Using project based teaching to enhance 11th grade students at a high school in hung yen

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ DUYÊN

USING PROJECT-BASED TEACHING TO ENHANCE 11TH GRADE
STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN
(Sử dụng phương pháp dạy học dự án để nâng cao kỹ năng nói cho học sinh
lớp 11 tại một trường THPT ở Hưng Yên)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

HANOI - 2019


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ DUYÊN

USING PROJECT-BASED TEACHING TO ENHANCE 11TH GRADE
STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN
(Sử dụng phương pháp dạy học dự án để nâng cao kỹ năng nói cho học sinh
lớp 11 tại một trường THPT ở Hưng Yên)

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Hòa

HANOI – 2019


DECLARATION
I, Nguyễn Thị Duyên, declare that this thesis and the work presented it are my own
and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. It has not
been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially.

Hanoi, April 2019

Nguyễn Thị Duyên

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoa Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Languages and International
Studies who gave me a lot of valuable guidance, encouragements, criticisms and
correction throughout my thesis writing. The door of Prof. Nguyen Hoa’s office was

always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research
or writing. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in
the right direction whenever he thought I needed it.
I would also like to thank thirty 11th grade students at a local school in Hung Yen
province. Without their passionate participation and input, the validation survey
could not have been successfully conducted.
My sincere thanks go to my family, my colleagues and my friends for their
encouragement and support that help me to complete my work.

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ABSTRACT
The present study entitled “Using Project-based teaching to enhance 11th grade
students’ speaking skills at a high school in Hung yen” was conducted to address
two issues: exploring the students’ attitudes toward the implementation of Projectbased teaching in their English lessons and the impacts of using Project-based
teaching on students’ English speaking. The instruments employed for data
collection and analysis of the study included two tests, a questionnaire and an
interview with six students. Research findings showed that the students had positive
attitudes towards the use of Project-based teaching in their English lesson. It also
revealed that Project-based teaching was beneficial to help students improve their
oral competence. Based on the findings, some implications would be suggested for
both the teacher and the students. With all this information, this study is expected to
be significant to both teachers and students in teaching and learning English
speaking skills.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ....................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................ vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ viii
LIST OF CHARTS ................................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1
1. Rationale of the study..............................................................................................1
2. Aims of the study ....................................................................................................4
3. Significance of the study .........................................................................................4
4. Scope of the study ....................................................................................................5
5. Methods of the study ...............................................................................................5
6. Structure of the thesis ..............................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................7
2.1. Speaking in foreign language learning .................................................................7
2.1.1. Definitions of speaking ......................................................................................7
2.1.2. Components of speaking skills ..........................................................................7
2.1.3. Teaching speaking skills ...................................................................................9
2.2. Project-based learning ........................................................................................10
2.2.1. Definitions of project-based learning .............................................................10
2.2.2. Theoretical framing of project-based learning ...............................................11
2.2.3. The project as a process ..................................................................................13
2.3. Some previous studies ........................................................................................15
2.3.1. Advantages of project-based learning ............................................................15
2.3.2. Disadvantages of project-based Learning ......................................................16
2.3.3. PBL in teaching and learning English in Vietnam context .............................17
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .........................................................................18
3.1. Context of the study ...........................................................................................18

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3.1.1. The current situation of teaching and learning English at the school ............18
3.1.2. The teaching program and materials ..............................................................19
3.2. The participants ..................................................................................................20
3.3. Design of the study.............................................................................................21
3.3.1. Action research ...............................................................................................21
3.3.2. Procedures of the study ...................................................................................21
3.3.3. Data collection instruments ............................................................................27
3.4. Data analytic method..........................................................................................31
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................33
4.1. Analysis of the speaking tests ............................................................................33
4.2. Analysis of the survey questionnaire .................................................................35
4.3. Analysis of the interview ...................................................................................40
4.4. Discussion of the findings ..................................................................................42
4.4.1 Achievement ....................................................................................................42
4.4.2 Attitudes ...........................................................................................................43
4.5. Summary ............................................................................................................44
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...............................................................................46
5.1. Recapitulation of the research ............................................................................46
5.2. Recommendations of the study ..........................................................................46
5.2.1. The teachers ....................................................................................................47
5.2.2. The students .....................................................................................................47
5.2.3. The school administrators ...............................................................................47
5.3. Limitations of the study .....................................................................................48
5.4. Suggestions for further research.........................................................................48
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................49
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
Appendix 1 – A Sample DESCRIPTION OF A PROJECT ................................. I
Appendix 2 – PRE-TESTS ................................................................................. XIX

Appendix 3 – POST-TESTS ............................................................................. XXIII

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Appendix 4 – Rating scale for Speaking test ................................................ XXVII
Appendix 5 – THE QUESTIONNAIRE..........................................................XXXI
Appendix 6 – INTERVIEW .......................................................................... XXXVI
Appendix 7 – TRANSCRIPTS OF THE INTERVIEWS ......................... XXXVII

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL

: English as a Foreign Language

ESL

: English as the Second Language

ELT

: English Language Teaching

MOET

: Ministry of Education and Training

PBL

: Project-based Learning

TESOL

: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

ZPD

: The Zone of Proximal Development

CEFR

: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1. Procedures of the study ................................................................................. 22
Table 4.1: The results of pre-test and post-test .............................................................. 33
Table 4.2: Students’ responses to the questionnaire ...................................................... 36

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LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 4.1: Students’ mean score of average mark ......................................................... 34
Chart 4.2: A comparison of mean scores on pre-test and post-test by five criteria ....... 35

Chart 4.3: Students attitude towards PBL ...................................................................... 37
Chart 4.4: The benefits of PBL ...................................................................................... 38
Chart 4.5: The benefits of PBL in learning speaking skills ........................................... 39
Chart 4.6: Students’ difficulties when implementing PBL ............................................ 39

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the background to the problems and the reasons for choosing the
topic are mentioned. As a result, the necessity of delivering the research as well as
the importance of the application of project-based teaching in teaching English
speaking skills is revealed. The aims and the significances of the study are also
stated. The final section will present the scope and methods of the study which
shows the number of participants and the time of the intervention.
1. Rationale of the study
The world has changed dramatically over the last generation – even over the last ten
years. Our lives have become far more connected through technology, a global
economy, and social media. Since the emergence of a global movement that calls
for a new model of teaching and learning for the 21st century, it has been argued
that formal education must be transformed to enable new forms of teaching and
learning that are needed to tackle complex global challenges. Experts recognize that
the “transmission” or lecture model is highly ineffective for teaching 21st century
competencies and skills. The concern about transforming the goals and daily
practice of teaching and learning is characterized as knowledge and technologically
driven. How teachers and educators can best support learners develop essential
skills for the 21st century is a big issue. People learn in a variety of ways, so the
challenge for teachers is to discover which approaches help them learn most
effectively.
In the general context of the world, Vietnamese education is not an exception.

Providing learners with only good basic numeracy and literacy skills will no longer
suffice. The labor market increasingly demands a mix of high-quality cognitive,
behavioral, and technical skills. Therefore, the government should provide better
quality schooling that fosters higher-order cognitive and behavioral skills (such as
creative and critical thinking) for more young people. Accordingly, the Ministry of
Education and Training is working on an ambitious reform to optimize learning and

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promote the competencies needed to master content and apply knowledge. To adapt
to the development of society, to train human resources according to the needs of
the new era, in addition to intensive knowledge, the school needs to equip the 21st
century skills for students.
Over the last few years, project-based teaching has been discussed and implemented
widely in Vietnam education. The phrase “Project-based teaching” has been
mentioned in a lot of books on teaching methods and techniques. Research has
shown that project-based teaching - methods and techniques of teaching based on
project-based learning - has been proved positive and effective. It is a learnercentered teaching model, through open tasks, encouraging learners to explore,
realize the knowledge learned during the implementation process and create their
own products. Instead of following a rigid lesson plan that instructs learners down a
specific path of learning outcomes and objectives, project-based teaching allows
students carrying out in-depth investigation of a topic under discussion. Through
project-based teaching, learners have more autonomy over what they learn,
maintaining interest and are motivated to take greater responsibility for their
learning. Project-based teaching “focuses on the nitty-gritty of how teachers
facilitate high-quality learning experiences for students” (Suzie Boss and John
Larmer 2018). Together with the changes of the world, the need for project-based
teaching is increasing. We see schools and districts working toward more studentcentered approaches that include inquiry learning, personalized learning,
performance-based assessments and a huge surge of interest in and implementation

of project-based learning. Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method in
which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of
time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question,
problem, or challenge. PBL is the conversion of project-based teaching. PBL and
project-based teaching presuppose each other. Therefore, in my thesis I will explore
project-based teaching through the expedition to the field of PBL.
PBL is a learning method based on constructivism (Hmelo-Silver 2004) which was

2


first proposed by John Dewey (1859-1952) at the end of the 1890s (Douglas and
Stack 2010). Dewey’s philosophy was child-centred and introduced real-life
situations and contexts into the school environment. His ideas were further
developed by Kilpatrick in the early 1900s in his book “The Project Method”
(1918). Since then, PBL has been elaborated indetail and applied to various school
subjects and learning situations. As a result of such practical applications, our
understanding of PBL has been greatly enriched. With the theory of "learning by
doing and experiencing", Dewey advocates teaching students how to learn through
building a specific project and finding reasonable solutions to bring the project to
success. According to Thomas (2000), this learning method brings learners a good
chance to improve integrated skills such as language competence and other
necessary expertise in the 21st century. PBL enables the expression of diversity in
learners, such as interest, abilities and learning styles.
Having been teaching English at a high school for nearly twenty years, I realize that
the students may read and write well in English but they cannot speak it fluently. A
majority of students show their low motivation in speaking English. They are quite
passive, not active in speaking lessons. However, the importance of speaking is
more revealed with the integration of other language skills. The mastery of speaking
in English is a priority for many second-language or foreign-language learners. Our

learners often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the
effectiveness of their English on the basis of how much they feel they have
improved in their spoken language proficiency. Oral skills have hardly been
neglected in today’s EFL/ ESL courses.
To meet the demand of the educational development trend - education in the 21st
century highlights globalization and internationalization - as well as to improve my
students’ performance, I have been trying to find out the most suitable and effective
methods of teaching English. The methods being worked out can be for the four
English skills, of which speaking should be paid most attention to. Having
perceived the benefits of PBL, I am interested in applying it into my teaching job to

3


improve the learners’ speaking skills. Therefore, I conducted the research entitled
“Using project-based teaching to enhance 11th grade students’ speaking skills at
a high school in Hung Yen”. My objective is to construct the most effective ways
of alleviating the students to overcome the barrier of low self-confidence when
studying speaking skills. I hope that this innovative approach can foster my
students’ motivation and autonomy, and enjoy learning English. Furthermore, being
good at speaking English will be a gateway leading to opportunities to work with
international projects for developing economics or cultures.
2. Aims of the study
Based on the rationale mentioned above, I would like to investigate the impacts of
PBL on students’ English speaking skills and their attitudes towards the new
approach in my own teaching environment to see whether it is applicable at my
school or not. The study is conducted with a view to finding out the answers to the
following questions:
1. To what extent does project-based learning enhance the students' speaking skills?
2. What are the students’ attitudes towards project-based learning?

Of these two questions, the first one is the focus of the study.
3. Significance of the study
Theoretically, this thesis will be a small contribution to the theory of ELT on
the impacts of using PBL in promoting students’ language competence of speaking
skills at a high school. Some researchers have proved that PBL has had positive
impacts on students’ language competence of speaking skills. Therefore, hopefully
this study will achieve rewading results.
Practically, this study is firstly expected to be an alternative way to expose
students to more student-centered classrooms, and to help them enhance their
English competence, cooperation and their motivation in those classes. The results
of this research are expected to give useful information and experience to English
teacher whether or not PBL is an effective way to improve students’ language
competence. If this method is successful, it may possibly be widely applied at a

4


high school to make the students interested in English and more confident to
communicate with each other in the target language.
For these reasons, this research is constructed not only to explore previous
related theories to get background knowledge of PBL but also to change and improve
educational situations.
4. Scope of the study
Due to time constraints, the research is carried out in sixteen weeks of the first term in
the academic year 2018-2019 (from August 20th to December 8th). The study limits
itself to the investigation of the impacts of PBL on the students’ speaking skills as
well as their attitudes towards the project-based approach. The number of
participants of the study is quite small – only thirty students of class 11DA1. These
participants are fairly good at English. Therefore, no generalization is intended in
this study.

5. Methods of the study
The method employed in the study is classroom action research. According to
Ferrance (2000), action research is regarded as one of the most common research
methods applied in current educational circumstances. With the choice of this
method, data collection instruments including pre-test and post-test, questionnaire
and interview are used in order to have a deep investigation into what is being
studied.
6. Structure of the thesis
The study consists of five chapters:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION, states the reasons for choosing the topic or
rationale, the aims to which the study is conducted and the research questions.
Then, it is followed by a brief description of its significance, scope and method. The
fact about how current study is organized will also be provided in this section.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, provides the definitions of some key
terms, and the previous research related to the study. Both positive impacts and
disadvantages will be exposed in this section.

5


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, focuses on eliciting research
questions, research methods, data collection and data analysis.
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, demonstrates the findings and
further discussion.
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, ends the report with the summary of findings.
Besides, some limitations of the study and recommendations for further research are
also proposed.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter aims at providing readers the theoretical background of the study. In
the chapter, the key concepts related to the speaking and its elements, including the
main characteristics of speaking performance, as well asnotion of teaching speaking
are respectively presented. In addition, background information about PBL, and
preceding studies will be displayed specifically.
2.1. Speaking in foreign language learning
Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) requires learners’
development of four language skills: reading, speaking, writing and listening. As far
as speaking is concerned, it is said to be at the heart of second language learning
and one of the four productive skills. Speaking English is priority for any second or
foreign language learners and is one of the basic language skills. It is a crucial part
of second language learning and teaching that aims at improving students
communicative skills because only in that way can students express themselves and
learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative
circumstance. This section revolves around the nature of speaking.
2.1.1. Definitions of speaking
There are many definitions of speaking. According to Chaney (1998) speaking is
“the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a variety of contexts”.
In a related study, Bailey (2005) defines speaking is “the productive, oral skill. It
consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.”
In brief, speaking is the productive skill used to convey information or expressing
one’s feeling in speech with its various forms which are dependent on particular
contexts.
2.1.2. Components of speaking skills
Form and meaning of speaking are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical

7

environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended,
and evolving. Bartz (1979) described five kinds of speaking components that
enhance fluency, understanding, and quality of communication content, quantity of
communication content and the exertion in communication. Fluency is smooth,
constantly and naturally speaking. Understanding refers to supply of content or data
to make the audience understand. Quality of communication refers to the language
accuracy to speak. Quantity of communication content refers to capacity of content.
The exertion in communication refers to the speakers try to be understood by verbal
and non-verbal in communication.
Speaking is defined operationally in this study as the secondary stage students'
ability to express themselves orally, coherently, fluently and appropriately in a
given meaningful context to serve both transactional and interactional purposed
using correct pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and adopting the pragmatic
and discourse rules of the spoken language. In other words, they are required to
show mastery of the two sub skills: Micro- and macro skills of oral production.
Here are some of the micro- and macroskills involved in speaking which are stated
by Brown (2004) as followed:
Microskills include making differences among English phonemes and allophonic
variants, producing chunks of language of different lengths, creating English stress
patterns, words in stressed and unstressed positions, rhythmic structure, and
intonation contours, creating reduced forms of words and phrases, making fluent
speech at different rates of delivery, and producing speech in natural constituents: in
appropriate phrases, pause group, breathe groups, and sentence constituents.
Microskills also mean using an adequate number of lexical units (words) to
accomplish pragmatic purpose, exploiting grammatical word classes (nouns, verbs,
etc), systems (e.g., tense, agreement, and pluralization), word order, patterns, rules,
and elliptical forms, monitoring one’s own oral production and use various strategic
devices-pauses, fillers, self-corrections, back tracking - to enhance the clarity of the

message, and expressing a particular meaning in different grammatical forms and
using cohesive devices in spoken discourse.

8


Macroskills consist of appropriately accomplish communicative functions
according to situations, participants, and goals, using appropriate styles, registers,
implicature, redundancies, pragmatic conventions, and conversation rules, floorkeeping and –yielding, interrupting, and other sociolinguistic features in face-toface conversations, conveying links and connections between events and
communicate such relations as focal and peripheral ideas, events and feelings, new
information and given information, generalization and exemplification. Macroskills
are also made up of conveying facial features, kinesics, body language, and other
nonverbal cues along with verbal language, developing and using a battery of
speaking strategies, such as emphasizing key words, rephrasing, providing a context
for interpreting the meaning of words, appealing for help, and accurately assessing
how well your interlocutor is understanding you.
In short, speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific
points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary, but also that
they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language. If the learner of
foreign language wants to be able to speak and use the target language orally well in
his/ her daily activity, they must know and master a lot of language knowledge:
pronunciation, vocabulary and structure as well as they know how to communicate
fluently, accurately and appropriately in the different situations.
2.1.3. Teaching speaking skills
Nunan (2003) considered “teaching speaking” as a way to teach ESL learners to
make the English speech sounds and sound patterns. It can help learners use
word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second
language; choose appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social
setting, audience, situation and subject matter. Teaching speaking aims to teach
the learners how to arrange their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence,

how to exploit language as a means of expressing values and judgments, and
how to apply the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses,
which is called fluency.

9


All things considered, speaking lessons are a kind of bridge for learners between the
classroom and the world outside. So using the target language or the second
language to communicate in real life is one of facilitator for the students for
learning new language. Many teachers agree that students should learn to speak the
second language by interacting with others to master speaking components such as
comprehension, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and fluency. Besides,
teaching speaking is to create good atmosphere for students to express their
emotions, communicative needs, interact with other people in any situation, and
influence the others. In conclusion, teaching speaking skills is helping students
improve their micro- and macro skills of speaking.
2.2. Project-based learning
2.2.1. Definitions of project-based learning
There are many definitions of project-based approach in learning. Each definition is
the reflection of the underlying theories or perspectives that the authors assume.
Carter and Thomas (1986) characterize project work with three features referring to
the venue, the inter-disciplined characteristic and student's autonomy:
i) it takes place outside the classroom
ii) it is cross-curricular
iii) it allows learners to set their own targets as they proceed.
Moss, D. and Duzer, V.C. (1998) defines "PBL is an instructional approach that
contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to
develop". Accordingly, the essential feature of project-based approach is a tangible
and visible result such as a product or a solution to a defined problem.

According to Thomas (2000), there are five criteria of PBL. They are centralization,
existence of a “driving question”, a constructive investigation by the students,
incentive to autonomy and realism.
In conclusion, PBL is an active learning method, it is an instructional method
centered on the learners to engage learners in sustained, cooperative investigation.
Project teaching is a form of teaching in which students solve a complex learning

10


task not only theoretically but especially in terms of practice themselves under the
control and help of teachers. Through projects, they create practical products which
can be introduced and published. PBL allows in-depth investigation of a topic worth
learning more about.
2.2.2. Theoretical framing of project-based learning
2.2.2.1. Theoretical basis of project-based learning
Rooted in constructivism with sociocultural theory and constructivist ideology, PBL
is cooperative and collaborative learning which has very strong theoretical support
for successful achievement. The theory of constructivism, derived from the works
of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky, explains how a learner acquires knowledge, the
underlying belief being that learning best takes place when the learner is actively
engaged. According to scientific observation and inquiry, constructivism allows
individuals to construct their own understanding of the world through real-life
experiences. Their knowledge is conditioned further on the reflection of these
personal experiences. In L.Vygotsky’ doctrine, he conceives the development of
human cognition based on social background and through social activities, through
the use of language, communication and relationships with others.
Lev Vygotsky’s studies of description of the circumstances under which students
learn best is yet another theoretical framework for PBL. Vygotsky defined the Zone
of Proximal Development (ZPD) as "the distance between the actual developmental

level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in
collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotskiĭ& Cole, 1978). PBL is
specifically designed to place the teacher in a facilitator role and students in
collaborative groups in problem-solving situations; thus, it is possible to see PBL as
the vehicle through whichVygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development is realized.
PBL is a student-driven, teacher-facilitated approach to learning. Learners pursue
knowledge by asking questions that have piqued their natural curiosity. The genesis
of a project is an inquiry. Students develop a question and are guided through

11


research under the teacher’s supervision. Discoveries are illustrated by creating a
project to share with a select audience. Organizers support systematization of the
processes that will be implemented throughout the research and project phases of
PBL. Student choice is a key element of this approach. Teachers oversee each step
of the process and approve each choice before the student embarks in a direction.
Children with similar inquiries may elect to work cooperatively, thereby nurturing
twenty-first-century collaboration and communication skills and honoring students’
individual learning styles or preferences. Most projects include reading, writing, and
mathematics by nature. The outcome of PBL is greater understanding of a topic,
deeper learning, higher-level reading, and increased motivation to learn. PBL is a
key strategy for creating independent thinkers and learners. Children solve realworld problems by designing their own inquiries, planning their learning,
organizing their research, and implementing a multitude of learning strategies.
Students flourish under this childdriven, motivating approach to learning and gain
valuable skills that will build a strong foundation for their future in our global
economy.
2.2.2.2. Characteristics of project-based learning
Nowadays, PBL can be found under such names as project method, project

approach, project-based instruction, knowledge in action, learning by doing, or
experiential learning. There are different interpretations of PBL with various
overlapping terms, for example, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning,
problem learning and the project method. In addition, activity-based learning and
discovery learning encompass similar features.
To provide synthesis features of PBL on the tasks, the students' activities, the time
and the result, Thomas (2000) writes:
"PBL is a model that organizes learning around projects. According to the
definitions found in PBL handbooks for teachers, projects are complex tasks,
based on challenging questions or problems, that involve students in design,
problem-solving, decision making, or investigative activities; give students the

12


opportunity to work autonomously over extended periods of time; and
culminate in realistic products or presentations".
According to Thomas, “PBL is a model that organizes learning around projects.”
It is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and
skills through an extended inquiry process constructed around complex, authentic
questions and carefully designed products and tasks. It seems to be the most suitable
and clearest in the context of this study. I also support five features of PBL
proposed by Thomas (2000) as follows:
Firstly, “PBL projects are central, not peripheral to the curriculum.” It means that
all aspects of learning, such as objectives, teacher, and student activities, time
allocation, materials should focus on or aim at fulfilling the project, which
contributes to the accomplishment of learning outcomes stated in the curriculum.
Secondly, “PBL projects are focused on questions or problems that "drive" students
to encounter the central concepts and principles of a discipline.” In other words, the
questions or problems here must include the learning objectives or concepts and

principles of a subject.
Thirdly, “Projects involve students in a constructive investigation.” This emphasizes
accumulative progress students make during the completion of the project.
Nextly, “Projects are student-driven to some significant degree.” This is
characterized in the importance of students' participation during different stages of a
project. Students should have certain autonomy in doing the task.
Last but not least, “Projects are realistic, not school-like.” Projects should offer
students real-life problems or situations to deal with rather than a repetition of
school drills.
2.2.3. The project as a process
The division of stages in a project varies from researcher to researcher. Wrigley (1998),
for example, proposes some basic phases found in most projects which include
selecting a topic, making plans, researching, developing products, and sharing results
with others. The process in a project can be divided into three steps: Orientation and
planning, research and implementation and sharing results in this study.

13


2.2.3.1. Step 1: Orientation and planning
In this step, students identify the topic for the project as well as develop a work plan
for completing it. Once they have some ideas about what can be done, students
decide the topic and their own work plans. It is necessary that students are involved
in decision-making from the beginning. It is suggested by Gallacher (2004) that
teachers should help students work out the plan by posing some guidelines in terms
of what the project includes, its form, the task division of each group member, the
time for producing each part of the project, and the material or resources which
might be needed.
2.2.3.2. Step 2: Research and implementation
Students engage in research and other activities in implementing the project such as

field work, sessions with experts, and various aspects of gathering information,
reading, writing, drawing and computing at this step. They need various skills,
including language skills and research skills to the requirements of specific projects.
However, it is advisable that the teacher support learners with low language
proficiency or little experience in working as part of a team. Pre-teaching in
classroom sessions involved an investigation of various text types as well as
language items that students would use in their writing would be useful as they
needed in their drafting, rewriting and editing.
2.2.3.3. Step 3: Sharing results
This activity occurs when students have accomplished the project. Sharing results
can be made in different forms such as presentation or disseminating the results in
the larger community. Gallacher (2004) stated that the most common way of
sharing results is the presentation of the project to an audience. This is the last but
not least important stage as students, by giving their own presentation, students can
improve their presentation skills and, by attending other groups’ presentation,
students can learn a lot from others.
With PBL, children learn from their processes and assessment is authentic. A
child’s performance is measured via rubrics, but a critical aspect of this model
includes self-evaluation and reflection. They reflect on how well they worked in a
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