SHARING CULTURE: PROJECT WORK WITH STUDENTS IN ROSARIO, ARGENTINA, AND 10 WEBHEADS

April-May 2008

Stages of the Project

• Introduction: class discussion on the “purpose of studying a second language”. Raising awareness on the need to study a new language to communicate.
• Countries and teachers involved: brainstorming knowledge on different cultures. Sharing ideas on similarities and differences. Webheads´ countries and names.
• Agenda: organization of students in pairs for a closer contact with other countries´ customs, views, lifestyles through the eyes of ten Webheads who will be interviewed synchronously on either Yahoo Messenger or Skype.
• Preparation: students get into pairs and choose a country, then brainstorm ideas and possible topics to develop during the interview.
• Wiki: a wiki page is opened for the students to start their own research on the chosen country. Information drawn from the Internet on different aspects of their culture and society is uploaded on each page, summarized on “What I know about X”, and “What I´d like to know about X”.
• Live Interview: a date for the live interviews to take place is agreed on, with the consent of the Webheads involved. Each pair of students takes up around fifteen minutes for their interviews. They take down notes on the answers to their questions and on the information provided.
• The recordings are uploaded to the students´ pages in the wiki at http://caeb2008.pbwiki.com/
• Follow-up: back in the classroom, students describe the most outstanding aspects of their experiences and compare results and impressions.
• Reporting: as a written follow-up learners write a report of their experiences, in pairs, and put it up on their wiki pages.

What the project with ten members of WIA from nine different countries implied for the students involved:

* honing listening and speaking skills

* expanding vocabulary

* using the language in authentic situations

* using English with native/non-native teachers of the language

* communicating safely

* learning about other cultures

* boosting their self-confidence

* raising awareness on the importance of learning English