An Empirical Study On Developing EFL Students' Instrumental Competence Acquisition By Project-based Learning

This thesis is an empirical study designed to assess the progress of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students' instrumental competence in PBL (project-based learning) at the university level.As one of the six sub-components of translation competence (TC) , instrumental competence refers to "the knowledge and skills related both to the tools of the trade and the profession" according to the definition of PACTE group. To be more exact, instrumental competence includes two aspects: the use of translation tools and the competence needed to be a professional translator. The present thesis mainly focuses on the study of use of translation tools among EFL students, namely the student translators in this research.Though there is already an enormous amount of research on translation competence, the domain of instrumental competence has only been touched upon. A survey of the local translation market needs suggests that there is a significantly shortage of translators who are professional users of translation tools. The vast need for qualified professional translators from the market, along with the ever-updating translation technologies, has resulted in new challenges for language teachers at universities. How to make the students' performance meet the market needs as soon as possible, how to develop their ability to quickly solve a certain translation problem with appropriate translation tools have gone beyond the rationale of traditional textbooks, even beyond the traditional translation teaching methods. By comparing the different performances of the two groups of EFL students, with 17 participating a project-based learning and being exposed to an authentic environment to employ translation tools, and the other 15 continuing their usual practice at the college English class, the present study aims to prove that an exposure to PBL is likely beneficial to the development of instrumental competence, and thus explore the significance and feasibility of "Developing EFL students' instrumental competence in PBL" based on the research findings.The present research chooses 32 EFL students in one university as subjects and the subjects are divided into an experimental group and a control group. The 17 group members in the experimental group will be exposed to PBL and the 15 members in the control group will continue to attend their college English classes. During the three month-long research, a training class on how to improve skills in using translation tools will be given to the two groups to observe their different performances in different learning environments. In order to give an efficient measurement about the two groups' instrumental competence, the present research employs two technical translation tests with a time duration of two months. The translation processes of the two groups are recorded to facilitate a detailed observation about the usage of translation tools. In addition, the observation table on the usage of translation tools is introduced to record the two groups' performances in using translation tools for one month.The findings of the present study indicate that: (1) the experimental group developed their instrumental competence more comprehensively compared with the control group. This is indicated in the following two aspects. In terms of the frequency in using translation tools in the two tests, it increased by 43.2% for the experimental group, while it only increased by 14% for the control group. This shows that the experimental group is using the translation tools more frequently in a PBL environment. On the other hand, in terms of the efficiency in using translation tools, the experimental group can solve translation problems by using translation tools in a more efficient way. (2) Differences also exist in the use of specific translation tools for the two groups. The differences are reflected in the following way: There is a variety in choosing translation tools to solve specific translation problems for the experimental group. However, the control group will always resort to the most available tools. (3) Analyses of the two translated texts shows that compared with the control group there is less problem-solving time, increased instrumental application frequency and higher text accuracy in the translated texts for the experimental group, which consequently leads to a higher acknowledgement about the quality of their translation products from the client.On the whole, the instrumental competence of the two groups has been improved. However, the experimental group shows a more evident progress. With other variables of this research being controlled and the only difference between the two groups being the exposure to different learning environments, therefore, this research can prove that project-based learning is more effective in developing EFL students' instrumental competence to some extent. After this research the experimental group's instrumental competence is in the middle stage of novice and professional. They have developed certain knowledge and skills about translation tools, but their performances are far from enough with the market requirements for using translation tools. What have to be emphasized is that the acquisition of instrumental competence is a dynamic and consistent process. It can not be achieved through just one project. Therefore, it requires teachers to introduce authentic projects into classes as many as possible, thus creating a more favorable learning environment for the students to develop their instrumental competence.