Project-based learning is an excellent means of acquiring and developing new language skills. Teachers of ESL students can use research projects to make lessons fun, interactive, and engaging. As such, interesting research projects can be used to practice the concepts that a teacher wishes to reinforce.
Research projects for ESL students should be based on relevant topics that interest them. Topics can range from creating comic strips, preparing a dish in class, dramatization, creating short podcasts, planning an itinerary, and debating significant issues.
The projects should be appropriate for the ESL student’s proficiency, whether beginner, intermediate or advanced and can be done individually or in a group.
The research project’s purpose should align with the curriculum and be clear to the students. Read on to discover some exciting research projects for the different proficiency levels of ESL students.
The Focus Of Interesting Research Projects For ESL Learners
Learning a new language can be meaningful and fun with the right teacher and lessons. However, ESL students might also be shy to speak in the presence of other students, so they must be made to feel welcome and accepted.
Additionally, if students know what the purpose of the project is, they can focus on that instead of becoming overwhelmed with other areas.
When assigning a research project to ESL students, the teacher should first assess what the students’ interests are. They will be more likely to benefit from the research project if it intrigues them or if there is an incentive.
Then, when assigning the project, the teacher should tell the students the point of the assessment, so they know what the focal point for preparation should be.
Examples of focus points or purposes of research projects can include the following:
- Spelling,
- Dialogue or speaking practice,
- Situational terminology,
- Team communication, or
- Grammar
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Interesting Research Projects For Beginner ESL Students
Beginner ESL students can differ in age, ability, and maturity, so the teacher must choose the research projects wisely and adapt them accordingly.
Below are some great ideas for exciting research projects for beginner ESL students.
1. Research Your Family Tree
Students can research their family tree as far back as possible and create a presentation with pictures. In addition to the family tree, the students can add a short biography of two or more family tree members to add extra weight to the project.
2. Plant A Vegetable Garden
A research project on planting can be modified according to the age and group size of an ESL class. Students can work individually or in groups and research what vegetables they want to grow and what is needed for each plant to thrive.
The project can be done practically, and students can document the growth of their plants. As an extension activity, the vegetables can be used to make a salad or a soup for other research projects, including following recipes.
Alternatively, the students can create a business plan and market their products for another project.
3. Create A Comic Strip
Creating a comic strip can be done individually, as a group, or as a nonsense game (for practice). First, each student can create their own superhero and write a synopsis of the superhero’s powers and weaknesses.
Then, they can make a short comic strip using simple illustrations where their superhero fights a crime or saves the day.
As a fun practice activity, students can do the first strip of a comic at the top of a page. Then they can swap pages with other class members who must continue the cartoon, a row at a time. The result should be pretty hilarious and give the students some good ideas for their research project.
4. Research A Culture Or Tradition
Students can be given the task of researching a culture or tribe. At a beginner level, ESL students can work in groups to research a culture and then present their findings. They can explore different aspects of their chosen culture, for example:
- Traditions,
- Dress,
- Traditional foods,
- Languages spoken, and
- Where the culture lives, e.g., country or types of dwellings.
When presenting their project, the students should be encouraged to show as many examples of their findings as possible. They can even dress up and play some of that culture’s music, for example.
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5. Plan A Vacation
Another fun research project for beginner ESL students is to plan a vacation. The students can pick any destination they wish to visit and plan their trip accordingly.
They can research activities they’d like to do, their mode of travel, where to stay, and what they will eat. Then, depending on the difficulty level, the teacher can give them a ‘budget’ they should stick to.
6. Real Estate Listing
In this research project, students can pretend they are an estate agent selling a property. They can create an advert and use descriptive language to describe the characteristics and selling points of the property.
7. Dramatization
Students can work in small groups and act out a short story or scene from a favorite book or movie. The teacher can suggest a fun story the class can read or watch and discuss in a lesson.
Students can then be allowed time to prepare their skits, or they can do improvisations. This activity will encourage them to memorize their cues, but they can also use cue cards.
Interesting Research Projects For Intermediate ESL Students
As ESL students advance to an intermediate level, their research projects can increase in difficulty and expectations. Again, the teacher should always inform the students of the outcomes, so they know the project’s focus. Below are some ideas for interesting research projects for intermediate ESL learners.
8. Create A Short Podcast
Podcasts are a popular way of sharing information through speaking. Thus, they make a good assessment tool for various speaking activities in the classroom. For example, the teacher can assign a topic. The students can research and record a podcast as if they were reporting for the news or other channel.
