The advantages and disadvantages of PBL are similar to those of TBL, but the
obvious attraction of project-based learning is the motivating element, especially for
younger learners. Projects bring real life into the classroom; instead of learning about
how plants grow (and all the language that goes with it), you actually grow the plant
and see for yourself. It brings facts to life. The American educational theorist John
Dewey wrote “education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself”. Project
work allows ‘life itself’ to form part of the classroom and provides hundreds of
opportunities for learning. Apart from the fun element, project work involves real life
communicative situations, (analyzing, deciding, editing, rejecting, organizing,
delegating …) and often involves multi- disciplinary skills which can be brought from
other subjects. All in all, it promotes a higher level of thinking than just learning
vocabulary and structures.