Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey

Abstract

English language teaching (ELT) at rural schools may pose challenges like insufficient resources and a lack of students' interest. Integrating real-life-based and learner-centred methods like project-based learning (PBL) into rural English classes may help improve the quality of ELT in such contexts, yet the issue still remains underexplored. This case study aims to devise a PBL model for the English classes at a rural school and investigate the effects of PBL on the development of linguistic and non-linguistic competencies as well as the benefits and challenges of the process along with suggested solutions. The data were collected through closed-and open-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and students' productions. According to the results, PBL was seen to affect students' progress in multidimensional ways. The data suggest that thanks to PBL, the students' interest and confidence in using English increased, and their English language proficiency improved. Besides, the students were found to have developed their real-life related skills like time management, creativity, autonomous decision-making, oral presentation, and computer use. However, PBL was also defined to be a challenging process requiring full devotion and a heavy workload. This study indicates PBL can be an effective means to improve the quality of ELT in rural education.

Full text

2022, 16(1), 34–55
Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language)
ISSN: 1307–4733
34
Research Article
Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural
School: A Case Study from Turkey
Elif KEMALOGLU-ER1 & Muazzez Tugce SAHIN2
1 Assist. Prof. Dr., Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University, Adana, TURKEY
ekemalogluer@atu.edu.tr
ORCID: 0000-0003-1238-1018
2MA Student, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, TURKEY
mtugce.butun@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0003-3127-1981
Submission
01/09/2021
Revision received
28/03/2022
Acceptance
21/03/2022
Publication date
24/04/2022
Keywords:
project-based
learning, English
language teaching,
rural education, rural
schools, case study
Abstract
English language teaching (ELT) at rural schools may pose challenges like insufficient resources and a
lack of students’ interest. Integrating real-life-based and learner-centred methods like project-based
learning (PBL) into rural English classes may help improve the quality of ELT in such contexts, yet the
issue still remains underexplored. This case study aims to devise a PBL model for the English classes
at a rural school and investigate the effects of PBL on the development of linguistic and non-linguistic
competencies as well as the benefits and challenges of the process along with suggested solutions. The
data were collected through closed- and open-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and
students’ productions. According to the results, PBL was seen to affect students’ progress in
multidimensional ways. The data suggest that thanks to PBL, the students’ interest and confidence in
using English increased, and their English language proficiency improved. Besides, the students were
found to have developed their real-life related skills like time management, creativity, autonomous
decision-making, oral presentation, and computer use. However, PBL was also defined to be a
challenging process requiring full devotion and a heavy workload. This study indicates PBL can be an
effective means to improve the quality of ELT in rural education.
Anahtar Sözcükler:
proje tabanlı
öğrenme, İngilizce
dil öğretimi, kırsal
eğitim, köy okulları,
vaka incelemesi
Bir Köy Okulundaki İngilizce Dil Öğretiminde Proje Tabanlı Öğrenme: Türkiye’den Bir Vaka
İncelemesi
Özet: Köy okullarında İngilizce dil öğretimi yetersiz kaynaklar ve öğrenci ilgisinin eksikliği gibi
zorluklar ortaya koyabilir. Köy okullarındaki İngilizce derslerine proje tabanlı öğrenme gibi gerçek
yaşam temelli ve öğrenci merkezli yöntemler entegre etmek bu türden ortamlardaki İngilizce dil öğretim
kalitesini geliştirebilir, ancak bu konu üzerine halen yeterince araştırma bulunmamaktadır. Bu vaka
incelemesi bir köy okulundaki İngilizce dersleri için bir proje tabanlı öğrenim modeli tasarlanmasını ve
proje tabanlı öğrenmenin dilsel ve dilsel olmayan yeterliliklerin gelişimi üzerindeki etkilerini ve sürecin
yararlarını, zorluklarını ve önerilen çözümleri araştırmayı hedeflemektedir. Veriler kapalı ve açık uçlu
anketler, yarı yapılandırılmış mülakatlar ve öğrencilerin üretimleri aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Sonuçlara
göre proje tabanlı öğrenmenin öğrencilerin gelişimini çok boyutlu bir şekilde etkilediği görülmüştür.
Veriler proje tabanlı öğrenme sayesinde öğrencilerin İngilizce kullanımına yönelik ilgi ve özgüveninin
arttığına ve İngilizce dil yeterliliklerinin geliştiğine işaret etmektedir. Bunun yanı sıra öğrencilerin zaman
yönetimi, yaratıcılık, özerk karar alma, sözlü sunum ve bilgisayar kullanımı gibi gerçek yaşamla ilişkili
becerilerini geliştirdikleri bulunmuştur. Ancak, proje tabanlı öğrenme tam adanmışlık ve ağır iş yükü
gerektiren zorlu bir süreç olarak da tanımlanmıştır. Çalışma, proje tabanlı öğrenmenin kırsal eğitimdeki
İngilizce dil öğretiminin kalitesini geliştirmede etkin bir araç olduğunu göstermektedir.
To Cite This Article: Kemaloglu-Er, E., & Sahin, M. T. (2022). Project-based learning in English language teaching at a rural
school: A case study from Turkey. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 16(1), 34–55.

