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

Possible drawbacks

NoiseTimeUsing L1Different levels

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).

 

Planning the project

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).

Managing the project

Stages of the project

1. Realization

2. Planning

3. Presentation of an output 4. Evaluation

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)

Feedback and avaluation.

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

References

Tom Hutchinson, Introduction to Project Work,

Oxford University Press 1991

Haines S (1989) Projects for the EFL classroom

Further Reading

Phillips D, S Burwood & H Dunford (1999) Projects

with Young Learners

Oxford: OUP

Fried-Booth D (1986) Project Work Oxford: OUP