This is an outline of the 1^st semester mini-projects undertaken at the KJO in Łódź Although college students they are in their first year and most have just arrived straight from Liceum and this means ideas could be adapted, simplified, and transferred to school level. The guidelines given to the students are printed in full as they had a double function - not only how to do the projects, but also to say why and give some teaching to the students on how to lead projects themselves. If anyone would like further information please contact rbolt@poczta.onet.pl It is hoped in the future to be able to put some of the mini-projects themselves on the webpages.

Context

The British Studies course at the KJO in Łódź follows a workshop, learner-centred and intercultural approach (see British Studies Syllabus) and this project is used as a means of assessment. The students had already done a brief investigation on the theme ‘the family’ and had been given some information and advice on where to find, and how to use, sources (a paper is being prepared on this). Łódź has the advantage of having British Studies resource points in both the college and the British Council library but these provided few sources on the themes the students actually chose (see Examples of themes). (This project is followed by another in the second semester on how to put culture into the classroom through a sequence of lessons and their activities.)

Projects

This is not the place for a discussion of project work - however in all projects in FLT there are five groups of outcomes and therefore of aims. In terms of this project they include:

• Linguistic - development of awareness and skills in the use of language in ‘real worlds’ (both reception and production) and as a cultural product
• Cultural - development of thematic understanding, intercultural awareness and skills (and issues connected to comparison), awareness of the complexities of language and culture
• Methodological - direct contact with original materials, learner autonomy, research skills, written presentation skills
• Social/ individual - the social not strongly developed here but the individual is
• Teacher - the opportunity to develop professionally e.g. management skills, an opportunity to observe the interests and the learning strategies of students, a means of producing display material

Is a project a project:

• if the product is more important than the process?
• if it can be completed without need for pausing, reflecting and decision-making?
• if there is no need for a supervisor?
• if the outcome can be known in advance?
• if it can be exclusively controlled by the teacher?
• if it has no long-term value?

For me these are defining and they underpin the entire approach. The process is central, the product is there not only for itself but above all to drive and direct the process.

Rationale

A part of the reasoning therefore behind such mini-projects is to challenge the prevailing mentality on the nature of culture in the language classroom (see Student Expectations of Culture in ELT). That it is to do with:

• the raising of awareness and the application of skills - rather than quantity of knowledge
• the ‘production’ skills of being able to express the culture of the home country and themselves, and therefore appropriate for a communicative context - rather than with ‘reception’ skills for a target country only
• language as an object of study itself through culture - rather than cultural information only, with English present incidentally as a medium
• including learner-based and -centred knowledge - rather than teacher-centred knowledge only

This plan for project work has emerged gradually over a period of years and is planned to continue to develop - there is no suggestion of a fixed model to be followed but to provide discussion and an illustration of what is possible. Several hundred students have been involved in projects and around 130 in this particular form.

 

(The following sections are taken directly from the project information the students are given)

Approach

• To develop your cultural awareness and skills, to encourage independent and individual learning, and to involve you actively and reflectively in the learning process.
• To demonstrate how ‘culture’ in the language curriculum is about how to succeed in applying language as effectively as possible in real situations. Often cultural situations are fixed and language has to work around them as best it can. The emphasis on cultural outcomes will therefore challenge language to respond.
• To allow you to investigate an area of ‘culture’ of importance to yourselves e.g. spare-time interests, your future work, other studies etc, otherwise not covered on the course. The project is designed to be both learner-based and -centred, and to give you a sense of ownership and achievement, and with something ‘concrete’ to take away. The project in a sense ‘completes’ a British Studies syllabus with the ‘learners’ part’ that a teacher is unable to supply.
• To explore language issues connected with your theme and thus develop your ‘intercultural communicative competence’ This means you should be able to develop your ability to communicate, in English, about something which is significant to you and therefore likely to be of use to you, in the future, and outside your present studies.
• To develop your investigatory skills To put you into direct contact as far as possible with original cultural sources without the filters of textbooks or teachers. To develop your source awareness and skills e.g. how to find sources, judge their value and select from them. You should in the future as a result be able to work more confidently and independently when investigating any cultural theme.
• To use the intercultural approach introduced during the semester. This means the measure of your understanding of the UK (the target society) is your awareness of its similarities and differences to Poland (the home society). The ability to express knowledge of your own society, and yourself, (production skills) is of equal importance to being able to comprehend that of another (reception skills).
• To introduce a method for your own future use in the classroom - however one that is difficult to implement effectively unless you yourself have ‘lived through’ it. It is a method based on teachers and learners working alongside one another with the teacher supplying the method and experience, but the learners possessing and finding knowledge the teacher will not. It is not a one-way flow from teacher to student of a fixed body of knowledge of ‘traditional’ culture teaching in FLT.

