MINISTRYOF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF UKRAINE
IVANFRANKO NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF L’VIV
COLLEGEOF EDUCATION
PROJECTWORK IN TEACHING ENGLISH
Course paper
presented by
a 4th-year student
Ivanna Linitska
Supervised by
Zadunayska Y. V.,
Teacher of English
L’VIV– 2010
Tableof Contents
Introduction
Chapter I. Project Work in Teaching English
1.1 Characteristics of Project Work
1.2 Types of Project Work
1.3 Organizing Project Work
Chapter II. Examples of Project Work Activities
2.1 Project Work Activities for the Elementary Level
2.2 Project Work Activities for the IntermediateLevel
2.3 Project Work Activities for the Advanced Level
Conclusions
List of References
Introduction
Thetheme of the course paper is “Project Work in Teaching English”.
Theobjectives of the paper are to highlight the importance of project work inteaching English, to describe its main peculiarities and types, to discover howit influences the students during the educational process and if it helps tolearn the language.
Theproblem of using project work in teaching English is of great importance.Project work is characterized as one of the most effective methods of teachingand learning a foreign language through research and communication, differenttypes of this method allow us to use it in all the spheres of the educationalprocess. It involves multiskill activities which focus on a theme of interestrather than of specific language tasks and helps the students to develop theirimagination and creativity. Nevertheless, teachers are not keen on the idea ofproviding project work into their lessons because of the disadvantages thismethod has. The main idea of project work is considered to be based on teachingstudents through research activities and stimulating their personal interest.
Theresearch topic of the course paper is the process of teaching and learning aforeign language with the help of project work.
Theresearch focus of the paper is the content of project work activities.
Theresearch tasks are set as follows: to describe the principal characteristics ofproject work, to identify the types of projects and to analyse their benefitsand pecularities, to analyse the project work organizing procedure.
Thefundamental researches in the given field were carried out by such prominentscientists and methodologists as Legutke M., Thomas H., Heines S., Brumfit C.,Hutchinson T., Fried-Booth D. and others.
Legutkeand Thomas in their book “Process and Experience in the Language Classroom”suggest and analyse three types of projects: encounter projects, which enablestudents to make contact with native speakers; text projects which encouragestudents to use English language texts, either a range of them to research atopic or one text more intensively, for example, a play to read, discuss,dramatize, and rehearse; class correspondence projects which involve letters,audio cassettes, photographs, etc. as exchanges between learners in differentcountries.
Anotherexplorer of the Project Work Method, Brumfit, in “Communicative Methodology inLanguage Teaching” provides the analysis of projects in which advanced adultstudents elect to work in groups to produce a radio programme about their owncountry. A range of topics, for example, ethnic groups, religion, education,are assigned to the groups, who research their topic and write and rehearse ascript.
Hutchinsonin “Introduction to Project Work” dwells upon a project on ‘Animals in Danger’for secondary school students, in which they use knowledge from Science andGeography to research threatened species, write an article, and make a poster.
Fried-Boothin his book “Project Work” suggests a more teacher-directed example suitablefor junior learners at an elementary level, in which they are asked to collectfood labels or wrappings from tins, cartons, packets, etc. for a period of aweek. These are used to create a wall display with a map of the worldillustrated with the labels, which are attached to the relevant countries oforigin and export with coloured threads and pins. The map is then used for oralpractice and controlled writing.
Anotherscientist, Haines, in “Projects for the EFL Classroom” considers four types ofproject work, namely: informational and research projects, survey projects,production projects, and performance and organizational projects.
Thetheoretical value of the course paper is in the generalization and detailedanalysis of the fundamental characteristics of project work, the differencebetween the types of project work and their effectiveness.
Thepractical value of the paper lies in the selection of various project workEnglish teaching procedures.
ChapterI. Project Work in Teaching English
1.1Characteristics of Project Work
Aproject is an extended piece of work on a particular topic where the contentand the presentation are determined principally by the learners. The teacher orthe textbook provides the topic, but the project writers themselves decide whatthey write and how they present it. This learner-centred characteristic ofproject work is vital, as we shall see when we turn now to consider the meritsof project work. It is not always easy to introduce a new methodology, so weneed to be sure that the effort is worthwhile. Students do not feel thatEnglish is a chore, but it is a means of communication and enjoyment. They canexperiment with the language as something real, not as something that onlyappears in books. Project work captures better than any other activity thethree principal elements of a communicative approach.
Theseare:
a)a concern for motivation, that is, how the learners relate to the task.
b)a concern for relevance, that is, how the learners relate to the language.
c)a concern for educational values, that is, how the language curriculum relatesto the general educational development of the learner. [7,40]
Aproject is an extended task which usually integrates language skills through anumber of activities. These activities combine in working towards an agreedgoal and may include planning, gathering of information through reading,listening, interviewing, discussion of the information, problem solving, oralor written reporting, display, etc.
Learners'use of language as they negotiate plans, analyse, and discuss information andideas is determined by genuine communicative needs. At the school level,project work encourages imagination and creativity, self-discipline andresponsibility, collaboration, research and study skills, and cross-curricularwork through exploitation of knowledge gained in other subjects. Successful useof project work will clearly be affected by such factors as availability oftime, access to authentic materials, receptiveness of learners, thepossibilities for learner training, and the administrative flexibility ofinstitutional timetabling. [1,38]
Project work leads to purposefullanguage use because it requires personal involvement on the part of thestudents from the onset of a project, students, in consultation with theirinstructor, must decide what they will do and how they will do it, and thisincludes not only the content of the project, but also the languagerequirements. So from this point project work emerges as a practicalmethodology that puts into practice the fundamental principles of acommunicative approach to language teaching. It can thus bring considerablebenefits to our language classroom, like:
· Increased motivation- learners become personally involved in the project.
· All four skills,reading, writing, listening and speaking, are integrated.
· Autonomous learningis promoted as learners become more responsible for their own learning.
· There are learning outcomes-learners have an end product.
· Authentic tasksand therefore the language input are more authentic.
· Interpersonal relationsare developed through working as a group.
· Content and methodologycan be decided between the learners and the teacher and within the groupthemselves so it is more learner centred.
