Team-Teaching an EFL Unit Project With Real-World Context: Putting Students’ Smartphones to Work

Conference: The Southeast Asian Conference on Education (SEACE2023)
Title: Team-Teaching an EFL Unit Project With Real-World Context: Putting Students’ Smartphones to Work
Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Authors:
Robin Ramsey, Tokyo International University, Japan
Rachel O'Dell, Tokyo International University, Japan

Abstract:

This poster describes a content-based EFL assessment project piloted in two classes with two different instructors who share a student population. Classes included 14 Japanese second-year university students majoring in English Communication. The assessment sought to apply a real-world context to the themes, vocabulary, and grammar introduced in the course’s required text through the use of readily-accessible resources on student mobile devices. Project steps included a class excursion to observe local businesses, take photos, and note business details. Students were then asked to identify what kind of businesses were absent from the area. Using this information, students considered business startup opportunities and developed an interest survey related to the startup using the mobile version of a popular survey platform. Surveys were distributed among their classmates to collect real data identifying the aspects of their “startup” that appealed to their peers’ interests. Students went on to include their observations and survey results in a business proposal presentation defending their business plan and its predicted success. Finally, students wrote a short report describing the observations, survey, results, and business plan. By developing and assigning a collaborative project between students’ reading/writing and speaking/listening classes, the instructors allowed students the opportunity to explore the topic in depth while utilizing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills simultaneously. Basing the project around existing businesses near the university and encouraging the use of familiar mobile devices also encouraged students to make personal connections to the material and develop a deeper understanding of the featured linguistic content.

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