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
35
1. Introduction
The quality of education may differ severely in rural and urban schools due to the
geographical and socioeconomic distinctions between rural and urban areas. The data drawn
from Turkey Statistical Institute (TUIK) (2020) demonstrate that the total population of the
rural areas in Turkey has been decreasing since the mid-twentieth century. Following the
decline of the number of people living in the countryside, educational policies in Turkey have
focused more on urban areas. As stated by Çiftçi and Cin (2017), in Turkey, the central
education system applies the same curriculum and instruction to all children across the
country, and this system does not always match with the interests or cultural or social
differences in the rural areas and fails to supply knowledge that is discernible and relevant to
all students. As shown by the studies of Aksoy (2008), Çiftçi and Cin (2017), Çakıroğlu and
Çakıroğlu (2003), and Kızılaslan (2012) on rural education in Turkey, the distinctions
between rural and urban areas lead to a big gap with regard to social and economic
improvement and access to infrastructure; thus, rural education requires special care and
attention in this context. Accordingly, the findings emphasize several challenges specific to
rural education settings, including insufficient teaching materials, poor physical conditions,
transportation problems, little value given to education by families and communities, and/or
lack of pre-service or in-service teacher training related to rural teaching.
On the other hand, when the general socioeconomic status and education level of families
in rural settings are taken into consideration, school education has a great deal of importance
in these areas. According to the report published by The Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD, 2012), children from disadvantaged environments can
take advantage of skills and strategies learned at schools which are especially more difficult
for them to acquire at their homes. Thus, schools can act as active and productive agents in
developing rural learners’ knowledge, experience, and real-life-based skills. Besides, the
quality of education is highly significant in ELT in rural contexts where students would
intensively need external support to learn and practice the language.
1.1. English Language Teaching at Rural Schools
Today English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a sine qua non in various aspects of life, including
human relations, international, political, and business affairs, technology, and education all
over the world. Thus, English language teaching (ELT) is essential to effectively equip
learners with international communication skills and help them fulfil their potential via global
opportunities. This necessitates efficient and real-life-oriented English lessons to prepare
learners to communicate with global users outside the classroom (Kemaloglu-Er & Bayyurt,
2019). In rural education, the conditions to ensure effective English lessons could be
influenced by several factors specific to the setting, as attested by various studies conducted
in national and international contexts.
There is little research on ELT in rural education contexts in Turkey. Şahin (2021) conducted
a study on the professional identity development of EFL teachers working at Turkish rural
schools. Şahin (2021) states the rural teachers often got demotivated by the limited
conditions of their environment identified with technological deficiencies, defects in school
buildings, inadequate resources, and lack of opportunities for professional development.
Moreover, lack of parental interest in educational issues and the students’ lack of proficiency
in English were common at rural schools. Most students were said to have poor English
backgrounds and failed to understand even very basic concepts and instructions. The

