eTwinning project teaches English through drama and film

Students of the class 3DEF at Guzeppi Despott Boys' Junior Lyceum, Verdala, Cospicua, certainly have a lot to be pleased about. For the first time the school participated in an English eTwinning project and obtained third prize out of 150 schools.

As a teacher of English, I decided to involve my students in the eTwinning project, choosing a theme that would motivate them in all aspects of English.

Due to constraints of the syllabus, Drama does not play a vital role in their academic life, and very often students do not see the relevance of learning certain subjects, and the project adopting a holistic approach to learning English, to make it all the more clear and exciting to them.

eTwinning is a scheme for schools across Europe looking to work together through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It provides access to a range of tools that enable schools to embed the use of ICT in their daily activities. eTwinning can be used in its own right, or can bring an exciting new dimension to the teaching of various subjects.

The project, which was entitled 'Language and Literature through Baroque Architecture' aimed to foster a love for the English language by linking it to the rich architectural history of the project partners' countries, namely Malta, Poland and Hungary. The Baroque architecture theme of was in turn linked to several different subjects, namely Literature, Music, Home Economics, History, Geography, Art and ICT.

Art and music were linked to the importance of citizenship for students to gain more awareness of our rich European historical heritage. Such projects help eliminate stereotyping of other nationalities, and are a small step at school level towards promoting peace and stability in Europe and globally.

Drama and filming skills were given importance to generate enthusiasm among the participating students. Drama served several purposes in our project but most of all, it encouraged self-expression. English assignments, such as essay writing and research work, were linked to drama. Hopefully, teaching through drama will become the hallmark of our school.

As part of the project, the students dressed up as Grand Master La Valette, military engineer Francesco Laparelli, architect Gerolamo Cassar and members of the nobility and filmed themselves re-enacting drama scenes at the school premises as well as on location.

Parents and members of the community greatly supported us. It was so refreshing to see parents getting as enthusiastic about the project as the students. One parent ended up as our filming consultant. Two others took part as nobles during the re-enactments.

A Maltese noble family residing in Mdina invited the whole group into their palatial residence to view it from the inside and give them a short lecture about the Maltese nobility. This aspect of Maltese history is somewhat overlooked in school textbooks.

Although the students worked really hard the benefits they reaped were tremendous, and the hard work was pure enjoyment. It is a universal fact that when one is having fun, that is when learning takes place.

The students were directly involved in the project's running, constantly giving their opinions about the project's development and working as a team.

Through the project, each student used their talents and potential, and felt important contributing to the final results. It greatly boosted their English speaking skills and self-confidence. The link with Hungary and Poland also resulted in our literature and history being viewed from a European perspective.

Above all, the students now have greater interest in English, show enthusiasm for related work and are even projecting related ideas. They have also gained better insight into why certain topics are taught at school and the links that exist between the various subjects on the curriculum.