Abstract
Language skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities are essential in studying and career (Azman & Shin, 2012). Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classroom at a junior college in Taiwan. The study conducted a quasi-experimental study which was implemented in a news course for one semester. Participants were 33 English-majored students taking one reading courses of the English department. The research instrument contained two sets of questionnaire, including a 12-item midterm questionnaire and a 22-item final questionnaire about students’ perceptions about the effectiveness and the benefits of the use of PBL in English learning classroom. In addition, students’ reflections about the choices of reading materials. The findings showed that students had very positive attitude toward the benefits of using PBL in class activity, especially in stimulating their continuous acquisition of new and relevant knowledge, having confidence to offer their ideas, and being able to value peer’s comments. Regarding to whether students preferred PBL or teacher lecturing method, it seemed that students preferred to use PBL rather than to learn mainly by teacher lecturing. Nevertheless, they also expected the topics in PBL could be chosen by themselves, especially female students, for the purpose of their being familiar and being interested to get relative information.
Presenters
Yen-ju HouAssistant Professor, Applied English, Shu-Zen Junior College of Medicine and Management, Taiwan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Problem-based Learning, English as Foreign Language Learning