· Learners often get help from parentsfor project work thus involving the parent more in the child's learning. If theproject is also displayed parents can see it at open days or when they pick thechild up from the school.
· A break from routineand the chance to do something different.
· A context is establishedwhich balances the need for fluency and accuracy.[1,40]
Itwould be wrong to pretend that project work does not have its problems. Teachersare often afraid that the project classroom will be noisier than thetraditional classroom and that this will disturb other classes in the school, butit does not have to be noisy. Students should be spending a lot of the timeworking quietly on their projects: reading, drawing, writing, and cutting andpasting. In these tasks, students will often need to discuss things and theymay be moving around to get a pair of scissors or to consult a reference book,but this is not an excuse to make a lot of noise. If students are doing asurvey in their class, for example, there will be a lot of moving around andtalking. However, this kind of noise is a natural part of any productiveactivity. Indeed, it is useful to realize that the traditional classroom hasquite a lot of noise in it, too. There is usually at least one person talkingand there may be a tape recorder playing, possibly with the whole class doing adrill. There is no reason why cutting out a picture and sticking it in aproject book should be any noisier than 30 or 40 students repeating a choraldrill. The noise of the well-managed project classroom is the sound ofcreativity.
Projectwork is a different way of working and one that requires a different form ofcontrol. Students must take on some of the responsibility for managing theirlearning environment. Part of this responsibility is learning what kind of, andwhat level of noise is acceptable. When we introduce project work we also needto encourage and guide the learners towards working quietly and sensibly. [7,112]
Thiskind of work is time-consuming of course, it takes much longer to prepare,make, and present a project than it does to do more traditional activities.When we are already struggling to get through the syllabus or finish thetextbook, we will probably feel that we do not have time to devote to projectwork, however good an activity it may be. There are two responses to thissituation:
1.Not all project work needs to be done in class time. Obviously, if the projectis a group task, most of it must be done in class, but a lot of projects areindividual tasks. Projects about My Family, My House, etc. can be done at home.
2.When choosing to do project work we are making a choice in favour of thequality of the learning experience over the quantity. It is unfortunate thatlanguage teaching has tended to put most emphasis on quantity. And yet there islittle evidence that quantity is really the crucial factor. What really mattersin learning is the quality of the learning experience.
3.Project work provides rich learning experiences: rich in colour, movement,interaction and, most of all, involvement. The positive motivation thatprojects generate affects the students’ attitude to all the other aspects ofthe language programme. Learning grammar and vocabulary will appear morerelevant because the students know they will need these things for theirproject work. [7,120]
Thestudents will spend all their time speaking their mother tongue. This is trueto a large extent. It is unlikely that most students will speak English whilethey are working on their project. However, rather than seeing this as aproblem, we should consider its merits:
a)it is a natural way of working. It is a mistake to think of L1 (the mothertongue) and L2 (the language being learnt) as two completely separate domains.Learners in fact operate in both domains, constantly switching from one to theother, so it is perfectly natural for them to use L1 while working on a L2product. As long as the final product is in English it does not matter if thework is done in L1.
b)project work can provide some good opportunities for realistic translationwork. A lot of the source material for projects (leaflets, maps, interviews,texts from reference books, etc.) will be in the mother tongue. Using thismaterial in a project provides useful translation activities.
c)there will be plenty of opportunities in other parts of the language course forlearners to practice oral skills. Project work should be seen as a chance to practicethat most difficult of skills, writing.
Someteachers are concerned that without the teacher’s firm control the weakerstudents will be lost and will not be able to cope. But not all students wantor need the teacher’s constant supervision. By encouraging the more ablestudents to work independently we are free to devote our time to those studentswho need it most. One group may have ‘finished’ the project after a couple ofhours and say they have nothing to do than remind them that it is theirresponsibility to fill the time allocated to project work and discuss ways theycould extend the work they have already completed. [11,237]
Assessmentof project work is another difficult issue. This is not because project work isdifficult to assess, but because assessment criteria and procedures vary fromcountry to country. So there are two basic principles for assessing projectwork:
a)not just the language
Themost obvious point to note about project work is that language is only a partof the total project. Consequently, it is not very appropriate to assess aproject only on the basis of linguistic accuracy. Credit must be given for the overallimpact of the project, the level of creativity it displays, the neatness andclarity of presentation, and most of all the effort that has gone into itsproduction. There is nothing particularly unusual in this. It is normalpractice in assessing creative writing to give marks for style and content,etc. Many education systems also require similar factors to be taken intoaccount in the assessment of students’ oral performance in class. So awide-ranging ‘profile’ kind of assessment that evaluates the whole project isneeded.
b)not just mistakes
Ifat all possible, we should not correct mistakes on the final project itself, orat least not in ink. It goes against the whole spirit of project work. Aproject usually represents a lot of effort and is something that the studentswill probably want to keep. It is a shame to put red marks all over it. Thisdraws attention to the things that are wrong about the project over the thingsthat are good. On the other hand, students are more likely to take note oferrors pointed out to them in project work because the project means much moreto them than an ordinary piece of class work. There are two useful techniquesto handle the errors:
•Encouraging the students to do a rough draft of their project first. Correctingthis in their normal way. The students can then incorporate corrections in thefinal product.
•If errors occur in the final product, correcting in pencil or on a separatesheet of paper attached to the project. A good idea was suggested by a teacherin Spain to get students to provide a photocopy of their project. Correctionscan then be put on the photocopy. But fundamentally, the most important thingto do about errors is to stop worrying about them. Projects are realcommunication. When we communicate, we do the best we can with what we know,and because we usually concentrate on getting the meaning right, errors in formwill naturally occur. It is a normal part of using and learning a language.Students invest a lot of themselves in a project and so they will usually makeevery effort to do their best work. [13,106]
Projectwork provides an opportunity to develop creativity, imagination, enquiry, andself-expression, and the assessment of the project should allow for this.
