The theme of the course paper is “Project Work in Teaching English”. The objectives of the paper are to highlight the importance of project work in teaching English, to describe its main peculiarities and types, to discover how it influences the students during the educational process and if it helps to learn the language. The problem of using project work in teaching English is of great importance. Project work is characterized as one of the most effective methods of teaching and learning a foreign language through research and communication, different types of this method allow us to use it in all the spheres of the educational process. It involves multi-skill activities which focus on a theme of interest rather than of specific language tasks and helps the students to develop their imagination and creativity. Nevertheless, teachers are not keen on the idea of providing project work into their lessons because of the disadvantages this method has. The main idea of project work is considered to be based on teaching students through research activities and stimulating their personal interest. The research topic of the course paper is the process of teaching and learning a foreign language with the help of project work. The research focus of the paper is the content of project work activities. The research tasks are set as follows: to describe the principal characteristics of project work, to identify the types of projects and to analyse their benefits and pecularities, to analyse the project work organizing procedure. The fundamental researches in the given field were carried out by such prominent scientists and methodologists as Legutke M., Thomas H., Heines S., Brumfit C., Hutchinson T., Fried-Booth D. and others. Legutke and Thomas in their book “Process and Experience in the Language Classroom” suggest and analyse three types of projects: encounter projects, which enable students to make contact with native
References: 1. Haines S. Projects for the EFL Classroom: Resource materials for teachers. – Walton-on-Thames: Nelson, 1991. – 108p. 2. Phillips D., Burwood S., Dunford H. Projects with Young Learners. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. – 160p. 3. Brumfit C. Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching. The Roles of Fluency and Accuracy. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. – 500p. 4. Fried-Booth D. Project Work. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. – 89p. 5. Hutchinson T. Introduction to Project Work. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. – 400p. 6. Legutke M., Thomas H. Process and Experience in the Language Classroom. – Harlow: Longman, 1991. – 200p. 7. Phillips D., Burwood S., Dunford H. Projects with Young Learners. Resource Books for Teachers – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. – 153p. 8. Ormrod J. F. Education Psychology: Developing Learners. – Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. – 627 p. 9. Emmer E. T., Evertson C. M., Worsham M. E. Classroom Management for Successful Teachers (4th edition). – Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1997. – 288 p. 10. Brown H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (4th edition). – Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. – 320-355 p. 11. Finegan E. Language: Its Structure and Use (3rd edition). – Oxford: Heinemmann, 1999. – 158 p. 12. Estaire S., Zanon J. Planning Classwork. A task-based approach. – Oxford: Heinemmann, 1994. – 93p. 13. Lavery C. Focus on Britain Today. Cultural Studies for the Language Classroom. – London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 1993. – 122p. 14. Ribe R., Vidal N. Project Work. Step by Step. – Oxford: Heinmann, 1993. – 94p. 15. Wicks M. Imaginative Projects. A resource book of project work for young students. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. – 128p. 16. Зимняя И. А., Сахарова Т. Е. Проектная методика обучения английскому языку // Иностранные языки в школе., 1991. – №3 – С.9-15. 17. Полат Е. С. Метод проектов на уроках иностранного языка // Иностранные языки в школе., 2000. – №2 – С.3-10 - №3 – С.3-9. 18. Gray S. Communication through Projects. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. – 350p. 19. Morris P. The Management of Projects. – London: Thomas Telford Services Ltd., 1994. – 450p.