Project-based learning in computer-assisted language learning: An example from legal English

The research presented in this paper aims at exploring the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning (PBL) when applied in a specifically designed Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) setting in the context of practising writing skills. The initial hypothesis of this research was that PBL in a CALL setting within a Legal English (LE) as an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course may improve students' writing skills. For that purpose, a two-week project was carried out with 20 third-year English language students who were presented a specific issue from LE, unfair dismissal in Employment Law, by means of a webquest as an online inquiry-oriented activity. The specific objective was to explore whether the students were able to draft a written claim based on digital resources provided to them through the webquest. Based on rubrics, the assessment of the final written products submitted by the students revealed that PBL did contribute to the practice of students' writing skills in an ESP course based on CALL, but only to a certain extent. The assessment scores analysed in the experiment reflected an overall improvement of student performance in comparison to their usual performance. However, the assumption that PBL in a CALL setting enables students to make adequate choices regarding the selection and use of proper resources provided to them could not be fully confirmed, thus leaving an open door to subsequent research to explore the issue under consideration.