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Below is my final project proposal:
Introduction
The subject matter I chose for the final project is to prepare a website on the topic of “Conjunctions”. The concept of conjunctions in English is confused most of the time, because students usually do not know which conjunction to use for what purpose. A clear instruction is needed to teach them how to use conjunctions more effectively and in a correct way in their writings. The website I will prepare provide clear explanation and exercises for the students.
The website will be prepared for the level of intermediate, 14-15 - year old high school students.
Details of the Project
The website that I have already started will consist of three main parts. In the first part of the project, you can find information about the website, me (who prepared the website). The second part will be the verbal explanation of the subject matter with visuals like photos, animations, and maybe even short videos, etc. Then, in the third part there will be quizzes about conjunctions and some links that can be used for more information about the topic.
The explanation part of the website will consist of four main headings which will be titled as the kinds of conjunctions: Coordinating Conjunctions, Correlative Conjunctions, Conjunctive Adverbs, and Subordinating Adverbs. In this way that I will present, the learners will be able to find conjunctions already categorized and will understand them better. In each explanation sub-page, students first will see the conjunctions that will be explained and then they will reach the explanation by clicking the “power point presentation” link. In the power point presentation, the explanations will be mostly done with the support of some pictures taken from internet. So, the examples will also be ready as they explain the pictures. I won’t just copy and paste them; because I will have re-shape or change the format of the visuals so as to make them fit into my web-site better. However, there are some parts that include no pictures. I, myself will write the examples there.
The quiz part will consist of two quizzes; one of them will be composed of pictures only. In this part, students will choose the appropriate picture for the sentence. The pictures will show some conjunctions and the sentence will describe situation in the picture. As we know, some visual support will help students learn the subject matter more easily. They can remember it longer. The other quiz will be a “fill in the blanks” quiz. There will be questions here and students are expected to answer these questions after the explanation part is learned.
Conceptual Side
The website is conceptually based on “tutorial” and “stimulus response idea of Behaviorism” as the students will practice the subject with the questions and will get a feedback afterwards as in the second type of quiz. However, I will also try to insert some constructivist perspectives adding visual exercises as in the first quiz and the presentation of “conjunctions in sample sentences” part. When they need to learn something about prepositions, they will be guided in the website easily.
Technological Background
The website will be prepared using Macromedia Dreamweaver-8 program. In the explanation parts, I will make use of MS Power Point program, which can be used both online and by downloading by the user. This is why I chose to use this program for the verbal explanation part.
Resources
To prepare the website, I will make use of a University Entrance Exam Book for Turkey, which is “Building Skills for Proficiency by Cesur Öztürk”. I had used this book when I was at high school as well, so I can say it is a good resource. The book mainly consists of two parts, one of which is the “grammar explanation part”, the other one is the “exercises part”. I used the book only for the explanation and categorization of the prepositions in the website.
Other resource that I will make use of is websites on the internet. I found two very useful sites. One of them is on the link “http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu”. This website has been providing me with valuable information and some pictures as well. The site itself was prepared especially for grammar explanation and exercises. (http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm)
The other site is “http://www.ucl.ac.uk”. This website includes more comprehensive information. The main topics are bilingual language exercises, tests, grammar explanation, pronunciation activities and vocabulary quizzes. One can also find different activities for different bilingual English students. (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/frames/contents.htm)
Useful Links
I found two rich sites to recommend to the students. One of them is “http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html#purdue”. This website includes rich resources to learn English like quizzes, tests, software and interactive activities and some useful links to the site related. You can also improve your writing skills and learn the citation rules (APA, MLA styles). One can learn punctuation rules and increase your knowledge about formal article publication.
The other one is http://www.ultralingua.net. In this website, there are helpful hints to learn different languages on-line and also rich grammar subjects explanation parts in alphabetic order.( http://www.ultralingua.net/shared/references/english/index.htm)
Individual Assessment
The main problem is that I have to do much practice on my own to able to build this project. If I do not practice the web design beforehand, probably I will not be able to finish this project on time. Another problem is that the “drag and drop” may not be a practical way to prepare the questions so; I may have to learn other ways and practice how to prepare them while I have to finish my project on time.
Submission
Most probably, I will submit my final project in the third week of May, if it does not take that much time, it can be earlier.
About me
I am going to include my contact information, some photos of mine and some information bout my education life so that anybody who wants to ask any questions about the website can get into contact with me easily.
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