Our presentation addresses the benefits and challenges of implementing the PBL method to teach and evaluate the speaking skills of students at the advanced level in Israeli academia. In addition, potential applications of PBL at the upper levels of EPIC studies are introduced and illustrated.
Speaking is one of the most essential skills for foreign language learners as it allows them to convey messages and ideas, express their opinion and interact with other individuals. This is also one of the most complex and challenging skills to master and implement especially as its productive and spontaneous nature contradicts the traditional learning procedures that passivize the students and hamper the acquisition of authentic oral skills.
Project-Based Learning (PBL), an alternative teaching and evaluation approach, is an excellent way to prepare students for speaking in authentic situations as interacting in the process of working on the project as well as presenting it in front of the classmates and the teacher mimics real-life communication. Moreover, students’ engagement in PBL for speaking purposes contributes to and draws on the other three language skills (reading, writing and listening) and improves the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Using PBL for speaking purposes also has a positive impact on such affective factors as motivation, engagement, confidence and anxiety level.