Kalliope Vrinioti & Eleni Griva University of Western Macedonia - Greece January 2014, Copenhagen COMUNACT: “Play, interact and communicate”

THE GREEK PROJECT The Greek PROJECT The Greek PROJECT, which we perceive as a Module contributing to the development of the broader BA / MA SIGNALS-project, (application, step 2), falls into the area of Applied Linguistics from the perspective of social constructivism. The Exemplary Co-coperative Educational Practices are situated within such a theoretical framework “in order to generate questions and/or other measures to be used in the initial assessment” (application, Step 1, p. 47). My colleague Elena Griva, assistant professor- expert in Applied Linguistics, will present briefly the purpose and the approach of the proposed project based on the specifications of the Application. We’ll accommodate some adjustments to our proposal after the common decisions will have taken here in the first meeting January 2014, Copenhagen

THE GREEK PROJECT We therefore regard the ‘initial needs analysis’ on national level (including children, teachers, parents) as a prerequisite for the development of an innovative project. Before calling upon Elena to speak, I would like to highlight four important findings of EASE in the Greek context, that have been taken into consideration in designing our proposal for SIGNALS January 2014, Copenhagen

Finding 1:The pre-and primary school teachers, participated in our case studies, encountered difficulties in being aware of their tacit theories and even more to reflect on and to distance themselves from them. Finding 2: They encountered difficulties in distinguishing/identifying child's perspective Finding 3: They encountered difficulties in understanding the importance of child’s participation in the learning process Finding 4: The primary school teachers highlighted the importance of using game as a teaching tool. Nevertheless, they encountered difficulties in using and implementing playful activities in their classrooms. FINDINGS January 2014, Copenhagen

The Participants The Greek team consists of 6 members: 3 course leaders and 3 research assistants Course leaders Kalliope Vrinioti, national project co-ordinator, educationalist, specialist in ‘transition’ Eleni Griva, specialist in applied linguistics Klio Semoglou, specialist in psychomotor development Research assistants Genovefa Kopsachili, preschool teacher, former EASE- research assistant Spyros Bouras, primary school teacher, Postgraduate student (UOWM) Vasilis Iosifidis, primary school teacher, Postgraduate student (UOWM) January 2014, Copenhagen

The two school partnership One public school, located in Florina, a city in Northern Greece, agreed to collaborate with us. This primary school is supervised by the School of Education of the University of Western Macedonia. An attempt will be made to experiment and implement an ‘innovate approach’, which could constitute an in-service training event, as well as an initial education module on an experiment basis January 2014, Copenhagen

RATIONALE AND PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT The basic purpose of the proposed project is to develop communication oral skills and strategies along with social skills of children attending the 1 st and 2 nd primary school grade in an interactive context. “…interaction is, in fact, the heart of communication: it is what communication is all about” (Brown, 2001: 165) January 2014, Copenhagen

task-based In the proposed project interaction is developed through a ”task-based” approach (Ellis, 2003; Willis, 1996; Willis & Willis, 1996), with the cooperative games being the core of the project. Co- operative games January 2014, Copenhagen

Children learn by being with others, while feeling secure and confident enough to take risks, to explore, to take part in challenging experiences (Broady, 2006; Johnson & Johnson, 1999). Children learn by doing mostly in group work which allows for meaningful communication and help between them (Broady, 2006; Johnson & Johnson, 1999). Task-based approach Children learn by being involved in making choices and decisions, and by solving problems January 2014, Copenhagen

game-based In a “game-based” context Children have the opportunity for listening and speaking in a meaningful environment, by interacting and communicating verbally and non-verbally, while participating in child oriented games, as well as interactive simulation and physical activities (Griva, Semoglou & Geladari, 2010; Griva & Semoglou, 2012). In such a context, high levels of fantasy, curiosity and creativity will be sustained, where children have to discover and explore their own space by themselves (Fisher, 2011) January 2014, Copenhagen

Benefits to be achieved Benefits related to children’s oral communication skills development: Communication skills and strategies development Social and cooperative skills development Vocabulary development January 2014, Copenhagen

Benefits to be achieved Benefits related to teachers’ teaching practices: Reflection on the current practices and improvement of the practices in relation to task-based approach, in line with the end-users’ needs (the teachers of the target group)- enhancement of the quality of in service teacher training. Transferring of good practices in initial education and training (develop a teaching module in initial training at University level) January 2014, Copenhagen

Project Framework Duration FRAMEWORK OF THE PROJECT February-May 2014 INITIAL NEEDS ANALYSIS June – August 2014 I)INSTRUMENT DESIGN and SELECTION II)PROJECT MATERIALS DESIGN September- October 2014 FIRST STAGE (PRE-STAGE) OF THE PROJECT November- April 2015 MAIN STAGE OF THE PROJECT: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERVENTION May- June 2015 POST-STAGE OF THE PROJECT: EVALUATION OF THE INTERVENTION Project Framework January 2014, Copenhagen

