The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning in Enhancing Learners’ English Language Skills Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Abstract

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has been widely studied as one of the successful teaching methods in English Language Teaching (ELT) as it enhances learners’ motivation, critical thinking, and language acquisition. The purpose of the current systematic review and meta-analysis is to critically evaluate the impact of PBL on reading, writing, and speaking abilities of the learners based on the analysis of 30 published articles from 2016 to 2024. Of the articles, 13 of them were on speaking skills; 10 were on writing and 7 were on reading. Methodologically, the studies were grouped as 14 quantitative, 6 qualitative, and 10 employed mixed methods. Meta-analysis was applied to the quantitative studies to estimate statistical significance (p-values), and the magnitude of the difference (Cohen's d). Heterogeneity of effect sizes was determined by I2 statistic, and the analysis was also done to explore differences between the effect of PBL in the language skills category (speaking, reading, and writing) and study levels (tertiary and secondary). The findings indicated that PBL significantly improved language skills. It has the highest impact on the writing ability (Cohen's d = 1.2-2.1) whereas speaking ability (d = 0.5-1.5) and reading skill (d = 0.7-1.5) came as runners-up in terms of strength. The outputs of qualitative analysis showed high learner motivation, self-study, and teamwork but were not empirically grounded. The analyses further revealed that students at tertiary level benefited most from PBL intervention than that of the secondary level. In spite of its effectiveness in the area of English language teaching, future studies have to be conducted employing long-term retention measures, relative teaching models and improved standardizations.