Project Sequence

The entire sequence follows a ‘project approach’ and therefore gives you the opportunity to experience a project before inflicting one on your students. It has an emphasis on ‘process over product’ - essential if a project is to have lasting value. Projects will be individual and no two students can have the same title.

Stage one - the choice

As written in the approach, the purpose is for you to choose a topic related to your own ‘communicative’ needs, in both the present and the future. First think about yourself and your interests, NOT the course or the standard topics of British Studies textbooks.

Remember when making your choice - you will be discussing issues connected to your chosen theme rather than simply describing it.

What to choose

Something connected with:

• what interests you strongly - maybe spare time activities
• what you already have some knowledge of, or contacts connected with, in the UK
• your ambitions for the future
• your other studies
• anything you are involved with in Poland and would be curious to know more about in the UK

Although there is a free(-ish) choice - certain areas are excluded or strongly discouraged:

• historical themes (there is a separate history course) - and to emphasise that culture is about the present and the future, as much as the past
• general cultural themes of common value covered during the course (e.g. food, housing, education, the family etc) - unless a very specific part with which you are personally connected
• themes on ‘traditions’ - such as festivals, customs and tourism. Although popular these tend to involve ‘projection’ of Polish cultural values and patterns onto supposed UK equivalents and miss the cultural reality. There are also plenty of ‘dedicated’ materials available for foreign learners of English and the aim is to investigate something for which materials are not available.
• themes specific to the UK such as Scotland, Wales, the monarchy etc (these do not lend themselves easily to an intercultural approach) - again there are plenty of ‘dedicated’ materials available

The approach has been chosen to encourage you to experiment in new areas and focus on your personal situation.

The choices will be made in negotiation. If there are problems, topics can be altered in emphasis, or perhaps changed completely later. Get as clear an idea as possible in your head of your specific focus - and as soon as you can.

Stage two - gathering information

Try to find what information you can based on bibliographies, contents pages of British Studies textbooks, indexes of the Carel Press newspaper files, past projects etc supplied by the teacher, or in the British Council and college libraries based on the resource points established there. Emphasis however is placed on finding primary sources, where possible using UK contacts, your own (or others) experience from visits, the internet and so on, and if possible from literature, film etc too (Sources on Poland will be almost entirely in Polish of course.)

Stand back and look at the information you find in terms of the questions you are asking. Use your sources - don’t let them use you.

Stage three - consultation

At this stage we will need an individual consultation to make sure that with appropriate adjustments your work will be in an acceptable condition for a zaliczenie. Do not ‘over’ finish it or spend a long time on presentation, it is not what I will be looking for here, simply bring all the pieces of the jigsaw. After consultation you will know how to complete it. The consultation is essential as the process of the mini-project is as significant as the product - there is no zaliczenie without one.

Stage four - writing up

Take into account my comments from the consultation, organise an appropriate presentation, check language etc, add page numbers and hand it in. (At this stage you will be given a checklist of do’s and don’ts.) Word process if you can - a good opportunity to teach yourself.

There is no oral presentation - but your work may be displayed (only eight sides are possible) and a copy kept as a model for future students. Word processing is preferred therefore, but clear handwriting is of course acceptable. The best projects are small, focused and well done.

Title page

You will need an overall title page (with your name). Your title should be ‘An Intercultural Investigation of ...’ This common frame is chosen to emphasise the approach required.

Introduction

Brief (one side max) - perhaps including some personal reasons, an element of historical background, whatever.

Section A - The product itself

The emphasis of this section is on an objective and comparative (but not in an evaluatory sense) presentation. You will have a chance for subjective comments in section B.

