Projects for Special Purposes: A Progress Report

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and implementation of project-based university Freshman English task-based syllabi by the author in Korea and describes further research, modifications and evaluations that have taken place since implementation of the original syllabus. The aim is not to justify the task-based and project-based approaches, but to report on the efficacy of these particular syllabi and the associated programs as perceived by teachers, students and other researchers. Having described some situations in which the syllabi have been incorporated, the paper concludes that a democratically-oriented project-based approach to foreign language learning offers a means of developing positive affect, autonomy, critical thinking, organization, and language skills in the context of the learners’ major studies, as well as social skills acquired through collaboration and is therefore a pedagogically sound option for language teachers who wish to address contemporary challenges of smart technology and the Academic-English needs of their students. It is further argued that projects offer a strategy for language teaching through which traditional ethics can be combined with modern learning theory.