
































Microsoft Word - PROJECT BASED LEARNING-1


Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

16 
 

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 

AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF TESOL 

Adriansyah A. Katili 
Dosen Universitas Negeri Gorontalo 

katiliadriansyah@gmail.com 
 

ABSTRACT 

This paper is aimed at proposing the project-based learning as an alternative method of learning. This 
paper discussed why this method can be considered as an alternative method. Some discussions from 
some experts are presented.  
 
 
Artikel ini bertujuan mengajukan metode pembelajaran project based learning sebagai sebuah 
alternative metode pembelajaran. Artikel ini membahas mengapa metode ini dapat dianggap sebagai 
sebuah metode alternative. Pembahasan dari beberapa ahli diuraikan dalam artikel ini.   
 
Key words: Project-based learning, students' role. Teacher's role. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

17 
 

 

A. Introduction 

 What is project-based learning? What is the project that should be done by learners? 

What is the aim of the project? There are the questions that may arise in our minds. Project-

based learning, as Nelson (1988) says is a Problem-Based Learning is an instructional 

methodology which is based on presenting the students an "ill-defined" problem for which 

they are to collaboratively research and propose potential solutions. Ill-defined problem 

means a problem with multiple possible solutions. 

 The key words in the above definition is problem solving. This implies that learners 

have a problem and they need to find the solution. However, there is no one single solution, 

they are some possible solution. This means that learners must find the most possible 

solution. 

 The word research implies that this method is also an inquiry- based learning. 

Learners are learning collaboratively to solve the problem. By doing this they will find new 

information or new knowledge. In other words, this is alsolearning by doing activity in which 

learners learn new thing by doing it. This is also known as constructivis 

 How do they find the solution to solve the problem? It is found in the next key word, 

i.e. collaborative research. Therefore, project-based learning is conducted to solve the 

learners’ problem by doing collaborative learning. Therefore, this method is a collaborative 

learning. In this method of learning they can share their new knowledge and experience. 

 What is the teacher’s role in this method of teaching? S/he plays role as suggested by 

Nelson ( as follows) follows: 

1. Facilitator.  Teacher plays this role by creating real realistic and authentic problem 

and materials such as memos, letters, charts, articles, etc.This will facilitate students 

to think critically the problem (Stepien& Gallagher in Nelson, 1993. 

2. Model. After providing the problem and materials, teacher acts as the model to think, 

such as: What do we need to know more about? Where did you find that information? 

What searching strategies did you use on the internet to locate that fact? How did your 

team effectively communicate? Teacher must answer this question by creating more 

questions which will push the students to answer the questions. While the students are 

thinking to find the answer and the solution for the problems, the teacher fades into 

the background. 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

18 
 

3. Assistant, i.e. assisting  students to information of the answer, but not answering the 

questions per see.  This is to activate students to find the answer by themselves and so 

they can learn collaboratively and encourage them to think critically. 

What are the students’ role in Project-based Learning? There are some students’ roles: 

1. Doing the learning activity collaboratively. 

2. Thinking critically during the learning process. This leads them to produce 

critical questions and finding the answer by doing research. 

3. Communicating ideas and findings to the others. 

4. Debating ideas freely. 

5. Creating artifact.  

(http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/background.html#Instructional) 

B. Method  

How to apply Project-Based Learning? The first step isdoing need analysis. In this 

step teacher raises a question: “What have my students already known about the topic? What 

do my students need to know and to master? What is their problem related to their need?”  

Perhaps they need to express their ideas in English, however, they lack of vocabulary.How to 

do this? Gaer (1998) suggested listening to students to find their problem and to pay attention 

to what they read, write, and say about their life, family, job, etc. 

 The second step is  determining the objectives. This step is based on the need analysis 

done in the first step. So, if the students need to improve the writing skill, then the objective 

will be to enable the students to write well in English. The objectives may be set by referring 

to Blooms’ Taxonomies. 

 The third step is creating real and authentic problem and material. The material can be 

article, memos, short stories, novel, and any other things that can be used as the learning 

resources. The realistic and authentic problem must force the students to do a mini research. 

This will lead students to construct their findings and experience as their new knowledge

 Fourth, implementing the project-based learning in learning activity. In this step 

students and teacher will do their role. Students will learn along with the plan, while teacher 

facilitates students by managing the activity.  

 The fifth step is doing assessment. In Project-Based Learning assessment is conducted 

in ongoing process. It is aimed at measuring the success of students’ learning and at the same 

time is aimed at improving the process of learning. 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

19 
 

 The last is reflection. In this step teacher reflect the process of learning that has been 

recently conducted. Teacher raises some questions related to the process that has been 

conducted such as: 

1. were the students happy? 

