Project-based learning usage in L2 teaching in a contemporary comprehensive school (on the example of English as a foreign language classroom)

Alla Guslyakova,Nina Guslyakova,Nailya Valeeva,Ludmila Veretennikova

doi:10.20952/revtee.v14i33.16754

Abstract

The article covers the problem of project-based learning (PBL) in present-day foreign language classes. The main aim of this research is to identify how PBL method can be implemented in teaching a foreign language (for example, English as a second language) in a modern comprehensive school and to give recommendations on organizing a foreign language class with the help of PBL. The working hypothesis of the study says that PBL method can be a relevant and effective methodological technique allowing educators to improve the quality of school education and motivating young learners to work hard at L2 classes and study a foreign language better. For the effective analysis and estimation of project-based learning in teaching ESL a two-step experiment was conducted. Overall, the results of the study demonstrated the importance of introduction of project-based learning in foreign language classes as an essential component of the teacher’s work in the present-day education. They also proved that project-based learning should be a must in every educator’s pedagogical “piggy-bank” because PBL is an effective professional instrument which may overcome the latest demands and challenges of the third millennium society.

Highlights

At present, modern teachers, tutors and methodologists tend to introduce different innovative approaches into the lessons of school curriculum subjects and in particular into foreign languages by adding methodological developments and experience of the past and present pedagogics of Russian Federation and other countries
The working hypothesis of the study says that project-based learning (PBL) method can be a relevant and effective methodological technique allowing educators to improve the quality of school education and motivating young learners to work hard at L2 classes and study a foreign language better
The findings of this experimental study dedicated to the project-based learning in English as a foreign language classes allowed identifying the following advantages of using the PBL method in a contemporary comprehensive school

Summary

Introduction

Modern teachers, tutors and methodologists tend to introduce different innovative approaches into the lessons of school curriculum subjects and in particular into foreign languages (for example, English) by adding methodological developments and experience of the past and present pedagogics of Russian Federation and other countries. Project-based learning is defined as a model, a “purposeful activity” (Beckett, 2006; Muniandi, 2000; Wolk, 2004) that organizes learning in a meaningful context around different projects. It 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 and culminate in realistic products or presentations (Aplaeva, 2017). Project-based learning is both a process- and product-orientated phenomenon (Stoller, 1997)

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