TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

SUBJECT TASKS AND PROJECTS

GENERAL INFORMATION:

ASSIGNMENT:

This assignment must be done in groups of two (the corresponding tutor will choose the groups members during the tutorials) and has to fulfil the following conditions: Length: between 8 and 10 pages (without including cover, index or appendices if there are any-). Type of font: Arial or Times New Roman. Size: 11. Line height: 1.5. Alignment: Justified.

If for some reason you cannot do the assignment in pairs, you will have to do it individually (you need your tutors consent first to do so). The individual assignment must have a length between 8 and 10 pages approximately (without including cover, index or appendix if there is any-). The assignment has to be done in this Word document and has to fulfil the rules of presentation and edition, as for quotes and bibliographical references which are detailed in the Study Guide. Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the Study Guide. Sending it to the tutors e-mail is not permitted. Both members of the group have to send the assignment. In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be found in the Study Guide. The assignment mark is 100% of the final mark, but the participation in the activities performed during the tutorials can improve this mark.

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

Assignment:

Look at the project from Its Magazine available in the Assignment files section (at the same place where you can find this paper): 08_T&PReading1.pdf. a. Analyse this project according to the criteria laid down by Rib and Vidal, Fied-Booth and Legutke and Thomas for project work. b. How would you need to adapt this project for use with a group of learners with which you are familiar? (You need to clearly specify the teaching context, and rationale for the adaptations you would make, as well as specifying the adaptations themselves.)

Important: you have to write your personal details and the subject name on the cover (see the next page). The assignment that does not fulfil these conditions will not be corrected. You have to include the assignment index below the cover.

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

Names and surnames: Logins: Group: Date:

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

THE MUSIC PROJECT ANALISIS

Teaching a second language trough tasks has been consolidated, in the last 15 years, as a new way of teaching in the classrooms. One approach, most used now days is teaching a language trough projects, which present the teacher with a chance to renovate his or her approach elaborating his or her own projects with the help of students, (RIB & VIDAL, 1993).

Inside a project different levels of tasks are articulated. The project becomes an instrument that requires students to work in a process that generates pedagogical tasks, communicative tasks, etc. and where besides the development of the communication in a foreign language, a development of the autonomy of learning and of the educational values is produced. Following this ideas we will analyze the project called THE MUSIC PROJECT that belongs to ITS MAGAZINE, 1996.

Components of a project The first step to evaluate a task is by understanding its components; Rib and Vidal (1995) present the following components of a task: AIM The aim of the project is to develop communicative competence using cognitive strategies to organize and handle information. This is to some extent accomplished in this project, since the students are able to use all the material and ideas inside the project to interact in the target language. However the lack of student participation in choosing activities and contributing in their development, could lead to a failure due to lack of motivation. The project is well design in terms of input, as it provides students with input about music instruments, about writing a song, even a contract is provided for them in order to accomplish their task. Nevertheless, once again the ideas are all set and students dont really participate in the process. Trough the project the learners have the opportunity to interact with each other, choosing their groups and acting creatively to figure out, how to accomplish the task.
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INPUT

ACTIVITY

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

TEACHERS ROLE

LEARNERS ROLE

The teachers role is that of a facilitator, he provides the input, and the steps to accomplish the task. The teacher is also in charge of most of the development of the project, since students didnt have the opportunity to choose any of the activities. The students role is that of an actor, since they have to role play the activities. Students are not really in much control of the task, since they didnt participate in its elaboration. Nevertheless they do have the opportunity to use all their skills while trying to accomplish the task. In Rib and Vidals point of view it will be very difficult for students to be evaluators, which should be something they should do in order to fully understand and make adjustments to their work.

Type of project

Rib and Vidal (1993) make a distinction among tasks of first, second and third generation. The tasks of first generation have as an objective, the development of the communicative competence of the. The language is studied in a controlled and specific way. The tasks of second generation have a more extensive objective. They do not only intend to develop the communicative competence, but also work the cognitive strategies. The tasks of third generation go a bit further, including more extensive educational objectives, as the development of personality.

The project in analysis is a second generation task, because it intends to develop the communicative competence, using cognitive strategies and the abilities to organize and to handle information. The language is the instrument that enables the execution of an authentic work, done by the students. During the execution of the task, the students are asked to process large quantities of input (to read information, to understand and, etc.) and output (to speak in the target language, to write songs, etc.).