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
36
teachers were seen to cope with the difficulties by using their own power and initiative. To
illustrate, they perpetually explained the importance of learning a foreign language, adapted
the curriculum to the students’ level, created materials, arranged extracurricular activities, and
often acted as guides, counsellors and role-models for the students. Kizildag (2021) studied
the expectations of EFL teachers working in urban and rural public schools from the
Ministry of National Education (MONE). The participants complained about the students’
proficiency levels in English and expected MONE to consider the readiness levels of the
students in designing their English curriculum.
ELT in rural education is also a challenging field of work in international contexts, as revealed
by research on the issue. Relevant research findings indicate that schools often suffer from
the lack of learning resources and inadequate facilities and often do not have technology-
enriched classrooms with digital and audio-visual aids due to financial and resource
constraints (Carrillo, 2019; Faisal & Ali, 2021; Izquierdo et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2020;
Prabowo & Akmal, 2019; Putri, 2021; Saiful & Triyono, 2018). In several rural EFL classes,
focus on grammar, rote learning, and extensive use of L1 and translation are common,
communicative skills are often neglected, and technology-enhanced learning is not widely
applied (Carrillo, 2019; Faisal & Ali, 2021; Izquierdo et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2020; Li et al.,
2018; Musa et al., 2012; Prabowo & Akmal, 2019; Putri, 2021; Saiful & Triyono, 2018;
Samaranayake, 2016). ELT in rural education is also impacted by teacher-related factors,
including teacher shortage, teacher turnover, lack of qualified teachers, and teacher
demotivation (Carrillo, 2019; Faisal & Ali, 2021; Izquierdo et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2021;
Prabowo & Akmal, 2019; Putri, 2021). Also, in most settings, rural students perceive English
learning as a decontextualized subject matter unrelated to their lives due to their familial
backgrounds often marked with low-level of education and income (Izquierdo et al., 2021;
Khulel, 2021; Musa et al., 2012; Saiful & Triyono, 2018). Parents are also reported to show
little, or no interest in educational issues (Khan et al., 2020; Khulel, 2021; Prabowo & Akmal,
2019; Saiful & Triyono, 2018), and this increases the power and prestige of teachers perceived
by students as reliable authorities (Castañeda, 2014; Hardré & Sullivan, 2008). As pointed
out by Hardré & Sullivan (2008), in rural schools, the relationship between the learners and
teachers is robust, and the teachers as distinguished members in the society have a stronger
influence on the motivation of students than their peers. It is a fact that teachers can benefit
from this perception to increase motivation, broaden the students’ perspectives, and lead
them to improve their interpersonal relations along with language skills (Hardré et al., 2008).
In doing so, they can develop and apply novel methodologies for their students including
project-based language learning.
1.2. Integrating Project-Based Learning into ELT at Rural Schools
Project-based learning (PBL) is an approach which promotes learner-centered teaching
through investigative, interactive, and creative activities extending beyond the classroom
(Fried-Booth, 2002). In PBL, students actively engage in the learning process by in-depth
investigation, analyzing data, solving problems, generating conclusions, creating products,
and sharing knowledge (Beckett & Miller, 2006; Gras-Velázquez, 2020). In English lessons,
when the lesson content is related to the learners’ experiences and community, they become
more interested and are able to have a deeper understanding of the content (Saenz et al.,
2018). PBL encourages authentic target language use in classroom settings in relevance to
the lives of students, learner decision-making, and autonomy, and it brings about several
benefits to L2 classrooms including improved language, academic and real-life skills, repeated

