The Effect of Project-Based Learning on L2 Spoken Performance of Undergraduate Students in English for Business Class

Project-based Learning (PBL) has become the central part of ESP practice in higher education. The present study tried to confirm the questions whether the students' foreign language (L2) oral performance in English for Business (EFB) Class is significantly affected after PBL is tailored. The study conducted for a semester used an experimental design with the total of 60 students as participants. Before the learning process began, the students were assigned randomly to experimental class (learning EFB through PBL) and control class (learning EFB through Presentation, Practice, Production). In both classes, a business presentation was employed as an oral test in order to reveal the difference of the L2 spoken performance between experimental class and control class. The finding in this study pointed out that the students who learn EFB through PBL outperformed the students who learned EFB through PPP. Since the finding of this study confirms numerous previous studies conducted in the same area, it is recommended that practitioners apply PBL as an alternative way to teach ESP class, especially at the undergraduate level.