2. were they active in doing the learning? 

3. did they learn new things? 

4. what lacked in the learning process? 

5. what can I do to improve the learning process? 

These questions are to improve the project-based learning. 

 

C. Discussions 

Two Reports on Project-Based Learning 

 The implementation of Project-based Learning has been reported as a successful one. 

Gaer (1998) reported that she applied this method in her class activity at the Visalia Adult 

School in central California in 1989 with immigrants from Southeast Asian Lao, Hmong, 

Mien, and Lahu refugees who had been in beginning-level ESOL classes since their arrival in 

the United States in the early 1980s as the students. 

 Gaer has identified that her students need to express their own culture in English. 

After the negotiation, she and the students agreed to write the receipt from their countries in 

English. They brought the ingredients to school and doing the cook, practiced the cooking 

and then complied the receipt they have written into a book. This helped them to build the 

sense of community which led them to learn collaboratively. 

 After the activity of writing receipt, the class had another activity, i.e. writing folktale. 

Gaer has noticed that the students needed to write the folktale from their countries, and tell 

them to their children. This idea was based on the fact that the students had minimal reading 

and writing skills but very strong oral traditions.  

 She did this project in collaboration with middle school in California, and the district 

librarian. She contacted the appropriate teacher who would like to join it 

enthusiastically.Gaer’s students told the stories to the middle school students while the 

middle school  students would write and illustrate them. Gaer’s students would read it and 

criticize it for the accuracy.  

 What was the librarian’s role? She provided the some information of how American 

tales were written in book and tells them in Gaer’s class using oral and various ways such as 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

20 
 

body languages, puppet, and role play when the students doubted that their English skills 

could convey the story. This is reported as the very successful learning process which 

improves the students’ oral and written English skills. 

 The second Project-Based Learning is that conducted by Baş (2011) who investigated 

the effect of Project-based Learning on students’ academic achievement and the attitudes 

towards English Lesson of 9th grade students in a high school in Nigde, Turkey. This research 

engaged 60 students distributed into two classes, i.e. control group and experimental group. 

This research found that project-based learning is more effective in the positive development 

of the students’ academic achievement levels. At the end, it found that students educated by 

project-based learning were more successful and had a higher attitude toward the lesson than 

the students who were educated by instruction based on student textbook. 

The Superiorities of Project-Based Learning 

 What are the superiorities of Project-Based Learning in English Class? The above 

discussion implicitly shows that there are some its superiorities. First, it is a student-centered 

learning. Since it is a student-centered learning, it is based on students’ need. If the students 

need to improve their writing skill, then the class activity must be assigned to improve their 

writing skill. 

 Secondly, students are active learning and doing research. This leads them to learn to 

do the inquiry and so they will never forget easily the new things they have learnt. Thus, it is 

unlike learning in traditional way in which teacher is active to give instruction, transfer 

information which they can forget easily. 

 Thirdly, students learn collaboratively. Learning collaboratively requires 

communication among group members. In English class this is a good way of increasing 

communication. The students can increase their language competence in English if the 

teacher assigns them to communicate in English. Gaer’s report on her activity shows how her 

students communicate in English when writing the folktale. She reports that her students had 

successfully learned English. The same also happened to Bas’s experiment. 

 Fourthly, it can motivate students’ to learn. Bas’s experiment shows that the students 

became highly motivated when they were learning in project-based learning method. It is 

because they are very active which is different if they are treated in traditional way in which 

they are sitting passively and listening to the teacher talking all the time. In project-based 

learning they can express their ideas, debate freely, and show their existence. They are not 

treated as an empty vessel as the traditional teacher assumes. 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

21 
 

 Students treated as the empty vessels are very passive. Because they are empty, the 

teacher must fill them with information. This implies that it is the teacher who is very active 

while the students must be passive. In project-based learning students are assumed to have 

prior knowledge and so they can do something when triggered by the teacher. Gaer’s 

experience discussed previously showed that her students have the prior knowledge of their 

folktale and they want to express it in English. Our students, even who are at elementary 

school, have prior knowledge which can be triggered to the new knowledge by activating it in 

a project which will increase their knowledge and skills in English. 

 In short, the superiorities of project-based learning lies on the practice of learning by 

doing. Students will not forget the new things they have learned if they learn it and at the 

same time practice it. 

