“Films & Blogs: An authentic approach to improve the writing skill - An intercultural project-based framework in the Senior High State School” Kosmas Vlachos

The focus of the conducted research  Development of intercultural communicative competence by senior high state school learners through an e-twining project linking two European countries  Development of new literacies (digital & media literacy) by the learners  Improvement of the writing skill and promotion of group work  Using and exploring the potential of a well known teaching tool (film) and of one of the most recent Web 2.0 tools (blog) in EFL to intrigue the learners & promote English as an International language

Significance of the research  A small-scale country-specific research hoping to contribute to the relatively new area of EFL intercultural telecollaboration by using one of the latest Internet tools (blog)  Conduct of a school project promoting communicative, collaborative, effective and autonomous language learning.

The teaching context: the participating schools Senior High Music School of Sparta (Greece) Senior High Music School of Sparta (Greece) & Vocational High School of “Rosa Luxemburg” in Bari (Italy) Vocational High School of “Rosa Luxemburg” in Bari (Italy)

Profiles of the learners & teachers  The participating students: were 17 years old & their linguistic level ranged from B1 & B2 level were 17 years old & their linguistic level ranged from B1 & B2 level the Greek students had two and the Italian students three teaching hours of English per week the Greek students had two and the Italian students three teaching hours of English per week all students worked in groups of 4 all students worked in groups of 4  The participating teachers: Were experienced with a post-graduate degree Were experienced with a post-graduate degree Followed pioneer communicative teaching practices Followed pioneer communicative teaching practices Were excellent cooperators and intercultural speakers Were excellent cooperators and intercultural speakers

The conducted research  Based on the needs & interests of the learners the researcher chose two comedies for the learners to watch in English: 1. “My Big Greek Fat Wedding” by Joel Zwick 2. “Moonstruck” by Norman Jewison  The project lasted three months and was conducted in 20 teaching hours.

 The films were separated into three excerpts.  For teaching each excerpt three stages were followed: 1. Preparatory (pre-viewing & pre-blog stage). 2. Watching and working with the excerpt of the film. 3. On-line communication with their e- twining partners through the class blog.

 Three blog sessions took place: a) The first two were asynchronous. b) The last blog session was synchronous.

 The learners were taught the genre of film review and in groups they wrote two film reviews: A) One at the beginning of the project for the first film they watched and A) One at the beginning of the project for the first film they watched and B) Another one at the end of the project for the second film they watched B) Another one at the end of the project for the second film they watched (totally 16 film reviews were produced) (totally 16 film reviews were produced) Peer feedback took place and the final products of the groups were published and are available in the project blog.

Presentation of the project blogs  In the following transparency a page from the class blog is presented.  On the right side one can see the photos of the classes and on the right side there is the title of the film followed by the relevant tasks.  Below one can see a relevant video from the film “My Big Greek Fat Wedding” and the electronic dictionaries which were used by the learners.

hghytrgtfgdsdgdgd

Presentation of the project blogs  Teachers’ blog  Blog for future communication

Collecting & Processing data  For the purpose of the research the learners of both schools completed two questionnaires: a) one at the beginning of the project b) one at the end of the project b) one at the end of the project

Presentation of the findings  The findings were based: 1) On the quantitative data that came from: a) the processing of the two questionnaires analyzed in the statistical package “SPSS” and a) the processing of the two questionnaires analyzed in the statistical package “SPSS” and b) on the assessment of the film reviews that the participating groups produced and which were analyzed with the help of Microsoft Excel 2) On the qualitative data that came from the processing of Blogspeak, that is, the language used in the messages of the learners during the first two asynchronous blog sessions.

Motivation of the learners  In the final questionnaire: 95% of the Greek learners and 75% of the Italians stated that they found the project interesting. The majority of all learners stated that the use of films and blogs in the English class increased their interest and participation during the lesson.  The participation of the learners during the second and third blog session increased in comparison with their participation during the first blog session.

Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence In the final questionnaire:  95% of the learners confirmed the acquisition of cultural knowledge.  Half of the learners stated that they succeeded in communicating with their e-twining partners without any difficulty while the rest stated that they succeeded to some degree.  90% of all learners expressed their desire to continue their communication with their partner learners after the project. Moreover, during the end of the project the learners’ interest in the other culture increased to a great degree.

Opportunities for improvement of the writing skill  In the final questionnaire 65% of the learners stated that the project helped them write film reviews collaboratively.  According to the assessment of the two film reviews 75% of the learners improved their writing performance in the genre of film review to a great degree.

Opportunities for development of a new species of communication  According to the discourse analysis of the on-line messages of the participating learners, Blogspeak is a new species of communication because the discourse found in the blog is interactive displaying both oral and written discourse features.

Opportunities for the cultivation of Multiple - New Lilteracies  In the final questionnaire the majority of the learners confirmed the fact that the project helped them write collaboratively on the blog and therefore achieved a degree of digital literacy.  In the following pies the opinions of the Greek and the Italian learners respectively about the project are presented.

Presentation of the findings based on the quantitative data: A pie from the ‘SPSS’ Analysis of the questionnaire answered by the Greek learners

Presentation of the findings based on the quantitative data: A pie from the ‘SPSS’ Analysis of the questionnaire answered by the Italian learners

Presentation of the findings based on the quantitative and qualitative processing of the data:  Based on the qualitative and quantitative data, the following fact is confirmed: The project promoted the development of media literacy and as a result the learners became able to evaluate and criticize films and became aware of the impact the films have on shaping national stereotypes.

Summary The use of blog communication and the interaction triggered off & developed by films of cultural content resulted in: The use of blog communication and the interaction triggered off & developed by films of cultural content resulted in:  The motivation of learners  The promotion of intercultural communicative competence by using English as an International language  The development of a new interactive species of communication (blogspeak) due to the creation of a new discourse displaying both oral and written features  The promotion of group work & of new literacies, such as digital and media literacy.

Changes I have made in my dissertation based on the assessors’ recommendations : At the discussion section (Chapter Four):  I elaborated on & rephrased the findings so as to provide the answers for all research questions  I compared the findings of my research with those of other studies abroad  I added a separate section on recommendations & limitations of the research I also added some information regarding the teaching context, I added some footnotes & reorganized the appendices. I also added some information regarding the teaching context, I added some footnotes & reorganized the appendices.

Thank you for your Thank you for your Kind Attention! Kind Attention! Kosmas Vlachos Kosmas Vlachos