Title - this second title will reflect the format chosen below e.g. A guide to... / A report on.... / ‘Helping the Homeless’.

Format - A ‘real’ communicative written form should be produced (in a manner perhaps similar to CAE) e.g. an article, a website, a report, a guide/brochure, a display, a video/ audio script etc - in other words directed at a real audience. Give it an appropriate title and it should have an appropriate layout, be in an appropriate register with appropriate sub-headings. It can be submitted on a disc.

• Organise the structure of Section A around issues, changes and so on, in the manner of your choice of written form, rather than description for its own sake. Start perhaps with something dramatic - two contrasting images of homelessness, two newspaper headlines and then go on to discuss how such situations arise. Avoid ‘background’ to begin with (like a traditional essay) and history - if you must, very briefly in the introduction.
• As it is to be intercultural, both societies should be represented in each section e.g. side by side, one in italics one not, or each following the other (look at the displayed examples). As far as possible, like should be compared to like and equivalent questions asked to both societies - even if sometimes this could mean an absence of information for one society (and a gap in your text with the comment - information unavailable).
• Use images, realia and original materials (photocopied or printed if necessary) where possible, with your own comments beside them (this is essential). You are not so much writing this section as assembling it - contrasting images (within or between countries) for instance could be set against one another. Where possible let the sources ‘speak for themselves’ by leaving them as they are in their original form, with your own commentary separate. Use direct speech to quote what people have said and maybe present a part in the form of an interview. All these methods should give a sense of reality and give a feel of real ‘voices’ Ideally present several contrasting or complementing images (or whatever) side by side to let the reader make an interpretation in addition to your own.
• Give quotations rather than copying or rewriting in your own words, especially from original sources. They should be marked and referenced e.g. Daily Mail Aug 17^th 2001/ leaflet produced by The Cyrenians/ comments from Sky news/ figures from ‘Britain 1997’ etc. If you have paraphrased, introduce by such phrases as ‘based on...’ or ‘adapted from...’. You should translate Polish quotations yourself, and write underneath ‘author’s translation’. It is your comments that are vital however interpreting images, quotations etc and linking them with the issues you are presenting.
• Any articles, documents, leaflets or large pictures of value to the reader should be included in Section C in the appendices (cross-referenced from the main text) - do not let them get in the way of your main argument.

This part should be completed with a summary of the main similarities and differences between the two societies (and speculate the possible reasons for them) in as objective a way as possible. Comment on the theme in the wider context of society, identify trends and suggest what the future might bring. The purpose is not to judge between the two societies (better or worse) but perhaps comment on the weak and strong points in each.

Length - as appropriate to your work, but remember these are mini-projects, simply introducing your theme, so six to eight sides can be sufficient for Section A. Economy in writing is highly valued in this kind of English.

Section B - Critical and reflective (emphasising the process)

Your audience for this section will be future students so - not only discuss what you found but what you couldn’t so they will not need to waste time + how to do it better, quicker etc! Each year can therefore help the next. Everything that goes wrong you can therefore turn to your advantage. The best work is not done by avoiding problems (or pretending there were none) but by confronting them and suggesting how they could be solved in an ideal situation. Do not be afraid to show the ‘rough edges’ - they tell important truths.

This critical section will include the following three elements (sub-title each part):

• discussion of sources e.g. what you could and could not find (and where), its value and so on (for both Polish and British). This will include yourself as a source, myself from lessons + any other personal contacts, old school lessons and so on.
• discussion of language in a cultural context. Observe the use of language in your materials and choose a particular aspect. You must include a paragraph showing how culture influences the particular use of language you are discussing, or how it reflects the divided nature of any society, with illustrations from both Polish and English. For example:

• comments on register and genre (e.g. prison slang)
• culturally ‘loaded’ language (e.g. positive and negative ways of describing the elderly)
• social/ cultural changes requiring language to develop to represent this new reality in new phrases or neologisms (e.g. ‘eco-friendly’ - environmental movement expressions which have developed in the last 30 years)
• informalisation/ colloquialisation (e.g. in advertising materials)
• internationalisation of the lexis (e.g. scientific terms/ cooking ingredients)
• language gradients e.g. from English to Polish in the present (or in the past from French into English or from Polish to Yiddish)
• a small glossary of vocabulary specific to your theme (not of difficult words in your texts) both Polish and English

All these are cross-European (if not global) culture/ language issues

• an evaluation of the whole - discussing the process of your work. This is your chance to be ‘subjective’ and reflective, giving your own comments on the theme and the project itself.

