ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTION : THEME 2-WEEK3

 

ABSTRACT

 

The present study aims to investigate and evaluate the extent to which Project Based Learning (PBL) can effectively promote the acquisition of process-based and product-based writing skills in a Compulsory Secondary Education 3º ESO BRIT classroom in the academic year 2021-2022. More specifically, the study intends to increase our knowledge and understanding on how the different activities, techniques and teaching strategies associated to PBL methodology can contribute to the development of specific writing skills. In addition, the objective of this study is to throw light on how the teacher can help learners develop the abilities, skills and dispositions necessary for autonomous, self-directed work using PBL methodology.

 

This research is classified as action research. It was conducted during the whole  academic year . The procedures of the research were reconnaisance, planning, action and observation, and data reflection. The subjects of the research were 4 groups of  students  of 31 ESO Brit system in a state school in Spain.  The data obtained during the research is mainly qualitative though some  quantitative data was also obtained. The qualitative data were acquired by observing the teaching and learning process, interviewing the students and teachers,  taking pictures and recording interviews and  the teaching and learning process. On the other hand, the quantitative data were collected from the results of students’ written tests together with their questionnaires which were afterwards analised to compare scores and determine the gain score.

 

This research showed that writing skills are improved when using   project-based learning according to several evidences. Firstly, the use of project-based learning enhanced students’ motivation in writing as the students were enthusiastic and participate in a proactive way during the whole project implementation process.Secondly, the learners improved not only their writing techniques but also their lexical creativity. Thirdly the learners became more aware of their own learning process and  were also more use self-correction techniques. Their tests results increased from the first test to the third one with the gain of 2 points.

 

Keywords: writing skills, B1 level, project-based learning, motivation.

1.INTRODUCTION

Active learning has received considerable attention over the past several years. Often perceived as a radical change from traditional instruction, this topic has attracted strong advocates among teachers looking for alternatives to traditional teaching methods, while skeptical ones regard active learning as another in a long line of educational fads (Prince, 2004)

Active learning is generally defined as any instructional methodology that engages learners in the learning process. In short, these ´active methodologies` require learners to do meaningful learning activities and think about what they are doing. This type of learning also  engages learners in the learning process through activities and/or debates in the classroom, instead of passively listening to the teacher. They emphasise higher-order thinking and often involve teamwork (Freeman et al., 2014). There are many examples of  active methodologies and  among many we would like to highlight; task or problem based,  flipped class, service learning, role games, learning, gaming or the one this investigation will be  focused on and which is Project based learning in  the EFL class context.

Project based learning (PBL)  is defined differently from time to time,  in fact there is a  lack of a unanimous opinion of a model or theory. Luckily, there are still some overlaps in the design features. Thus, it generates greater flexibilities and possibilities for application in education practice and leads to a variety of research and development activities. PBL originates from Pragmatism which promotes action and practical application of knowledge in everyday life (Frey 1986). Major proponents of Pragmatism are J. Dewey (1935) and W. Kilpatrick (1935) in the U.S.A, and H.Gaudig and G. Kerschensteiner in Germany. The implementation of the project method was based on several pedagogical principles, expressed by many  progressive educators (Chrysafidis, 2005) like   promoting manual activity instead of memorization and verbalism, allowing  ´learners’ active participation in the learning process, and promoting   exploitation of facts related to the immediate reality as a source for learning (Fragoulis, 2004)

Primarily, PBL was widely implemented in science education (Kalvu, 2015). However, PBL has only  been incorporated into language education along with an increased interest in student-centered learning, autonomous learning, (Hedge, 1993) and collaborative learning  only in the last  few years (Thomas 2000) which means that there  are nor many  practical examples of how this methodology should be implemented in a class. (Clark, 2006).

Even when there is not a unique model  of PBL, it  seems to be consistent among educators and researchers who studied and applied this teaching approach. According to Simpson (2011) we could define PBL according to the following characteristics: complex explorations over a period of time;  a student-centered learning activity whereby students plan, complete and present the task;  challenging questions, problems or topics of student interest which become the center of the project and the learning process;  the  teacher-guide role;frequent feedback from peers and facilitators, and an opportunity to share resources, ideas and expertise through the whole process in the classroom; hands-on activities and the use of authentic resources and technologies;  a collaborative learning environment rather than a competitive one;  the use of a variety of skills such as social skills and management skills; the use of effort in connecting ideas and acquiring new skills during different stages of projects;  the production of meaningful artifacts that can be shared with peers, teachers, and experts in a public presentation;  assessment in both the process of working from the first stage to the last stage and the finished project.

