USE OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ DESCRIPTIVE PROCESS WRITING SKILLS

Abstract

Writing is one of the most important skills in English language learning. 
However, a large number of Thai students have encountered a great deal of 
difficulties in English language writing. Thus, such writing problems of students 
need to be handled immediately. This research aimed to investigate the 
following: 1) the effects of the Project-Based Learning approach (PBL) on students’ 
writing performance and 2) the students’ attitudes towards the application of 
PBL approach in an English writing class. The sample group included 30 thirdyear 
students majoring in Food Technology from the Faculty of Technology, Khon 
Kaen University, selected by using the simple random sampling technique. 
The research instruments used to collect the data were lesson plan, pre-test 
& post-test, teacher’s observation notes, and a Likert scale questionnaire on 
student’s attitudes towards the PBL approach. For quantitative results, students’ 
pre-test and post-test scores were analyzed by using the dependent t-test, 
while the questionnaire was analyzed by using percentages, mean, and standard 
deviation. In terms of the qualitative results, the data retrieved from the open-ended 

questions in the questionnaire and the teacher’s notes were analyzed using 
descriptive analysis. The results revealed that the PBL approach helped to improve 
the students’ descriptive processes writing skills dramatically with the significant 
level of 0.01. In addition, the students showed positive attitudes toward the 
PBL approach with an average score of 4.19. In the PBL classroom, the students 
had opportunities to practice writing skills and as a result the students’ writing 
skills have been successfullydeveloped. Students’ cooperative skills and 
their motivation were also enhanced through this instructional approach. 
Recommendations for further research are also discussed.