Projectwork must rank as one of the most exciting teaching methodologies a teacher canuse. It truly combines in practical form both the fundamental principles of acommunicative approach to language teaching and the values of good education.It has the added virtue in this era of rapid change of being a long-established and well-tried method of teaching./>
1.2Types of Project Work
Project work involves multi-skill activitieswhich focus on a theme of interest rather than specific language tasks. Inproject work, students work together to achieve a common purpose, a concreteoutcome (e.g., a brochure, a written report, a bulletin board display, a video,an article for a school newspaper,etc). Haines identifies fourtypes of projects:
1. Information and research projectswhich include such kinds of work as reports, displays, etc.
2. Survey projects which may alsoinclude displays, but more interviews, summaries, findings, etc.
3. Production projects which foreseethe work with radio, television, video, wall newspapers, etc.
4. Performance/Organizationalprojects which are connected with parties, plays, drama, concerts, etc.[1,65]
What these differenttypes ofprojects have in common is their emphasis on student involvement,collaboration, and responsibility. In this respect, project work is similar tothe cooperative learning and task-oriented activities that are widely endorsedby educators interested in building communicative competence and purposefullanguage learning. However, it differs from such approaches, it typicallyrequires students to work together over several days or weeks, both inside andoutside the classroom, often in collaboration with speakers of the targetlanguage who are not normally part of the educational process.
Students in tourism, for example,might decide to generate a formal report comparing modes of transportation;those in hotel/restaurant management might develop travel itineraries. In bothprojects, students might create survey questionnaires, conduct interviews,compile, sort, analyze, and summarize survey data and prepare oralpresentations or written reports to present their final product. In theprocess, they would use the target language in a variety of ways: they wouldtalk to each other, read about the focal point of their project,writesurvey questionnaires, and listen carefully to those whom they interview. As aresult, all of the skills they are trying to master would come into play in anatural way.
Let us consider, for example, theproduction of a travel brochure. To do this task, tourism students would firsthave to identify a destination, in their own country or abroad, and thencontact tourist agencies for information about the location, includingtransportation, accommodations in all price ranges, museums and other points ofinterest, and maps of the region. They would then design their brochure bydesignating the intended audience, deciding on an appropriate length for theirsuggested itinerary, reviewing brochures for comparable sites, selectingillustrations, etc. Once the drafting begins, they can exchange material,evaluate it, and gradually improve it in the light of criteria they establish.Finally, they will put the brochure into production, and the outcome will be afinished product, an actual brochure in a promotional style. Projects allowstudents to use their imagination and the information they contain does notalways have to be factual. [1,80]
Oneof the great benefits of project work is its adaptability. We can do projectson almost any topic. They can be factual or fantastic. Projects can, thus, helpto develop the full range of the learners’ capabilities. Projects are oftendone in poster format, but students can also use their imagination toexperiment with the form. It encourages a focus on fluency.
Eachproject is the result of a lot of hard work. The authors of the projects havefound information about their topic, collected or drawn pictures, written downtheir ideas, and then put all the parts together to form a coherentpresentation.
Theprojects are very creative in terms of both content and language. Each projectis a unique piece of communication, created by the project writers themselves.This element of creativity makes project work a very personal experience. Thestudents are writing about aspects of their own lives, and so they invest a lotof themselves in their project.
Projectwork is a highly adaptable methodology. It can be used at every level fromabsolute beginner to advanced. There is a wide range of possible projectactivities, and the range of possible topics is limitless.
Positivemotivation is the key to successful language learning, and project work isparticularly useful as a means of generating it.
Anotherpoint is that this work is a very active medium like a kind of structuredplaying. Students are not just receiving and producing words, they are:
•collecting information;
•drawing pictures, maps, diagrams, and charts;
•cutting out pictures;
•arranging texts and visuals;
•colouring;
•carrying out interviews and surveys;
•possibly making recordings, too.
Lastly,project work gives a clear sense of achievement. It enables all students toproduce a worthwhile product. This feature of project work makes itparticularly well suited to the mixed ability class, because students can workat their own pace and level. The brighter students can show what they know,unconstrained by the syllabus, while at the same time the slower learners canachieve something that they can take pride in, perhaps compensating for theirlower language level by using more photos and drawings. [14,320]
Aforeign language can often seem a remote and unreal thing. This inevitably hasa negative effect on motivation, because the students do not see the languageas relevant to their own lives. If learners are going to become real languageusers, they must learn that English is not only used for talking about Britishor American things, but can be used to talk about their own world.
Firstly,project work helps to integrate the foreign language into the network of thelearner’s own communicative competence. It creates connections between theforeign language and the learner’s own world. It encourages the use of a widerange of communicative skills, enables learners to exploit other spheres ofknowledge, and provides opportunities for them to write about the things thatare important in their own lives.
Secondly,it helps to make the language more relevant to learners’ actual needs. Whenstudents use English to communicate with other English speakers, they willwant, and be expected, to talk about aspects of their own lives – their house,their family, their town, etc. Project work thus enables students to rehearsethe language and factual knowledge that will be of most value to them aslanguage users.
Anotherimportant issue in language teaching is the relationship between language andculture. It is widely recognized that one of the most important benefits of learninga foreign language is the opportunity to learn about other cultures andEnglish, as an international language, should not be just for talking about theways of the English – speaking world, but also as a means of telling the worldabout one’s own culture. [16,157]
Thereis a growing awareness among language teachers that the process and content ofthe language class should contribute towards the general educationaldevelopment of the learner. Project work is very much in tune with modern viewsabout the purpose and nature of education:
1.There is the question of educational values. Most modern school curricularequire all subjects to encourage initiative, independence, imagination, self-discipline, co-operation, and the development of useful research skills.Project work is a way of turning such general aims into practical classroomactivity.
2.Cross-curricula approaches are encouraged. For language teaching this meansthat students should have the opportunity to use the knowledge they gain in othersubjects in the English class.
Sowe can come to the conclusion that project work activities are very effectivefor the modern school curricula and should be used while studying.
1.3Organizing Project Work
Although recommendations as to thebest way to develop projects in the classroom vary, most are consistent withthe eight fundamental steps. Though the focus is upon the collaborative task,the various steps offer opportunities to build on the students’ heightenedawarenessof the utility of the language by working directly on language in class. Inshort, language work arises naturally from the project itself, ‘developingcumulatively in response to a basic objective, namely, the project’ [2,57].Strategically orchestrated lessons devoted to relevant elements of languagecapture students’ attention because they have immediate applicability to theirproject work.
