Project Proposal Format

  1. Summarize The Project - Take all the information on the project that you have thus far and summarize it briefly, using your own words, in an opening paragraph. This not only helps you get a clearer concept of the project in your own mind but also gives confidence that you’ve given it thought and understand what is wanted. It also provides a solid opportunity for me to clarify in case you didn’t understand.
  2. Break Down The Project Into A “To Do” List – After your summary, follow-up with a solid “To Do” list, which is very useful for both your group and me.  Be thorough in your list. It will help you make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Use the list in your project updates and cross things off as you move along.
  3. Split The Project Into Phases - After your “to do” list, split the project up into a number of clearly defined phases. I recommend starting out with a minimum of three. Your first phase might be the “Initial First Draft”. During this phase, you begin work on the project and end the phase with a first draft for testing and revision. Your next phase, in a simple 3 phase project, is revising – During this phase the project is tested and revisions are made until you and viewers are happy with the work and it’s ready for action. Your last phase is presentation to the class and the public.
  4. Create A Timeline – Once you’ve gone over the project phases, estimate approximately how long you expect the project to take. Be generous (overestimate if need be) and then strive to finish up ahead of time. While a project may only take you a few hours to finish up, keep in mind that there will be waiting time between the initial drafts and the finished project as others review the work and provide feedback.
  5. Estimate Your Time Involved – While not useful for all project types, giving an estimate of time involved is useful for most and helps you know exactly what to plan ahead for.  Be generous, but honest.

2 comments for “Project Proposal Format

  1. uzma
    April 22, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    Summary of Project Proposal

    CROSSING BOUNDARIES: A STUDY OF CULTURALLY DIVERSIFIED WRITING

    Culture is identity and distinctiveness of one is preserved through culture. Without an understanding of culture, we are not fully human beings. We will always be missing some part of ourselves without culture. Culture shapes all the aspect of our lives and writing is no exception. Our native languages in particular carry the teachings and values of our cultures and through our work they are preserved and taught. Foreign language learning is comprised of several components that are in contrast with the native language learning, including grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency, as well as a change in attitudes towards one’s own or another culture. The knowledge of the conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of another country, is indisputably an integral part of foreign language learning, and many teachers have seen it as their goal to incorporate the teaching of culture into the foreign language curriculum. It could be maintained that the notion of communicative competence, emphasizing the role of context and the circumstances under which language can be used accurately and appropriately is really crucial to the acquisition of second language learning. When it comes to actually equipping students with the cognitive skills they need in a second-culture environment and language learning, there are many troubles faced by learners.
    I have thought of many topics for my research paper, and finally have decided to write my paper on the cultural influences on writing because of my interest in ESL. As a non native speaker of English this issue is really near to me. Besides I have taught in a multicultural classroom as well and that experience has been actually challenging for me. Furthermore, I believe that future teachers cannot escape themselves from a situation where they can face cultural diversity in their classroom. Writing requires conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas. Students writing in a second language are also faced with social and cognitive challenges related to second language acquisition. L1 models of writing instruction and research on composing processes have been the theoretical basis for using the process approach in L2 writing pedagogy. However, language proficiency and competence underlies the ability to write in the L2 in a fundamental way.
    Though writing process is influenced by multiple aspects, I would like to focus on the four aspect; cognition, motivation, communication and interaction in the writing process. These four values are culturally determined. I would like to analyze cognition, motivation, communication and interaction from the western and non western cultural point of view. The researchers have found increasing evidence that Asians, whose more collectivist culture promotes group harmony and contextual understanding of situations, think in a more holistic way. They pay attention to all the elements of a scene, to context and to the relationships between items. Western culture, in contrast, emphasizes personal independence and formal judgment, and so Westerners are more analytic and pay attention to particular objects and categories. That difference reflects a more general divide between the ways that Westerners and non Western view the world around them. I try to find out the commonalities in the cognitive, motivation, communicative and interactive values of both cultures that can be helpful to understand the writing process. If I fail to get any common ground in these culturally diversified learners, even understanding the difference in the cognition, motivation, communication and interaction factors of learners can help writing teachers.
    To do list:
    • To study the cognitive, motivational, communicative and interaction aspect of writing process.
    • To study these fore aspect from the western and non western traditions of cultural values.
    • How cognition and motivation of Asian students is different from that western students.
    • To find out common points in the writing process of Asian and Western students that can be helpful in multicultural classroom.
    Timeline:
    I estimate to spend at least three days (6-7 hours) on initial reading and almost 2-3 hours on one page. Some time it can take longer time to finish one idea if I stuck on it. After completing first draft i take atleast one day to revise before giving ot final touch.

  2. simi dhaliwal
    April 29, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    Uzma check out:

    “Listening to the World: Cultural Issue in Academic Writing” Helen Fox describes world majoirty students. These students “come from ninety-six countries, many as new comers, others as longtime U.S. residents who seem totally “Americanized,” but whose ways of thinking and expressing themselves still show the deep influence of the communication styles of their parents or extended families”(Fox 1). This lack of understanding causes these students to struggle with U.S forms of communication.

    This book has some interesting topics about multicutural classrooms that may be helpful for your paper.

    You can also check out:

    Rebecca Powell an author who emphasizes the idea of creating a counter hegemonic discourse in order to give students a voice, one that is usually silenced through pedagogy that incriminates the positives of their cultural backgrounds. Powell expresses, “to understand the transformative potential of language, students must believe that their voices will be heard and that their ideas will be legitimated” (81). This concept is hard for world majority students to grasp because they are taught to adhere to the standards of western writing which imply that all students live up to the same goal. In doing this, students who are affluent in western education adhere to school standards and are rewarding while the students who can not identify to the standards become marginalized. Powell’s attempt to fix these homogenizing occurrences in schools is to teach students the social, cultural, and hegemonic functions of language while simultaneously helping them to master the language of power. She also implies that teachers can encourage students to develop a critical consciousness.

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