Students’ Opinions about How the Implementation of PBL, in the Form
of the Interdisciplinary-Based Project, Enhanced Their Language Skills
Based on the interview data, the students believed that their language skills were
enhanced. Table 2 shows some of students’ opinions about skills enhancement. Most
of them thought that the interdisciplinary-based project helped them practice their
reading, writing, and speaking skills. At the preparation stage of their presentation,
the students believed that their reading skill as well as vocabulary knowledge was
enhanced when they searched for information from different sources because they
had to read and compare a lot of information before selecting what was appropriate
for their project. Their writing was also enhanced when they prepared their Power
Point slides or cardboards and when they wrote scripts for their presentation. For
example, students of Groups 9 and 10 used both reading and writing skills to
complete their work. In addition, their speaking was definitely enhanced when they
rehearsed their speech as well as at the presentation stage when they performed or
presented their project. Students of Group 4, thought that they applied speaking
skills when completing their project. Apart from the four language skills, translation
seemed to be another skill the students used a lot in doing the project. For example,
students of Groups 3 and 10 read information in Thai and translated it into English
when preparing for their presentation. None of them said that the project helped
them with their listening skill.
Table 2: Examples of Interview Data about Skills Enhancement
Interview Data Example
G1: “We thought about what sentences or speech we were going to write in the project.”
G3: “We searched for information which was written in Thai. Then we translated it into
English.”
G4: “We read some information before posting it on the blog….We thought we applied
the speaking skill. Some words we have never spoken before such as in addition.”
G6: “[We learned] English language and technical terms relating to library.”
G7: “I haven’t thought that many skills can absolutely apply for it. It the past, My
English was not really good. It’s now better, and it’s really fun. … Our English
language skills are better, I suppose.”
G9: “Speaking, reading, and writing summaries”
G10: “[We used] translation, writing, and reading both Thai and English texts”