Communicative Skills in English at the Workplace
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case, for instance, in a market research project”. Beneficial projects to support their professions can be set out using communicative English.
Adopted from Project-Based Learning Handbook published by Ministry of Education Malaysia, the following figure represents some components in PBL.
Figure 2.3. Project-Based Learning at a Glance Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2006: p. 5
From the figure above, PBL deals with product and task orientation, authentic assessment, skills-based learning, engaged learning, and systematic
teaching and learning method. The explanation of each point includes the alternative planning that can be used. In product and task orientation, the
researcher can use planning products, construction products, training products, media products, technology products, presentation products, and written reports.
In authentic assessments, the research can use the following assessments such as using rubrics, process oriented, end product, conform to standards, and also both
formative and summative evaluation. Furthermore, alternative skills that can be trained through PBL are resources skill, interpersonal skill, information skill,
system skill, technology skill, basic skill, listening, reading, speaking, writing PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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skills, thinking skill, and personal qualities. As a form of an engaged learning, the learners in PBL can contribute to the learning process through searching, active
exploration, problem solving, creating, and sharing. Moreover, systematic teaching and learning methods in PBL is as follows: question, plan, schedule,
monitor, assess, and evaluate. Different from previous teaching and learning methods in PBL, Patton
2012 comes with an alternative method. Looking back at the definition of PBL, according to Patton 2012, “PBL refers to students designing, planning, and
carrying out an extended project that produces a publicly-exhibited output such as a product, publication and presentation” p. 13. Furthermore, Patton 2012
suggests that the execution of PBL has a method such as get an idea, design the project, tune the project, do the project, and exhibit the project p. 33. This kind
of method is considered simpler than the previous one. However, these two methods have the same basic, which is on the planning, doing, and implementing.
PBL is included one kind of communicative learning since one purpose of implementing PBL is on one advantage at providing a student-centered learning to
the classroom. PBL was introduced into the field of second language education as a way to reflect the principles of student-centered learning Hedge, 1993: p. 86;
Hedge, 2000: p. 365; Fried-Booth, 2002: p. 45. Furthermore, PBL has been closely related to the learner autonomy Fried-Booth, 2005; van Lier, 2005.
Another evidence that make PBL become a part of communicative learning is on bringing
the real world in the process. Skehan 1998 states that “it has been suggested that the tangible end product associated with project work,
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often shared with a real audience, leads students to take their formal accuracy more seriously” p. 274. Furthermore, PBL aims to engage students in the
investigation of real- life problems and develop students’ creativity, problem-
solving skills, and lifelong learning Barron, 1998; Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Breault Breault, 2005. Alan and Stoller 2005 also propose that a real-world
project is designed for intermediate and high intermediate EFL students. Real world that is brought in PBL can be supported by authentic tasks given by task-
based learning TBL. In implementing PBL in the research, the project in the teaching and
learning process can differ from three types of classifications, which are based on roles of instructor and learners in deciding the project-related activities Henry,
1994, as quoted in Stoller, 1997: 5, data collection techniques and sources of information Stoller, 1997: 5, and way of informatin is reported Stoller, 1997:
6. Firstly, the project might be differed from the roles of the instructor and learning toward the project arrangement. There are three types of projects:
structured, unstructured, and semi-structured projects. The projects are called structured when the teacher dominate the decision making particularly on the
topic, materials, methodology, and presentation. Conversely, unstructured projects are projects that are defined largely by the learner only. Whereas, projects that are
defined and organized by both the teacher and the learners are called semi- structured projects.
Secondly, based on the data collection techniques and sources of information, projects can be classified into research projects, text projects,