Initial Needs Analysis (February-May 2014) January 2014, Copenhagen

CHILDREN TEACHERS TRAINING ASSISTANT RESEARCHERS PARENTS A pre-record and analysis of the target situation will be conducted January 2014, Copenhagen

CHILDREN A needs analysis will be carried out with the purpose to identify: 1 st grade children’s profile, are organized into the following parts: Children’s demographic data; Language background in Greek and the other language; language difficulties and preferences in relation to learning styles 1 st grade children’s perceptions on classroom interaction and cooperation January 2014, Copenhagen

TEACHERS nterviews Ιnterviews will be conducted with the school teachers in an attempt to identify: their needs in taskbased approach their perceptions on issues related to classroom interaction their awareness on personal beliefs and tacit theories January 2014, Copenhagen

PARENTS Focus group interviews Focus group interviews will be conducted with parents. Keeping a clear focus on the outcomes that parental support is aiming to achieve for children, an attempt will be made to identify and record their engagement in literacy practices as well as their attitudes to children’s involvement in the project. Parental involvement in their children’s school life as well as in out of school activities has been proved to have a lot of advantages for the children’s school attainment January 2014, Copenhagen

ASSISTANT RESEARCHERS Training seminars Training seminars for the assistant researchers on the following topics: Task-based approach Early literacy: Communicative skills and strategies Evaluation of children’s progress in communication skills January 2014, Copenhagen

INSTRUMENT DESIGN and PROJECT MATERIALS DESIGN (February-May 2014) January 2014, Copenhagen

INSTRUMENTS  Instrument of communicative strategies  Sociogram (to map the social/ interactive dynamics of the classroom)  Standardized test of expressive vocabulary (Word Finding Vocabulary Test, RENFREW, C. E., 1995 (This test allows investigation of children’s naming on a set of items unrelated to the intervention or control). (Greek version)  Journals will be kept by the teachers once a week in order to reflect on learning, communication and interaction issues in relation to the game-based ontext.  interviews will be conducted with the teachers  Structured interviews will be conducted with the children January 2014, Copenhagen

Communication Cooperation Conceptualisation Creation A task-based approach topic-based teaching module Principles (4 Cs) PROJECT DESIGN January 2014, Copenhagen

Topic-based teaching module topic-based The topic-based teaching module consists of ten (10) main topics based on children’s needs and interests: *Diversity *Health and nutrition *Communication and Media *Culture *Ecology *Seasons *Books *Social relations *Toys and games *Olympic games January 2014, Copenhagen

A task-based approach is followed: Activities Enhancing work in groups and pairs, which is indicative of cooperating learning (Ellis, 2003); including two categories of activities, outdoor physical activities such as races, chases and hopscotch, role play games, dance activities, and in classroom activities, such as constructions, sorting, ordering, or arranging puzzles, pantomime etc Indicative activities Treasure hunt ‘Human’ Board game The postman Constructions in groups ( Rhymes, Pictures ) BABEL: The ‘foreign’ language (discover what they say and how) Show must go on (with judges, competitors …) Story relays in groups – read along next Drawing relays in groups – the ‘most beautiful’ monster January 2014, Copenhagen

THE PROJECT January 2014, Copenhagen

PROJECT – three stages PRE-STAGE OF THE PROJECT POST-STAGE OF THE PROJECT: EVALUATION OF THE INTERVENTION MAIN STAGE OF THE PROJECT: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERVENTION January 2014, Copenhagen

PRE-STAGE OF THE PROJECT (September- October 2015) January 2014, Copenhagen

In the pre-stage, the following instruments will be implemented: Instrument of communicative strategies Sociogram to map the social/ interactive dynamics of the classroom) Standardized test of expressive vocabulary Teacher training events  Task-based approach  Early literacy: Communicative skills and strategies  Evaluation of children’s progress in communication skills January 2014, Copenhagen

ΜΑΙΝ-STAGE OF THE PROJECT (November 14- April 2015) January 2014, Copenhagen

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 6 MONTHS Pre-task phase Follow up phase Task cycle January 2014, Copenhagen

Pre-task phase Introduction to the topic and task in a multisensory learning context (eg. stories, ppt, video clips, songs) Contextualization of the task ( through pictures, realia, questions and answers etc) Exposure of the class to language related to the theme (children learn new content words and phrases that are essential to the theme and the task) Group Scaffolding and motivation to participate in the games and communicative playful activities that follow The purpose of this phase is to prepare the children to perform the task in ways that will promote interaction and enhance communicative skills. Type of interaction: Teacher- student interaction is attempted January 2014, Copenhagen