Step I: Defining a theme.
In collaboration with students, weidentify a theme that will amplify the students’ understanding of an aspect oftheir future work and provide relevant language practice. In the process,teachers will also build interest and commitment. By pooling information,ideas, and experiences through discussion, questioning, and negotiation, thestudents will achieve consensus on the task ahead.
Step II: Determining the finaloutcome.
We define the final outcome of the project(e.g.,written report, brochure, debate, video) and itspresentation (e.g., collective or individual). We agree on objectives for bothcontent and language.
Step III: Structuring the project.
Collectively we determine the stepsthat the students must take to reach the final outcome and agree upon a timeframe. Specifically, we identify the information that they will need and thesteps they must take to obtain it (e.g., library research, letters, interviews,faxes). We consider the authentic materials that the students can consult toenhance the project (e.g., advertisements from English magazines, travelbrochures, menus in English, videos, etc.). Decide on each student’s role andput the students into working groups. If they are not used to working together,they may need help in adapting to unsupervised collaboration. They may also bea little reluctant to speak English outside the classroom with strangers.
Step IV: Identifying language skillsand strategies.
There are times, during project work,when students are especially receptive to language skills and strategy practice.We consider students’ skills and strategy needs and integrate lessons into thecurriculum that best prepare students for the language demands associated withSteps V, VI, and VII.
1. We identify the language skillswhich students will need to gather information for their project (Step V) andstrategies for gathering information. If students will secure information fromaural input, we show them how to create a grid for systematic data collectionto facilitate retrieval for comparison and analysis.
2. We determine the skills andstrategies that students will need to compile information that may have beengathered from several sources and/or by several student groups (Step VI).
3. We identify the skills andstrategies that students will need to present the final project to their peers,other classes, or the headmaster (Step VII). As they prepare theirpresentations, they may need to work on the language (written or spoken) offormal reporting.
Step V: Gathering information.
After students design instruments fordata collection, we have them gather information inside and outside theclassroom, individually, in pairs, or in groups. It is important that students‘regard the tracking down and collecting of resources as an integral part oftheir involvement’ in the project.
Step VI: Compiling and analysinginformation.
Working in groups or as a wholeclass, students should compile information they have gathered, compare theirfindings, and decide howto organize them for efficient presentation.During this step, students may proofread each other’s work, cross-reference orverify it, and negotiate with each other for meaning.
StepVII: Presenting final product.
Studentswill present the outcomeof their project work as a culminatingactivity. The manner of presentation will largely depend on the final form ofthe product. It may involve the screening of a video; the staging of a debate;the submission of an article to the school newspaper or a written report to theheadmaster; or the presentation of a brochure to a local tourist agency orhotel.
StepVIII: Evaluating the project.
Inthis final phase of project work, students and the teacher reflect on the stepstaken to accomplish their objectives and the language, communicative skills,and information they have acquired in the process. Theycan discuss thevalue of their experience and its relationship to future vocational needs. Theycan also identify aspects of the project which could be improved and/orenhanced in future attempts at project work.[2,105]
First of all, we should alwaysconsider the students’ long-term language needs. Though it may be difficult, weshould try to identify the social and professional contexts that they will haveto function in and to think of projects students can undertake that requirethem to use the language in a way that resembles their ultimate use.
Secondly, we should consider thelinguistic skills that students will have to employ in these contexts. Projectsthat require practice in those skills would be most useful. If students have tomanage a lot of fax traffic, the project’s subsidiary tasks should involvethose types of activity.
Thirdly, consider what is feasible.One popular projectinvolves querying travelers as they pass through anairport terminal or major train station.
Although an airport/train station isthe ideal place to ask questions and to find English speakers to answer them,there may be no international airport or major train station at hand to use forthis purpose. If this is the case, there is no point in insisting that studentsinterview native speakers of English. At the same time, teachers should notabandon the ideaof a project altogether if ideal circumstances are notavailable. Since most professional conversation in English is probably carriedon among non-native speakers, students will benefit equally from projects thatput them in touch with speakers of varieties of world English. In addition,there are numerous sources of material in English that can be obtained at nocost with a formal letter of request and then sifted, compared, and summarized.In other words, we should not give up simply because a pool of native speakersor authentic printed material is unavailable close to home.
Finally, we should do a lot of planning.Although the project approach requires student input and decision-making in theinitial phase of project definition, the teacher’s understanding of the outcomeand the steps needed to achieve project objectives is crucial. Therefore,before introducing the project, the teacher should identify topics of possibleinterest, the educational value of the outcome, corresponding activities, andthe students’ material or cognitive needs in conducting the project. There aremany schools where curricula demands, the lack of equipment, schedulingproblems, issues of insurance, administrative rigidity, and the like precludeinstructional innovations like project work.[6,240]
Incorporating project work into moretraditional classrooms requires careful orchestration and planning. Studentswho are not used to functioning autonomously, who may even be accustomed toclose control and monitoring, may find it hard to take control of their ownactivity. Therefore, we should ease them into it by planning cooperative, smallgroup work beforehand.
Similarly, many teachers encounterresistance from school administrators when they challenge the status quo withthe project approach. Traditional schools that are governed by strict curriculaguidelines and systematic testing are frequently not the most receptiveenvironments for project work. Some administrators, for example, may complainthat the elaborate activities associated with project work do not preparestudents for required exams. Yet, if the underlying objective of the educationalprocess is to build the students’ ability to use the language fluently in novelsituations, project work will carry them a lot closer to meeting that objectivethan more conventional work on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Project work can only be effectivewhen teachers relax control of their students temporarily and assume the roleof guide or facilitator. The teacher can play an important role by diligentlyoverseeing the multiple steps of project work, establishing guidelines, helpingstudents make decisions, and providing instruction in the language when it isneeded. Giving students freedom to immerse themselves in the project can leadto motivated and independent learners, but it requires a certain flexibility onthe part of the instructor if students are to benefit maximally.
