This presentation defines projects and gives suggestions for incorporating them into university level classrooms.

1. Using Projects to Increase Interaction JoAnn Miller miller@room20.org www.efltasks.net

2. What is a Project? An extended piece of work on a particular topic where the content and presentation are determined principally by the learners. The beginning organization begins in class, the student completes the task at home and then reports back to the class in some way. Projects can be manual, oral only, visual, etc.

3. It’s a dynamic approach to teaching Students explore the real world Work in small collaborative groups Cross-curriculum skills Real-life problem solving activity Inspires students to get more knowledge Develop confidence and self-direction

4. Common characteristics Hard work Creative Personal Adaptable

5. And an EFL project? Look at the textbook unit Not the grammar---the theme Food Vacations Travel Inventions Historical people Movies

6. Why do projects work? Motivation Personal Learning through doing Sense of achievement Educational value Independent investigation Cross-curricular studies Relevance Integration with other skills Real needs of learners Language and culture

7. What should they produce? Power point presentation (flash) with oral or recorded presentation Movie Recorded by students Recorded by teacher Blog, Wiki, Website Some format that they will commonly use in the future in their field

8. Oral and Written / Accuracy and Fluency All projects should contain practice in both pairs. Accuracy comes with rehearsal. This is what they prepare for the class presentation. Fluency is unrehearsed. This is practiced in Q-A after the presentation.

9. Introduction to the project T helps Ss to understand the theme (schemata) and objectives (brainstorm, pictures, personal experience, previous examples) Ss may do a pre-activity for vocabulary building or pre-investigation Ss can be given preparation time to think about project or discuss it in groups.

10. Project 3: Reader Objective: You will read a “reader” that the teacher has approved (this book is donated to the English Department after completing the project). You will make a diorama (maqueta) based on your favorite scene in the book. You will present a brief oral report telling the teacher what your book was about and you will answer three questions about the book. Diorama: Must be creative and involve more than 10 minutes of work before class. It must represent some scene in the book, including characters, background, etc. Report: You will tell the teacher about the book and answer three questions. Grading: Diorama (15 points): Creativity: 15 points (if you don’t really work on this, you will lose points) Report (15 points): Oral report about reader (7 points), Answers to teacher’s questions (8 points) Due date: Give reader to teacher: November 19 (at the latest) Diorama: November 24, 1998 (no late material accepted)

11. Project Development related to something being done in class. It can be used to provide practice in a structure, improve vocabulary, introduce culture or investigate a theme.

12. Preparation Preparation is what the Ss do at home and it prepares for next stage where Ss report to whole class or teacher on how they did task and what the outcome was. Ss draft, rehearse and record in some fashion what they want to say. T helps advising Ss, before, during and after class

13. In-class Presentation T asks Ss to report what they did briefly to whole class so everyone can compare findings or the T interviews the Ss individually or in groups. They show movie or use pp presentation

14. Evaluation-Rubrics "a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work…" (Heidi Goodrich) list the things the student must have included to receive a certain score or rating. help the student figure out how their project will be evaluated.

15. Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org

16. Projects at the University Level One of the greatest problems of all university-level students, no matter what their level of English, is the inability to communicate at the formal level required in the professional community. They can order a hamburger, but they can’t give a formal business presentation or contribute in a meeting.

17. Students should know How to dress for a presentation What register to use How to prepare and organize presentations in English What is different between a presentation in English and one in Spanish--wordiness, organization

18. Suggested topics by level of English: Low Beginners Introduction to their fields of study build a glossary of terms in English investigate work opportunities in the field investigate how English is used in the field investigate exactly what skills are involved in their future occupation

19. Suggested topics by level of English: High Beginner Relate field of study to “reality”: Find scenes in movies, television shows or songs representing the field of study, present them and relate them to Mexico Find professional articles in English used in field. Read them and summarize the main ideas.

20. Suggested topics by level of English: Low intermediate History of the field Discover how the field began Investigate important people in the field Find case studies of the work the field does What changes have occurred in the field in the last 20 years

21. Suggested topics by level of English: Intermediate Interpersonal presentations Do a roleplay of a meeting, solving a problem Do a roleplay of an experience meeting the public Set up a booth to provide other students of the university information about the field Interview someone in the field in a public setting

22. Suggested topics by level of English: High Intermediate + Professional presentations Develop a presentation in the field and present it to a group of students. The presentation should be of a type that would be commonly used in the field--a new product, a new idea, a campaign, etc. Support with visuals, etc.

23. An example: Tourism Beginner: common to all High Beginner: Find a movie about a tourist guide and say why it is or isn’t realistic Low Intermediate: Report on the life of Conrad Hilton Intermediate: Set up a booth in the school giving information about study abroad opportunities Ss have found on the internet. High Intermediate: Presentation about a new tourist complex, try to sell condominiums

24. An example: Graphic Design Beginner: common to all High Beginner: Find a magazine about graphic design in English and talk about it in class Low Intermediate: Report on the changes in advertising graphics in the last 20 years Intermediate: Bring in a graphic designer and talk about one of his/her recent productions High Intermediate: Design a visual presentation for a product and try to sell it to a company

25. An example: Psychology Beginner: common to all High Beginner: Bring a short article from a psychology journal and explain the main ideas Low Intermediate: Report on a case study Intermediate: Do a roleplay about an adolescent with problems and his counselor High Intermediate: Present a brief paper as in a convention

26. A handout available at: www.efltasks.net Take time to look around….there are a number of downloadable and online activities for all levels

27. Thank you. JoAnn Miller miller@room20.org Handout available at: www.efltasks.net Presentations