An advantage of using podcasts as a form of assessment is that the students can re-record their podcast if they have made too many mistakes before submitting it to the teacher.
9. Create A Neighborhood
Students can create a neighborhood with various characters as a group research project, much like the game Sims. Then, the students can research the characters and their roles in the community. For example, there could be a handyman, a pet sitter, a grocer, families, a librarian, and a pharmacist.
Each character can have a name and description of features. In addition, the neighborhood, streets, shops, and other community elements can also have names and descriptions.
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10. Research Different Types Of Sustainable Energies
Sustainable and green energy are current topics that make good research projects, as there is a lot of information on the internet. This research project can be done in a group or as individuals, and the students can present their research to the class in a PowerPoint presentation.
11. Write A Biography Of A Famous Person
For this research project, students can choose a famous person and write a biography on them. The teacher can give pointers as to what should be covered, for example:
- Why the person is famous,
- Where they were born,
- If they are still alive,
- Significant events in their life,
- Where they grew up, and
- How they have influenced the world or their community.
12. Do A Cooking Demonstration
Recipes are instructive and introduce a different type of vocabulary. Students can demonstrate a recipe or cooking lesson in class as part of a fun research project. Ideas for cooking demonstrations include making soup, baking cookies, preparing pasta, or making a salad.
Afterward, the students can enjoy a meal together after a few presentations during class. However, the teacher should determine if anyone has allergies before sharing the meals.
13. Career Research Project
Intermediate ESL students can do a research project on potential careers they’d like to pursue. Whether they choose one or more professions, the students can research what the job entails, the potential income, and the pros and cons.
Additionally, the students can explore the qualification requirements to pursue their chosen careers.
Interesting Research Projects For Advanced ESL Students
Advanced ESL students are likely to be older and more mature, so the teacher must choose topics that are not embarrassing or ‘below’ them. The students’ cultures must also be kept in mind, as some Western traditions are frowned upon by Eastern cultures.
Next are some research project ideas for advanced ESL students.
14. Make A Short Film
Making a short film can be successful if planned and managed correctly. An example could be creating a documentary or enacting a story.
Whatever the topic, it is wise to plan each filming session ahead of time. It would be an ongoing project that requires the skills of a movie-making app or a willing student who is savvy in that department.
15. Argumentative Research Paper Or Debate
In an argumentative research paper, a teacher can list controversial topics from which the students can choose. The students would then need to write an argumentative essay with the pros and cons or choose for or against the topic.
As an extension of this activity, one topic can be selected, and the class is split into two groups. Then, students on the same teams can collaborate and debate the topic in class.
16. Describing Famous Artworks
In this project, students can choose a few famous artworks created by different artists using various media. The students can research and describe each artwork and its history. This project will undoubtedly introduce them to new vocabulary and help them practice using descriptive language.
17. Critical Book Review
A critical book review project requires a student to read a suitably challenging book and write a critique on it. The ESL teacher can use a setwork book or allow the students to choose their own books. The students can discuss the characters, the plot, the author’s writing style, and their opinion of the book.
18. Creating A Business Plan
Advanced ESL students who learn English for business purposes will benefit from this interesting research project. They can write a business plan for a company or entrepreneurial venture.
In their business plan, they can set goals, projected expenses, income, ideas for growing the business, and other related topics within their plan.
19. The Apprentice – You Are Fired
Students may well have seen the television show ‘The Apprentice’ and you can replicate this process over a number of weeks with real groups of students and fun challenges.
You can come up with a series of tasks for the students to complete in or outside of class and then groups are judged by the teacher or a student.
The losing group then has to argue/defend their performance and contribution to the task with the weakest student being fired.
There is potential for so much language to be used in this series of activities so it requires some preparation to ensure that they do have the vocabulary and structures to be able to successfully participate in this process.
Classroom-based activities that work well for this include:
- Coming up with a new household product idea and diagram of it.
- Branding, logo, and a short advert of the product previously invented in the last task.
- Creation of a new family-friendly board game.
- Create and present a virtual tour around a particular holiday destination/city.
- Create an entertaining podcast for children.
There is an endless string of tasks that you could do all involving lots of language points. Ideal for advanced students.
Conclusion
Whether beginner, intermediate or advanced, ESL students will likely benefit from a more hands-on approach when learning a new language.
So, the teachers of ESL students can use interesting research projects to reinforce concepts taught in the class. The research projects chosen should be relevant and intriguing to the students for their benefit and enjoyment.
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