger students.
Kinesthetic learners can randomize the clouds on their computers
or phone screens to remember new vocabulary.
Example: Instructor needs to introduce the following words:
anecdote, appropriate, associate, cautious, conduct, cycle, enthusiasm,
investor, morale, norm, reward, and trend (Freire & Jones, 2012, p.
29). Associated word clouds are displayed in Figures 7 and 8.
446

TESOL Journal

Figure 8. Randomized word cloud for the same vocabulary

Figure 9. Word cloud for this article

EXPERIMENT AND SHARE!

As we can see, word cloud generating apps can be used by ESL
learners and instructors to create more engaging learning
situations and enhance the quality of the learning process. The
uses and benefits of word clouds mentioned above are just some
of many possible, so I invite instructors and students to
More Than a Word Cloud

447

experiment and find their own unique ones! The word cloud for
this article is displayed in Figure 9.

THE AUTHOR
Olga Filatova has taught ESL for 15 years at intensive English
language programs, community colleges, tutoring companies, and
universities in the United States, Great Britain, Turkey, and Russia.
She believes in a student-centered, project-based communicative
approach to teaching that uses students personal and cultural
experience to motivate their learning. She is currently a visiting
assistant professor in the English/American English and Culture
Program at Miami University of Ohio.

REFERENCES
Freire, R., & Jones, T. (2012). Q: Skills for success: Listening and
speaking 4. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gorman, M. (2012, May). 12 valuable Wordle tips you must read.
Retrieved from https://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2012/
05/14/12-valuable-wordle-tips-you-must-read-word-clouds-ineducation-series-part-1/
Kern, J. (2012, November). Word clouds in education: Turn a toy
into a tool. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/
word-clouds-in-education-turn-a-toy-into-a-tool
Magana, S., & Marzano, R. (2013). Enhancing the art and science of
teaching with technology. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.
Nelson, C. (2008). Wordle: A neat tag cloud generator. Explorations in
learning. Notes on writing, teaching and learning. Retrieved from
http://secondlanguagewriting.com/explorations/Archives/
2008/June/WordleANeatTagCloudGener.html
Pappas, C. (2013, November). The 5 best free word cloud creation
tools for teachers. Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.
com/the-5-best-free-word-cloud-creation-tools-for-teachers
Smith, H. (2013, AutumnWinter). Make your own Wordle.
Retrieved from http://eltaf.de/fileadmin/Images/
Newsletters/ELTAF_NL_2013_03_Autumn.pdf

448

TESOL Journal