ChapterII. Examples of Project Work Activities
2.1Project Work Activities for the Elementary Level
TheClass Contract
l.Divide the class into pairs. Ask each pair to draw up two lists: what theyexpect of you and what they think you should expect of them. Give them aboutfifteen minutes for this. Meanwhile you make a list of what you expect of themand what you think they should expect of you.
2.Tell your students that you want to draw up a contract with them basedonthe expectations that they and you have just noted down. Divide the board intotwo columns: ‘(your name) Agrees to’ and ‘The class agrees to’. Appoint a classsecretary to make a fair copy of what you are about to write on the board andgive them a sheet of paper to write it on. Nobody else need write anything.Negotiate with the class, on the basis of what you and they wrote down, whatthey can expect of you and you are willing to abide by, and vice versa. Draw upan agreed wording on the board for the secretary to copy. When it is complete,you and all your students must sign the secretary's fair copy.
3.Take the fair copy of the contract. Make enough copies to give one to eachstudent. Distribute the copies next lesson and stick the original on theclassroom wall. If any new students join the class, invite them to read thecontract and sign it. Give them a copy too.
4.At regular intervals, once a week in a one-month course, or beginning, mid andend of terms in a one-year course, hold a brief discussion with the class onhow well everyone is abiding by the contract. If you are all doing well, giveyourselves a round of applause. If not, discuss what is going wrong and whatyou might do about it. This might include discussion as to whether you areslipping or the demands of the contract are unrealistic.
Davidagrees to give motivating lessons, maintain a good relationship with the class,be honest and critical, respond to initiatives, attend regularly and bepunctual, correct homework promptly and thoroughly and to speak English out ofclass.
Thesignature of the teacher
Weagree to cooperate and participate
attendregularly and be punctual
todo homework thoroughly
tospeak English in class all the time except for words
wedon’t know
behonest and critical
hesignature of the students
SymbolShadows
1.Write the quotation by Rabrindinath Tagore “What you are you do not see, whatyou see is your shadow.” on the board. Discuss it briefly with your students.Then draw a symbolic representation of your own ‘shadow’ on the board — varioussymbols that in some way represent you and things/people that are important toyou. When you have drawn your shadow explain the symbols to your students.
2.Ask them to draw their own shadows. When they have done that, if you have asmall class, ask them one by one to explain their shadow to everyone else. Ifyour class has more than around a dozen students, divide the class into groupsof between six and a dozen to do the cams. If you remain in whole-classformation, make sure the explanations are directed towards everyone in theclass, not just you. If you have groups, monitor them discreetly, again makingsure the explanations are directed towards their colleagues rather than you.
3.As a follow-up task, either in class or for homework, ask your students towrite up the explanation of their symbols.
Hereis an example of shadows done by a student with her own explanation of thesymbols:
Itis a sort of box because I’m very closed in myself, and with a locker because Ido not let everybody in. In it there is a book, a radio/tape recorder and a TV,it is mainly what I spend my days doing when I am not at school or studying.There are also faces of boys and girls: these are my friends, and they are in alittle box apart because I do not reveal myself to them, I do not have as manyclose friends as I would like.
Beatriz
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TheHappiness Cake
1.Ask everyone to think for a moment about the ingredients for happiness. Telleveryone to imagine they are going to bake a happiness cake. What ingredientsand what spices would they put in? Ask them to work alone and write down the ingredientsand spices for their cake. Allow five minutes for this.
2.If you have a small class, ask each member in turn to tell the others about theingredients and spices for their cake. You tell them your list last. If youhave a larger class, divide it into groups of six to dozen, and get them to dothe same. Monitor the groups and when they have finished, ask them to reportback to the whole class. Again tell them your ingredients and spices last.
WhatWent Right? What Went Wrong?
1.Talk to your students about your own good and bad learning experience and theextent to which these correlated with good and bad relationships with yourteachers.
2.Tell your students to draw two columns. In the first they are to list teachersthey remember getting on well with and in the other those they got on badlywith. Divide the class into groups of four or five and ask them to tell oneanother about these teachers and effect they had on their learning.
3.Bring the students back together as a whole class and ask them what they feelare the main things that contribute to a good relationship between students andtheir teacher. The most important thing is regular, honest communication,because everything else both depends on this and can be remedied through this.Your students may come up with other points but be sure to emphasis theimportance of regular, honest communication.
Variation
Asa follow up, either in class or for homework get your students to write abouttheir positive and negative learning experience.
Ifa Table Could Speak
1.Draw an object, e.g. a table, on the board. Tell the students that your objectis the starting point for a picture you would like the class to create and thatyou would like them to come up to the board one at a time and add more thingsto it. Tell them that they can draw absolutely anything except people and thatquality of the drawing does not matter. The picture is finished when there areabout a dozen items in it.
2.Put the chalk or board pen where everyone can reach it easily – make sure theyknow where it is. Then get out of the way and let them draw the picture.
3.When the picture is reasonably complete declare the picture ready. If yourclass has had to come out to the front, send them back to their usual places.
4.Divide the class into pairs. Ask the pairs to choose any two items. In thepicture write a dialogue between them of about ten lines. Tell your studentsthey must not mention the name of their items in the dialogue. For example, ifit is a dialogue between the table and a plant, the plant must not say, ‘Hello,table. How are you today?’ but just, ‘Hello, how are you today?’ Give a timelimit of fifteen minutes. First reaction to this task would usually be a gaspof shock, but they should quickly get used to the idea. Keep out of the way forabout five minutes while they settle. Then be available to help withvocabulary, etc. If you are not needed, do not hover, just sit down out of theway. As they are finishing, go round and check they have not mentioned thenames of the ‘speakers’ in their dialogue as this will ruin Step 5.
5.When they have finished, ask the pairs in turn to read aloud their dialogue,each partner taking a part. The others in the class must guess which item istalking to which. This phase is very good for making students read loud andclearly as colleagues will not otherwise understand.
