Cairo University

Faculty of post- Graduate Studies for Education

Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction

A Suggested Program Based on Project-based Learning to

Develop Oral Performance Skills and Willingness to
Communicate for EFL Pre-Service Teachers
Dissertation submitted for the partial fulfillment of PhD degree in Education

)Teaching English as a foreign language(

By

Noha Abdelhamied Ibrahim

Teacher of English Language

Supervised by

Dr. Awatef Ali Sheir Dr. AbdelRehim SaadEldeen ElHilaly

Professor of Curriculum& Instruction Professor of Curriculum& Instruction

Faculty of Graduate Studies for education (TEFL). Faculty of education .)TEFL(

Cairo University El-Azhar University

2023
 Acknowledgements

Prima facie, all praise and gratitude are due to Allah the most Merciful and the most
Gracious for granting me the energy to accomplish this work.

I am indebted to my supervisors, especially the great, insightful and illuminating scientist,

Prof. Awatef Ali Sheir who devoted herself to help me and other learners. Surely, this
dissertation would not have been completed without the help and the fruitful advice of my
dear Prof. AbdelRehim Elhilaly who had been a great helping hand from the very beginning
until the end of the dissertation.

Besides my advisors, I would to like to thank the rest of my dissertation committee:

for enlightening my path and broaden my research horizon with their insightful comments,
thoughtful suggestions and invaluable guidance. I hereby extend my immense gratitude to Dr.
Mohamed Abdel-Latif (Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Education, Cairo University) and

Dr. Mona Abdel-Touab (Faculty of Education, Fayoum University) for facilitating the
obstacles I faced during implementing my research.

My Special thanks goes to Ms. Basmaa (IElTS Expert) for assisting me in validating
my qualitative results. I also want to extend my thanks to all EFL pre-service teachers who
were so willingly helpful and allocated so much of their time to answer my questions
regarding my study.

My deepest appreciation and gratitude goes to each member of my family, my father,

mother, sister, and my uncles who have provided me with every kind of support and
encouragement throughout writing this dissertation and my life in general . Thank you all.

ii
 Cairo University

Faculty of post- Graduate Studies for Education

Name: Noha Abde-l hamied Ibrahim

Degree: Phd

Specialization: Curriculum and Instructions

:Supervisors

Prof. Awatef Ali Sheir Prof. Abdel Rehim Saad Eldeen ElHilaly

Title of the dissertation:

A suggested Program Based on Project-based learning to develop Oral Performance Skills and
Willingness to Communicate for EFL Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

The current study aimed at investigating the effect of project-based learning program to develop
oral performance skills and willingness to communicate (WTC) for EFL Pre-service Teachers. It
attempted to explore learners’ actual WTC behavior and factors that influence their WTC. The data
was collected from 30 freshman EFL pre-service teachers at Faculty of Education, Fayoum
University. Four instruments were used: IELTS speaking tests, questionnaires, semi-structured
interviews and classroom observations. The results showed that there were statistically significant
differences between pre- and post- administrations of the treatment group in IELTS speaking test and
WTC in favor of the post-test. Moreover, the results indicated that there was a divergence between
self-report WTC and WTC behavior in a whole classroom setting due to number of factors. Hence,
the study recommends that project-based learning should be part of teacher training program
to develop prospective teachers’ speaking skills and enhance their WTC.

.Key Words: Willingness to communicate, oral performance skills, Project-based learning

iii
 Table of Contents

Acknowledgements II

Abstract III

Table of Contents IV

List of tables IX

Chapter One: The Problem of the Study

Introduction 1

Context of the problem 4

Statement of the problem 5

Questions of the study 5

Hypotheses of the study 6

Significance of the study 6

Delimitation of the study 6

Definitions of the terms 7

Organization of the remainder of study 8

Chapter two: Review of Literature

The Nature of Oral Performance 9

Types of Speaking 11

Aspects of Speaking 15

Micro-skills and Macro-skills of speaking 19

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 Teaching EFL speaking 20

Behaviorism 20

Cognitivism 21

Constructivism 22

Principles for Teaching EFL Speaking 23

Factors affecting speaking proficiency 24

Speaking and Willingness to Communicate 25

Willingness to communicate 26

The Mechanism of willingness to communicate (WTC) 27

Variables influencing WTC 28

MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) heuristic model of WTC 28