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
37
opportunities for interaction, and intensity of motivation, engagement, creativity, and
enjoyment (Hutchinson, 1991; Stoller, 2006; Stoller & Myers, 2020).
Blumenfeld et al. (2011) point out PBL gives learners opportunities to actively engage in the
learning process, make preferences, and bring their interests to the learning environment,
thus it has a high potential to make learners more attentive. However, it may be hard to apply
innovative teaching methods like PBL in rural education since educational programs,
teaching methods, and academic content are rarely compatible with learners’ style of living
or habits in the countryside (Moulton, 2001). Hence, teachers working in rural areas need to
develop their professional skills to effectively implement PBL by adapting materials, making
the content relevant, and building bridges between the subjects and students’ previous
experiences.
Research shows the pedagogical impacts of integrating PBL into ELT at rural schools. In
their studies, Pichailuck and Luksaneeyanawin (2017) state that PBL helped EFL learners in
a rural area not only develop learning strategies and become more autonomous learners but
also get higher grades in the standardized national exam. Moreover, the development of self-
confidence, metacognitive skills, and increased motivation and participation were reported
as project gains. The research done by Castañeda (2014) demonstrated that through PBL,
perceptions of the rural students about English as a disconnected phenomenon from their
lives changed. The projects helped students raise awareness of English as a communicative
tool rather than a subject to be studied. Besides, it improved not only their language skills
but also participation, collaboration, self-regulation, self-confidence, individual and social
values, and relationships with their peers and teachers. It was also emphasized that the
teacher’s professional satisfaction was enhanced with increased confidence of the learners in
this rural context. In Santhi et al. (2019), PBL facilitated the acquisition of 21st-century skills,
improved problem solving and critical thinking skills, and provided the learners with an
opportunity to enhance their content knowledge in a meaningful context. In Saenz et al.
(2018), the learners in the rural context reported not only highly positive attitudes towards
PBL, but also increased awareness of community problems and cultural sensitivity and
developed language proficiency.
Projects may also offer EFL learners’ opportunities to experiment with language and
decrease their anxiety levels of speaking in the target language. According to the study done
by Fragoulis and Tsiplakies (2009) with EFL students in a village school in Greece, the
students’ speaking anxiety levels decreased, and they showed higher levels of participation in
and willingness towards educational activities after the implementation of PBL. Another
contribution of PBL was students’ using different resources and finding and synthesizing
related information through internet research. It can be concluded that with its emphasis on
students’ initiative and its potential to improve linguistic and real-life-based skills, project-
based foreign language learning can be a beneficial tool in rural education. Yet, such cases
are not common and ELT in rural education still remains underexplored.
In Turkey, there is very little research on ELT in rural education (Kizildag, 2021; Şahin,
2021), and there is no research on the integration of PBL into ELT at rural schools to the
best of the researchers’ knowledge. This study develops and implements a PBL model in
ELT at a rural school and investigates the perceived effects of PBL on the development of
linguistic and non-linguistic competencies as well as the benefits and challenges of PBL along
with suggested solutions. The study addresses the following research questions:

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
38
1. What are the i) most developed, ii) moderately developed, iii) least developed, and
iv) non-developed competencies following PBL according to the students?
2. Do the students’ project-related productions display developmental aspects in
linguistic and non-linguistic competencies? If so, how is development represented
in the students’ productions?
3. What are the advantages of PBL according to the students and the teacher?
4. What are the challenges of PBL according to the students and the teacher?
5. How can the challenges be settled according to the students and the teacher?
2. Method
2.1. Research Design
In this study, the descriptive case study design was employed as this design enables the
researcher to describe the case in tandem with its contextualization through in-depth analysis
(Yin, 2014). Therefore, this study aims to provide a complete understanding of the
application of PBL in a genuine rural classroom setting via in-depth analyses and thick
descriptions. In this regard, it elaborates on the implementation of PBL in a rural school
context and its possible potential to develop EFL learners’ linguistic and non-linguistic
competencies, and documents the participants’ perspectives about the benefits and
challenges of the process with suggested solutions.
2.2. Setting
This study was conducted at a rural state school in Marmara Region in Turkey and lasted two
semesters in the academic year 2017-2018. The school was located in a village that was 60
km away from the town centre. At the time of the study, there was only a grocer’s and an
internet cafe in the village and the roads to the village were not well-built and most of the
people worked in nearby factories. The internet was usually accessed through the
connections at school and the internet cafe. There were mostly low-income families in the
setting. Stoves were used for heating so the families usually spent time in a common living
area in the house, and the students usually did not have their own computers and rooms. On
the other hand, the school and the classes were technologically well-equipped with smart
boards and a stable internet connection.
The teacher was the only English teacher of the rural school. Before the teacher was
appointed, there were part-time teachers coming from the nearby town to teach English in
exchange of hourly payments, but their majors were not related to teaching or ELT and they
were employed mainly due to their basic level of English that was deemed to be adequate to
teach English at the rural school and their willingness to teach for extra payment in the
village, since not many teachers prefer this option due to having to cover the distance
between the town and the village every week.
The class where the research was conducted was the 7th grade. The students had four hours
of compulsory English classes and two hours of elective English classes per week, taken by
all the students since there were few elective courses available in the rural setting, and English
was one of them. All the English classes were taught by the same teacher.

