(1211) THE MEMORY BOX PROJECT: A WAY TO INTEGRATE VALUE EDUCATION TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF ELT STUDENTS

摘要

Globalization and increased student mobility has led to international student profiles all around the world. This reality urges teachers to teach not only their subject matter but also certain skills and values to help students communicate in a multilingual setting and help them understand each other more. This study focuses on teaching values within a higher education context. Four students (in two pairs) studying in the Department of English Language Teaching in a university in North Cyprus participated in the study. Within a project-based learning approach, each of the pairs were asked to visit a foreign patient in a hospital setting and conduct weekly oral communication with them. The project lasted eight weeks in total and the teacher provided guidelines for students every week during class hour. At the end of the project, the students were asked to write a reflection regarding their experiences and feedback about the project. The results from the reflections showed that the students were satisfied with the project in general. It was found that the project helped students to improve their English communication skills but also, taught them values and skills which made them more understanding towards people from other cultures and survive in different settings.