CHAPTER 2

Project-Based Learning

This chapter defines PBL and connects it to the communicative approach.

It discusses the benefits of using PBL in an English language classroom and
compares and contrasts PBL with task-based learning (TBL). A unit plan
for a beginning-level communication skills class is provided to demonstrate
how PBL and TBL are similar and different.
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to answer the following
questions:

● What is PBL?
● How does PBL align with the principles of communicative language
teaching?
● What are the benefits of using PBL in an English language
classroom?
● How is PBL similar to and different from TBL?

As indicated by the name, project-based learning involves students

refining and honing their language skills through the completion of
projects both in and outside of the classroom. It requires teachers to create
a classroom culture of creativity and engagement in which students share
their work and reflect on the processes they use to create and complete their

3
projects (Cooper & Murphy, 2016). It moves away from a teacher-centered
style of teaching where students sit passively in a class and are rarely given
the opportunity to put their ideas into action or practice their language
skills in authentic environments. Instead, PBL engages students through
the act of inquiry (Leat, 2017) and promotes the development of critical
thinking skills.
Specifically, in the field of English language instruction, PBL is a means
for students to improve their language and critical thinking skills in tandem.
Tricia Hedge (1993) first introduced PBL as a means for English language
learners (ELLs) to develop their communicative competence and fluency.
She defined PBL as follows:

A project is an extended task which usually integrates language

skills through a number of activities. These activities combine in
working towards an agreed goal and may include planning, the
gathering of information through reading, listening, interviewing,
etc., discussion of the information, problem solving, oral or written
reporting, and display. (Hedge, 1993, p. 276)

While PBL is used with many types of learners and in many types
of classrooms, for English language classes it includes the integration of
language skills to complete these extended tasks. Hedge (1993) noted
additional specifications for PBL use in an ELL classroom, including using
authentic materials, creating a student-centered classroom, sequencing
tasks to scaffold the final project, and students accepting responsibility in
completing the project both in and outside of the classroom.

Communicative Language
Teaching and PBL
Because PBL calls for the integration of language skills as a means for
students to increase their fluency, it aligns well with the communicative
language teaching (CLT) approach. The CLT approach has been commonly
used in English language classrooms since the 1970s for many types of
­learners—children, adults, postsecondary students, and so on. Brown
and Lee (2015) have outlined seven characteristics of the communicative
approach. The characteristics of CLT are helpful in understanding how PBL
enhances English language learning and how it can be implemented into a
classroom where CLT is applied.

4 Project-Based Learning
 ● CLT focuses on all aspects of language (integration of skills).
● CLT focuses on the function of language, with form being secondary.
● CLT focuses on fluency first and then accuracy.
● CLT focuses on real-world contexts.
● CLT focuses on students using language outside of the classroom.
● CLT focuses on the teacher as a facilitator or guide.
● CLT focuses on student-centered learning.

As previously indicated, like CLT, PBL calls for the integration of

language skills so that all aspects of language are taught. Projects often focus
on real-life contexts and are collaborative, requiring students to negotiate for
meaning with their instructors, their peers, and even outside participants,
depending on the assignment. In PBL, the teacher creates a student-centered
learning environment and facilitates or guides students through the comple-
tion of their projects.
For example, a teacher assigns students to read a passage from a text-
book and answer comprehension questions. The students read and complete
their assignment, but the teacher notices the students are disengaged and
simply going through the motions of completing the assignment. They do
not interact with their peers, and outside of the class they do not discuss
what they have read. The teacher decides to better engage students through
their assignments and assigns a novel for the class to read and discuss both
in and outside of the classroom. After reading the novel, the teacher places
students into groups and assigns each group to design a movie trailer about
the novel. The creation of the movie trailer, like the completion of the
comprehension questions, demonstrates students’ comprehension of the
novel. However, the project requires them to engage in a more thoughtful
inquiry of the novel through discussing and analyzing the text with their
peers in order to design the movie trailers.
If we look at Bloom’s revised taxonomy, as developed by Anderson
and Krathwohl (2001), we see that when students read a text and answer
comprehension questions, they only demonstrate their ability to remember
and understand the reading assignment. Both of these outcomes fall in the
lower end of the taxonomy pyramid. However, through the creation of the
movie trailer, students not only demonstrate the ability to remember and
understand the novel, they also apply what they learned from the novel by
analyzing and evaluating the text in order to determine what information

Project-Based Learning 5
should be included in the movie trailers. Indeed, the movie trailer project
demonstrates students’ ability to comprehend the novel and encourages
them to develop their higher order language and thinking skills. These
outcomes appear in the highest point of the taxonomy pyramid. At the end
of the project, students share their work with each other and reflect on the
process they used to complete the final project and the overall product.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
● Have you ever designed or used a project such as a movie trailer?