2.2Project Work Activities for the Intermediate Level
Magnet,Island or Bridge
1.If you have a magnet, show it to the class and check if they know what it iscalled. Otherwise, you may need to explain it in the next step. On the boarddraw three columns, heading them respectively ‘magnet’, ‘island’ and ‘bridge’.Divide your class into pairs and ask them to draw up a list of characteristicsin the columns on the board.
2.Ask your students to think for a moment about theway they act in various social contexts, for example at parties, with colleagues,in the family – more like a magnet, an island or a bridge. Divide the classinto groups to discuss the problem briefly.
3.Ask them, still in groups, to discuss which attitude – the magnet, the islandor the bridge – is most conductive to a good working environment in class andwhat that implies in term of actual behaviour.
4.Discuss as a class the findings of the groups. They should feel that being abridge is the most conductive and that it implies a spirit of co-operation,participating, helping others. At the same time a magnet may on occasions actas a catalyst to encourage shyer members of the class when/how a magnet mightbe a positive element in a class and when/how a negative one.
5.Extend the discussion to how bridges can be formed out of class. Draw up a liston the board.
6.Give your students a few minutes to discuss with those sitting near them which ofthese ideas they feel are most appropriate to them and how they intend toimplement them. It is better in this phase to let pairs/groups formspontaneously than to impose them. Ask a few members of the class whatconclusion they came to.
EncouragingReading
1.Initiate an informal discussion on your student’s reading habits in their ownlanguage. Ask which of them are in the habit of readingregularly inEnglish outside class. Ask what kind of things they read and where they gettheir reading material from.
2.Put it to the class that for most learners regular reading out of class isabsolutely essential to reach an advanced language level – it is one of the bestways of expanding vocabulary and probably the only way to get a good sense ofstyle. Tell them you are going to work with them to set up a framework thatencourages them to read regularly.
3.The first hurdle is to find a source of suitable books. With the help of yourstudents, write a list on the board of possible sources of books in English.Tell them to copy it into their notebooks. It will probably look like this:
a)public lending libraries;
b)school libraries;
c)bookshops;
d)each other.
Discusswith the class which of these sources is/are most readily available.
4.Arrange with your students for all to bring a book to class the lesson afternext so that everyone can get an idea of what their colleagues are going toread.
5.When the class brings their books, ask each student to set a realistic targetdate to read their book by. Tell them that the date must be agreed with you.Draw up a class list of author/title/target date for all their books and fixthis to the classroom wall.
6.As target dates are reached, check on progress, do not be 'heavy' if they do notachieve their targets but remind them that they are the ones who set the targetdates and that you do expect them to finishsoon.
7.As students finish their books, ask them to fill in information about the booksthey have read on a ‘book recommendation sheet’, which you van fix to the wallfor your students to consult. It might look like this:
RecommendedReading
AuthorTitle Interest Difficulty Comments Reader
For‘Interest’ and ‘Difficulty’ it is best to use a scale, for example one to five,to indicate the degree of interest and difficulty.
Variation
Thesame broad principles apply to listening. Below is a list of possible sourcesfor material:
a)English-speaking people that students meet
b)television programmes
c)films (original or subtitled), film clubs
d)videos
e)theatre
f) radio
g)songs
h)spoken word cassettes
Discusswith your students which of these are available locally. Draw their attentionto the help that images give in understanding and to the high level ofconcentration needed when listening, which is quickly tiring. Follow-ups forlistening are more difficult to set up than for reading. Once again, in generalencourage reflection. Here are possible headings for a ‘recommended listeningsheet’ that you can fix to the classroom wall:
CultureProject
1.Initiate a discussion with your students about their interests. Ask them abouthow they might link those interests to their study of English. Put it to themthat they could extendan interest or begin a new one by doing aproject on some aspect of English-speaking culture. Tell them that they canchoose anything they like within that, only that atthe end of theproject they must produce something to presentto theothersin the class — orally or in writing. This canbe something quite modest butits purpose is simply to provide some kind of objective. If you get areasonably positive response, go on to Step 2.
2.Tell them that the hardest part is often choosing the project. So give them copiesof the handout given below:
Exampletopics for personal culture projects
1.History
a)A long period, e.g. the Elizabeth era, the Victorian era
b)A short period, e.g. the American Civil War, Henry VIII and the Reformation
c)An incident and the events surrounding it, e.g. the Spanish Armada, the WallStreet Crash
2.Geography
a)A country you do not know about where English is spoken, e.g. one of theCaribbean or Pacific islands
b)A region or state in an English-speaking country, e.g. Florida, Wales,Queensland
c)A city or town, e.g. Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Auckland
3.People and their work
a)Statesmen and women, e.g. Gandhi, Churchill, Lincoln
b) Scientists,e.g. Newton, Darwin, Einstein
c)Artists of all kinds, e.g. The Beatles, Constable, Blake, Jane Austen, Shaw
d)Entertainers, e.g. Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Marilyn Monroe
e)Individuals, e.g. Martin Luther King, Bede, Dr Johnson
4.Other areas
a)Traditions and customs, e.g. Pancake Day, Thanksgiving
b)The Royal Family
c)Political institutions
d)Castles, stately homes and gardens
e)Folk music
f)Food and cooking
g)Porcelain and pottery, e.g. Wedgwood, Royal Doulton
h)Sport
i)Ways of being, e.g. attitudes, norms, taboos, behaviours
Askyour students each to decide on their project to tell you next lesson.
3.Next lesson ask each student what their project is going to be about and make anote of it. If more than one wants to work on a particular area, suggest theywork in a pair, but discourage more than two students working on one project.There are so many to choose from that it is a pity not to have a wide range.Agree a target date for completion of the project and presentation to the class- in a one-month course it will have to be near the end of the course, in ayear-long course towards the end of the term you start the project in. Tellyour students that you will ask them from time to time how their projects aregoing and will set aside some class time to discuss progress and to deal withany problems.
Variation
Mini-projectshave great success, where the students identify some small thing aboutEnglish-speaking culture they want to know about and have just one lesson in alibrary to find out. You accompany them to the library and help them find thematerials they need. The next lesson they report back what they found. Amongthe mini-projects which may be suggested are: willow-pattern pottery,Shakespeare’s life, the historical King Arthur, prehistoric monuments inBritain, Elgar, Liverpool and child labour in Victorian England.
