Empowering EAP Learners: PBL as a Speaking and Listening Catalyst

Abstract

English serves as a second language in Pakistan and is taught academically across all educational levels. Despite years of formal teaching-learning, English Language courses have become largely ineffective owing to language pedagogy that remains teacher-centric and lecture based. This research paper shares a study planned in this backdrop and attempted at introducing project-based learning method against conventional instructions to teach listening and speaking skills to the college students enrolled in compulsory English course. The study was completed with 200 first-year college students divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group was taught the prescribed English curriculum using the project-based learning method that provided opportunities for practicing listening and speaking skills. The control group was taught using the existing conventional English pedagogy. The pre-test and post-test quasi experimental research designs were employed for this longitudinal study. Quant-Qual analyses of the data revealed project-based learning method to be a better instructional technique in developing listening and speaking skills.