Project-Based Learning for Language Education in Higher Education: A Scoping Review

Main Article Content

Evelina Jaleniauskiene
Dalia Venckiene

Abstract

The ideas of project-based language learning (PBLL) align well with the action-oriented approach, which is currently seen as the most promising approach in language education (Piccardo & North, 2019). In this study, we carried out the scoping review of empirical research articles describing the implementation of PBLL in higher education during the last 10 years (2011-2021), to answer these research questions: How are project-based language learning experiences designed and implemented in higher education? What are the characteristics of effective language learning projects that could be offered to university students? The results reveal that PBLL can be implemented in creative and varied ways in language education. The reviewed cases provide various solutions for topics, questions, or problems of projects; ways of designing the authentic learning environment; measures for ensuring student choice and voice; ideas for students’ reflection, critique, revision, and assessment; as well as a range of public products that students could create as outcomes of projects, which may be beneficial for language educators and curriculum designers in higher education.

Article Details

Section
Research Articles

References

Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616

Bauer‐Ramazani, C., Graney, J. M., Marshall, H. W., & Sabieh, C. (2016). Flipped learning in TESOL: Definitions, approaches, and implementation. Tesol Journal, 7(2), 429-437. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.250

Beckett, G. H. (2002). Teacher and student evaluations of project-based instruction. TESL Canada Journal 19(2), 52-66. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v19i2.929

Beckett, G. H., & Miller, P. C. (2006). Project-based second and foreign language education: Past, present, and future. Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

Beckett, G. H., & Slater, T. (2018). Project-based learning and technology. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.), & TESOL International Association, The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching (pp. 1-7). Oxford, UK: Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0427

Behizadeh, N. (2014). Enacting Problem-Posing Education through Project-Based Learning. The English Journal, 104(2), 99–104. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24484422

Boss, S., & Larmer, J. (2018). Project based teaching: How to create rigorous and engaging learning experiences. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.). What is PBL? https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl

Campbell, F., Tricco, A. C., Munn, Z., Pollock, D., Saran, A., Sutton, A., ... & Khalil, H. (2023). Mapping reviews, scoping reviews, and evidence and gap maps (EGMs): the same but different—the “Big Picture” review family. Systematic Reviews, 12(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02178-5

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2017). Conceptualizing e-Learning. In B. Cope, & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), E-Learning Ecologies: Principles for New Learning and Assessment (pp. 1-45). New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315639215-1Council of Europe. (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment – Companion volume. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Cox, C. B., & Montgomery, C. (2019). A study of 21st century skills and engagement in a university Spanish foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 52(4), 822-849. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12426

Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., and G. Kestin. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251-19257. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116Dewey, J. (1938). Education and experience. First edition. New York: Touchstone.

Dooly, M., & Masats, D. (2019). ‘What do you zinc about the project?’ Examples of language learning through technology-enhanced project-based language learning. In G. Beckett, & T. Slater (Eds.), Global perspectives on project-based language learning, teaching, and assessment: Key approaches, technology tools, and frameworks (pp. 126-145). New York: Routledge.

Gibbes, M., & Carson, L. (2014). Project-based language learning: An activity theory analysis. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 8(2), 171-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2013.793689

Grant, S. (2017). Implementing project-based language teaching in an Asian context: A university EAP writing course case study from Macau. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 2(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-017-0027-x

Greenier, V. T. (2020). The 10Cs of project-based learning TESOL curriculum. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 14(1), 27-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2018.1473405

Guo, P., Saab, N., Post, L. S., & Admiraal, W. (2020). A review of project-based learning in higher education: Student outcomes and measures. International Journal of Educational Research, 102, 101586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101586

Ha, N. T. D. (2020). Effects of project-based learning in a Japanese language course: A case study from the Yesin University of Dalat. Social Sciences, 10(2), 41-51. https://doi.org/10.46223/hcmcoujs.soci.en.10.2.958.2020

Kato, F., Spring, R., & Mori, C. (2020). Incorporating project-based language learning into distance learning: Creating a homepage during computer-mediated learning sessions. Language Teaching Research, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820954454

Kartika, A. (2020). Indonesian undergraduate students’ perceptions of project-based learning in critical reading class. ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching, 7(1), 10-23. https://doi.org/10.26858/eltww.v7i1.11976

Kelsen, B. (2018). Target language use and performance in project-based language learning (PjBLL). Journal of Asia TEFL, 15(1), 199-207. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.1.14.199

