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ASSIGNMENT 3: FINAL PROJECT TOPIC

At this point, you have had several weeks to consider possible research topics for your final class project, representing 50% of your course grade. We have discussed various topics in CALL. Now it's time for you to choose a topic for your research and presentation.

Assignment:

When choosing a topic, consider the following guidelines:

1. Pick a topic that has relevance to you and the ESL teaching community. To do this, ask yourself how you personally, or members of the teaching and learning community, are affected by this topic. Why is it interesting or important to you? Why is it relevant now?
   
   
2. Pick a topic that you don't already know much about. The point of your project is to discover valuable teaching strategies and resources in the process of doing research.
   
   
3. Pick a current issue. At least two of your sources must have been written in the last 6 months.
   
   
4. Choose a topic that will be easy to research. Consider if library or online sources will be easy to find, or if there are educators and/or students you can interview.

Before you narrow your topic and develop a formal research question, I want to know what general topic you are considering and your reasons for doing so. I also want you to find (at least) one article on your topic written within the last year and summarize it. (If you have difficulty locating a recent article about the issue, this may be an indication that it's a difficult topic to research, and perhaps you'd be better off exploring a different topic.)

You may work individually or in groups of up to three on your final project. Group work should contain more depth and reflect the contributions of multiple team members. For more details, read the complete Final Project assignment.

Due 02/21/01, 6:00 p.m.:

1. Short paper (see format below) which names the topic you are interested in and explains why you chose this topic (see #1 above). In this assignment, you should also describe any prior experience you have with this topic. If you find that you're already very knowledgeable about this topic, you should look for another topic, or a different aspect of the same topic (see #2 above).
   
   
2. Summary of (at least) one recent article on your topic, including a reference to that article (URL, etc.).
   

Format:

• Word 98 or below (if using Word 2000 or 2001, save as 98)
• Save file as "Rich Text Format," using the following filename convention: a3_lastname.rtf
• 1" margins - top, bottom, left, right
• Double-spaced
• 12 pt. font size
• Common font face (e.g. Arial, Verdana, Geneva, Helvetica or Times)
  

Submit Assignment: To submit this assignment, upload your file to the folder "Assignment 3," located in the Files section of our Yahoo! Groups site. Follow the instructions in your documentation booklet. Also bring a printed copy to class.

Points: This assignment is worth 2 points.