An Empirical Study Of Project-Based Learning In College English Teaching

College English Curriculum Requirements (2007) (abbreviated as "Requirements") elaborates clearly that the ability to use English and autonomous learning ability are two of the College English teaching objectives. Requirements also propose that colleges and universities "should remold the existing unitary teacher-centered pattern of language teaching by introducing computer-and classroom-based teaching models." Project-Based Learning (PBL), as a student-centered teaching method, makes student determine project objective, design projects and at last present a final product by themselves or collaboration in a group. PBL possess characteristics of autonomous learning, research-based learning and collaborative learning, and in the process of conducting projects, learners could develop their ability to use English. Consequently, PBL is consistent with the objectives of Requirements, which provides feasibility for the PBL implementation in College English Teaching and the new model of College English Teaching makes a materialized teaching platform for PBL.The research questions in this thesis are to examine if PBL is helpful in enhancing students'autonomous learning ability, research capability and ability to use English. The author adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods, surveying first-year non-English majored students in Hebei University of Science and Technology (68 in experimental class and 68 in controlled one). The subjects are from various majors such as pharmaceutical engineering, metallic materials etc. and the teaching material used are named<New Horizon College English> (Book 2) (Edited by Zheng Shutang).Questionnaires and tests are used as quantitative research tool, and Written Reports, Journals and interviews as qualitative research tools and there are three projects in one semester. Questionnaires are distributed to all the 136 students pre-experiment and post-experiment respectively; Written Reports and Journals are required to hand in at the end of each project, recording the process of project conduction, product description as well as reflection by each group; interviews are conducted at the middle and end of each project to give students face-to-face counsel and find out problems in project conduction and design.SPSS 15.0 is used to analyze quantitative data---questionnaires and tests by conducting independent T-test; qualitative data analyses include analysis on Written Reports, Journals and interviews in three times diachronically, expecting to see the improvement process of learners' autonomous learning ability, research capability and ability to use English. Through analyzing the gleaned data, several findings are reached:PBL could improve learners' autonomous learning ability, especially in making plan, conducting plan and reflecting; PBL enhances learners' research capability in question awareness and information collection and processing; PBL boosts learners' ability to use English. The impeding factors in implementing PBL include the level of project difficulty and the lack of foreign language learning environment etc.Considering the findings in this thesis, it is suggested that PBL could be applicable in large scale in College English Teaching, teachers select projects with well-suited in difficulty, provide more authentic English materials and endeavor to create native second language learning environment.