● How did you engage with your students throughout the project?

● How did your students use their language skills to create the
project?

If you have designed an assignment such as the movie trailer example,

then you have used PBL in your classroom. For an assignment to be consid-
ered PBL, it should

● require students to create an original or authentic product;

● encourage students to think critically;
● be made public and shared with peers, family, community members,
and so on;
● encourage collaboration through completion of the project;
● encourage students to reflect during and after completion of
the project.

REFLECTIVE QUESTION
● How does the movie trailer project meet the five criteria listed
above for PBL?

Indeed, the movie trailer assignment is an excellent example of PBL, as it

required students to create an original text and think critically. Students had
to make inferences and analyze the novel in order to create their trailers. The

6 Project-Based Learning
process they used to complete the project was collaborative, as they worked
in groups to design the trailers. Students’ work was made public or shared
with an outside audience. And finally, after students shared their work, they
reflected in their groups about the process they used to complete the trailer
and the outcomes of their final projects.
In addition to the movie trailer, here are some other projects:

● creating a diorama to demonstrate comprehension of the characters,

setting, and main conflict of a novel or short story
● writing a script and performing a play with peers
● researching a topic and creating a podcast to present the research
findings to an audience
● writing a recipe and then demonstrating how to prepare the dish
● conducting an interview and creating a multimodal composition to
share the findings with an audience

REFLECTIVE QUESTION
● Can you think of other possible projects that would work well in
your classroom?

The Benefits of Using PBL

There are multiple benefits to using PBL in an English language classroom.
To begin, projects encourage students to further negotiate for meaning and
use English in authentic and meaningful contexts. Indeed, second language
acquisition theory has proven that group work is beneficial for students in
learning English. Lessard-Clouston (2016), in exploring Long’s interactionist
model, has written that such interaction increases students’ input and
output of the language. In addition, Ellis (2003) has written that group work
“increases language practice opportunities, it improves the quality of student
talk, it helps to individualize instruction, it promotes a positive affective
climate, and it motivates students to learn” (p. 598). In other words, group
work reduces teacher talk time and creates an environment where students
practice using the language. In addition, Long and Porter (1985) have
written that group work offers students strategies for using the language

Project-Based Learning 7
that they can employ outside of the classroom as well, because their speech
is not staged or forced. Therefore, collaboration in PBL allows students to
go beyond practicing the language, increasing their abilities to use English
outside of the classroom in authentic settings.
In addition to group work, PBL offers students choices in their class
work. Beckett (2002, p. 54) wrote that PBL is “exploratory in nature” and
that outcomes of the projects vary, depending on students’ work ethic and
the individual choices they make while creating projects. Therefore, PBL
requires students to take further ownership of their work more so than
worksheets or other tasks assigned in textbooks.
Finally, Campbell (2012) noted that PBL allows for differentiated
instruction. While students workshop their projects, instructors have
time to better address individual students’ needs and offer them feedback.
Feedback is further addressed in Chapter 5, which discusses the assessment
of projects.

REFLECTIVE QUESTION
● What are some other benefits of using PBL in your classroom?

How Is PBL Similar and/or

Different From TBL?
PBL is often confused with TBL. According to Bygate, Skehan, and Swain
(2001), “A task is an activity which requires learners to use language, with
emphasis on meaning, to obtain an objective” (p. 11). Bygate et al. focus
on one activity in their definition. Yet PBL requires students to engage in
several tasks in order to complete a project.
For example, a teacher assigns students to read and discuss a short
story. After reading and discussing the text, students design a diorama
that presents the setting, characters, and conflict of the story. After reading
and note taking, students visually arrange the dioramas to ensure they
include all the key components from the novel (setting, characters, plot,
etc.). They then prepare a presentation and share their work with the class
and the teacher. The teacher facilitates the development and arrangement

