Project-based learning: Enhancing the listening instruction in the EFL classroom at an ecuadorian public secondary school

Abstract

This qualitative descriptive case research study explores EFL Teachers' perceptions on the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) instruction in the development of listening comprehension tasks and offering insights on how to improve its instruction in an Ecuadorian public high school. Guided by one general research question and three sub-research questions, the study examined the perspectives of five teacher-participants at a public Ecuadorian high school to obtain valuable insights to strengthen the process of teaching listening comprehension. This qualitative study employed an inductive approach to define themes and concepts to discover patterns and relationships connected with the data collected: interviews, planning reviews, and classroom observations. The findings revealed that teachers felt enthusiastic about implementing the PBL as a learner-centered approach and recognized the importance of listening comprehension for language use. In this regard, even though teachers did not plan strictly listening comprehension tasks, they combined the listening skills with other macro language skills to improve learners' listening comprehension ability. Nevertheless, assessing listening skills has been the most challenging task for teachers, adding to the lack of technological resources that some teachers and learners face, lessening expected results. Components of this research study can be helpful for other school districts and educational institutions that share the same methodology to promote similar workforce capacity in teaching EFL listening instruction.