Project-based learning to develop the speaking skill in English

Abstract

The current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning (PBL) to develop the students’ speaking skill in English. The population was 65 students of tenth year of the Unidad Educativa Quisapincha in the academic year 2018-2019. The methodology was based on a qualitative-quantitative focus within a quasi-experimental design, because the researcher worked with two groups of study. A control group (tenth year “A”) with 33 students, and an experimental group (tenth year “B”) with 32 students. The research lasted about 11 weeks due to the application of the speaking part of the Key English Test (KET) of Cambridge for A2 level as a pre-test for both groups during a week. After that, it was estimated 9 weeks for traditional classes to be held for the control group, while the experimental group had a treatment with PBL. For this group, the researcher designed a teachers’ handbook with 3 projects based on PBL to develop the students’ speaking skill within 3 weeks for each project. The application of projects was developed through a continuous process such as project launch, knowledge building, product development and critique, and final presentation and evaluation of each project. It is relevant to mention that each project focused on cooperative work and use of multimedia resources within the objective to increase students’ interest in learning English. Once the application of the proposal was done, the KET test was applied again as a post-test for a week. Then, data obtained from the pre-test and post-test was analyzed through the T test. The results showed that both groups had a low level in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and interactive communication of the speaking skill. However, the experimental group had a greater advancement than the control group, after applying the proposal. Thus, it could be determined the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning to enhance students’ speaking skill in English.