Project Work

Class Project: 

University students’ healthy and unhealthy habits 

Objectives: 

At the end of this project students should be able to describe university students’ habits, likes and dislikes; to ask and answer questions about personal information, habits, and hobbies; and to describe their personal profiles. 

Situation and audience:

The University Student Welfare Office (Bienestar Universitario) from Universidad Nacional de Colombia Campus Medellín is conducting research on students' healthy and unhealthy habits in order to design new cultural and health programs for all students. Students from all areas are invited to be part of this project by volunteering for the University Student Welfare Office (USWO). Students will conduct a survey to know more about the students' healthy habits, write an information report about their findings and present it orally to USWO. 

Project Task 1: My Personal Profile 

Oral Task: Project meeting with USWO 

Project Task 2: Conducting a survey 

Final project tasks: Main findings information report / Oral presentation

Project Task 1

Read the following profile sample:

My profile

There are many reasons why we probably need to write about us. One of those reasons is to introduce and shortly describe ourselves. A kind of text that is used to write about us is a profile. A profile is a short description of a person or organization. We might use a profile on a resume, social networks, job application, academic profile or simply a personal profile. Profiles are written in many different ways and should be tailored for their use.

The most common profile is the personal profile. It usually includes the description of personal information (birthday, age, hometown) occupation, likes, personality traits and plans for the future.

Anna’s Profile

I am Anna Oldenbrook. I was born on November 20th, 1997. I am 23 years old. I am from Denver, Colorado.

I am a Spanish teacher. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher. I think it is important to have passionate and devoted teachers who care about their content. I fell in love with Spanish because of all my travels around Latin America. I went to Guatemala for the first time when I was 12 years old. It was a transformative experience.

I love languages, that’s why I chose to be a foreign language teacher. I enjoy travelling a lot and getting to know people and new cultures. I also like to paint. Usually, I work with watercolors, but lately I have been experimenting with oils. I do not think I am that good, but it is relaxing to me. I like to paint on Saturday mornings, before lunch, when the lighting is good.

I am a very considerate and patient person. I think this helps me to be the best teacher I can be. Sometimes, I can be a little loud and assertive, but I think it comes from my morals. I think that being bold, fun, and assertive make for a good teacher and a good leader. However, sometimes, I need to be better at listening to others. I think I am responsible and hard working. I also work hard to take time to meditate every day.

In the future I hope to write textbooks to improve the way we teach Spanish in the US. And I also want to be a great Spanish teacher.

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Notice some of the linguistic choices to be considered when writing this kind of text:

Linguistic choices:

Person: First person: I

Tenses: Present and sometimes past

I am Anna Oldenbrook. (Present)

I was born on November 20th, 1997. (Past)

Expressions to introduce future plans: I hope…, I want to…

I hope to write textbooks

Project Task 1 – Preparation:

At this first stage of the project, USWO wants to know more about the students who will be volunteering in this research. In order to do this, students are required to write a 200-300 word personal profile to introduce themselves. This profile must include a personal description (name, hometown, major, semester), preferences, hobbies, qualities or talents, extracurricular activities, and future professional goals.

Objective: At the end of this task, you will be able to write a personal profile to be sent to USWO representatives.

Instructions

Step 1: Take into account these questions to write your personal profile:

What is your name?

When were you born?

Where were you born?

Where do you live?

What do you study?

What do you like?

What do you like to do in your free time?

What are your best qualities?

What are your professional interests?

Step 2: Read this model and analyze it so that you can write your own text in a proper way.

Step 3: Write a 200-300 word personal profile by using your own words.

Step 4: Upload your personal profile in PDF format in the classroom.