Wen and Clément’s (2003) L2 WTC model 30

Empirical research on WTC in second and foreign language 31

Project based learning 35

Features of PBL 36

Teacher & Student Roles in PBL 36

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Project Based Learning 37

Different types of project work 38

The stages of PBL in Teaching Speaking 39

Project-based learning and English as a foreign language 40

Commentary 41

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 Chapter Three: Method

Design of the study 44

Participants of the Study 44

Homogeneity of the Study Groups 46

Variables of the study 46

Instruments of the study 46

The IELTS Speaking Test 46

Description of the test 46

Validity and Reliability of the IELTS speaking Test 47

Test scoring 47

The WTC Questionnaire 48

Description of the questionnaire 48

Piloting the questionnaire 49

Validity of the questionnaire 49

Reliability of the questionnaire 49

Administration of the questionnaire 50

Scoring of the questionnaire 50

Observation Sheet 51

Description of the observation 51

Validity of the observation 52

Reliability of the classroom observation 52

Administration of the classroom observation 52

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Scoring of the observation 53

Semi-structured Interview 53

Description of the interview 53

Validity of the interview 54

Reliability of the interview 54

Administration of the interview 54

Analyzing the interview 54

The Suggested Program based on Brain-Based Learning Approach 55

The objectives of the program 55

Teaching Aids
56

The content of the program 56

The Program Implementation 59

Administration of the Tests 59

Procedures of the training sessions: 59

Administration of the Post Test 61

Program Duration 61

Chapter Four: Results and Discussion

Results and Discussion 62

Answering the first Question of the study 62

Answering the second Question of the study 63

Answering the third Question of the study 69

Answering the forth Question of the study 84

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Summary 85

Chapter Five: Interpretation, Limitations, Conclusions and Recommendation

Limitations 86

Interpretation 86

Conclusion 92

Recommendations 93

Suggestions for Further Research 93

References 95

APPENDICES

A list of Jury Members 102 )A(

IELTS peaking Test 104 )B(

Background Survey 106 )C(

Pre-study WTC questionnaire 109 )D(

Post-study WTC questionnaire 111 )E(

Pre-study WTC observation 113 )F(

Interview with students 114 )G(

IELTS Descriptors 117 )H(

The Proposed Program Based on Project based learning Approach 119 )I(

Students’ handout 170 )J(

Arabic Summary 242

viii
 List of Tables

1- Descriptive analyses of participants. 45

2- Measuring internal reliability of WTC Questionnaire. 50

3- Scoring positive and negative Statements of WTC Questionnaire. 51

4- Comparing the mean scores of the pre and post-administration of the IELTS speaking
test. 62
5- The Interpretation Scale of Mean Scores for the WTC Level Perceived by Participants. 64
6- Participants’ Perceptions of WTC in English in the Classroom. 65
7- The Interpretation Scale of Mean Scores for Positive and Negative Items. 66
8- Participants’ Levels of State Communicative Self-Confidence in the Classroom. 67
9- Comparing self-reported WTC and behavioral WTC in a classroom context. 68

10- The results of the t-test in comparing the treatment EFL pre-service teachers ' WTC
before and after applying the training program. 84

ix
 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

Chapter One

The Problem of the Study

Introduction

The urgent need for integrating both theory and practice in the every aspect of the
teaching process, facing ongoing challenges and adopting underpinning principles of the new
overhauled education system in Egypt affects the burgeoning field of learning and teaching
English. Since, much research has assumed that the primary function of learning any foreign
language is to speak and communicate; teaching EFL prospective teachers to speak with
consummate proficiency in order to be able to support their students in improving their oral
proficiency has been deemed important in the Egyptian context.