 

Project-Based Learning in Our Class Activity 

 Perhaps, we have been practicing project-based learning in our class activities. We 

often assign our students to do some activities in order that they can learn new thing. For 

example, we assign them to write a simple essay about their opinion of current issue, let say 

national examination. They can write whatever they think about this topic. 

 Or, perhaps some of us show them a picture, or a series of pictures. Every student will 

write a simple story based on the pictures. Every student will have different story according 

to the perception of each student. We do not want them to have the same because the most 

important thing is that they are able to express their idea in English freely. Also, at the 

beginning we tolerate their language error because we want to motivate them to learn. And 

then will have them read their story in class. Finally we will publish the stories in class book, 

or put them in school tabloid managed by the students. This motivates them because 

everybody will be proud if his or her work is published and read by many people. 

 I am sure that some of us have been implementing this method. However, do not 

realize that it is a project-based learning. If we have been implementing it, we can go on on 

doing some improving based on the reflection we do after the activity.; 

 In my class, at the English Department of Gorontalo State University, I have been 

practicing this method. In my class of poetry, I assign them to read poems and explain it in a 

short simple essay which consists of a brief analysis. Then I choose randomly some of them 

to present their analysis in class which leads them to a class discussion. This method makes 

every student be prepared and make his or her best. 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

22 
 

 After analyzing poems, I assign every body to compose his or her own poem. In 2009 

I took my students from two classes to the beach of Olele with a project, i.e. everybody will 

write a poem about sea. All the students’ poems will be compiled in a book. The students 

seemed to be happy with the project. Everybody wanted to compose a good poem. My point 

here is that every student will be creative, that they are not only able to analyze poems but 

also be able to compose poems and so they can express ideas in aesthetic language. 

 My point is that perhaps we have been applying project-based learning in our class 

activities without realizing that it is project-based learning. However, perhaps something 

lacks, i.e. we do not assign our students to produce a product at the end of course. The 

product might be a film, poem, a short story, or a simple essay which will be published. What 

is the purpose of this producing product? It is aimed at enabling students to learn from their 

product.  

 We also have practiced the traditional method of teaching, such as explaining the 

topic all the time—the students were passive. We have been treated them as the empty vessel 

who must be passive and the teacher were loading them actively. Or perhaps we applied 

grammatical method in which students were taught the grammatical rule of English. At the 

end of course we tested ttheir mastery of grammar. However, we ignore the use of language 

as a mean of communication. If yes, now we need to change it.  And then let us compare 

them. In traditional method, students are not facilitated to apply their knowledge in real life. 

In English class they cannot practice their English.  This in line with Moss who says that 

Project-based learning functions as a bridge between using English in class and using English 

in real life situations outside of class (Fried-Booth, 1997). It does this by placing learners in 

situations that require authentic use of language in order to communicate (e.g., being part of a 

team or interviewing others). When learners work in pairs or in teams, they find they need 

skills to plan, organize, negotiate, make their points, and arrive at a consensus about issues 

such as what tasks to perform, who will be responsible for each task, and how information 

will be researched and presented(1998). 

 

D. Conclussion 

 As discussed previously, there are some superiorities of project-based learning. 

Students are engaged actively in collaborative learning to solve a problem. This facilitates 

them to communicate actively in the language being learned.  It facilitated students to apply 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

23 
 

their knowledge of language in real communication during the classroom activity. Teacher 

plays the role as facilitator who guides students to be active. 

 An implementer, Gaer and an expert Bas have proven that project-based learning has 

worked successfully. Gaer has implemented this method to increase her students’ writing and 

speaking skills and it worked. Bas, in his experiment, has proven that project-based learning 

has increased the students’ achievement in English class, and at the same time has increased 

their positive attitude to English.  

 From the discussion, I think that project-based learning is an alternative method in 

TESOL to improve the students’ achievement in learning English. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 4 Nomor 1 -Februari 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 
 
 

24 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES 

Gökhan Baş. Investigating the Effects of Project-Based Learning on Students’ Academic 
Achievement and Attitudes towards English Lesson in “TOJNED : The Online Journal 
Of New Horizons In Education - October 2011, Volume 1, Issue 4” 

 
(http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/background.html#Instructional) 

Gaer,  Susan Less,  Teaching and More Learning in “Focus on BasicsVolume 2, Issue D :: 
December 1998” 

Moss, Donna and Carol van Duzer, 1998. Project-Based Learning for Adult English 
Language Learners.  http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/ProjBase.html. 

 
Nelson, Clark J. 1998. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in the Foreign Language Classroom 
Clark_Nelson@dps.cudenver.edu 
 

  

 