Task cycle Framework: Task - Planning – Report The teacher splits the class into groups of 4-5 children, asks them to observe a model of how to perform the task and presents “The Group Work Rules” *The teacher a) is a coordinator, supervisor and experienced member of the group. b)involves children in developing classroom displays that showcase their case and encourage them to explain or describe these displays to their classmates January 2014, Copenhagen

Task cycle Framework: Task - Planning – Report The children: are encouraged to use language creatively and spontaneously through participating in games and performing the task ( a problem-solving activity) in groups. have to work together on a common group task, helping each other, interact with each other during “problem- solving negotiation and assuming responsibility for contributing to the group task (the task is discovery- based and interaction is vital to productivity and creativity) January 2014, Copenhagen

Task cycle Need to communicate with each other for effective performance (Skehan & Foster, 2001), to speak among themselves to organize and complete task. Present/ perform the final task (prepare a ‘report’ for the whole class on how they did the task). *Type of interaction: children are exposed to within group interaction January 2014, Copenhagen

Follow up phase Feedback and evaluation The teacher: gives feedback on the content and quickly reviews what was presented picks up and draws attention to relevant language and se­mantic points and communicative issues. Teachers’ feedback leads children to modify their output. provides an opportunity for a repeat performance of the task. This activity should be repeated and at least two or three groups should be asked to present their task. Students vote and choose their preferred task Practice through participation in a cooperative physical activity *Type of interaction: children are exposed to within group interaction January 2014, Copenhagen

POST-STAGE OF THE PROJECT (May- June 2015) January 2014, Copenhagen

EVALUATION OF THE INTERVENTION An evaluation study will be conducted in order to record the feasibility and effectiveness of the multi project by using the following instruments: i)At the end of the project, pre-instruments will be repeated in the form of a post- instruments -Standardized test of expressive vocabulary -Instrument of communicative strategies -sociogram to map the social/ interactive dynamics of the classroom January 2014, Copenhagen

EVALUATION OF THE INTERVENTION i i) Structured interviews will be conducted with the children, at the end of the project, to record their satisfaction from the project, and the difficulties they encountered. iii) interviews will be conducted with the school teachers. iv) Focus group interviews will be conducted with the children’s parents January 2014, Copenhagen

Broady, E. (2006). Learning and Interaction: Developing Through Talk. Language Learning Journal, 34. Burgess, P. (1994). Achieving accuracy in oral communication through collaborative learning. English Teaching Forum, July Ellis, R. (2003). Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Griva, E., Semoglou, K. & Geladari, A. (2010). Early Foreign Language Learning: implementation of a Project in a game –based context. Selected Volume: Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, ELSEVIER, Volume 2, Griva, E. & Semoglou, K. (2012). Estimating the effectiveness and feasibility of an early EFL learning project based on physical activities. English language teaching, 5 (9). Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Learning together and alone. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Robinson, P. (2001). Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production: Exploring interactions in a componential framework. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), Skehan, P. & Foster, P. (2001). Cognition and tasks. In P. Robinson (Ed.). Cognition and second language instruction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Willis, J. & Willis, D. (1996). Challenge and change in language teaching. Oxford: Heinemann ELT. Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow,U.K.: Longman Addison- Wesley. Willis, J. (1998). Task-based learning: What kind of adventure? Retrieved from ipis/docs Indicative References January 2014, Copenhagen

ACTIVITY: TASK CYCLE This works great with music. Music can start and stop this activity. Talk to the kids about trust and how they need to trust their partners and classmates. Get students into groups of two. One is the driver and the other is the car. The driver stands behind the car student with their hands on their shoulders. This is how they “drive” and “Steer” the cars. Cars have to walk and have their eyes closed. Drivers do not drive their cars into other cars. This is where trust comes into play. Cars should be relaxed (should not have their hands out in front of them like a mummy) and walking, trusting their driver. After about two minutes switch drivers to cars and cars to drivers. Now have students get into groups of six. They will do the same thing, except the truck (first person in line) is in control with their eyes open and the other five behind them (hands on shoulders) are the trailer of the truck. All the students that are trailers have to have their eyes closed. Trucks do not crash their trailers into other trucks. Trucks have to walk. Teacher plays the role of the police officer. If you give a car or truck a ticket for reckless driving or their eyes are open, you give the entire group an exercise (10 pushups, sit ups or jumping jacks). Indicative Activities – Topic: Transport January 2014, Copenhagen

ACTIVITY: FOLLOW UP Activity 3-THE SECRET SOUND The children are divided into pairs. Each pair picks a secret sound-code to communicate with. With eyes closed the players should walk about and find their own pair by making the appropriate sound. The sounds could be sounds of animals like ‘baa’‘meow’ etc, When the couples come across each other they should hold hands and find others of their kind until all the groups are complete. Indicative Activities – Topic: social relations January 2014, Copenhagen