AYMAT INDEPENDENT STUDY

SUBMITTED BY: Ginna Allison
DATE: March 9, 2010
TITLE: Documentary Stories through Media in the ESL Classroom
CREDITS: One

PURPOSE OF INDEPENDENT STUDY

To explore how technology and personal documentary storytelling — through writing, photography, audio and/or video — can be effectively adapted as a tool for language learning in the intermediate and advanced ESL classroom.

OBJECTIVES

• To learn how radio and Internet have successfully supported the development of first-person stories by their audiences.

• To discover where my own professional experience in media and documentary production can be applied to enhance creative, personalized learning in the ESL setting.

• To develop a lesson plan or project that I (and others) can use or modify in an intermediate to advanced EL classroom, assuming time and resources are at a premium.

OUTLINE OF WORK

• Through interviews and readings, investigate some of the ways that mass media have successfully engaged the public in creating content based on personal experience or opinion. Determine what they have done, how much work it  has required of them and the participants, and what have been their challenges, successes and lessons learned.
• Research how similar forms have been used in the ESL classroom, and learn about the outcomes.
• Mine my own experience with writing, photography, and documentary and multimedia production against the backdrop of my knowledge of TESOL, to discover language-learning possibilities in the intersection.
• Analyze the blog I set up for my Pachuca students and the multimedia work I did with them to determine which aspects might have potential in future teaching endeavors (and which don’t).
• Examine ways that such projects can be digitally assembled (and possibly shared with others) when teacher time, and student and institution resources, are limited.
• Synthesize these findings into a sample lesson plan or project that can be adapted to different levels, identifying specific learning objectives.

Learning Objectives

I will discover how to maximize my own prior professional (and life) experience in the setting of the ESL/EFL classroom.

Learning Methods

Interviews and other research, as well as analysis of my own experimentation with documentary and media in the ESL classroom, will be my foundation. Learning what has and hasn’t worked, along with feedback from my peers, will guide my own creative development.

Product or Result

A lesson plan or series of linked lessons, suitable for intermediate to advanced ELs from young adult up.

Evaluation

I have started collaborating with a small group of other independently studying MATs; we plan to meet weekly to review progress, brainstorm, give feedback, and keep up momentum.

Timeline

Interviews completed by mid April. Additional research and analysis by late April. Development of lesson outline through end of semester.