Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom

Trabajo por proyectos: pensamiento crítico y proceso escritural en inglés en un salón de tercero de primaria

Authors

  • Sandra Dolores Ruiz Colegio José María Carbonell

Keywords:

Pensamiento crítico, Trabajo por proyectos, Habilidades de escritura (es).

Keywords:

Critical thinking, Project work, writing skills (en).

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Abstract (en)

This document presents the result of a qualitative action research developed with thirty-three third grade students at a public school in Bogota. This action research aimed at describing and analyzing the role of project work in the development of critical thinking in third grade EFL students and to describe and document the way in which those students developed their writing skills through this methodology. The participants developed different inquiries related to topics they were interested in exploring and related to the recycling project of the school. The data were collected during eleven sessions carried out along eight months through field notes, artifacts, and audio recordings. The results show that through project work the students enhanced their emerging critical thinking skills and their writing process; improved their interactions with their classmates, discovered that learning English was something useful for their lives, and therefore they acquired more confidence in writing and speaking in English. Additionally, they became more reflective, organized and critical about what they think, what they say, and about what happens around them.

Abstract (es)

Este documento presenta el resultado de una investigación-acción cualitativa desarrollada con treinta y tres estudiantes de grado tercero de un colegio público de Bogotá. Esta investigación-acción tuvo como objetivo describir, analizar y documentar el papel del trabajo por proyectos en el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico en los estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera del grado tercero; y la manera a través de la cual dichos estudiantes desarrollaron sus habilidades en escritura a través de esta metodología. Los participantes llevaron a cabo diferentes investigaciones relacionadas con temas de su interés en torno al proyecto de reciclaje del colegio. Los datos fueron recolectados durante once sesiones a lo largo ocho meses a través de notas de campo, producciones escritas de los estudiantes y grabaciones de audio. Los resultados mostraron que a través del trabajo por proyectos los estudiantes cualificaron sus habilidades de pensamiento crítico emergentes y su proceso de escritura, mejoraron las interacciones con sus compañeros de clase, descubrieron que el aprendizaje de inglés era algo útil para sus vidas y por consiguiente, adquirieron más confianza para hablar y escribir en inglés. Además, las participaciones se hicieron más reflexivas, organizadas y críticas en relación con lo que piensan, lo que dicen y lo que sucede a su alrededor.

Author Biography

Sandra Dolores Ruiz, Colegio José María Carbonell

She has a Master in The Teaching of Foreign Languages from Universidad Pedagógica.

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Working by projects: A way to enrich critical thinking and L2 writing

Ruiz S., (2013) Colomb. Appl. Linguist. J.

ISSN 0123-4641 • Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 205 - 220 220 220

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How to Cite

APA

Ruiz, S. D. (2013). Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 15(2), 205–220. https://doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04

ACM

[1]
Ruiz, S.D. 2013. Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal. 15, 2 (Jul. 2013), 205–220. DOI:https://doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04.

ACS

(1)
Ruiz, S. D. Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom. Colomb. appl. linguist. j 2013, 15, 205-220.

ABNT

RUIZ, Sandra Dolores. Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, [S. l.], v. 15, n. 2, p. 205–220, 2013. DOI: 10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04. Disponível em: https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/5129. Acesso em: 28 mar. 2024.

Chicago

Ruiz, Sandra Dolores. 2013. “Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom”. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal 15 (2):205-20. https://doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04.

Harvard

Ruiz, S. D. (2013) “Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom”, Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 15(2), pp. 205–220. doi: 10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04.

IEEE

[1]
S. D. Ruiz, “Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom”, Colomb. appl. linguist. j, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 205–220, Jul. 2013.

MLA

Ruiz, Sandra Dolores. “Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom”. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, July 2013, pp. 205-20, doi:10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2013.2.a04.

Turabian

Ruiz, Sandra Dolores. “Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom”. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal 15, no. 2 (July 1, 2013): 205–220. Accessed March 28, 2024. https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/5129.

Vancouver

1.
Ruiz SD. Working by projects: a way to enrich critical thinking and the writing process in a third grade eflclassroom. Colomb. appl. linguist. j [Internet]. 2013 Jul. 1 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];15(2):205-20. Available from: https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/5129

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