PROJECT – BASED LEARNING

I. What is Project-Based Learning (PBL)?

1. How did PBL get started?

PBL seems to be a trendy word in education field in recent years. However,

contrary to the assumptions of many people that it is a modern concept, early
perceptions of PBL appeared very long time ago.
From the time of Confucius (Khổng Tử) (551 - 479 B.C), he realized the core of
learning and understanding was doing. He said “I hear, and I forget. I see, and I
remember. I do, and I understand”. Yet, the ideas of “learning by doing” had not
drawn much attention of educators until 1932 when Dewey discussed this idea in the
writing “Experience and Learning” in which he suggested that learning should be
relevant to the world and the experiences of the child so that education would become
more meaningful and engaging.
In 1960s, PBL was officially introduced in formal educational system for the first
time at McMaster University in Canada. The approach was applied in medical
training at the university so that doctors-to-be can have a “real-life” or hands-on
learning experiences instead of only being fully fed with theories only.
In 1980s-1990s, PBL started to be adopted in some K-12 schools. Research on
effects of PBL on students’ learning have been done intensively and extensively in
many disciplines and it has been concluded that PBL brings students many benefits
of hands-on learning experiences that other approaches do not offer. Since then,
interest of teachers and educators across different disciplines in PBL still has not
waned. However, to many English educators, meaning of PBL in language teaching
and learning is still under question. Is PBL just a longer version of task-based

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 language teaching (TBLT)? Or is PBL just another version of Problem-Based
Learning/Problem-Solving Learning? In the next part, we will discuss how PBL is
defined in general education and in language teaching, which will help to
differentiate PBL from the other pedagogical methods and approaches.

2. What is PBL in general education?

There exist many definitions of PBL. Some of them are:
Project Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogic framework to learn and
teach a subject through a project. It’s 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’. (Buck Institute for Education, 2018)
PBLWorks defines PBL as an experience in which “students are pulled
through the curriculum by a meaningful question to explore, an engaging real-
world problem to solve, or a challenge to design or create something . . . to
demonstrate what they learn, students create high-quality products to present
their work to other people” (Hallermann, Larmer, Mergendoller, 2016, p. 5).
PBL can occur in any school setting (home, public, charter, private, etc.) and at
any grade level (K-12 through higher education).

3. What is PBL in English Language Teaching (ELT)?

From the above-mentioned definitions, in your opinion, how can we
understand the concept PBL in ELT? Take some minutes to re-read
the above definition and work out your own way of understanding
PBL in ELT.
In comparison with the following definition, does yours have anything
in common with it?

PBL in English Language Teaching (ELT) can be understood as follows:

PBL in ELT is a pedagogic framework or approach in which students work
in fixed groups, pairs or individual for an extended period of time to answer a
meaningful question, solve a real-world problem, design or create something
by using all their knowledge repertoire and acquired skills (including language
skills and other skills). By the end of the project, students produce one or more

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 “products” in English which can be in the form of a presentation, a video, a
concrete product, ect… A language project can be cross-disciplinary (i.e. linked
to other subjects) and it should give students opportunities to develop not only
language competences but also 21st century competences (including:
collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication and technology).
From the definition, it can be said that there are 2 indispensable (vital)
factors of a project. They are:
(1) a question to answer or problem to solve that is related to real life
of students,
(2) a product in target language.

4. How do PBL differentiate from other approaches?

In your opinion, is PBL just a longer version of task-based language
teaching (TBLT)?
Or is PBL just another version of Problem-Based Learning/Problem-
Solving Learning?
Elaborate some ideas to justify your answers.