2.3Project Work Activities for the Advanced Level
Takingthe Plunge
1.Ask your class what they think are the main problems of being a more advancedlearner. They usually talk about difficult vocabulary, complex structures andother language items. Accept these points but put it to them that there isoften a much more fundamental problem, namely how they go about their learning.If any student raises any of the more fundamental areas outlined in thehandout, use this as a direct springboard into the next step.
2.Give each student a copy of the following handout.
Beingagood advanced learner
Manylearners of English manage to reach a level where they can understand, speakand write for everyday purposes. Yet only a relatively small proportion ofthese people ever become genuinely advanced users of the language, though manymake the attempt. As you are just beginning a course in more advanced English,it is important for you to be aware of what you need to do and how to go aboutit, so that you can make a success of your course.
Youare going to read a short text, with a series of tasks to do as you read. Thiswill provide an opportunity to reflect on your learning and, through youranswers to the tasks, will give your teacher valuable information about you asa learner, so that he or she can give you greater guidance for the future.
Beyondspoon-feeding
Inmany language courses the teaching at lower levels tends to follow a pattern ofwhat could be described as 'spoon-feeding' — the teacher chooses the elementsof the language to teach (the food), plans how to present it (puts it onto aspoon) and teaches (feeds) the learners with it, as if they were children.However, just as children become progressively more independent and in duecourse have to assume full responsibility for themselves as adults, so learnersof a language, as they advance, have to become more independent and assumegreater responsibility for their own learning.
Tobe successful at an advanced level, you will have to commit yourself not onlyto attending classes but also to spending a substantial amount of time studyingout of class. This should partly be directed by your teacher (homework andpreparation) and partly through your own initiative.
Atypical student with three to five hours of English classes per week shouldexpect to spend about the same number of hours studying out of class — doinggrammar exercises and writing tasks, learning vocabulary, reading extensively,and so on. The fewer hours you have with a teacher, the more you will have towork on your own. Without this kind of commitment you cannot expect to make alot of progress.
1.How many hours of English classes do you have each week?
2.How many more hours can you commit to learning English each week?
Itis easy to commit yourself to a theoretical number of hours per week, butunless you set aside particular days and times, you will keep finding you aretoo busy doing other things. So decide now which days and times you are goingto dedicate to studying English.
3.In the light of your commitment, how much progress do you expect to make? Inwhat areas (e.g. listening/speaking/reading/writing, accuracy/fluency)? Bespecific about your objectives.
Waysof studying
Makinggood progress depends not only on how much time you spend but also how you goabout studying. For example, how do you organise the things you want to learn?
4.Write about how you organise the notes you take in class and the things youwant to learn when studying on your own.
5.What techniques do you use to memorise things?
6.When you are studying alone, you need good reference materials. Whatdictionaries, grammar books and other materials do you have?
Thequantum leap
Ironically,one of the greatest problems that often arises among more advanced learners isthe fact that they can already function in English for a lot of everydaypurposes and, instead of extending their knowledge, go on just using what theyalready know. To be successful at an advanced level, thin is not enough. Youhave to make a ‘quantum leap’, in other words a significant jump towardssomething much more sophisticated and wide-ranging. You have to aim to functionlike a mature, well-educated native speaker of the language. This means thatyou need to be able to draw upon your experience of the world and to have areasonable, though not specialist, knowledge of any subject you are speaking orwriting about. The content is vitally important, because if this is toolimited, your language will be correspondingly limited — you won't need and thereforewon't use more advanced structures and vocabulary.
7.How old are you?
8.What areas do you feel you have some knowledge about?
9.In what areas do you feel you have very little knowledge?
Thereare three areas that contribute substantially to making the quantum leap andparticularly to writing in a more sophisticated way: observation, imaginationand thinking.
10.Do you consider yourself to be good at
a)observing
b)imagining
c)thinking
Explainyour answers.
Goodluck with your advanced course.
Askthem to read the text and answer the questions. Set a time limit of thirtyminutes. Tell your students that you will want to collect the completedhandouts in to read, but that you are interested in what they say, not in howcorrect the English is. With students that finish early, take the opportunityto speak to individuals and discuss some of their answers.
3.When they have finished, initiate a discussion about what they have read andwritten. Ask them if they feel they have learnt anything important that theyperhaps hadn't thought about before. Encourage an exchange of views among themembers of the class. Collect in the completed handouts.
4.Later, go through the handouts, noting down any points you want to use forfeedback and any you want to keep for your own reference. Make comments on thehandouts about the contents where you feel this would be helpful to the studentbut don't correct. In a follow-up lesson, preferably the lesson immediatelyfollowing, go over any points that emerged from the handouts. In particular,you may want to draw attention to reference materials you would recommend.
Variation
InStep 3, after the students have completed their handouts, put them into groupsof four to compare and discuss what they wrote. In particular, ask them todiscuss the specific contexts where the quantum leap would be important and thesort of tasks that might involve the three areas of observing, imagining andthinking. This can be very valuable but you will need to set aside about twentyminutes extra.
Upsand Downs
1.Initiate a discussion on ‘ups and downs’ – when we feel better or not so good.Draw the first to these graphs on the board, showing your own ups and downs.Explain your day rhythms with reference to the graphs.
/>A) Day Rhythms
Best
Worst
midnight 3 6 9 midday 15 18 21 midnight
/>B) Week Rhythms
Best
Worst
Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun
am pm am pm am pm am pm am pm am pm am pm
/>C) Year Rhythms
Best
Worst
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Askyour students to copy the graphs and complete them with their own rhythms. Whenthey are ready, ask them to explain their graphs to their colleagues. If yourclass has more than about twelve students, divide the class into groups of upto twelve for this phase; monitor them and when they have finished get thegroups to report to the whole class the kinds of things they found.
English-SpeakingCountries
1.Divide the class into pairs. Ask the pairs to draw up a list ofEnglish-speaking
speakingcountries, that is to say, countries where English is an official language
oris widely spoken. Be available to help supply the names of countries inEnglish.
