Problem-Project-Performance Based Learning: An Alternative Constructive Model for Elementary EFL College Learners

Abstract

The recent trend in language education has been shifted from “learning to use the language” to the emphasis of “using the language to learn”. This offers a new face of EFL course by integrating English learning with other disciplines and the most important skills of the 21st century. Constructivism language teaching and learning approaches such as Problem-based learning and Project-based learning are advocated to achieve the integration. However, there is scan literature that reviews the effectiveness of these approaches in EFL setting and among these few studies, some mentioned these innovative approaches might not be favored and recommended for low-level EFL learners due to their insufficient language proficiency to carry out real world tasks. In this paper, we argue that with sufficient language scaffolds, elementary EFL college learners will also benefit from these innovative constructive approaches and in that regard, we proposed the Problem-Project-Performance Based learning model to help the elementary EFL college learners achieve the twofold learning objectives: language proficiency and 21st century skills - communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Then, seven steps of the model were introduced to guide teachers to flexibly apply the model to their teaching. In its first implementation, a workplace related theme, product introduction and attending a trade show, was determined, and accordingly class activities along with tasks were designed. Eighty-eight elementary college learners in central Taiwan voluntarily participated in the implementation. The preliminary findings gained from students’ satisfaction survey and teachers’ reflective teaching logs showed that the implementation of the model successfully helped elementary EFL college learners improve their language proficiency, communicative skills, problem-solving ability, and collaborative skills.