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
39
2.3. Participants
The participants were ten thirteen-year-old 7th-grade students (seven males, three females)
and their teacher. They were all native Turkish speakers and had been learning English for
six years. All the participants were from low-income families, and they lived with their
families. They had limited access to technology and used their parents’ smartphones to
connect to the internet at their homes. Only one of the students had her own computer at
home. The students reported they had not been able to practice English in real-life contexts
outside the classroom due to their limited access to the internet and not receiving parental
and financial support.
The teacher held a BA degree in ELT. She was appointed to the school soon after her
graduation, and she had been teaching English to all the grades (between the 2nd grade and
the 8th grade) for three years. Based on her self-report, she gave intensive and student-centred
English education to her students, valued student participation, autonomy, and motivation,
taught English interactively rather than focusing on purely grammar-translation, and related
the topics to students' lives. Additionally, she stated that she only used English during class
time, encouraged her students to speak English, and used different types of activities to
improve her students’ English.
2.4. Project Design
This research focuses on the PBL process in the English lessons of the 7th grade at a rural
school in the fall and spring semesters of one academic year. Within each project process,
the students and the teacher pursued the following steps developed for this study: 1) research,
2) interaction, 3) outcome production, 4) oral presentation, and 5) interactive feedback.
According to this framework, in this study for each project, the students were supposed to
i) form groups, ii) collect data on the given subject by research via the internet, iii) interact
with their group members and other people for an in-depth comprehension of the topic, iv)
construct an outcome of their own (an oral presentation often with an accompanying visual
like a poster they prepare), iv) present it to their class, and v) receive feedback from their
teacher and peers as well as make self-evaluation about their presentation.
The project themes were given in parallel to those in the curriculum. That is, after each unit,
the students conducted a project related to the theme of the completed unit under the
supervision of their teacher. The research group completed nine projects in the whole year.
The projects topics were i) introducing oneself, ii) celebrities, iii) sport types, iv) wild animals,
v) TV programmes, vi) parties, vii) superstitions, viii) public buildings, and ix) protection of
the environment.
The teacher gave training to her students in the beginning of the term for two weeks about
the project guidelines and how to make oral presentations. She also gave support to her
students whenever they needed help and provided feedback for their written, oral and visual
products on the basis of the defined rubrics. Also, parallel to the ongoing classroom projects
described above, as a part of the Erasmus+ European Programme for Education, Training,
Youth, and Sport, the teacher conducted an eTwinning Project with an English teacher from
Italy and both teachers integrated some of the projects in this research into their eTwinning
framework. eTwinning is a free online community for schools in Europe, which presents a
platform for teachers to communicate and collaborate on projects
(https://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/index.htm). Through this platform, the teacher in this
study started an eTwinning Project with an English teacher from Italy and their classes in the

