Project work Compiled by Alla Otwynovska, a teacher of English Drabiv secondary school.
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Transcript of Project work Compiled by Alla Otwynovska, a teacher of English Drabiv secondary school.
Why use project work ?Work on projects in English lessons is a very good opportunity for students to use in practice what they already know theoretically. In his Introduction to project work Tom Hutchinson claims: “A foreign language can often seem a remote and unreal thing. This inevitably has a negative effect on motivation, because the students don’t see the language as relevant to their own lives” (Hutchinson, p. 11).
SOME ADVANTAGES OF PROJECT WORK ARE
Increased motivation All four skills Autonomous learning There are learning outcomes Authentic tasks Interpersonal relations Content and methodology Learners often get help from
parents A break from routine
Noise
The level of noise in lessons that are engaged in a project is probably much higher than in traditional lessons. Matt Wicks asserts that it can be a good sign which often means that children are enjoying the activity. If the noise is disturbing, the class and a teacher have to agree on some “quiet sign” (e.g. teacher rising or clapping hands). He or she should try to speak quietly and not to shout louder than children (Wicks, p. 11).
Using native language
. The problem with children speaking their first language instead of English may appear in monolingual classes. However, rather than seeing this as a problem Hutchinson tries to consider its merits. He persuades that L1 and the studied language are not two “completely separated domains”, but the learner who can operate them both may switch constantly and naturally from one to anotherAs long as the final product is presented in English, the usage of L1 does not matter.
Different levels
The aim for teachers should be to teach
all the students in a classroom in spite of
their different ways of learning, and learning
and progressing at different speeds.
Although it can be difficult for the teacher to
know about each student and to follow how
much he or she participates in the lesson, it
is important to try and reach their needs in a
variety of ways to achieve effective teaching
(Şalli-Çopur).
Choosing the project.There are many approaches in choosing the suitable
project. It can be related to the topic, vocabulary or
grammar that the students have already covered in the
course book or to the topics in which the students are
interested. The teacher may be also led by the
syllabus needs, cross curricular links or decide
according to the time amount which can be dedicated
to the project work. Phillips, Burwood and Dunford note that the best way how to start planning the new project is to think of the end product and then choose the activities that will ”lead to its successful completion” ((Phillips, Burwood, Dunford, p. 11). There is a wide range of final end-products which can be used: wall displays and posters, exhibitions, booklets, magazines or newspapers, models and presentations, reports, videos, various events such as a party or a theatre play etc
TimingHardy-Goud suggests that a project can be a
part of a course or it can be used on a special
occasion such as the end of the term. The most
common way is to use the projects to
consolidate the grammar or the vocabulary
covered and to extend them with new
expressions and vocabulary.
Another way of approaching a project work is
to “set aside one or two hours every week” and
let the students do the individual tasks as a part
of their homework (Hardy-Goud, p. 6).
I NTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT
The project work needs to be presented to the class in a “stimulating and enthusiastic way” (Wicks, p. 10). How to introduce the new project depends on the age of the children and their maturity. But it is essential to explain the final outcome. Teacher can discuss the end product with the children and explain what exactly they will do and how, what they will practice or learn, what they can expect and what is expected from them, the choices they will have, the rules they will have to follow
Setting goals
Students need to focus on a goal. It is advisable to begin with mini projects or to break the bigger project into smaller micro-tasks when the children are beginning with a project work, later they can progress to more extensive work. The goal may be the completion of the whole project or the conclusion of tasks (Wicks, p. 10)
Arragements
In order to create a positive working
atmosphere for the project work the layout
of the classroom can be changed. The
desks may be rearranged, so that students
sit facing each other. This will encourage
cooperation. One student from each group
can be nominated as a“ group secretary”
and write down notes and assist in
focusing the others on the task (Hardy-
Goud, p. 7).
Teacher’s role.
In the first stage there is an active part when the teacher explains important points to the whole class and clarifies any new language. Later when the students are left on their own working creatively, the teacher changes into a monitor, a resource and a facilitator.
Classroom management
Initially the children must know what to expect and what behaviour is permissible, the teacher must introduce the project carefully and establish the rules. It is important to plan the lessons very carefully even for the individual groups and start with a whole-class work before the different groups will be asked to do different tasks.
Presentation of the final product.Legutke and Thomas argue that many projects
have a form of presentation that is intended to
audience outside the group. This stage enables
the pupils to communicate in the target
language and to practise acquiring presentation
skills. The presentation itself is a short-time
event but it is preceded „by a preparatory
process of collective decision making, data
reorganization and skill acquisition.“ (Legutke
and Thomas 1991, p. 179)
Correcting.The teacher should be careful and realize
that language is only a part of the project
and that credit must be given mainly for
the overall impact. Firstly the drafts
should be corrected in a normal way in
order to let students incorporate
corrections in the final product. If the
errors occur also in there, the separate
sheet of paper may be attached to the
project or the corrections can be done in
pencil (Hutchinson, p. 21).
Classroom feedback
When planning the project it is important to earmark time for evaluation of the process and the product. The teacher should incorporate the feedback sessions into the timetable when the class can review what they have done, why they did it and how successful they have been.
Final avaluation
At the end Phillips, Burwood and Dunford bring some ideas for class review and evaluation such as looking and reviewing each other’s work, awarding prizes for the best contributions or selecting the best examples from the different groups for the class magazine or a wall display. They also concede that children, when they are used to doing evaluation tasks may be asked to decide how they would like to get feedback from the teacher and the other students in the class.
Example
of the evaluational tables of the project work
Student’s
name
The
Design of
the
document
Presentation
of the project
Lexical
level
Grammar
level
Urgency
Of the
information
Final
mark
Student’s
name
The Urgency of the
topic
Completeness
Technical
requirement
s
Quality of
the report
Presentation of
the project
Notes Final
mark