An Empirical Study Of Project-based Language Teaching Among Non-English Majors

Project-based language learning (PBL) is a newly developed teaching and learning approach advocated by the educational circles. Based on constructivism and humanism, PBL helps students construct their own knowledge system through participating in real-world projects closely related to the content of the course. In contrast with the traditional teaching method, PBL emphasizes learning by doing and aims to enhance learners'overall language competence through doing projects.The present paper reports an empirical study on the effect of the application of PBL to College English class. It aims to probe into the differences between PBL and the traditional teaching method and the reasons why such differences exist. The research questions of this thesis are: (1) What are the differences between PBL and the traditional teaching method in enhancing students'language competence– listening, reading and writing? (2) What are the effects of PBL on learners'motivation, learning autonomy and cooperative learning? (3) Why does PBL differ from the traditional teaching method in enhancing students'language competence?The study consists of two parts: quantitative and qualitative research.The quantitative research includes a one-semester experiment and two questionnaires. The experiment involves 72 students of Grade 2008 from two classes in Guangling College of Yangzhou University. The pre-test and the pre-course survey questionnaire are conducted at the beginning of the experiment. The class with a slightly higher mean score in the pre-test is the control class (CC), in which the traditional teaching method is employed. The other class is the experimental class (EC), in which PBL is adopted. After teaching for one semester, the post-test and the post-course survey questionnaire are done at the end of the experiment. The scores of the tests are computed and analyzed with the software of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0. The pre-course survey questionnaire and the post-course survey questionnaire are the same. The questionnaire is composed of 45 questions, which covers three aspects– students'motivation, learning autonomy and cooperative learning. The pre-course survey questionnaire is administered at the beginning of the experiment and the post-course survey questionnaire is administered at the end of the experiment. The data were also analyzed with SPSS 16.0.The qualitative research is an interview with 12 students, half of whom come from CC and the other half from EC. The six students from each class represent the highest and lowest achievers in the post-test in their own class. The interview is conducted in two groups: group one is from CC and group two is from EC. The interview is tape-recorded and transcribed later. The transcriptions of the interview are categorized to testify the final results.Through the detailed analysis of quantitative and qualitative research, the major findings can be summarized as follows:1. PBL proves to be a proper and more effective way to be applied in College English class and helps to improve students'overall language competence, especially in reading and writing. Statistics show that students in CC and EC have no significant differences in listening, reading and writing before the experiment, but after one-term PBL experiment, students in EC significantly outperforms CC based on the score in the post-test.2. PBL helps to stimulate students'motivation in English, develop students'learning autonomy and train their cooperative learning abilities. Based on the results of the questionnaire and the interview, after the experiment, it is found that most of the students in EC not only have higher motivation and more interest in learning English but also can make better arrangement for their own learning. Cooperative learning skills are also enhanced through doing group projects.3. PBL helps to improve students'overall language competence through a series of activities to finish projects, which make students actively participate in English learning and get fast improvement in their language competence. Moreover, PBL creates an English environment for students in class, under which students have more opportunities to practice what they have learned.The implications from the findings of the study are summarized as follows: (1) PBL should be strongly advocated in Chinese EFL context as PBL can greatly help to improve students'overall language competence. (2) Students in EC should be trained with the knowledge of PBL before doing projects. (3) Considerable efforts should be made by teachers to serve as a helper and facilitator. (4) Special concern and encouragement should be given to low achievers to reduce their anxiety, activate their interest and increase their confidence.