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Abstract:
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In recent years , a number of empirical and conceptual studies about Project -Based Learning (PBL ) have presented consistent arguments rationalizing this approach to language learning and teaching . The most common benefits attributed to project work in the second - and foreign -language settings have been located and described in recent research . However , only a few empirical studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of project work on language learning , and even fewer on specific language skills .
This dissertation presents the results of a quasi -experimental research study that investigates the effect of incorporating a semester -long reading project into a third -semester Russian classroom and reports the measured effects of this experimental treatment on students’ reading comprehension , their reading habits and beliefs , perceived reading skills , and overall language proficiency .
The dissertation provides data on a semester -long project allowing students to research a topic of their interest through a set of readings (which substituted for the textbook texts ) with an ultimate goal of reporting their findings in the form of a newsletter article . The project entailed interconnected sets of sequenced tasks during which students are actively engaged in information gathering , processing , and reporting , with the ultimate goal of increased content knowledge and language mastery . The context for this project was primarily text -based (extensive readings served as a base for all activities and assignments ) , task -driven (creating an end -product in written form ) , collaborative , technology -enhanced (extensive use of the Internet ) , and individualized (students researched topics they were interested in ) .
The results of the study demonstrate that students’ reading comprehension increased by using an integrated methodology where reading was taught through maximizing students’ previous knowledge of a subject matter of their interest and following the procedural model for interactive reading . Additionally , the results suggest that the project implementation had a positive effect on some reading habits and beliefs regarding foreign language (FL ) learning , while no significant shifts were found in students’ perceived reading skills , or their overall language proficiency . |