2.On the board draw five columns and head them with the names of the main continents.Ask your students for the names of the countries they wrote down in Step 1and write them in the appropriate column. When you have exhausted their lists,add any others you feel they should know. The main countries are:
Europe: Cyprus,Gibraltar, Ireland, Malta, The United Kingdom
Africa: Botswana,The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, SierraLeone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Asia: Bangladesh,Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Australiaand the Pacific: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga
TheAmericas: Canada, The United States, Belize, many of the Caribbean islands,including The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico,StLucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, the Falkland Islands
3.Explain to the class that you want them to do a project on one of thesecountries but not on England or the United States. Tell the class to formgroups of three or four. Let your students choose their partners, while making sureno individuals get left out. Ask each group to choose a country. Allow morethan one group to work on the same country – they often use quite differentapproaches and present interestingly different work – but you may decide youwant your students to do different work on as broad a range of countries aspossible, in which case they should all choose different countries.
4.When your students have chosen their countries, ask each group, for yourreference, to give you a piece of paper with the names of the members in theirgroup and which country they are going to work on.
5.Establish with the class the following:
a)how much you want each student to contribute to the project;
b)the content — set an upper limit of one third dedicated to the generalbackground (geography and history, currency, industries, etc.) and insist thatthe greater part should be dedicated to the use of the English language, e.g.the role of English, how it differs fromstandard British/AmericanEnglish, periodicals published in English, literature, etc. The possible areasof focus here vary considerably from country to country and you may need todiscuss with each group those areas that would offer the most potential, e.g.the question of language variety is more appropriate where most or all of thepopulation is English-speaking, the periodicals published in English are morerelevant where English is one of the many languages used in the country;
c)the deadline by which the project must be handed in.
6.Discuss with your students what sources of information they are going to use. Studentswork mostly from five sources:
a)encyclopedia entries;
b)books;
c)newspaper and magazine articles;
d)computer programs;
e)information from embassies, high commissions and tourist offices.
Youmay be able to provide support from material you yourself possess — this iswhere it is useful to have a list of groups and their countries, so that youknow who to give it to.
CONCLUSIONS
Theobjectives of the paper were to highlight the importance of the project work inteaching English, to discover how it influences the students during theeducational process and if this type of work in the classroom helps to learnthe language.
Onthe basis of the literary sources studied we can come to the followingconclusions that project work has advantages like the increased motivation whenlearners become personally involved in the project; all four skills, reading,writing, listening and speaking, are integrated; autonomous learning ispromoted as learners become more responsible for their own learning; there arelearning outcomes -learners have an end product; authentic tasks and thereforethe language input are more authentic; interpersonal relations are developedthrough working as a group; content and methodology can be decided between thelearners and the teacher and within the group themselves so it is morelearner-centred; learners often get help from parents for project work thus involvingthe parent more in the child's learning; if the project is also displayedparents can see it at open days or when they pick the child up from the school;a break from routine and the chance to do something different.
Thedisadvantages of project work are the noise whichis made during the class, also projects are time-consuming and the students usetheir mother tongue too much, the weaker students are lost and not able to copewith the task and the assessment of projects is very difficult. However, everytype of project can be held without any difficulties and so with everyadvantage possible.
Thetypes of projects are information and research projects, survey projects,production projects and performance and organizational projects which can beperformed differently as in reports, displays, wall newspapers, parties, plays,etc.
Though projectwork may notbe theeasiest instructional approach to implement, the potential pay-offs are many.At the very least, with the project approach, teachers can break with routineby spending a week or more doing something besides grammar drills and technicalreading.
The organization of project work mayseem difficult but if we do it step by step it should be easy. We should definea theme, determine the final outcome, structure the project, identify languageskills and strategies, gather information, compile and analyse the information,present the final product and finally evaluate the project. Project workdemands a lot of hard work from the teacher and the students, nevertheless, thefinal outcome is worth the effort.
Throughoutthe course paper we can see that project work has more positive sides thannegative and is effective during the educational process. Students are likelyto learn the language with the help of projects and have more fun.
Toconclude, project work is effective, interesting, entertaining and should beused at the lesson.
LISTOF REFERENCES
1. Haines S. Projects for the EFL Classroom:Resource materials for teachers. – Walton-on-Thames: Nelson, 1991. – 108p.
2. Phillips D., Burwood S., DunfordH. Projects with Young Learners. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. –160p.
3. Brumfit C. CommunicativeMethodology in Language Teaching. The Roles of Fluency and Accuracy. – Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1991. – 500p.
4. Fried-Booth D. Project Work. – Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1990. – 89p.
5. Hutchinson T.Introductionto Project Work. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. – 400p.
6. Legutke M., Thomas H. Processand Experience in the Language Classroom. – Harlow: Longman, 1991. – 200p.
7. Phillips D., Burwood S., DunfordH. Projects with Young Learners. Resource Books for Teachers – Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1999. – 153p.
8. Ormrod J. F. EducationPsychology: Developing Learners. – Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. –627 p.
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11. Finegan E. Language: ItsStructure and Use (3rd edition). – Oxford: Heinemmann, 1999. – 158p./>
12. Estaire S., Zanon J. PlanningClasswork. A task-based approach. – Oxford: Heinemmann, 1994. – 93p.
13. Lavery C. Focus on BritainToday. Cultural Studies for the Language Classroom. – London: MacmillanPublishers Ltd, 1993. – 122p.
14. Ribe R., Vidal N. Project Work.Step by Step. – Oxford: Heinmann, 1993. – 94p.
15. Wicks M. Imaginative Projects.A resource book of project work for young students. – Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2000. – 128p.
16. Зимняя И. А., Сахарова Т. Е.Проектная методика обучения английскому языку // Иностранные языки в школе.,1991. – №3 – С.9-15.
17. Полат Е. С. Метод проектов на урокахиностранного языка // Иностранные языки в школе., 2000. – №2 – С.3-10 — №3 –С.3-9.
18.Gray S. Communication through Projects. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.– 350p.
19.Morris P. The Management of Projects. – London: Thomas Telford Services Ltd.,1994. – 450p.
20. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project
Work