Very often, English teachers think PBL is quite similar to Task-Based Language
Teaching (TBLT). Most of the teachers participating the workshop also assumed that
PBL seemed to be a longer version of TBLT. They believed being different from
TBLT which is understood as the involvement of a task, PBL involves more than one
tasks; therefore, it requires more time to accomplish. However, it is important for
teachers to remember that:
(1) the ultimate purpose of TBLT is to create opportunities for meaningful
interaction in target language (English), especially in spoken form, whereas PBL is
often initiated by real-life questions and problems.
(2) In a lesson of TBLT, a cycle of tasks take place to help students strengthen
their communicative competences. There is no requirement of the final product to
present. In PBL, students must produce a tangible product by the end of the project.
Some teachers might think PBL have many things in common with Problem-
Based Learning (PrBL) and they are not wrong. Both of pedagogical approaches pull
the students out of the traditional ways of learning by involving students in an active
learning process in which they are driven to find solutions to a real-life problem.

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However, PrBL focuses more on the process than on the product. In PrBL, students are
involved in a process of thinking critically about a situation to identify a problem, doing
some research to reach a feasible solution, and communicating it with others. This
process can last 15-20 minutes or 45 minutes of a class period or even an extended
period of time such as a few weeks. Yet, no emphasis is placed on the concrete product
as a result of the process. In PBL, a product to present to audience is a must.
In short, although PBL and other approaches including TBLT and PrBL share
some similarities, they are not the same. Depending on educational purposes and
teaching and learning settings, a specific approach is more appropriate than the others.

II. Characteristics of PBL

Following are typical characteristics of PBL.
(1) Teacher-designed learning experiences related to grade-level standards
(2) A real-world connection to classroom learning, such as community issues
with local audiences
(3) Hands-on and active learning activities
(4) Student engagement, as a result of the integration of student interests
(5) A focus on 21st century skills (such as collaboration or oral communication)
(6) Incorporation, possibly full integration, of a variety of content areas
(7) Assessments throughout the project with feedback and reflection
(Pieratt, 2019, p. 3)
These characteristics can justify why more and more English educators,
instructors and teachers are in favour of PBL. They choose PBL over other
approaches because only PBL offers all of these things: (1) bridging the classroom
and real life, (2) encouraging students to involve in a deep-learning process
producing a product to communicate with audience beyond classroom settings, (3)
creating possible opportunities to strengthen not only subject-related knowledge but
also knowledge of other subjects, and (4) giving students hands-on learning
experiences with possible integration of technology and 21st century skills including
communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.
These characteristics also serve as a guideline for Essential Project Design
Elements Checklist (appendix 1).

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 Read the Essential Project Design Elements Checklist in the
appendix 1. Can you recognize which characteristics of PBL link with
each criterion in the checklist?
The checklist includes the following criteria which help to decide whether a
project is good. Now we will check what characteristics of PBL link with each
criterion and what questions you can ask yourself to check whether your project meet
the criteria or not.

Criteria included in the Linked Questions you can ask yourself?

checklist characteristics
Key knowledge, (1), (5), (6). Is your project related to key learned
understanding, and knowledge and skills of their grade
success skills level?
Is technology and 21st century skills
involved in the project?
Do students need to activate the
knowledge of other subjects to do the
project successfully? (optional)
Challenging problem or (1), (2) Is the project based on a meaningful
question problem to solve or an engaging
question to answer which is related to
students’ real-world?
Is the level of challenge suitable with
their grade-levels in terms of required
knowledge and cognition?
Sustained inquiry (3), (4), (5), (6) Does the project help students to have
an active learning experience in which
students are involved in an in-depth
process of thinking to find their own
answers and solutions over an
extended period of time?
Authenticity (2), (4) Does the project have real-world
context, use real-world processes,
tools, and quality standards, make a
real impact?
Is the project connected to students’
own concerns, interests, and
identities?
Student voice and choice (3), (4) Do students have space for their own
decisions on how they work, how the
final product is formatted and

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 presented and how they manage the
project?
Refection (7) Do students have opportunities to
reflect on their performance and their
product?
Critique & Revision (7) Do students have opportunities to give
and get feedback on their work so that
they can revise their ideas or products?
Public Product (2) Is the audience beyond the classroom?
Based on the questions raised here, I revised the checklist and turn it into a
closed-ended-question-based checklist (appendix 2) with the aim that you might find
the checklist easier to use.

