Project Work and Project Based Learning as instructional approaches offer the opportunity to create innovative learning environments. They afford students with working in teams, engaging in meaningful activities (problem-solving, analyzing, evaluating, collaborating, reporting, presenting etc.) over a significant period of time, in order to create a product, realistic and relevant to the learners. Project Work creates a logical link to content-based instruction, now a major goal of foreign language education in the U.S.

Project Director 2002-2010: Gabriela Appel, The Pennsylvania State University
Project Director 2002-2006: Karen E. Johnson, The Pennsylvania State University
Project Director 2002-2005: Miryam Espinoza-Dulanto, The Pennsylvania State University

Professional Development Materials:

CALPER's Project Work Website has been created for teachers who are interested in exploring ways of working with projects in intermediate and advanced language courses. It contains background information, suggestions of how to plan projects, and stories by teachers who are experienced in conducting projects.

Teaching and Learning Materials:

Example Projects: Currently, there are three projects for intermediate/advanced learners available, which serve to illustrate project work and can also be adapted by teachers to fit their particular instructional context.

• "Let's Make a Deal: Surviving the Car Buying Language Experience". [ESL] [CALPER DOWNLOAD]
• "13 Jahre Deutsche Vereinigung: An Inquiry Project for Advanced Learners of German." [German] [CALPER DOWNLOAD]
• "Evocando y Paso a Paso Avanzando: A Creative Writing Project to Advance Spanish Proficiency". [Spanish] [CALPER DOWNLOAD]