Job Discussion Forums

[John Hall]

In October, my university is going to have an "English Week." During this week, students in my advanced classes will have to perform some type of activity for the public (by which I mean other students and professors at the university). It will have to involve speaking in English, and be gradable, seeing as it is worth 10% of their course mark.

I've got a few ideas for this: perhaps a play about cultural differences, or a "murder mystery" role play (sort of like the board game "Clue," but without a board: students have to play detective in order to ask certain characters what they were doing when a murder took place), or other games, or speeches, etc. But I thought I would throw it out on this discussion board. Anybody got any ideas?

[wildchild]

As you are the guide on the side, I'm sure you will encourage your students to come up with some ideas, no?

I like the ideas that you have come up with. I would say that the key here is variation, several activities.

Your students can offer English mini-lessons, conversation groups! A kind of promotion for the English dept.

or you could set up and English village and offer bangers, chips, home-brew and make some money while you're at it!

[Glenski]

Mock debate (or real one).
A musical.
A play.
A simulated game show or trivia contest.
A science fair.

[John Hall]

I've been given a few more details:

The projects must include speaking and writing activities.
The projects will be displayed and/or presented in the hallways and/or the auditorium of the university.
The speaking activities could be done live or on video.

Past projects have tended to be informational, with students doing research projects on various English speaking countries, etc. Those seem kind of dull to me though. I am surprised at how few responses there have been to this thread so far. Come on! Aren't you people more creative than this? ( Just using some mild flaming to spur a few responses!)

[keepwalking]

We have an English week at the international school where I teach. The most popular event by far is an international fair.

We have a theme for the week, something that shows the international influence of English. So this year we had music, last year it was the World Cup, next year will probably be the Olympics!

Students then form groups and sign up to represent a country. They have to research the country, preparing presentations etc. We then set up a market where they each have a 'stall' to decorate with their flag, posters, costumes etc. They usually cook food from that country (thus gaining extra marks from their teachers!) and the rest of the school walk around, check out the stalls and listen to the preentations.

We invite 'international judges' (any gringo we can find in town who the kids don't know) and they visit each stand, talk to the kids, ask questions etc. You can give them a judging criteria to help them judge the stalls.

In a university setting you could choose a theme more appropriate to older students but this would fit your criteria I think.

[Glenski]

John,
Don't bite the hand that feeds you. You complain about few responses, but until now, you haven't given much to go on.

I could complain that you didn't even acknowledge my 5 options, but I won't.

Your update suggests that any of my ideas would still be feasible, but on top of that, you have something else to go on. So, see if the kids have some interest in a current event related to local or international affairs, and let them do a report on it. Tape it. Make posters. Have them use PowerPoint. I've done that in a similar way with 3rd year students, but even my old school's junior high kids made presentations, albums, and posters. There's even a day when they get together with all the English teachers (even the ones that teach HS, not JHS) and some exchange students outside the school, and they present a snippet of Japanese culture in roundtable sessions. With speaking and writing components, your possibilities are practically endless.

It doesn't matter if past projects seem dull to you. What matters is what the school expects of you. From that, you take the ball and run, trying to make it as enjoyable as possible for the students, as educational as possible in terms of English (whether that means learning how to use PowerPoint or how to phrase a certain idea on paper). Remember, it's your kids that matter. Do the past projects seem dull to them? And, is it the topic of the project, or the manner in which it is presented that seems dull? You can fix either aspect.