III. Dealing with expectations of target language use in PBL

English teachers who have experiences of using PBL often complain that they
cannot control the language learners use during the project. They believe that PBL is
a tool to set a context for students to use target language in a meaningful context,
thus it is ideal that students use English only to communicate and first language (L1)
is allowed only when learners are unable to express their ideas after making effort.
However, it is noted that translanguaging/code –switching (switch between L1 -
Vietnamese and target language - English) is normal in the process of foreign
language learning (Anderson, 2019). Students should be allowed to use any
languages that they feel comfortable to express themselves when they are
working on the stage of the project in which the priority is not given to language
(e.g: creativity or critical thinking might be more important than language when
students brainstorm the topic). As a teacher, you also need to bear in your mind the
reason why you choose PBL over other approaches at the first place. PBL is the most
suitable when you want students to have deep-learning experiences in which they do
not only develop their language competences but also form and sharpen other skills
needed in the new era such as critical thinking, communication (in any languages),
collaboration, work-management, creativity, and technology. So, ask yourself why
you concern yourself with students’ target language use that much.
In fact, language-choice during a process of a project can be managed by
teachers. Anderson (2011) proposed in the following ways:

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 (1) Inputs are in English. Teachers can use English in project
instructions/overview.
(2) Products must be in English. Teachers can require that presentations and
reports must be in English.
(3) Students are asked to interact with teachers in English. To be specific,
teachers speak English and encourage students to respond in English.
Regarding higher proficiency learners, teachers can require students to use
English only for in-class discussions and target language use should be included as
one of assessment criteria (ibid.).

IV. Ideas of project types in ELT

In ELT, a project can be developed in terms of the focused skills. As being
mentioned previously that in the definition of PBL, students are required to produce
at least a product in target language. This means that they have to perform productive
skills (writing and speaking). Therefore, if you would like to develop a project aiming
to strengthen a receptive skill (either listening or reading), the project must involve
at least a receptive skill and a productive skill. Here are some examples of projects
targeting skill development.
- Speaking projects: speeches, oral presentations/reports (e.g.: weather report
in English)
- Listening projects: summarizing scenarios of a recorded media. Listening is
a receptive skill, and this type of projects often consists of listening skill
(receptive skill) and writing or/and speaking skill (productive skills).
- Reading projects: book reports, story-telling contest… Reading is a receptive
skill, and this type of projects often consists of reading skill (receptive skill)
and writing or/and speaking skill (productive skills).
- Writing projects: newsletters, advertisements, brochures, billboards, posts on
social media.
- Integrated-skills projects: questionnaire survey and report, news writing,
news broadcast.
Anderson (2021) approached a project under another perspective. Placing the
emphasis on the types of final products, he suggested some types of projects in
TESOL with different levels of difficulty (from easy to more challenging). His

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suggestions can give English teachers some inspiring ideas for their use of PBL in
classrooms.
Research and Presentations to classmates on people, hobbies, Easier
present projects places, or other areas of interest (e.g.: Presentations to
classmates on people, hobbies, places, songs, etc.)
Story/ article/ With original texts as the key product, either fictional
newspaper or true, narrative, or analytical (e.g.: local news
writing projects stories, written for classmates and published via a free
school newspaper).
Drama projects Often work best as PBL if they involve creative
interpretations of real historical events (e.g.: a national
independence struggle) or contemporary problems
(e.g.: the Covid epidemic) to encourage factual
research and synthesise with fiction.
Design problem The project brief typically asks learners to solve a
projects specific problem or fill a gap in our day-to-day lives
(e.g.: design a park for wildlife and people in our city;
design a monument to a leading figure in our country).
Business Similar to the previous, but involves case study
problem synopses of business problems, especially useful in
projects tertiary contexts (e.g.: save a failing cafe or restaurant;
improve a well-known supermarket chain or transport
service).
Research Useful in academic contexts, with students working
projects together to answer (usually qualitative) research
questions through original data collection and
presentation (e.g.: How happy are students with
university services? How has life changed since our
parents were children?).
‘Real product’ The product of these projects is shared and used in the
projects real world (e.g.: develop a website for English learners
planning to take an important exam; improve the
events calendar for the school; design, print and hang
subject-specific ‘learning posters’ in the university
canteen).
More
Challenging
(Anderson, 2021, p. 47)

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VI. A framework for PBL in ELT
In order help teachers have a concrete vision about how to kick off a project, in
this part, a framework for PBL in ELT is introduced. Based on a framework for PBL
in TESOL proposed by Anderson (2021), I suggested the following framework.

