DIGITAL LIBRARY
THE MEMORY BOX PROJECT: A WAY TO INTEGRATE VALUE EDUCATION TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF ELT STUDENTS
University of Kyrenia (CYPRUS)
About this paper:
Appears in: INTED2019 Proceedings
Publication year: 2019
Pages: 4865-4869
ISBN: 978-84-09-08619-1
ISSN: 2340-1079
doi: 10.21125/inted.2019.1211
Conference name: 13th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Dates: 11-13 March, 2019
Location: Valencia, Spain
Abstract:
Globalization and increased student mobility have led to international student profiles all around the world. This reality urges teachers to teach not only their subject matter but also certain skills and values to help students communicate in a multilingual setting and help them understand each other more. This study focuses on teaching values within higher education context. Four students (two pairs) studying in the Department of English Language Teaching participated in the study. Within a project-based learning approach, each of the pairs were asked to visit a foreign patient in a hospital setting and conduct weekly oral communication with them. The project lasted eight weeks in total and the teacher provided guidelines for students every week during class hour. At the end of the project, the students were asked to write a reflection regarding their experiences and feedback about the project. The results from the reflections showed that the students were satisfied with the project in general. It was found that the project helped students to improve their English communication skills but also, taught them values and skills which made them more understanding towards people from other cultures and survive in different settings.
Keywords:
Higher Education, Value Education, Project-Based Teaching, Communication Skills.