Improving Chinese EFL Learners’ Oral Proficiency Through Video-Enhanced Project-Based Learning: A CAF Perspective

Abstract

Developing Oral proficiency remains a persistent challenge for many EFL learners due to limited exposure to the target language beyond class. While project-based learning (PBL) has been increasingly implemented to enhance oral proficiency in English education, empirical studies investigating its impact on learners’ oral proficiency using objective measures remain relatively scarce. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of video-enhanced PBL on EFL learners’ oral proficiency, using quantifiable measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). The study involved 96 first-year students over a 12-week intervention period at a polytechnic in China. The participants were divided into two groups: an experimental group (N = 49) and a control group (N = 47). The experimental group was taught using video-enhanced PBL while the control group followed a conventional teaching method (CTM). Speaking tests and semi-structured interviews were utilized to gather data. The quantitative results reveal that video-enhanced PBL led to greater improvement than the CTM in learners’ complexity (particularly syntactic complexity), pronunciation accuracy, and fluency (supported by speech rate and self-repairs). However, there were no notable differences in lexical complexity and accuracy (mainly syntactic accuracy) between the two groups. The qualitative results indicate that video-enhanced PBL was perceived as an effective method for improving learners’ CAF through increased grammatical awareness, collaborative correction, consistent practice, reduced anxiety, topic exploration, and task completion. This study provides valuable insights for teachers in oral English classrooms, recommending the incorporation of video-enhanced PBL to promote EFL learners’ oral proficiency.