Stage 1:
PROJECT PLANNING
(1) Brainstorm ideas Stage 2:
Teachers' driving (2) Check feasible ideas by PROJECT
using the checklist INTRODUCTION
thought: I WANT TO
(3) Decide how to organise the (1) Give information of
USE PBL IN MY class in the project the project to students
ENGLISH (4) Decide the timeline (handout)
CLASSROOM (5) Think about possible format (2) Q & A
of the final product (3) Re-check Sts'
(6) Make a detailed plan for the understanding
project with the consideration of
possible milestones
(7) Identify assessment criteria

Stage 3:
Stage 4: PROJECT IN
PROGRESS
PRESENTATION OF
PRODUCT(S) Students' jobs:
Stage 5: Final product(s) of a language (1) Do background
ASSESSMENT AND project can be in: research and discussion
REFLECTION - written form: a report, (2) Accomplish sub-
(1) Peer evaluation a webpage, a poster, a post on activities to reach
social networks, ... milestones of the project
(2) Teacher evaluation (3) Develop product(s) to
- spoken form: a
(3) Self-reflection presentation, a speech, a drama, present
...
- multi-media form: a Teachers' roles: resourse,
video with subtitle, ect... formative assessor,
editor, supporter

Figure 1 illustrates the framework in which 5 stages of conducting PBL are

presented: Project Planning, Project Introduction, Project in Progress, Presentation
of Product(s), and Assessment and Reflection. The bubble thought was included in
the framework because I would like to emphasize that at the very first place, teachers
need to have a desire to adopt PBL in their classroom and this desire needs to be
strong enough to turn ideas into reality. Now I will clarify the ideas included in the

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framework. It is noted that except for the stage 1 - Project Planning in which only
teachers are involved, all other stages are done with the presence of both teachers
and students.

Stage 1: Project Planning

At the beginning, teachers need to brainstorm ideas that can work out the become
a project. Then teachers must check the idea with the vital factor of PBL that project
must be linked with a real-life issue. Most of the time, ELT teachers fail to connect
their ideas with real-world problems or starting a project with an engaging question.
If it is your case, try to think about the big picture of the project in terms of
competences (including language competences, technology, and general
competences) and knowledge needed to be utilized through the project and topics of
the learned lessons, and turn the idea into something that interests your students and
has relation with their real life. In fact, you do not need to do this all alone. You can
collaborate with other teachers at your workplace or teachers in a professional group
in which you are also a member to generate workable project ideas.
In short, brainstorming is the step you take to make sure that your idea can be
turned into a project. Following figure shows what do you need in a doable project
idea. A project in PBL is only feasible when it gives learners meaningful contexts to
develop competences that are required at their grade level, enhance their learned
knowledge, and shorten the gap of classroom and real world.

Your ideas
Related
competences
+ knowledge

Connections
with real
world and
learned
topics

A DOABLE PROJECT IDEA

Figure 2: Necessary factors of a doable project

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 Once you figure out a workable project, you will decide whether the idea should
be proceeded by checking the checklist of a good PBL. Depending on your
preference, you can use the original checklist (appendix 1) or the revised checklist
(appendix 2). If the idea of the project does not meet basic requirements of a good
project, teachers should think about ways to modify the ideas or even change the
idea.
When all the items in the checklist are ticked positively, now it is time for teachers
to make an implementation plan for the project by making the decision on the
following things:
(1) How is the class organized? In groups? In pairs? Or individually?
(2) How long does the project last?
(3) In what ways can the final product be formatted and presented? In which
form? written? spoken? ect…
(4) What is expected final product? (Presentation, video, or a designed item?)
(5) What are milestones of the projects? Based on the milestones, a detailed plan
can be prepared.
(6) How do I assess students’ progress and the final product? When answering
this question, you would come up with ideas for peer evaluation sheet (for
students) and teacher evaluation sheet.

