[COOPER 126] Effective Project Work Through Authentic Communication

Presentation Title (in Japanese)

オーセンティックなコミュニケーションに基づく効果的なプロジェクトワーク

Abstract (250 words or less in English or 500 characters or less in Japanese)

Project work has been incorporated in language education for some time now. The concept of ‘Learning by Doing’ is effective in language education, and successful project work is extremely beneficial for motivating learners as well as for the outcomes project produces. Japanese language educators include project work in their curriculum as well, and in my course, project work is a part of the curricula for all the courses I teach.

At my home institution, I choose level appropriate project topics so students have cultural experience as well as advancing their language proficiency. However, it usually has to be virtual, due to the fact that my institution is located far from a Japanese community. When I teach a course in Japan, however, the possibilities expand vastly. Students are surrounded by Japanese speakers, and you could design an effective project that students work on through real communication.

For an intermediate level course I taught in Japan during summer, 2017, the outline of the project was set by the institution’s language program: the program collaborates with the local shop owners, and students go interview them to collect information about their businesses. However, I felt this was not intellectually challenging enough for students at this level, and I have decided to incorporate another element of Project Based Learning: problem solving.

This session will benefit educators who are interested in project work based on the real communication. They will be able to learn the specifics of my experiments and apply the methods in their courses.

Language

Japanese

Location

Cooper Hall 126

Start Date

10-2-2018 3:00 PM

End Date

10-2-2018 3:30 PM

If you need AV equipment other than a computer and a projector, please list here. A Mac user needs to bring your own adapter to a VGA or HDMI port.

Computer, projector, screen

Comments

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Feb 10th, 3:00 PM Feb 10th, 3:30 PM

[COOPER 126] Effective Project Work Through Authentic Communication

Cooper Hall 126

Project work has been incorporated in language education for some time now. The concept of ‘Learning by Doing’ is effective in language education, and successful project work is extremely beneficial for motivating learners as well as for the outcomes project produces. Japanese language educators include project work in their curriculum as well, and in my course, project work is a part of the curricula for all the courses I teach.

At my home institution, I choose level appropriate project topics so students have cultural experience as well as advancing their language proficiency. However, it usually has to be virtual, due to the fact that my institution is located far from a Japanese community. When I teach a course in Japan, however, the possibilities expand vastly. Students are surrounded by Japanese speakers, and you could design an effective project that students work on through real communication.

For an intermediate level course I taught in Japan during summer, 2017, the outline of the project was set by the institution’s language program: the program collaborates with the local shop owners, and students go interview them to collect information about their businesses. However, I felt this was not intellectually challenging enough for students at this level, and I have decided to incorporate another element of Project Based Learning: problem solving.

This session will benefit educators who are interested in project work based on the real communication. They will be able to learn the specifics of my experiments and apply the methods in their courses.