Effects of project-based English instruction on learner autonomy of lower secondary school students

Abstract

Learner autonomy is widely accepted as one of the educational goals in the 21st century. Additionally, learner autonomy has been found to affect success in language learning. This study aimed to investigate the effects of project-based English instruction on learner autonomy of lower secondary school students. This study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from 39 lower secondary school students attending 14-week project-based English instruction. The quantitative data obtained from the learner autonomy questionnaire were triangulated with the qualitative data collected from the learning logs and the semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the learner autonomy of lower secondary school students increased with statistical significance, changing from “low” level to “high” level. All dimensions of learner autonomy were increased significantly. The socio-cultural dimension was developed the most, followed by technical dimension, psychological dimension, and political-philosophical dimension. The two emerging themes from the learning logs and interviews were “using various learning strategies to learn English” and “motivation to learn English”. It could be assumed that the implementation of the project-based English instruction could effectively enhance learner autonomy. Therefore, it is a good option for any English classrooms aimed at fostering learner autonomy. To implement the effective project-based instruction, the English teachers should conceptualize the principles of project-based learning and change the role to become a facilitator. For further studies, the researchers should investigate the effects of the project-based English instruction on the socio-cultural dimension in the onsite classroom.