To acquire proficiency in any foreign/second language, learners must not only possess
single words and grammatical structures but also comprehend and produce units of meaning
manifested in clauses and phrases as well (Gruber-Miller, 2006). In this respect, it can be
perceived that speaking enables learners to generate those units. Admittedly, speaking is an
interactive and a complex mental activity that helps learners to produce, receive verbal and
non-verbal symbols and process units of meaning and information of feelings to
communicate with others effectively and convey meaning successfully (Brown; 1994; Burns
& Joyce, 1997). Speaking also entails sub skills pertaining to on-the-spot language
processing which includes speaker's capability to instantly recall words and expressions from
the limited working memory and assemble them into a logical and appropriate concatenation
in order to process information being told as soon as he/she gets it and produce the
appropriate language (Harmer, 2001).

Undoubtedly, it can be said that EFL learners has to deal with and manage a wide
range of simultaneous internal and external pressures and demands needed for spontaneous
communication in the context of well-established interpersonal exchange, in which many
factors interact (Bygate, 1987& Brown, 2001). Consequently, EFL speakers are not given
ample time to match the input with the existing knowledge (Shabani, 2013). In order to
converse with native speakers of English, the EFL learners need to cope with the interplay of
linguistic knowledge and skills (Thornbury, 2005). For all these reasons, speaking is
considered a formidable skill and a daunting task that cannot be acquired innately.

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 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

Nowadays, at the age of communication, speaking among the other language skills
(listening, reading and writing) seems intuitively the most essential one. In fact, the
importance of speaking is not confined to its supremacy and primacy over writing, reading
and listening but it extends to support these skills. Actually, many studies assured the pivotal
role of oral communication played in developing learner's language proficiency (Gass &
Varionis, 1994). For instance, it was demonstrated that speaking can immensely contribute to
the development of writing competence (Trachsel & Severino, 2004), the refinement of
listening skills (Regina, 1997) and the improvement of reading proficiency (Hilferty, 2005) as
well. Thus, it can be inferred that speaking is an indispensable tool for "the acquisition and
development of any foreign language "(Goh, 2007, p.1).

Additionally, EFL learners have to master not only grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation but also speech production, articulation, prosody, automaticity, fluency and
other certain skills; such as motor-perceptive skills which are responsible for the correct
usage of the language and interactional skills which are employed for communication
purposes. It also entails a full understanding of what makes some students tend to participate
in a conversation while others do not. Typically, this readiness to enter into discourse, at a
particular time with specific person using L2” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p.547), is succinctly
labeled as "Willingness to Communicate".

This intriguing and relatively new notion of (WTC) is responsible for providing
impetus for learners to vigorously initializing L2 communication and be more responsive
(Dörnyei, 2005). With this premise, it can be said that WTC oscillates between high and low
based on so many factors such as task type, context, group size, culture, communicative
competence, L2 linguistic self‐confidence, motivation, L2 learning experience, international
posture and the familiarity with interlocutors (Cao ,2014; MacIntyre & Doucette, 2010;
Peng, 2007, 2012; kang,2005; Yashima, 2002; Ghonsooly, Khajavy, & Asadpour, 2012; Peng
& Woodrow, 2010; Munezane, 2016; Khajavy, Ghonsooly,).

The importance of WTC has emerged from its ability to enhance language development
through interaction (Molberg, 2010). According to Kang (2005), the more foreign language
learners are eager to initiate communication and use the target language, the more language
development and learning occur. Moreover, Hashimoto (2002) has stressed that Willingness

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 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

to communicate has been proved to be positively correlated with the speaking proficiency
and language proficiency in general. Actually, this correlation has been stressed in one of
Swain's research conducted in 2005 in which he highlighted the fact that passive or reticent
EFL learners underestimate their abilities in a way that make them tend to use the language
less frequently and hence achieve low learning progress the thing which negatively impact
their self-confidence in oral performances. Hence, it can be implied that learners with high
willingness to communicate are more engrossed in engaging in communication and more
eager to learn a language than those who do not have WTC or have low level of WTC.
Therefore, it is mandatory for any successful language-learning program to focus on
enhancing willingness to communicate or otherwise it is a failed one.

