A language classroom can be an incredibly boring place to spend a vacation. Throughout the semester students have dutifully attended a plethora of English lessons only to be faced with extra “fun, exciting and interesting” English classes during the vacation months. The stresses and strains our students face on a day-to-day basis are immense, as educators, it is not only our job to instil language into our students, but also to encourage, engage, and empathise with our students. We need to take into account the feelings of our students. What can we do to relieve the pressures our students face? How can we engage our students? How can we make our classes more enjoyable without sacrificing our goals? Most importantly, how can we get students to take control of their own learning? With these questions moving around in my mind I set out to create a vacation programme that would ignite the passions of our students.
My first decision was to move away from the standard conversation classes and focus the lessons around problem-solving, teamwork, and student engagement. I have always been an advocate of project-based learning. In my opinion giving students the freedom to organise their own work and manage their own time is an important aspect of the learning process, as is the development of problem-solving skills which can be a result of a project-based approach to learning. The work of Sugata Mitra and his methodology of minimally invasive education inspired me to try and create an environment in which the sole purveyor of knowledge is not the teacher, but rather the students. The students would rely on their own abilities to produce the language needed to succeed in the class. I also wanted to take the students outside of the sterile confines of the classroom for no great or lofty reasons just because it can be fun.
The course ran from Monday to Friday, two hours a week, for four weeks over the university’s summer vacation. Twelve students enrolled in the course, all of the students were at the B1 or B2 level of English. The structure of the course consisted of two sections, part one focused on the study of films and story-telling; part two consisted of film production skills, this section included the creation of the students’ projects. The aim of the project was to produce an English language video that followed one of the seven story arcs we studied in class. The students then broke off into two groups; each group would produce one film.
The role of the teacher is vitally important in project-based learning. In settings characterised by too much teacher control, students are denied any voice in defining their project, alternatively, too little teacher control can lead to the project not being completed on time. It was essential that the correct level of control was defined so students could create a project free from excessive teacher control. The project needed to encourage student independence and autonomy, and not show how well they can follow instructions. However, every project is a process, and it was vital that the students had some guidelines to follow in order to complete the project in the desired time. The first five days of the class involved a substantial amount of language learning which would enable the students to complete the steps in English.
“If you ain’t got the story, you ain’t got nothing.”
The students decided on the story they would use in their film. In class we discussed the different stories the students knew, we combined this information with the seven basic plots set out by Christopher Booker in his book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. These plots are; overcoming the monster, voyage and return, the quest, rags to riches, comedy, tragedy, and rebirth. The students discussed which story they would use for their film. I dropped some hints about how difficult it would be to film certain stories with the limited equipment we had (two camcorders and two laptop computers), but I really wanted the students to be engaged in their project, so I took a step back. I could envisage the problems the students would face in the future and I wanted the students to experience the problems. It was my hope that they would use English to solve the problems and overcome the hurdles, so I kept quiet and stepped back, something that is very difficult to do, but I felt this was the start of empowering the students.
Once the students had decided on the stories they would use in their films, I introduced the concept of the three-act structure (using an episode of The Simpsons as an example). I advised the students to pay close attention to plot points and how each character is used to move the story forward. The students were then left to develop the characters and the plot of their film. At this point, I realised that I was superfluous. The students were quite content to discuss the plot (in English), make notes about the characters (in English), and most importantly to question each other (in English) without any instruction from the teacher.
“Dialogue is a necessary evil.” – Fred Zinneman.
With the general outline of the story completed, it was time to start the script-writing process. We spent one class looking at the format of screenplays and how they differ from theatrical scripts. We also discussed suitable locations for the scenes, I took great care not to verbalise any problems the students would face if they filmed outside (most notably background noise), I walked away and let them brainstorm any difficulties they might face and how they could overcome them. It was interesting to see the students create their own dialogue; each line had a purpose and was composed to give information about a character, to move the story forward, or to create emotion.
“Alright Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” – Norma Desmond.
Once the script was completed it was time for the production stage, this would involve the students getting out of the classroom and filming their scripts. Once again I let the students plan their own time, I reiterated the deadline and also explained to them a minimum of three days would be needed to complete the editing of the films, but apart from this, I let them plan their shooting schedule, trusting that they would complete the assignment on time.
The production stage of the project was the point where problems started to emerge and relationships began to strain. A student had to leave the class due to work commitments; this meant that she would not be able to film the rest of her scenes. The students came to me for help, I listened to their problem, agreed that it was a problem, and suggested they talk about the problem in their group and find a solution. It was important that they solved the problem. The students had been given the autonomy and the independence to get this far with the project, they needed to realise they had the skills and the language ability to overcome any difficulties. Through discussion and collaboration, the students solved all of the problems.
“Film is like a battleground” – Samuel Fuller.
With their footage in the can the students moved on to the difficult task of editing the footage. We used an editing program called Microsoft Movie Maker. The students used an English language version of the program and I gave a very brief (two minutes) introduction to the program, if they needed any further information they would have to find it by themselves, I stepped back. A number of problems emerged during the editing process, but instead of asking me to solve the problems, the students talked about the problems and found solutions. They learnt a number of editing techniques by just experimenting with the program. They figured out how to add music, subtitles, and credits. They didn’t want my help, the project was theirs and it was their responsibility to produce a project which reflected their ability, they were proud of their work.
Reflection.
Student learning is why we are here, but let us not forget about our own development. Here are some key points I gained from the experience.
Our students are individuals.
This is something that is often overlooked. This project allowed students to voice their concerns, opinions, hopes and dreams on a range of topics that are rarely discussed in a conversation or grammar class. Some of the topics touched upon in their videos included; corruption, the environment, peer pressure, bullying, financial pressures, relationships, and individual responsibility. The videos could be a base for a whole host of lessons based around these topics.
Project-based learning is a challenge and students want to be challenged.
It is my belief that teachers should set high expectations for their students. Students neither need nor want the teacher to give them the answers, they want to learn by doing. This program was a perfect opportunity for students to get their hands dirty and use English in a natural setting.
Language acquisition is not a stand-alone skill.
When a student learns a language they should also be developing important life skills, such as; teamwork, critical thinking, communication, creativity and innovation.
Students will use their L1 when difficulties arise.
When faced with difficulties students will use the language they feel most comfortable with to talk through the problems and find solutions. When this happens the students become more concerned with completing the project rather than improving their English skills. One way to overcome this problem is to explain to the students how important it is that they take control of their own learning; their English will only improve if they make the decision to speak English. If I were to do this program again I would make sure all students kept an English journal. The journal would contain all the details of the day’s shoot, including any problems that arose.
“I have a feeling that inside you somewhere, there’s somebody nobody knows about.” – Alfred Hitchcock. | ||||||
Working on the script
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| Production. |
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| Production |
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| Editing |
- Christopher Booker and the seven plots
- The Simpsons episode we used in class was season 4, episode 9, entitled “Mr. Plow”. If you have Disney Plus, it is here.
- Sugata Mitra and his methodology of minimally invasive education is here, and here, and also here
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