Project-based ESL Education: Promoting Language and Content Learning
Yan Guo, Ph.D., University of Calgary
The ATESL Conference
Mount Royal College, Calgary
Oct 19th, 2007
A review of the literature on project-based instruction indicates that in subject areas, the goals of project-based instruction are subject matter learning and the acquisition of skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and cooperative learning (Cuthbert, 1995; Peterson & Myer, 1995). In ESL education, however, project work has focused more narrowly on language or on the practice of listening to and speaking English (Fried-Booth, 1986; Gardner, 1995). Few scholars explicitly connect the development of skills and content knowledge with the importance of language/discourse (Beckett & Slater, 2005).
Project-based learning aims to engage students in the investigation of real life problems and develop students’ creativity, problem-solving, and lifelong learning (Barron, 1998; Breault & Breault, 2005; Blumenfeld et al., 1991). It addresses the learning of language, skills, and content simultaneously – an important goal identified by Dewey for project-based instruction (Dewey, 1926; Dewey & Dewy, 1915). A project, “is defined as a long-term (several weeks) activity that involves a variety of individual or cooperative tasks such as developing a research plan and questions, and implementing the plan through empirical or document research that includes collecting, analyzing, and reporting data orally and/or in writing” (Beckett, 2002, p. 54).
Alan and Stoller (2005) discuss a real-world project which followed the ten steps suggested by Stoller (1997) and Sheppard and Stoller (1995), including
- the students and instructor agree on a theme for the project,
- the students and instructor determine the final outcome of the project,
- the students and instructor structure the project,
- the instructor prepares students for the demands of information gathering,
- the students gather information,
- the instructor prepares students for the demands of compiling and analyzing data,
- the students compile and analyze information,
- the instructor prepares students for the language demands of conducting the activity,
- the students present the final product, and
- the students evaluate the project.
By the end of the project, students had improved their language and content knowledge and enhanced their critical thinking and decision-making abilities. Project-based learning enhanced learners’ motivation, improved their performance in writing and communication, and initiated their active roles in learning (Gu, 2002). It offered an opportunity for learners to communicate meaningfully and increased authentic interaction and purposeful language learning (Gu, 2001). Students interacted far more often in project-based learning than they would have in other ESL courses; they had more autonomy in their learning, and they perceived that the learning process was more relevant to their lives (Fang & Warschuer, 2004).
The Project-Framework is a tool that helps students to learn language, content, and skills simultaneously. It consists of two components: the planning graphic and the project diary. The former provides the categorization of the target language, content, and skills and the latter provides students with a weekly summarization task (see Beckett & Slater, 2005).
The Project Framework was presented to nineteen professors in China. The professors, 2 of whom were teaching English majors and 17 of whom were teaching non-English majors, came from 15 universities in China. They were all Chinese native speakers and had been teaching English for more than 10 years. The professors agreed that project-based learning can be an effective tool for the integration of language, content, and skills (see Beckett, 2006; Beckett & Slater, 2005; Mohan, 1986; Stoller, 2006). For example, one of the three professors who used project-based learning in their teaching reported she asked her students to interview 10 Chinese university students and 10 international students on campus to elicit their opinions about online dating. Her students presented their results orally to the class. At the end of the project, her students reported that they learned interview skills, new vocabulary about online dating, using English for a real purpose when they communicated with the international students, and developed their critical understanding about the issue of online dating. Most of the professors noted that project-based learning is urgently needed because it might address the weakness of Chinese students. They noticed that many of their students had successfully passed various tests in English, but not many had developed necessary communicative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980). Professors believed that project- based learning may “enhance students’ motivation” and “develop students’ ability to learn more independently and autonomously.”
The professors also reported that their students might resist such a mode of learning for a number of reasons. Project-based learning challenged the traditional view of learning and their students might not value it; students might consider it as not a serious teaching. Many students study English for examinations and they believe it is more efficient to get a right answer from the teacher or the textbook than doing a project. Professors also mentioned other reasons such as their need for further professional development, the limited resources, and the big class size.
The Project-Framework can be used to raise students’ awareness of simultaneous learning of language, content, and skills (Beckett & Slater, 2005). Future research needs to investigate the process about how instructors implement project-based ESL learning and how their students react to such an approach.