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.
