چکیده:
Research on using project work in teaching various disciplines has pointed out a number of challenges facing teachers. Similar research in the EFL classroom, however, has been under-researched. This study aimed to fill the gap with a report on the Vietnamese high school teachers’ challenges in implementing project-based learning in the setting of curricular innovation in English instruction nationwide. The participants of the study were thirty-three EFL teachers from sixteen high schools in both rural and urban areas of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. With a questionnaire and an in-depth interview, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Data analysis indicated that the teachers faced major challenges in time management, adaptation of project activities, student support, and project assessment. These results provide useful implications for how innovative approaches can be successfully implemented, especially with respect to the kind of support EFL teachers need to make project-based learning more feasible in the Vietnamese educational context and similar ones.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Implementing Project Work in Teaching English at High School: The Case of Vietnamese Teachers’ Challenges Van Loi Nguyen*, School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam Loinguyen@ctu.
This study aimed to fill the gap with a report on the Vietnamese high school teachers’ challenges in implementing project-based learning in the setting of curricular innovation in English instruction nationwide.
These results provide useful implications for how innovative approaches can be successfully implemented, especially with respect to the kind of support EFL teachers need to make project-based learning more feasible in the Vietnamese educational context and similar ones.
Keywords: Project-based learning, EFL, high school teachers, challenges Introduction Modern educational approaches which encourage student-centered learning aim to help students develop lifelong skills and recognize their individual differences.
In this study, the project under examination has the features of an extended activity or task conducted by a small group of students where they devise a work plan, gather, analyze, and synthesize information, make a decision in reporting the research results in a particular format.
For Kolodner, Camp, Crismond, Fasse, Gray, Holbrook, and Ryan (2003), teachers must have the ability to maintain the engagement of all students, balance between the investigative aspects of the project and reflection activities in large classes.
Despite the fact that the current study focuses on project implementation as part of the high school English curriculum in Vietnam only, the question is whether EFL teachers face similar difficulties as presented so far.