Problem-based L2 learning: self-negotiated linguistic cognition

Abstract

AbstractThe existing literature has revealed that Problem-based Learning (PBL) can improve the cognitive competence of learners, but few studies focus on L2 learning from the perspective of students, or on the relationship between PBL and linguistic cognition. Based on students’ reflective journals, the researcher’s observation notes, and interviews with teachers and students, this case study describes the individual and collective self-negotiations during a Problem-Based L2 Learning (PBLL) practice of 157 non-English majors at three universities in Beijing. The current study makes a distinction between surface and deep self-negotiations, and confirms the conception of the self-negotiated L2 cognition of PBLL learners. The research results show (1) that the self-negotiation is a consistent feature of PBLL because the whole PBLL process comprises the cyclic intertwining of individual and collective self-negotiations, (2) that L2 learners manage to achieve individual and collective self-negotiations through cognitive mechanisms of linking, riffling and converging, and (3) that deep self-negotiations in PBLL are more dynamic, interactive, and generative. Pedagogical implications, research limitations, and future directions are also discussed.