INITIAL PROPOSAL – FINAL PROJECT

(Master in Teaching English as a Foreign

Language)

User code

[Student’s user code within the Virtual Campus]

0. General instructions

Documents should be no longer than 4-5 pages. Documents longer or shorter than this will not
be accepted.

You must follow these instructions to name the file:

GroupName’sinitialSurnames_InitialProp

For instance, a student named Jan Torres Ruiz from group 2012-02 would give the following
name to his file:

2012-02JTorresRuiz_InitialProp

Those proposals which do not follow these instructions will not be accepted. Only after the
Initial Proposal receives the approval from the teacher – supervisor the student will be allowed
to submit the next document, according to the deadlines established in the academic calendar.

1. Study program:

[Name of the Study program in which the student is enrolled]

2. Personal and academic information:

Student Name: Group:

Email address: Date:

3. Final Project Supervisor:

[The name of the Final Project Supervisor you have been assigned]

4. Title and topic of the Final Project:

[Please specify a provisional title for your Project and describe in two or three lines on which
topic it will focus]
[When choosing a topic for this Project it is very important that you bear in mind the following
recommendations:

I. Carrying out a Project of this kind is not an easy task, particularly when conducted through
distance learning; moments of apathy and frustration are frequent. For this reason, it is essential
that the student selects a topic which is particularly motivating for him/her and which is among
his/her professional and/or academic interests. This will help him/her to face critical moments
and the risk of giving up will decrease.

II. It is also important to choose a topic about which the student can easily find reference
material. Any academic work worth its name must be based on a sound theoretical background
and, therefore, the student should be able to consult all the necessary bibliography on the
matter.

III. Another important aspect when preparing a project is to focus on a topic which is sufficiently
specific and well-defined. Students should bear in mind that they are carrying out a Master’s
Final Project, not a PhD thesis, and that they are different in scope. Usually, learners are not
aware of the amount of work a project of this nature involves and, led by their motivation and
initial enthusiasm, they try to cover too broad a field when they start, instead of concentrating
on one specific aspect. Experience tells us that this is one of the main reasons why students give
up. They feel overcome by the huge task they have to accomplish and cannot keep working.

The vast majority of students who succeed in completing their Project are those who have taken
into consideration all these aspects from the very beginning].

5. Type of Final Project:

[Choose an option and tick the corresponding box. The Final Project can be classroom-oriented
or research-oriented. It can also combine both approaches, as in Action Research Projects.
IMPORTANT NOTE: those students who are enrolled in Universidad Europea del Atlántico
(Uneatlántico) must do a professionally-oriented final project. Therefore, they must not select
the option: Research].

 Research

 Action Research

 Material Analysis

 Material Design

 Material Analysis and Design

 Action Research and Material Design

 Course Design

 Syllabus Design

6. Aims of the study:

[Aims of the study have to be written using gerund or infinitive verbs. Besides, these verbs
must be operative, imply action and:
 Include individuals who will carry out the tasks.
 Indicate what must be investigated, analyzed or designed.
 Explain why the Final Project is being done.

The following verbs are usually used: to investigate, to study, to set, to design, to create, to
analyze, to search, to discover, and so on.
 Besides, the verbs used to describe the aims of the Final Project must specify actions which
are approachable within the expected Project deadlines. For instance, the verb “to implement”
may involve that validating or observing results exceed any reasonable deadline. And “to
contribute” do not impose limits or it leaves some ambiguity, unless a deep work on the state
of the art or theoretical background is done. Verbs must refer to actions which have to be
specified in an objective, measurable and verifiable way within the Final Project deadlines.

Main goal of the Project:

[The main goal of the Final Project is very broad, it reflects the main purpose of the Project
and describes what its author will do. An specific example would be:

“To analyze metacognitive strategies development through the elaboration of a portfolio”].

Specific objectives:

[Specific objectives reflect intermediate steps to achieve the main goal. Therefore, they have
to show the key actions which lead to the main aim of the Project].

[Reading the specific objectives should allow to visualize whether the main goal has been
achieved].

[Here is an example:

The general objective “To analyze metacognitive strategies development through the
elaboration of a portfolio” would lead to the following specific objectives:

- “To identify the metacognitive strategies developed by three eighth grade

students through the elaboration of a portfolio”.
- “To analyze the metacognitive strategies developed by those students”.
- “To describe possible educational solutions from results”].

7. Theoretical background:

[Please describe the sections which will be part of the theoretical background].

[Here is an example:

Having the reference work “Metacognitive strategies developed by three eighth grade students
through the elaboration of a portfolio”:

- Learning strategies training: learning to learn

- Metacognitive knowledge development
- The Portfolio within the educational context

8. Justifying academic and personal interest of the topic:

[Why do you want to do research on this topic?]

[To what extent will this Project contribute to the chosen topic and help future readers?]
[Why do you want to finish this Project and what do you expect to achieve from results?]

9. Context for the Project and methodology to be applied:

[Briefly describe the context for the Project and methodology to be applied].

10. Feasibility of the work:

[Do you have access to the necessary material and resources to carry the Project out?].

11. Work planning:

[Please list tasks to be done and their corresponding schedule].

12. Bibliography
[Give a short bibliography on the topic: about 5 references].

12. Student compliance:

[Indicate your Name], enrolled in the academic program [Indicate the academic program in
which you are enrolled], agrees with the proposal which has been detailed to complete the Final
Project and is committed to carrying out a personal, original work.

In [Country], [Month] [Day], [Year]