On the other hand and as far as Teaching English as a foreign language is concerned, there has been a wide number of different methods with different changing practices influenced not only by the dynamics internal to the fields themselves but also by factors like the increase of multilingualism (Todeva and Cenoz, 2009), the development and promotion of the Common European Framework (CEFR; Council of Europe 2001) or  the before mentioned development of the technology and active methodologies(Larsen-Freeman and Anderson, 2009). 

From the 70s Educators started to believe that being able to communicate required more than mastering linguistic structure as language was fundamentally social (Halliday 1973) and within a social context, learners need to perform functions (Wilking, 1976). Then it is when we find the term communicative competence (Hymes 1971) which according to Canale and Swain (1980) is a model which involves grammatical competence (words and rules), sociolinguistic competence (appropriateness) and strategic competence (appropriate use of communication strategies) and which Canale (1983) later  refined  adding discourse competence (cohesion and coherence), a term which, actually will be one of the keys in our investigation when dealing with the learner´s written production chapter.

Then, Communicative competence led to the Communicative Approach (Widdowson 1990; Savignon 1997 cited in Larsen Freeman 2008) and  it developed other versions like Content-based instruction or Task-based,  participatory approaches (Howatt 1984) and Project Work  (where the language practiced in the classroom is not predetermined but rather derives from the nature of a particular  project in the target language (Larsen-Freeman and  Anderson 2008). Also, and in  the field of Second language acquisition, Krashen’s theory  influenced the development of integrative motivation in classrooms at all levels. Krashen (1981) suggested that second language is most successfully acquired  when the  instruction is focused on meaning rather than on form,  when the  language input is at or just above the proficiency of the learner and also when there is a context that lets learners  engage in a meaningful use of that language in a quite anxiety-free environment as happens when implementing PBL methodology.

Furthermore, and as far as English language acquisition is concerned, it  is true that may not be an easy process for most second language Spanish learners who have to face problems related to their communicative competence, their receptive (Listening and reading) or  productive skills (Speaking and writing). In the case of writing, learners may not feel confident even though if they have studied English as a second language from their Primary stages or even when, like happens here  in Aragon,  there have been linguistic policies since 1996. In fact,  The British council and the Education Ministry agreed to develop an integrated curriculum in a wide number of Spanish state Schools using a Content language Integrated classroom approach which in many cases is implemented  together with PBL methodologies

One of the most complex skills when learning and teaching  English is probably  writing and it  can even become intricate if we use a second language in this process (Nunan, 1991; Alcaraz Varó, 2000) let  alone  the fact that this process also implies to transform ideas into written production (McLaren, Madrid y Bueno (2005) which is a process the learner may find arduous. Writing needs a lot of effort. It is not as simple as putting the words together as the aligning words should be able to express the ideas that the writer wants to convey (Peha, 2002). Luckily,  the study and role of writing skills or writing competence in  education has changed in the last  decades.  For instance, Writing in EFL was considered a secondary subject with little research work (Krashen, 1984) while nowadays  we can count with a larger number of studies  which can include authors  from  Hedge (1988), Kroll (1990) or Reid (1993) to Cumming and  Silva (2008) among many, though we find again that there is not a wide number of practical examples involving writing acquisition  through PBL.

We may often  still find that learners work on  their writing skills  from the teacher’s explanation. This means that writing is a skill which is not usually acquired through process or projects because explanation or text presentations are many times still teacher centered in nature, becoming  the only source of learning in the classroom. Also according to Harmer (2007), the final product of writing is not nearly instant as for instance speaking . This means that a process is needed for the learners, in other words,  they have to think the ideas, select vocabulary, write, edit, and then publish it.  Besides, the teachers have an essential role to help the students to develop their writing by guiding them in that process, something that implies that the teachers should be  expected to find ways to  implement suitable method in teaching writing .

Once we reflected about the information before mentioned, we intend to know the effect that Project based learning produce on the learners under study to provide an answer to the before shared reflections.  We also hope both to contribute to this area from a linguistic perspective and also widen knowledge to  the already developed studies and their results.

 

On the other hand and as far as the structure of this investigation is concerned, there are three main sections. The first one is the theoretical frame where the main concepts of our investigation are presented. In the second section we the empiric study where the methodological aspects and considerations we based our investigation are presented together with the analisis we developed and the afterwards results discussion. In the last section we provide our investigation  conclusions.