This section contributes as much to your final grade as Section A

Length - two to three sides can be sufficient for Section B

Section C - Supplementary information

A bibliography (or discography/ filmography etc) and list of sources - including internet websites and past student projects. Also appendices of valuable materials which would otherwise overload the first part (remember to cross-reference appendices with Section A) e.g. pictures, leaflets, internet downloads. Do not be afraid to include long Polish documents - they do not need to be translated here.

Length - as long as necessary

Assessment

Section B is read first as it reveals and emphasises the process under which the product was written - it is valued as highly as Section A. There must have been consultation (supervision is essential) and all three sections must be present, balanced and complete before assessment can take place.

The following are looked for in Section A:

• a contemporary issue-based approach
• a mixture of real voices and specific real situations with factual/ statistical information
• a variety of sources - used and presented in an appropriate way, fully referenced if quotations, pictures or statistics
• an imaginative integration of original sources
• an awareness of possible reasons behind intercultural similarities, differences and changes
• a final product effective for its audience, convincingly laid out, in language appropriate to the written form chosen
• a summary with objective comparisons and suggestions for future trends

The following are looked for in Section B:

• the second section should reflect your learning and be useful for its target audience of future students
• an awareness of the learning that took place through the process of completing the project
• a strong sense of source awareness
• an intelligent response to language issues

The following are looked for in Section C:

• clear numbering and labelling, and all cross-referenced to section A

In addition overall the following are vital:

• ‘technical’ correctness e.g. language, layout and labelling of sections, page numbering etc
• quality over quantity
• your ‘macro’ understanding of language in its contexts of real worlds must show through

Assessment notes

• Be aware of the ‘cultural errors’ of cultural transference, over-/ under-generalisation and so on.
• Difficulties in the topic or problems during the writing will be responded to with extensions not a relaxing of the assessment procedure.
• The mark will not take into account superficial appearance (do not over-decorate), or English - unless either is very bad or careless in which case it will not be accepted. At this level a high standard should be taken for granted Comments may be made on your English to encourage you to improve it and if your work is to be displayed there will be further discussion. Originality and good argument are more important. The best work will be relevant to you and feel ‘alive’.
• There is an emphasis on awareness and skills in the assessment to grade you all equally regardless of choice of theme, fortune in finding information and varying access to the internet and computers for high quality presentation.”

(This is the end of what the students receive)

Evaluation

The aims are ambitious and not fully realised yet but they show the direction being followed. Each year my own approach develops in response to the year before just as the students are expected to take previous work into account.

There is rotating display of the projects in the college with the aim of showing as many as possible though only eight sides can be selected - responses from teachers and other students are taken into account.

Learning should have taken place not only on their theme, but on such general areas as:

• the nature of cultural sources
• the value of intercultural approaches
• the inseparability of culture and language
• how to undertake project work

The mini-projects are as good as what the students have learned in these respects. Certainly they are remembered and in some detail and thus can have some long-term impact. One reason for such long detailed guidelines is for the students to have something to retain for possible future use. The final test would be whether in the future students as teachers take some ideas into account when preparing there own lessons.

The internet is increasingly providing original sources - two sites in particular with their own internal search engines are valuable for projects involving social issues which are popular choices (from student guidelines):

“www.ukonline.gov.uk A government search engine not only through all its departments but including many other non-profitmaking organisations. Type in the aspect of life you are interested in, however obscure. It seems very user friendly and accessible - sites are given in order of ‘popularity’, but if you’re not specific there can be rather a lot. In many ways better than the big search engines as a starting point for finding out about everyday life.

www.adviceguide.org.uk The website of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. An extraordinary range of themes on every aspect of life in the UK. They are a long established voluntary organisation (although fully-trained) giving advice to people on every practical area of life where things can go wrong. They have a considerable reputation and are used a great deal in the UK. They try to ensure your rights are not abused by any private or public organisation and their perspective is that of the person on the street.”