Филологические науки / 5.Методы и приемы контроля уровня владения иностранным языком

Kenzhebekova S.K.

English teacher of school gymnasium No. 49, Taraz, Kazakhstan

A Method of projects in teaching English

In the European languages the word “project” is borrowed from Latin: the participle “projectus” means “thrown out forward”, “striking one’s eye”. With reference to a lesson of foreign language, the project is specially organized by the teacher and independently carried out by pupils’ complex of the actions, finished with creation of a creative product. A method of projects, thus, is the set of educational and cognitive modes which allow solving this or that problem as a result of independent actions of children with obligatory presentation of results.

Let’s result some examples how to achieve at once at the lesson with the help of project methods the several purposes - to expand children’s vocabulary, to fix the investigated lexical and grammatical material, to create at the lesson an atmosphere of a holiday and to decorate a cabinet of foreign language with colorful works of children.

The work with the projects teacher can realize in groups and individually. It is necessary to note, that the method of projects helps children to seize such competences as: to be ready to work in collective, to accept the responsibility for a choice, to share the responsibility with members of the team, to analyze results of activity.

Projects can help pupils to make their own choices about what they learn, involving different skills and promoting creativity. That is to say, project work is one of the effective ways to learn how to study in the atmosphere of tolerance and respect to each other in our multicultural world.

Project work involves multi-skill activities which focus on a theme of interest rather than specific language tasks. In project work, pupils work together to achieve a common purpose, a concrete outcome (e.g., a brochure, a written report, a bulletin board display, a video, an article for a school newspaper, etc).

Step I: Defining a theme.

Step III: Structuring the project.

Step IV: Identifying language skills and strategies.

Step V: Gathering information.

Step VI: Compiling and analyzing information.

Step VII: Presenting final product.

Step VIII: Evaluating the project.

Sciences identify four types of projects:

1. Information and research projects which include such kinds of work as reports, displays, etc.

2. Survey projects which may also include displays, but more interviews, summaries, findings, etc.

3. Production projects which foresee the work with radio, television, video, wall newspapers, etc.

4. Performance/Organizational projects which are connected with parties, plays, drama, concerts.

For one of my project works I’ve chosen the topic “English-Speaking Countries”.

1. Divide the class into pairs. Ask the pairs to draw up a list of English-speaking countries, that is to say, countries where English is an official language or is widely spoken. Be available to help supply the names of countries in English.

2. On the board draw five columns and head them with the names of the main countries. The main countries are: Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the United States.

3. Explain to the class that you want them to do a project on one of these countries but not on England or the United States. Tell the class to form groups of three or four. Let your pupils choose their partners, while making sure no individuals get left out. Ask each group to choose a country. Allow more than one group to work on the same country – they often use quite different approaches and present interestingly different work – but you may decide you want your pupils to do different work on as broad a range of countries as possible, in which case they should all choose different countries.

4. When your pupils have chosen their countries, ask each group, for your reference, to give you a piece of paper with the names of the members in their group and which country they are going to work on.

5. Establish with the class the following:

a) how much you want each pupil to contribute to the project;

b) the content - set an upper limit of one third dedicated to the general background (geography and history, currency, industries, etc.) and etc. The possible areas of focus here vary considerably from country to country and you may need to discuss with each group those areas that would offer the most potential, e.g. the question of language variety is more appropriate where most or all of the population is English-speaking, the periodicals published in English are more relevant where English is one of the many languages used in the country;

c) The deadline by which the project must be handed in.

6. Discuss with your pupils what sources of information they are going to use. Pupils work mostly from five sources:

a) encyclopedia entries;

b) books;

c) newspaper and magazine articles;

d) computer programs;

e) information from embassies, high commissions and tourist offices.

You may be able to provide support from material you yourself possess - this is where it is useful to have a list of groups and their countries, so that you know who to give it to.

On the basis of the literary sources studied we can come to the following conclusions that project work has advantages like the increased motivation when learners become personally involved in the project; all four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking, are integrated; autonomous learning is promoted as learners become more responsible for their own learning; there are learning outcomes -learners have an end product; authentic tasks and therefore the language input are more authentic; interpersonal relations are developed through working as a group; content and methodology can be decided between the learners and the teacher and within the group themselves so it is more learner-centered; learners often get help from parents for project work thus involving the parent more in the child's learning; if the project is also displayed parents can see it at open days or when they pick the child up from the school; a break from routine and the chance to do something different.

The disadvantages of project work are the noise which is made during the class, also projects are time-consuming and the students use their mother tongue too much, the weaker students are lost and not able to cope with the task and the assessment of projects is very difficult. However, every type of project can be held without any difficulties and so with every advantage possible.

The types of projects are information and research projects, survey projects, production projects and performance and organizational projects which can be performed differently as in reports, displays, wall newspapers, parties, plays, etc.

Though project work may not be the easiest instructional approach to implement, the potential pay-offs are many. At the very least, with the project approach, teachers can break with routine by spending a week or more doing something besides grammar drills and technical reading.

The organization of project work may seem difficult but if we do it step by step it should be easy. We should define a theme, determine the final outcome, structure the project, identify language skills and strategies, gather information, compile and analyze the information, present the final product and finally evaluate the project. Project work demands a lot of hard work from the teacher and the pupils; nevertheless, the final outcome is worth the effort. We can see that project work has more positive sides than negative and is effective during the educational process. Pupils are likely to learn the language with the help of projects and have more fun.

To conclude, project work is effective, interesting, entertaining and should be used at the lessons.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Haines S. Projects for the EFL Classroom: Resource materials for teachers. - Walton-on-Thames: Nelson, 1991. – p. 108

2. Phillips D., Burwood S., Dunford H. Projects with Young Learners. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. – p. 160

3. Fried-Booth D. Project Work. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. - p. 89

4. Hutchinson T. Introduction to Project Work. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. - p. 400

5. Phillips D., Burwood S., Dunford H. Projects with Young Learners. Resource Books for Teachers - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. - p. 153

6. Ribe R., Vidal N. Project Work. Step by Step. - Oxford: Heinmann, 1993. - p. 94

7. Wicks M. Imaginative Projects. A resource book of project work for young students. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. - p. 128

8. Зимняя И. А., Сахарова Т. Е. Проектная методика обучения английскому языку // Иностранные языки в школе., 1991. - №3 - С.9-15.

9. Полат Е. С. Метод проектов на уроках иностранного языка // Иностранные языки в школе., 2000. - №2 - С.3-10 - №3 - С.3-9.

10. Gray S. Communication through Projects. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. - p. 350

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project Work