Research On The Project-based English Learning Activity Design To Promote Student Engagement At Senior High School

In order to address the issue of fragmented teaching content and exam-oriented teaching in English teaching at Senior High School,the General Senior High School Curriculum Standards·English(2017 Edition,2020 Revised)advocates an activity-based approach to English learning by integrating the six elements of curriculum content(i.e.thematic contexts,text types,language knowledge,cultural knowledge,language skills,and learning strategies),which is targeted at developing students’ English subject core competencies.To achieve such goals,integrated,relevant,and practical English learning activities should be provided to students,and various teaching approaches,such as project-based learning and study-based learning,are on the recommendation list for English teachers.By doing so,it is expected that students’ potential and engagement in English could be stimulated,while pushing teachers to reform English classes,so as to highlight the function and value of English curriculum.Project-based English learning is a Second/Foreign language teaching approach,in which students are immersed in an authentic learning situation and devoted to dealing with real problems in English.With the help of learning strategies and interacting with peers,students are encouraged to complete a series of thematic-based English learning tasks,present findings through a written or oral performance,and give a thorough reflection,thus showing their progress in language,thoughts,and culture.Some studies at home and abroad have revealed that project-based language learning can help develop learners’ language ability,such as comprehension and expression competences,and non-language ability,such as independent learning,cooperative skills,cross-cultural awareness.This approach has been widely recognized by schools,teachers,and students since introduced to the field of Second Language Acquisition.Considering the comprehensive situation in China,some important issues should be addressed properly,especially the state of students engagement,while implementing it at Senior High School.Student engagement,including behavioral engagement,cognitive engagement,affective engagement,and agentic engagement,has long been viewed as an important indicator of learning efficiency,a vital predictor of academic achievement,a major indicator of education quality,as well as a key factor to achieve academic success.Therefore,this study follows a mixed research paradigm,mainly uses the literature method and quasi-experimental method,and focuses on the core question of how to enrich,optimize and improve the design of project-based English learning activity at senior high school to promote student engagement in the process of English learning.There are three sub-questions studied intensively:(1)What implications should be fully understood when implementing a project-based English learning activity at senior high school to promote student engagement?(2)What strategies should be employed to design a project-based English learning activity at senior high school to promote student engagement?(3)What factors will influence student engagement when students take part in a project-based English learning activity at senior high school? why?Focusing on the research problem,the following three aspects of work have been carried out in depth.Firstly,based on literature review,the study puts forwards six ideas to follow up when designing a project-based English learning activity,that is,problem-solvingmotivated,task-based,interaction and negotiation-required,learning strategies-involved,products-driven,and competence-oriented.The features of learning activity,i.e.integrated,relevant,and practical,are explained in detail.This study holds that a sound learning activity design should treat the following four pairs as a unity: subject needs and object attributes,contradictory transform and intermediary methods,language development and thought enhancement,individual progress and collective achievements.When designing project-based English learning activities,teachers should learn to balance the contradictory relationships among “form vs content,autonomy vs cooperation,presupposition vs generation”.Secondly,drawing on the notion of systematic instructional design and backwards instructional design,English teachers should give priority to the understanding of big ideas,use the essential question to drive learning,apply the extended tasks or project approach to learning,and design the learning unit with a big blueprint.This study constructs a “1-core,3-dimensions,5-steps” framework to design a project-based English learning activity.Specifically,“1-core” refers to creating a problem-and taskbased environment for English learning;“3-dimensions” refers to enhancing students’ physical and psychological involvement in learning activities,including behavioral engagement,cognitive engagement,affective engagement,and agentic engagement;“5-steps” refers to the specific stages(choosing theme,setting goals,planning evaluation,designing practices,evaluating results)experienced by teachers and students when engaging in project-based English learning activities.In order to enhance the practical use of the design framework,student’s behavior,cognitive,affective,and agentic engagements should be fully considered when incorporating tasks,situation,questions,and concepts into the design process.Meanwhile,this study details each step with specific cases and examples from the English textbook for senior high students,which was published by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in 2019.Thirdly,an empirical study on the spot is carried,151 Senior High Students from Chengdu involved in the study over a period of 14 weeks(around 80 hours).Various research methods and tools,such as questionnaires,interviews,participatory observation,are used to collect data in order to reveal the real state of student engagement,and analyzes how their motivation changes over time.The quantitative research spots three meaningful findings.(1)Three dimensions of student engagement changes positively over time,that is,agentic engagement(t=-4.974,p=0.000),behavioral engagement(t=-3.542,p=0.001),and affective engagement(t=-11.766,p=0.000),while cognitive engagement shows no significant changes.(2)The moderating effects of learning motivation are varied.The study finds that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs does not have a direct impact on the state of student engagement,and different dimensions of learning motivation have varied moderating effects on the relationship between basic psychological needs and student engagement,that is,self-efficacy(t=-2.167,p=0.032<0.05),test anxiety(t=-2.000,p=0.048<0.05),intrinsic goal orientation(t=-2.065,p=0.041<0.05),and learning beliefs(t=-2.990,p=0.003<0.05),while extrinsic goal orientation and task value show no significant moderating effect.(3)The differences in background characteristics have diverse impacts.The study discovers that the English academic performance level shows significant differences in agentic engagement(F=14.534,p=0.000),behavioral engagement(F=12.907,p=0.000),affective engagement(F=3.674,p=0.028)and cognitive participation(F=10.597,p=0.000).The English academic performance level shows significant differences in autonomy(F=5.382,p=0.006)and competence(F=3.587,p=0.031),but no significant difference in relatedness is found.The English academic performance level has significant differences on five out of six dimensions of learning motivation: external goal orientation(F=32.313,p=0.000),internal goal orientation(F=4.547,p=0.012),task value(F=5.941,p=0.003),learning beliefs(F=6.114,p=0.003)and self-efficacy(F=12.420,p=0.000),but no significant difference in test anxiety is found.It is worth noting that the analysis of qualitative research data also support the above findings.By clarifying the basic rationales and operation strategies of designing a project-based English learning activity at senior high school to promote student engagement,this study analyzes the relevant factors and reasons that affect student engagement when attending project-based English learning activities.The findings suggested that a systematic thinking should be adhered to design a project-based English learning activity,take care of the students with low engagement due to hidden difficulty or disadvantage,and pay more attention to the long-term value of emotional and agentic engagement in promoting student engagement.To sum up,considering the actual situation of English teaching at senior high school in China,this study introduces the project-based learning approach to senior high English teaching.Based on self-determination theory,the study constructs a research framework,and then tests the consistency of design and implementation when applying the project-based English learning method to senior high school from the perspective of student engagement,which expands the research horizon of project-based learning in China,provides an empirical support for objectively evaluating the effect of project-based English learning,and promotes the evidence-based English research and teaching trend.