Learning in projects (overview)

Project learning realizes a dynamic balance between a process and a product orientation. It is experiential and holistic because it bridges the dualism between body and mind, theory and practice, or in John Dewey&s;s words &s;experience and thinking&s;. In text type of project learners come face to face not with native speakers directly but with the latter&s;s experience and reactions to the world as revealed through text. Correspondence projects involve encounters between L2 learners from different cultures and with native speakers of the target language. Managing language learning involves teachers in making on-going decisions concerning the sequencing and emphasis of tasks. The organizational challenge facing teachers is to identify the learning tasks and to arrive at a way of putting them together in a causally transparent sequence. Preparation and follow up are reflected in the following stages of a project&s;s development is: opening; topic orientation; research and data collection; preparing data presentation; presentation and evaluation.