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The Background
The BritLit Project developed language learning materials from contemporary British literature sources. It used the extensive reading list for years 10 and 11 in the state schools as a starting point, and the materials explore cultural, literary and linguistic aspects of the texts, as well as introducing the student to other sources of British literature and poetry. The project was later extended to provide materials for years 8 and 9 as well as a range of story-telling kits for younger learners of English, from years 4 to 7.
The Kits
The project developed a series of resource 'kits' for teachers, each based on a particular short story written by a contemporary author. They are called 'kits' because teachers are expected to construct the lessons from the materials provided. In this way the project tackled the problems of mixed ability English language classes. To provide even greater flexibility the materials were produced exclusively on electronic format - a web page and on CDROM.
Co-operation
The project was jointly managed by British Council Portugal and APPI. This joint effort was shared at every level, and teachers contributed to the material writing and to the production of the kits through training courses run by our partners, NILE in the UK, and by being part of the BritLit 'family'.
Live Literature
From time to time the project was able to invite selected authors and poets whose work has been featured, or had appeared in the kits, to travel to Portugal and work with students and teachers. Sometimes this took the form of an author's reading, sometimes a workshop, sometimes an informal meeting. Whatever the occasion, they were always highly rewarding.
More
The project was officially terminated on 31 March 2009. However, the dynamic the project created has meant that activity goes on regardless throughout the country. For further information about current levels of activity, write to brit.lit@pt.britishcouncil.org.
The ready-to-use materials continue to be available to download from our website, (you will need an Adobe pdf reader, available for download from the site) on www.teachingenglish.org.uk and follow the BritLit link
Contact:
brit.lit@pt.britishcouncil.org
www.appi.pt
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
BritLit on teaching English
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