Project work is not a new methodology. Its benefits have been widely recognized for many years in the teaching of subjects like Science, Geography, and History. Some teachers have also been doing project work in their language lessons for a long time, but for others it is a new way of working.
The aim of this booklet is to provide a simple introduction to project work. I shall explain what project work is, what benefits it brings, and how to introduce it into the classroom. I shall also deal with the main worries that teachers have about using project work in their classrooms. The ideas in this booklet are based on the real classroom experience of a large number of teachers and students of English. I hope that after reading it, you too will be encouraged to try project work. 1 Here is an example of a very straightforward and popular project: My Favourite Animal.
The students choose an animal and write about it. They illustrate the project with pictures (photographs, postcards, etc. ).
Project 1 2 Introduction to Project Work 2 Projects allow students to use their imagination and the information they contain does not always have to be factual. In this example of a project which required students to introduce themselves and their favourite things, the students pretend they are a horse. Project 2 by Katorina Pokorna and Klara Kucejova Introduction to Project Work 3 3 One of the great benefits of project work is its adaptability. Here are two examples of the same project task.
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Assume you have 2 classes, one group of 30 adolescents in a day-school, and one group of 15 adults who are learning English for business reasons. How do you think these two classes would differ? It should be understood from the outset that the three guiding considerations in any classroom context are the teacher, the student and the learning environment. These close and sometimes complex inter- ...
These two projects on The World were done by students at different levels. The first project is a poem using the simple present tense only. The second project, however, has been done by intermediate level students, who have been able to use a range of different structures. Project 3a by Megyeri Ildiko and Miklosi Timea 4 Introduction to Project Work Project 3b Introduction to Project Work 5 4 You can do projects on almost any topic. They can be factual (4) or fantastic (5).
Projects can, thus, help to develop the full range of the learners’ capabilities. Project 4 6 Introduction to Project
I shall deal with this important issue on page 18. Project 7 by Ivica Kukurova 8 Introduction to Project Work Introduction to Project Work 9 What are the common characteristics of these projects? Hard work Each project is the result of a lot of hard work. The authors of the projects have found information about their topic, collected or drawn pictures, written down their ideas, and then put all the parts together to form a coherent presentation. Project work is not a soft option. A project on Food might involve: • writing recipes • conducting surveys on favourite foods, what people eat for breakfast, etc.
Compiling a tourist guide to the restaurants in your town • describing eating habits in your country • finding out about and comparing the diets of rich and poor countries • writing about diet and health Creative The projects are very creative in terms of both content and language. Each project is a unique piece of communication, created by the project writers themselves. Personal This element of creativity makes project work a very personal experience. The students are writing about aspects of their own lives, and so they invest a lot of themselves in their project.
A project on Space might involve: • finding out and writing about early space flights • drawing space creatures • planning a city on the Moon • writing a science fiction story or play • making an advertisement or brochure about holidays in space • describing the latest space flight • finding out and writing about the planets, how rockets work, the problems of living in orbit, etc. Adaptable Project work is a highly adaptable methodology. It can be used at every level from absolute beginner to advanced and with all ages. As the examples show, there is a wide range of possible project activities, and the range of possible topics is limitless.
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Here are a few more possible topics and tasks: A project on Families might involve: • labelling a photograph of your family • drawing a family tree and writing about your ancestors • writing a story about your parents’ or grandparents’ life • comparing life today to life in your parents’ childhood • comparing different kinds of families in different countries • a survey on who does what in the home • writing a play about a family argument • writing a poem about your family These are just a few examples of possible topics and activities for project work.
Which activities are actually done will, of course, depend on many factors including the age, level, and interests of the learners, the resources available, and the constraints of time and space. But hopefully the examples given here indicate the potential range of things that you can do. So, let us now return to the original question: What is a project? In fact, the key to understanding project work lies not in the question What? , but rather in the question Who? Who makes the decisions? A project is an extended piece of work on a particular topic where the content and the presentation are determined principally by the learners.
The teacher or the textbook provides the topic, but as the examples in this section show, the project writers themselves decide what they write and how they present it. This learner-centred characteristic of project work is vital, as we shall see when we turn now to consider the merits of project work. 10 Introduction to Project Work 2 2 WHY DO PROJECT WORK ? It is not always easy to introduce a new methodology, so we need to be sure that the effort is worthwhile. What benefits does project work bring to the language class? This teacher from Spain expresses it very well:
