Do EFL Learners Enhance Their knowledge of Their Home Cultures as a Result of comparing them with other Cultures Through Project-Based Learning?

Akharraz Mohamad

doi:10.47191/ijsshr/v4-i8-40

Abstract

The existing research studies have revealed that project-based learning (PjBL) has significantly helped foreign language learners enhance their cultural understanding as a result of completing their projects (e.g., Bouchouk, 2017; Hsu, 2014; Kim, 2019; Liu et al., 2006; Ngo, 2014). While these studies have congruently proved the utility of PjBL in enhancing students’ cultural awareness, none of them has measured the effect of PjBL together with a comparative and contrastive approach on students’ understanding of their home cultures. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of comparing students’ home cultures with the English cultures through PjBL on students’ understanding of their own cultures in terms of cultural products, cultural practices, and cultural perspectives. Two similar intact groups were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The two groups were pretested, administered two different treatments for 24 weeks, and post-tested to assess their differences. The independent sample t-tests results exhibited that the experimental group substantially deepened their understanding of their home cultures as a result of comparing them with the English cultures through PjBL. The study also revealed that while the control group significantly improved their cultural products, those in the experimental group greatly enhanced their knowledge of cultural practices and perspectives.

Highlights

Prompted by the belief that enhancing students’ awareness of their own and other cultures serves as a basis for the development of intercultural competence, the Ministry of Education in Morocco, through multiple official documents, recommends incorporating cultures in foreign language instruction
A pretest was administered to the control and experimental groups to gauge the research participants’ cultural awareness of the American, British, and Moroccan cultures
This study investigated the effect of comparing cultures through project-based learning on students’ cultural awareness of their home cultures

Summary

Introduction

Prompted by the belief that enhancing students’ awareness of their own and other cultures serves as a basis for the development of intercultural competence, the Ministry of Education in Morocco, through multiple official documents, recommends incorporating cultures in foreign language instruction. According to the English Language Guidelines for Secondary Schools (2007), by teaching foreign cultures, learners will gain a deeper understanding of their culture(s) and other cultures in terms of their perspectives (e.g., values, ideas, attitudes, etc.), practices (pattern of social interactions), and products (e.g., books, laws, music, etc.). Project-based learning is one of the student-centered teaching approaches that can help develop language, content, and real-life skills simultaneously. Irrespective of their limitation in number, the existing studies on project-based learning in the context of culture teaching have consistently come to the conclusion that language learners have improved their cultural awareness following project-work completion. Having reviewed the existing studies, the researcher concluded that none of them touched upon the impact of comparing students’ home cultures with other cultures through PjBL on students understanding of their own cultures

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Conclusion