EFL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate teachers’ perceptions and practices of project-based learning (PBL) in teaching speaking skill at some high schools in a Central Vietnam province. The mixed methods research was adopted with the population of twenty-five teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The questionnaire, interviews, and class observations were employed to collect data for the current study. The findings revealed that the majority of the teachers were fully aware of the necessity of PBL in teaching speaking and the benefits of PBL in improving students’ speaking skill, creating meaningful contexts to practice speaking English, developing students’ affective factors, encouraging students to speak English through integrative skill practice and promoting learner autonomy and skills of the 21st century, such as problem-solving skill, negotiation skill, and technological skill. Despite the perceived benefits, EFL teachers reported that they did not apply this method frequently in their actual practices. Another finding showed teachers’ most encountered difficulties, including teachers’ lack of knowledge and experience of using PBL in teaching speaking, time pressure, and students’ low level of English proficiency.