Stage 2: Project Introduction

Teachers introduce the project idea to students. They can prepare handout of the
project information so that students do not need to spend time writing it down. Q&A
section at this stage is to give students opportunities to ask for clarification in case
they do not fully understand your instruction. By the end of this stage, teachers need
to re-check students’ understanding so that they can be sure that all students are clear
about they are expected to do in the project.

Stage 3: Project in Progress

In this stage, students can feel their ownership of the project. However, roles of
teachers are not faded. They would serve as (1) a knowledge resources, (2) a
supporter navigating the project remotely to keep students on track and give

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 assistance in terms of language if needed, and (3) an editor and assessor giving
feedback on students’ work at each milestone of the project. This stage lasts as many
weeks as the project requires. If your students are children or young adolescents
(aged from 5-12), it is recommended that 2-3 weeks are quite ideal in time length
because it is long enough for students have deep thinking about the project but short
enough to keep them motivated.

Stage 4: Presentation of product(s)

In this stage, students present their products to the audience. It is better if the
audience is beyond the classroom.

Stage 5: Assessment and Reflection

One of the reasons why the PBL is different from the other educational approaches
is that students have opportunities to be involved in a feedback loop. In other words,
they get feedback from teachers and peers not only at the end of the project but also
during the project so that they could revise their work and reflect what they have
learned during the project. The assessment and reflection at this stage should be done
with the presence of the evaluation sheets (peer evaluation and teacher evaluation)
which state clearly what are the criteria of the assessment so that students know what
they grow (things need to be improved) and what they glow (things done well) in the
project.
In this section, you have gone through an overview of steps of conducting a
language project. Next section will show you how to organize a specific project in
an English class by following the sugggested steps in the framework.

References
Anderson, Jason. (2021). A framework for project-based learning in TESOL.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350188938_A_framework_for_project-
based_learning_in_TESOL
Pieratt, J. (2019). Keep It Real With PBL, Secondary: A Practical Guide for Planning
Project-Based Learning. Corwin.

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Appendix 1: Essential Project Design Elements Checklist

Whatever form a project takes, it must meet these criteria to be Gold Standard
PBL.
Note
Does the Project Meet These Criteria?

KEY KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING,

AND SUCCESS SKILLS
The project is focused on teaching students
key knowledge and understanding derived
from requirements of the teaching material,
and success skills including critical
thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and
self-management.
CHALLENGING PROBLEM OR
QUESTION
The project is based on a meaningful problem
to solve or a question to answer, at the
appropriate level of challenge for students,
which is operationalized by an open-ended,
engaging driving question.
SUSTAINED INQUIRY
The project involves an active, in-depth
process over time, in which students generate
questions, find, and use resources, ask further
questions, and develop their own answers.
AUTHENTICITY
The project has a real-world context, uses
real-world processes, tools, and quality
standards, makes a real impact, and/or is
connected to students’ own concerns,
interests, and identities.
STUDENT VOICE & CHOICE
The project allows students to make some
choices about the products they create, how
they work, and how they use their time, guided
by the teacher and depending on their age and
PBL experience.

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REFLECTION
The project provides opportunities for
students to reflect on what and how they are
learning, and on the project’s design and
implementation.
CRITIQUE & REVISION
The project includes processes for students to
give and receive feedback on their work, in
order to revise their ideas and products or
conduct further inquiry.
PUBLIC PRODUCT
The project requires students to demonstrate
what they learn by creating a product that is
presented or offered to people beyond the
classroom.

(From Buck Institute for Education, 2015)

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