Along with developing 21st-century skills like collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking and digital literacy, Project-Based Learning (PBL) is said to be an effective method for assessing young learners’ language skills. Research suggests that by implementing formative assessment techniques throughout the project's stages, PBL can be both advantageous and challenging, particularly when it comes to assessment. Why is it so? And what do EFL teachers working with young learners in Vietnam have to say about it? By presenting the results of the MA research study conducted with 39 EFL teachers with PBL experience ranging from two to over five years, I aim to find answers to these questions. I will discuss teachers’ views on whether doing projects provide better-quality assessment and whether PBL can measure students' knowledge beyond tests and homework, thus allowing for continuous assessment. I will also give recommendations on how language teachers and school officials can improve PBL to make it more accessible for EFL students, for example, by planning regular assessment checkpoints and giving constant feedback. Finally, I will share successful examples from my students' project work in Vietnam outlining how to introduce a driving question, prompt brainstorming, provide scaffolding, and present the final product in the least stressful way possible.

Authors:
Elena Ostashchenko, British Council Hanoi, Vietnam

About the Presenter(s)
Elena Ostashchenko is an experienced EFL/ESL educator based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Elena is a holder of an MA in Applied Linguistics & TESOL from the University of Leicester, UK (2023), complemented by Cambridge CELTA (2017) and Delta (2019).

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-o-0193b473/

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