Kokotsaki, D., Menzies, V., & Wiggins, A. (2016). Project-based learning: A review of the literature. Improving Schools, 19(3), 267-277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480216659733

Larmer, J., Mergendoller, J., & Boss, S. (2015). Setting the standard for project based learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Lee, J. S., Blackwell, S., Drake, J., & Moran, K. A. (2014). Taking a leap of faith: Redefining teaching and learning in higher education through project-based learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 8(2), 19-34. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1426

Levac, D., Colquhoun, H. & O'Brien, K.K. (2010) Scoping studies: Advancing the methodology. Implementation Science, 5(69), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-69

Marx, R. W., Blumenfeld, P. C., Krajcik, J. S., & Soloway, E. (1997). Enacting project-based science: Challenges for practice and policy. Elementary School Journal, 97, 341– 358. https://doi.org/10.1086/461870

Munn, Z., Peters, M. D., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(143), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x

Munn, Z., Pollock, D., Khalil, H., Alexander, L., Mclnerney, P., Godfrey, C. M., ... & Tricco, A. C. (2022). What are scoping reviews? Providing a formal definition of scoping reviews as a type of evidence synthesis. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 20(4), 950-952. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbies-21-00483

Nanni, A., & Pusey, K. (2020). Leveraging students’ digital literacy through project-based learning. The Asian EFL Journal, 24(1), 141-164.

National Foreign Language Resource Center. (n.d.). Project-Based Language Learning. https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/pbll/

Oh, S. (2012). A project-based curriculum for an advanced Korean class: Teaching Korean in the post-modern era. Innovations in Teaching Advanced Korean, 17, 128-148. https://doi.org/10.2307/42922362

Peters, M. D., Godfrey, C., McInerney, P., Munn, Z., Tricco, A. C., & Khalil, H. (2020). Chapter 11: Scoping Reviews. In E. Aromataris & Z. Munn, Eds., JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis (pp. 406-451). JBI.

Piccardo, E. & North, B. (2019). The action-oriented approach: a dynamic vision of language education. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Roy, D., Kosai, H., & Takai, K. (2021, May 3). The Pre-Production Plans on Designing a Promotional Video for Project-based Language Learning: A Case Study with Smart Toilets. SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 102, p. 02009), EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110202009

Sampurna, J., Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Stickler, U. (2018). Exploring learners' and teacher's participation in online non-formal project-based language learning. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 8(3), 73-90. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijcallt.2018070104

Slater, T., & Beckett, G. H. (2019). Integrating language, content, technology, and skills development through project-based language learning: Blending frameworks for successful unit planning. MexTESOL Journal, 43(1), 1-14. https://www.mextesol.net/journal/public/files/4c403b19c093771c8c34d0db10b167df.pdf

Socciarelli, M., Takeuchi, A., & Müller, I. M. G. (2020). Developing learners’ critical thinking skills by exploring social issues in project-based language learning: Three proposals. TESOL Working Paper Series, 18, 18-57. https://www.hpu.edu/research-publications/tesol-working-papers/2020/2_socciarelli_takeuchi_muller_social.pdf

Spring, R. (2020). Can video-creation project work affect students' oral proficiency? An analysis of fluency, complexity and accuracy. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 24(2), 1-17. https://tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej94/a1.pdf

Stoller, F. (2006). Establishing a theoretical foundation for project-based learning in second and foreign language contexts. In G. Beckett, & P. C. Miller (Eds.), Project-based second and foreign language education: Past, present, and future (pp. 19-40). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

Tatzl, D. (2015). A constructionist English language teaching project based on an aeronautical conceptual design challenge. Technical Communication, 62(1), 29-47. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43748736

Thomas, M. (2017). Project-based language learning with technology: Learner collaboration in an EFL classroom in Japan (Vol. 1). New York and London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315225418

Thomas, M., & Yamazaki, K. (2021). Project-based language learning and CALL. From virtual exchange to social justice. Sheffield, UK: Equinox.

Virtue, N. (2013). Performing “Le jeu d’Adam”: Teaching medieval French literature through project-based learning. The French Review, 86(5), 880-896. https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2013.0188

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wang, S. (2020). Project-based language learning in China: A literature review. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 11(1), 66-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1101.08

Zachoval, F. (2013). Individualized project-based reading and its effect on students’ reading habits and beliefs. Russian Language Journal, 63, 113-133. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43669233