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PROJECT WORK
What is a Project Work? Project work involves the presentation of an extended piece of work on a certain topic usually provided by the teacher or the textbook, where the decision about the content and the presentation are taken by the learners themselves. Examples of Projects A project always starts from a theme that the students have studied in class. Havin a very flexible structure, the project work can be adapted to any a e or study level. !or example, a project havin the theme !amily can include" a pa e where students have to present their families, pictures with explanations. drawin a family tree and some dates about relatives from the previous enerations. writin a story about parents or randparents# life. comparin family mentality in different parts of the world. survey about the ideal family or about eneration ap. writin a script for a play about a family conflict The End Product $he end product is somethin , not about somethin . $he end product creates the for the student the feelin of usefulness, it directs his effort towards somebodythe tar et audience. %xamples of end products" leaflets posters ma a&ine or newspaper pa es book surveys 'accompanied by comments( uides small plays objects accompanied by usin instructions) advertisements case studies What Are the ain Characteristics of Project Work ?

Learner-centredness. *y takin decisions and workin to ether on the project, the students take the responsibility for their own learnin Personality. $he end product is the joint result of both individual and collaborative effort and therefore bears the mark of one person as an individual and as a member of a roup. Creativity. +tudents put a lot of ima ination and ori inal thinkin into carryin out the task. Adaptability. Project work fits all a es and levels of knowled e.

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an# Projects Are There? $imple Projects% are based on simple end tasks 'for instance, a pa e to illustrate their favourite food and their name in %n lish() or they are addressed to be inners, or they represent a sta e in makin a bi er project. Complex Projects -include many sta es and the end of such a project is also complex. Projects can be factual '.y $own(, includin real information and ima es, or fantastic '.y /deal $own(. $hey can be for a &roup and indi'idual, accordin to the abilities that the teacher intends to develop to a student. $hey can be made in class or outside the class, accordin to their content, resources, interests. What Are the (enefits of A Project Work? For the students language use. $hey will learn by usin the lan ua e they have studied ' rammar, vocabulary( in real situations. $hey#ll be learnin by doin , without realisin it consciously. For Communication. $he +tudents will be workin in a social roup and will have real reasons for practisin listenin , speakin , readin , writin skills and also a natural need to use functional lan ua e" askin for information, correctin someone, askin if someone is sure about0sayin they are sure of somethin , askin about likes and dislikes, comparin , askin for someone#s opinion, ivin an opinion, ivin reasons, a reein , disa reein , etc. For Students motivation. $he students will enjoy their task, feel positive about their work, and they will feel proud of the concrete result0 the end product. For the Students Attitude. $he students will develop a new outlook on work throu h cooperation and positive competition. For the Students Aptitudes. A lot of practical skills are re1uired throu hout the project work sessions" drawin out pictures and maps, arran in texts, cuttin out pictures, fillin in forms, makin up 1uestionnaires, takin down notes, atherin and or anisin information, interviewin , makin a survey, etc. For Educational Purposes. Project work makes a connection between learnin a forei n lan ua e and the other subjects in the curriculum, such as history, biolo y and eo raphy. .oreover it ensures linka e between the two cultures" %n lish one, in this case, and the learner#s culture. /t becomes thus, the main step forward towards the cross-curricular and cross cultural aims of any teachin pro ramme.

+teps in 2evelopin a Project 1. $he choice of a project is of reat importance. /t must not be too difficult at the be innin , it should fit their interests and it must be comprehensive that means allowin for enou h sub-tasks. /t is advisable to tackle the project by breakin it into several supportin activities or brid in activities. ,. %ach roup should or ani&e a box with materials they need in almost all their project work lessons" scissors, ruler, paper, coloured paper,

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cardboard, lue, paper clips, pins, etc. !or some other very specific materials they need, you should ask students to brin them in advance. A ood idea mi ht be to keep some ma a&ines and useful books and dictionaries at hand for 1uick reference. 4ntil the students develop an awareness of the project classes, keep remindin them beforehand about the date and the title of the project. $he best place for project work within a teachin unit is at the end of it, because it implies the practice of both new vocabulary and new structure althou h the total amount of lexical and rammatical lan ua e students need cannot be predicted. 6et the students or ani&ed in project roups and keep the project roups the same until the end of the year#s project work, so that the product is the measurable result of individual and cooperative effort. *efore startin the project lesson, you should discuss with the students the materials they need, the ways of achievin their project tasks and ive them some examples. 9hether in the shape of a poster or of a book, the presentation0display of the project is the most important element. :ou should encoura e the students to keep it neat and ive it an ori inal artistic 1uality. 2isplay corners of course, are or ani&ed accordin to the resources and space available to you. ana&ement

Project Work

Project work makes use a whole variety of steps in dealin with class, time and materials mana ement. Time mana&ement. Accordin to the complexity of the project and to the number of classes set for it, you can set" a project schedule ' steps, deadlines( activities made in class activities made at home deadlines for brainstormin , roup discussions, feed-back. aterials mana&ement $he teacher must su est and offer info resources that do not exceed students# level of understandin . $he resources can also be in their native ton ue, and usin them is twice more valuable" once because they stimulate the pupil to use handy resources, and because this puts him in the situation of selectin the information that he must translate afterwards. Helped by the students, the teacher can create data, pictures, ideas banks of concrete materials 'ma a&ines, posters, postcards,( thus developin their ability to or ani&e information.

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Class ana&ement ;lass mana ement is the key of a project work. Here are some < olden rules= made by $om Hutchinson, the author of <Project %n lish=" carefully prepare your activity) always use the techni1ues 'brainstormin , roup formation, alternate the activities-individual, pair-work, roup-work( don#t hurry the pupils use the children to demonstrate use the <workin noise= don#t ive up easily determine the pupils to think Assessin& $tudent)s Pro&ress *urin& Project Work+ /t may be a little difficult, but project work can be assessed provided that you keep in mind the followin " /t is your choice to decide when to assess 'at the end of what period of time or continuously as students# work in class( and how to assess 'e. . by observin their oral performance, by checkin their written work, etc. Accuracy is not the only aspect of the lan ua e that you should assess. !luency is at least as important. >an ua e is not the only element in a project to be evaluated. ;redit should be iven to creativity, ori inality, clarity, style, self-expression and ultimately to every rain of effort students have put into their work. %ven for teachers who worry a lot about the mistakes that occur there are ways to correct them without discoura in the students. :ou may ask them to do a kind of draft that you may correct, before the final version. ?n the final version only, point out the mistakes and let the students do the correctin themselves and let them adjust the decoration and layout.

*iblio raphy" 1. Achim A., ;omi@el %., 2inu !., .astacan >., Popovici A., $eodorescu %, Path"a# to En&lish, En&lish -actfile, Teacher)s (ook . , ?4P 1BBC ,. .inisterul %ducaDiei @i ;ercetErii, ;onsiliul FaDional Pentru ;urriculum, /hid metodolo&ic pentru aplicarea pro&ramei de lim0a en&le12, primar%&imna1iu, *ucure@ti ,GG1 3. Harmer, H., The Practice of En&lish 3an&ua&e Theachin&, >?F6.AF, 1BBC