For many decades, it is thought that speaking could be improved automatically in parallel
with learning other skills such as listening, reading and writing. Accordingly, EFL learners
have given few opportunities to practice speaking in English in a natural, conversational
setting (Huifen & Yueh-chiu, 2010). However, the advent of project based learning (PBL) as
a student-centered instruction to be incorporated in language teaching, allows EFL learners
to plan, implement, and finish authentic tasks beyond the classroom, so that they have the
chance to use the language in a relatively real-life context (Westwood, 2008; as cited in
Fragoulis, 2009; Holm 2011). To comply with the needs of EFL learners to be more driven
to learn and be vested with skills required for life- long learning, Markham et al. (2003)
provide a definition of PBL as "a systematic teaching method that engages students in
learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around
complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks” (p. 4).
Consequently, PBL could be the Holy Grail for learners to thrive in learning context.
Drawing upon that standpoint, it can be said that PBL is a dynamic and flexible approach
which allows the natural integration of the four skills via presenting EFL students with
challenges and near life issues to be explored and solved. Furthermore, in stark contrast to
traditional textbook-centered learning, PBL provides authentic meaningful tasks for students
that could enhance their motivation, increase interest, foster autonomy, retain knowledge and
eventually promote learning (Bell 2010). Strikingly, PBL paves the way for learners to feel
comfortable to initiate communication in real-world issues and subsequently reduces anxiety
which, in turn, helps to increase their willingness to communicate (Kang, 2005)

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 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

To the researcher’s best knowledge, most of the studies which investigate the
effectiveness of integrating PBL in content instruction have focused on incorporating PBL to
develop reading and writing skills. There is no study that incorporates PBL to improve
speaking abilities and willingness to communicate of EFL pre-service teachers. Therefore,
the main aim of the present study is to develop Egyptian EFL pre-service teachers’ speaking
proficiency and willingness to communicate by integrating project-based learning approach.

Context of the problem

Notwithstanding the crucial importance of developing speaking skills in facilitating and

enhancing the process of acquiring English language proficiency (Goh, 2007), Egyptian
university students in general and the EFL pre-service teachers in particular still suffer from
weakness of oral performance according to EF Proficiency Index (2021) ) with Egypt being
ranked 85 out of 100 countries . Additionally, surveying plethora of studies which tend to
probe speaking skills for EFL pre-service teachers in Egyptian context (e.g. El-Sakka, 2016;
Ghoneim & Elghotmy, 2016; M.Mohamed, 2019; Diyyab, 2014; Abdel-Haq, & Aly, 2013;
Hussein, 2001), the results show that EFL prospective teachers encounter different problems
regarding their speaking fluency and accuracy. Another aspect of this dilemma is that EFL
student teachers lack motivation (Naeem, 2014) which, in turn, could negatively influence
their level of willingness to communicate. In response to the growing international trend
regarding preparing EFL pre-service teachers to cope with new challenges, designing
university program based on communicative approach such as project based learning is
deemed necessary.

To come to a closer identification of the problem, the researcher also conducted a pilot
study in which an IELTS speaking test was administered to the first Year of EFL pre-service
teachers at Fayoum University, and then their scores were checked. The researcher
concluded that there were problems pertaining to the first year of EFL pre-service teachers'
speaking skills in English. These problems could be summarized as follows:

- Students’ lack of fluency as they uses repetition, self- correction and slow speech.
- Students’ lack the ability to use complex grammatical structure and discuss topics at
length
- Students demonstrated limited use of vocabulary and inappropriate word choice. .

4
 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

Furthermore, the researcher interviewed 15 EFL pre-service teachers to elicit the reasons
behind their low scores in speaking test. Nearly most of them assured that they lack
motivation because of the use of the traditional way in leaning speaking. This way puts
emphasis on memorizing rules and structures rather than practicing them in real life context.
Hence, this study tends to fill the research gap and propose a project based program targeted
to EFL pre-service teachers to enhance their oral performance and their motive and
willingness to use the English.

Statement of the problem

The problem of this study can be confined to the lack of freshmen EFL pre-service
teachers' willingness to communicate in English and their low level of their speaking
performance. Therefore, the study tends to increase pre-services EFL teachers' WTC and their
speaking proficiency by integrating a project- based program.
Questions of the study:

The present research attempted to answer the following main question:

What is the effect of a suggested program based on project-based learning to develop oral
performance skills and willingness to communicate for EFL pre-service teachers?