8 Project-Based Learning
of the presentations so students are best prepared to share their work.
After presenting their work, students reflect on the process of creating the
dioramas and their final projects. This entire process takes several weeks to
complete.
The teacher, in lesson planning for the project, may design smaller tasks
or mini lessons for students to complete throughout the unit; for example,
she or he may design a lesson on how to take notes. The students may
complete this task in class to practice taking notes while reading. Tasks,
especially those completed during a class period, serve as stand-alone activi-
ties. Therefore, these task-based lessons are only one piece of the entire unit
or project, with the goal of ensuring students are on track to complete the
project. In other words, the tasks scaffold to the completion of the project.
Table 1 demonstrates the differences between planning for day-to-day
lessons (TBL) and planning for a project for a beginning-level communica-
tion skills course for adult learners (PBL). In these lessons, students learn to
write and talk about recipes using proper measurements.
As indicated in Table 1, the instructor that used TBL spent only 3 days
on instruction and 1 day on assessment. The activities allowed for individu-
alized instruction, practice, and formative assessment, and students met
each objective; however, students were not given the opportunity to extend
their language learning and further their abilities to collaborate, critically
think, share their recipes with an audience, or reflect on what they learned.
Therefore, if we return to Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) revised Bloom’s
taxonomy, we see how the PBL unit, in contrast, extended students’ learning
and helped them acquire higher level thinking and language skills.
Also, as noted in Table 1, the project allowed time for students to work-
shop and confer with their instructor. Workshop days allow the instructor
to provide students with further individualized instruction on content they
may struggle to comprehend or language that is difficult to use. For example,
a student may struggle with writing his or her biography for the cookbook.
The instructor can use the workshop times to assist the student in writing a
biography by modeling or using sentence forms to help the student write a
draft. Then on the next workshop day, the student can bring his or her draft
to the instructor for further feedback. This scaffolding creates opportunity
for the sort of individualized instruction that is so important for ELLs as
they acquire the language.

Project-Based Learning 9
Table 1. Example of Task-Based Versus Project-Based Planning

Task-Based Planning Project-Based Planning

Day 1 Objective: Students will be able to Objective: Students will be able to

identify measurements in recipes. identify measurements in recipes.
● The instructor introduces ● The instructor introduces a
measurements, providing project in which students
students with a handout or will write a recipe, prepare
some other visual aid. the dish for their classmates,
and collaboratively create a
● Students complete a
cookbook.
worksheet or a manipulative
in which they match the ● After reviewing the assignment
correct measurement with sheet and rubric, the instructor
its abbreviation (e.g., tsp. = introduces measurements
teaspoon). and has students complete
a manipulative to match the
● The instructor goes over
correct measurements.
the activity and may assign
homework such as a worksheet ● For homework, students
before students leave for brainstorm their favorite
the day. recipes.

Day 2 Objective: Students will be able Objective: Students will be able

to use vocabulary that is common to use vocabulary that is common
when cooking and reading recipes. when cooking and/or reading
● The instructor may use recipes.
PowerPoint or the Internet to ● The instructor may use
display target vocabulary. PowerPoint or the Internet to
display target vocabulary and
● Students may write sentences
model how to write a recipe
using the key vocabulary.
using measurements and key
ingredients.
● Using the brainstorming they
created on Day 1, students
narrow their focus, select one
recipe, and begin drafting the
recipe in proper format.

Day 3 Objective: Students will be able Objective: Students will be able to

to identify measurements in identify and use measurements in
recipes and use vocabulary that is recipes as well as use vocabulary
commonly found in recipes. that is commonly found in recipes.
● The instructor may review ● Students continue writing their
lessons from Days 1 and 2 and recipes.
have students complete an
in-class activity as an informal ● The instructor serves as a
assessment. facilitator and asks questions
as students continue to write
their recipes.

continued on next page

10 Project-Based Learning
Table 1. (continued)

Task-Based Planning Project-Based Planning

Day 4 Students may be quizzed on Objective: Students will be able

materials. to talk about their recipes and
explain the process for making
the dish.
● Students bring their written
recipes to class.

● The instructor shows a cooking

demonstration or models how
to talk about food.

● Students begin to rehearse their

presentations.

Day 5 ● Students continue to rehearse

their presentations.

Day 6 ● In front of the class, students

demonstrate how to make the
dish using props.

Day 7 ● Continue presentations if

needed.

Day 8 Objective: Students will be able

to create a class cookbook in
which they include their names,
biographies, written recipes, and
any eye-catching visuals for the
audience.
● Workshop day. The instructor
acts as a facilitator and assists
students as they work together
on the cookbook.

Day 9 ● Workshop day

Day 10 ● Workshop day

Day 11 Objective: Students will reflect on

the project, discussing their overall
contributions to the cookbook,
how they would improve if they
had more time to work, and the
value of creating the cookbook.
● Final class cookbook is due.

Project-Based Learning 11
Conclusion
This chapter introduced PBL and explained how it can be used when
applying the communicative approach in an English language classroom.
It also discussed benefits such as increasing students’ critical thinking
skills, improving their abilities to negotiate for meaning, and enhancing
their opportunities to use English in authentic settings. Finally, PBL was
compared and contrasted with TBL. The next chapter discusses best prac-
tices, specifically for using a process approach, when implementing PBL in
the classroom.

12 Project-Based Learning