Although project based learning (PBL) has been successfully introduced in the wider filed of education, little is known about how language learners perceive and learn through the method, particularly to teach writing. This paper reports on a project-based college English writing course carried out experimentally with first-year business students at a private university in Japan. Based on learner-produced reflective writing samples, their understanding of the course as well as its actual impact on language learning were examined. Results indicated that gradually learners seemed to produce meaningful interactions as well as opportunities to develop life-long skills throughout the course. Also, it supports the idea that topic familiarity of learners is important when implementing PBL. Lastly, learners’ attention shift from their attitude towards English to the use of English implies some positive impact of PBL in a language course. Considering the study’s limitation, further improvements in the study of a PBL-driven language course are suggested.
香代子 山内 (Fri,) studied this question.