Effects of project-based learning on EFL learners’ writing performance

Connecting language classrooms with 21st-century skills could be the potential framework for enhancing EFL learners’ performance in writing classes. However, investigating whether project-based learning, as a new field within ELT with unique pedagogical affordances, can enhance learners’ writing skills still needs to be improved in the literature. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the impact of project-based learning on EFL learners’ writing performance. It sought to determine whether and to what extent project-based learning could enhance writing skills in an EFL context. The study employed a quasi-experimental design with an interrupted pre-test-post-test time series design with single group participants. Twenty-three third-year EFL undergraduate students enrolled in the Advanced Writing Skills I course were selected using a comprehensive sampling method. An essay writing test and interview were used to gather data. The participants of the study were given a series of three problem-solving essay writing tests before and after the intervention, which employed project-based essay writing instruction. In addition, to discover their attitudes toward the impacts of project-based learning and its applications on the ground, three randomly selected students were interviewed at the end of the intervention. The data collected through the tests were analyzed through a one-way repeated measure ANOVA; narration was also used to analyze the qualitative data gathered through interviews. Accordingly, the quantitative data suggested that project-based learning significantly enhances EFL learners’ writing performance. Moreover, interview data showed that students felt optimistic about the impact of project-based learning on their writing performance, idea generation, and cooperation among themselves. Therefore, project-based learning is suggested as another method in ELT writing classes because it enhances learners’ writing via idea generation, data collection, organization, cooperation, and general communication skills. As students work on worthwhile projects, its emphasis on real-world applicability and realistic activities can help them become better writers. Hence, teachers can reinforce the relationship between form and purpose by incorporating a variety of genres and collaborative writing to reflect real-world or professional situations.