Abstract
This article aims to compare two different methodologies (implemented by a single teacher in an practitioner research approach) used in a 4th year English classroom in a public primary school in Catalonia. To do this comparison, different outcomes from students were collected and analysed to answer different questions related to Project Based Language Learning approach (PBLL) and what the author calls Course-Book Driven approach (CBD). The article examines, through the analysis of the students’ productions and of the focus group, the evidence of gains in written language and the motivation of the students depending on the approach used. The article concludes with several implications for research and practice.
Highlights
In this article, two different professional approaches, as applied personally by this researcher, to language teaching are compared (approach 1 is what the researcher has called ‘CourseBook Driven’ and approach 2 is Project Based Language Learning, see (Beckett & Miller, 2006)
Project Based Language Learning approach (PBLL) is understood in this context as assignments, tasks and activities that segue into a main output and which help the students work on different competences simultaneously. These activities revolve around different learning aims while integrating other skills. With these two approaches in mind, this study aims to study which methods can be be optimized to ensure language learning in foreign language classrooms, this study takes an introspective look at teaching practices, with an aim to innovate and renew teaching and learning processes in the language classroom, based on sociocultural premises that bring the importance of interaction to the fore
The first question is “Do PBLL and Course-Book Driven approach (CBD) approaches result in different language learning results?” And the second question is “Can PBLL be applied to writing in contexts which are predominantly oral-production focused?” This question needed to be refined, so two sub-questions were added
Summary
Two different professional approaches, as applied personally by this researcher, to language teaching are compared (approach 1 is what the researcher has called ‘CourseBook Driven’ (or CBD approach) and approach 2 is Project Based Language Learning (or PBLL), see (Beckett & Miller, 2006). The principle reason for this comparative analysis of the two approaches is due to the fact that nowadays in Catalunya, education tries to follow the notion of projects as a way of teaching-learning methodology at schools This implies that the roles of the teachers and the students must change as they adjust to this more interactive approach to teaching and learning. The students in the class are 10 years old and they are, in general, very motivated for the lessons at school (across different subjects) They enjoy EFL for different reasons such as communicating while travelling abroad (they find it useful because when they travel they can talk with other children) and because we have international projects with schools from different European countries ( they see its immediate relevancy). Two different written texts proposed Written texts within the project: by the book
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