The Impact of Project-Based Language Learning on Iranian EFL Learners Comparison/Contrast Paragraph Writing Skills

One of the main problems that EFL learners come across is how to improve their paragraph writing skills. Project-based learning (PBL) is simply defined as an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop (Moss and Van Duzer, 1998) emphasizing learning through student-centered, interdisciplinary, and integrated activities in real world situations (Solomon, 2003). The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible impact of PBL on comparison and contrast paragraph writing skills of Iranian EFL Learners. The participants in the current study were 36Iranian male EFL learners who were chosen from 60 students at language institutes. The participants were at the intermediate level in compliance with Oxford Placement Test (OPT), and selected according to a simple random sampling: the Experimental group (EG) and Comparison group (CG) with 18students in each group. A comparison and contrast paragraph writing pre-test was also administered to measure their writing skills. Then, after 10 weeks of PBL and instruction, a comparison and contrast paragraph writing post-test was administered. The scores were then analyzed using a comparison scoring module and a contrast scoring module developed by Soleimani et al. (2008).The results were submitted to t-test revealing that the students who were educated by PBL outperformed the students who were educated by the instruction based on student textbooks. The findings lend credence to the positive effects of PBL in enhancing students writing performance.