Fried-booth (1986) contributes with some new elements of interest. Essentially, it is a matter of classifying tasks in categories that permit us to distinguish when we are before a project and when not.
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TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

The determinant factor, for the author, is the place where the activity takes place. If the activity is design to be accomplished in class, it is called a bridging activity, which uses controlled language, more traditional communicative tasks. According to the author this, constitute activities of preparation for the execution of projects.

In the other hand, if the activities are design to go beyond the classroom, they are called full-scale projects, which require that students amount of work. have a large, out of class,

In this case The Music Project is designed to be a full-scale project, as it requires students to work a lot outside of the classroom. For instance, students may need to work with computers to design a cover of a record, or even practice playing a song in order to record it. In many cases is absolutely essential that learners have the opportunity to practice the language outside the classroom, if they are provided with the chance to do so, the learners will be greatly benefited. Steps in a project

As far as for the steps of a project, Rib and Vidals framework from their book Project Work Step by Step (1993), will be used:

Creating a good classroom environment

It

is

very

important

to

create to

an be

atmosphere for

the students

motivated. These project intents to do so, by introducing tasks that are aimed to build up interest in the students, and that are easy to accomplish. Nevertheless is very much up to the teacher to do so. Getting the class interested Stimulating learners interest is a key factor in developing a project,

nevertheless this step may vary between class to class. Some learners may find the project interesting as it is, and some

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

may find it outdated or boring, therefore this step may depend very much on the class and the teacher. Selecting the topics Topics have been selected for the

students already, therefore the learners dont have the opportunity to participate in the process. This may very much

influence in the development of the project, because it can lead to lack of interest or motivation. A possible solution to this is to perhaps show the whole project to the class and choose those activities that are found more interesting and challenging. Creating a general outline of the project The general outline of the project is already done by the author leaving the learner and the teacher with few options. Once again the learners may find

themselves losing interest in the project because of this. Doing basic research of the topic Learners dont really need to research anything due to the fact that all the information they need is already included in the project. Students are expected to only organize and handle this information. If adjustments are made to the project though, then they may find that they need to research and work more. Reporting to the class This idea is not included in this project. However it may have been really helpful to report to class and get some feedback of their work in order to adjust or continue their task. Processing feedback This idea is not included in the project.

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

Putting it all together

Students may be required to put all the project together and present it to the class or teacher, however this idea is not really developed in the project.

Presenting the project

Although this idea may be the most important one for the students it is not included in the project. Perhaps because it is up to the teacher to arrange the presentation or it is implied that this should be done.

Assessing and evaluating the project

It is perhaps implied that assessment is left for the teacher as students dont have the change to evaluate the project, since they did not participate in the elaboration of most of the steps. This is an important point, because students cannot evaluate if the task was fully accomplished or not, or if they need to make adjustments to their work or to the project, they are left only with the

teachers idea of how the task was developed, and his feedback.

Characteristics of a project

Legutke and Thomas (1991) define a project as a way of teaching/learning based on tasks and in themes, resulting of a joint process of negotiation among the diverse participants. They also present us with some characteristics of a project:

Theme

The theme of a project should arise from the interest of the students through a processes of reflection, negotiation, experimentation, etc. This project doesnt

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allow students to do so, since every idea is already included in the project. Plan These process of planning the project,

comes from negotiating and elaborating ideas in the group. This is impossible to do with this project because all the ideas are presented by the author. It is important to take in account that this should be done by learners as it is important for them to develop the initial idea of the project, include the activities, problematic areas, etc. in order to help them build autonomy. Student centred The project should be student centred allowing a great degree of participation. This project manages to do so, although not really allowing students to participate in the development of the project but only in figuring out of the task . Cooperative group The accomplishment of the tasks

depends on the cooperative abilities of their participants, that organize their work, continue their progress, solving problems that may arise. This idea is not really included explicitly in the project, but it may be assumed that students need to cooperate as a music group in order to complete their work. Perhaps it would be good for the teacher to remind the students of this idea. Learner autonomy This means that the learners participate actively in the process of planning their learning teachers and can work without the this

supervision.

However

TASKS AND PROJECTS - Assignment

project doesnt allow the students to act independently, because they are not allowed to participate choosing the topics, activities, etc. Maybe with adjustments to the project students can also learn to be more independent and participate more in the learning process.

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