The following sub-questions were derived from the previous main question:

1- To what extent do project based activities enhance EFL pre-service teachers’ oral
performance?
2- What is the status quo of Egyptian EFL pre-service teachers' willingness to
communicate? Does their self-reported WTC match their actual WTC the
classroom?”

3- What are the factors behind the status quo of Egyptian EFL pre-service teachers'
willingness to communicate?

4- What is the effect of project based activities on enhancing EFL pre-service

teachers' WTC?
Hypotheses of the study

To answer the study questions, the following hypotheses were tested:

5
 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

1. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the

treatment group on the pre and post-administration of the speaking skills test, in favor
of the posttest.
2. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the
treatment group on the pre and post-administration of the willingness to communicate
questionnaire, in favor of the post administration of the questionnaire.
Significance of the study

The significance of the present study is represented in what it offers to the following groups:

1. The EFL pre-service teachers:

● Developing and enhancing EFL student teachers’ language speaking skills.
● Enhancing their willingness to communicate.
● Helping them to improve their learning practices in general.

2. EFL researchers :
● Drawing their attention to the importance of project based learning approach in
enhancing EFL student teachers' speaking skills and their willingness to
communicate.
● Enriching their research findings about EFL English skills, especially speaking
skills.
3. Course designers:
● Providing valuable information for them to incorporate PBL into their
speaking courses.
● Drawing their attention to modify teaching methods to increase the willingness
to communicate in speaking courses.

1.6 Delimitations of the study

The present study proceeded within the following delimits:

1) A randomly chosen sample of 30 freshmen EFL pre-service teachers at Fayoum University)

were asked to complete questionnaires, and speaking tests.

2) The second academic year 2020-2021.

3) EFL speaking skills necessary for freshmen EFL pre-service teachers (fluency and
coherence, lexical resources, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation).

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 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

1.7 Definition of terms

Oral performance skills:

Can be defined as the ability of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and
processing information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it
occurs, the participants, and the purposes of speaking (Burns & Joyce, 1997).

Chaney (cited in Kayi ,2006) identified oral performance skills as the process of building
and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of
context
Oral performance skills are defined operationally as EFL pre-service teachers’ speaking
performance and their ability to effectively convey information orally in a way that reveals
that he/she masters the required EFL speaking skills such as fluency, using a wide
vocabulary resource and grammatical structures flexibly and readily to convey precise
meaning, proper pronunciation .
Willingness to communicate: is defined as ‘‘readiness to enter into discourse at a particular
time with a specific person or persons, using a L2” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p. 547).

Donovan (2003) describes the term as “…the predisposition toward or away from
communicating, given the choice” (cited in Baghaei, Dourakhshan & Salavati, 2012, p.
55).
Kang's (2005, p. 291) definition of WTC goes like this: "an individual's volitional
inclination towards actively engaging in the act of communication in a specific situation,
which can vary according to interlocutor(s), topic, and conversational context, among
other potential situational variables."
According to this dissertation, WTC is operationally defined as freshmen EFL pre service
teachers’ readiness and eagerness to initiate or engage in an oral communication in English
inside speaking classroom when it is time to do so

Project based learning (PBL): is a complex tasks in which students are able to design,
plan, and carry out an extended project that produces a publicly exhibited output such as a
product, publication, or presentation” (Patton, 2012).
Thomas (2000) identified PBL as a language education approach organized around
projects and it focuses on student-centered learning within an treatment learning
framework.
In the present study, project based learning is defined as

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 Chapter One The Problem of the Study

An instructional method which allows EFL pre-service teachers to engage in

relatively real life, semi-structured projects and adopt an empirical research in order to
orally develop a product or present a solve for a problem in an attempt to enhance their
willingness to communicate and develop their oral performance .
Organization of the remainder of study

The dissertation is presented in five chapters. The second chapter reviews the literature and
previous related studies relevant to speaking performance, willingness to communicate in
English, its history, different variables affecting it and interplay between willingness to
communicate and speaking performance. Furthermore, features of project based learning
approach and its steps. The third chapter explains research methodology, sample and
instruments used for collecting data for the accomplishment of the study. Chapter four is
about data analysis and discussion of the collected data. Interpretation, conclusion, and
suggestions for further study will be discussed in the fifth chapter.