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
40
same age group did a certain number of projects on the decided topics from the ones listed
above. In this process, the teachers shared the photos and videos of their project-related
products on the platform and the classes had online interactions. Two groups also made
caricatures about the related project topics via a caricature program and sent them to each
other and made comments on them. There was one Skype meeting in each term between the
classes so that they could get to know each other and have intercultural and project-related
exchanges. In these meetings, first, the chosen representatives introduced themselves and
gave culture-specific information about their country. Then there were spontaneous
interactions between the groups about their projects, lives, and cultures.
2.5. Data Collection
Case studies entail collecting data from multiple sources of information, qualitative,
quantitative, or both (Yin, 2018). From this standpoint, this study utilized both types of data
to seek answers to the research questions. The data were collected by a closed-ended
questionnaire and an open-ended questionnaire given to the students, semi-structured
interviews conducted with the students and the teacher, and students’ project-related
productions.
The closed-ended questionnaire involved 18 items designed for this study to test the
perceived competencies expected to be developed following PBL. All the items were
designed according to the relevant literature and the project goals. The items aimed to test
the perceived development in the linguistic and non-linguistic competencies regarding PBL
and the participants were asked to rate to what extent they thought their competencies
developed as a result of PBL on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The linguistic competencies
within the questionnaire were concerned with i) fluency in four skills (speaking, listening,
reading, and writing), ii) communicative functions expected to improve via PBL (introducing
oneself, introducing people, introducing one’s environment, and telling stories in English),
iii) oral presentation, iv) vocabulary use, v) doing research in English on the internet, vi)
language use in daily communication, vii) communicative use of English with international
partners, and viii) confidence in the use of English. The non-linguistic competencies
intended to develop through PBL were i) time management, ii) use of creativity, iii) use of
computer skills, and iv) autonomous decision-making.
In order to ensure the validity, feasibility and reliability of the closed-ended questionnaire,
different procedures were applied. First of all, the questionnaire was tested in terms of its
content validity. Content validity refers to how well a questionnaire measures the construct
that it sets out to measure (Creswell, 2013). Expert opinion was sought to ensure the content
validity of the measure (Olson, 2010). Two experts were consulted in this regard. Both of
them were assistant professors in the Department of ELT at a state university. They generally
provided positive feedback, on the other hand, they both stated that some items should be
reworded. The rewording feedback mostly included suggestions to make the items simpler
and more understandable for the target students.
Secondly, piloting was applied to ensure the feasibility of the questionnaire. The piloting
group included eleven 6th grade students that had been exposed to PBL by the same teacher
in the same rural setting. Based on the feedback received in the piloting process, some minor
edits were made in the items and the format, and the questionnaire was finalized. Thirdly,
Cronbach's alpha as a measure of questionnaire reliability was calculated and it was seen that
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was sufficient (.91) to proceed with further analyses.

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
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As for the open-ended questionnaire, the instrument was prepared by the researchers to
provide an in-depth understanding of the issue and strengthen the validity of the study via
triangulation. The participants were asked to state the learning gains, problems and suggested
solutions about PBL. In order to establish the content validity of the questionnaire, the
expert-opinion method was applied (Olson, 2010). That is, the experts that evaluated the
closed-ended questionnaire were also asked to check the items of the open-ended
questionnaire. The experts conveyed positive views and had no criticisms. Both the closed-
and open-ended questionnaires were collected at the end of the academic year when the PBL
process was over. First, the students were given closed-ended questionnaires and after they
completed the closed-ended questionnaires, the open-ended questionnaires were
administered.
The semi-structured interviews with the students and the teacher focused on the advantages
and challenges of PBL along with recommended solutions for the challenges mentioned. The
interviews were conducted after the questionnaires were administered. In each interview, the
details given about the projects were questioned with further questions with the purpose of
in-depth analysis. In addition to these interviews, the teacher was interviewed one year after
the study about the likely impacts of PBL on the students’ performance in English to explore
the possible long-term effects of the intervention.
The students’ project-related productions were also used as supportive data to analyse the
developmental aspects of the PBL case in detail and ensure triangulation. The productions
included the project-related writings the students wrote, the audio-visual records of their oral
presentations, the posters, and other forms of visuals they prepared and presented within
their projects.
2.6. Data Analysis
In this study, the data of the closed-ended questionnaire were analysed via descriptive
statistics and a categorical scheme. The closed-ended items asked the respondents to what
extent they thought they developed in the given competencies following PBL. Thus, the
questionnaire design allowed the researchers to make a categorical scheme about the
developmental level of the competencies. According to the questionnaire, for each
competency, the respondents rated their level of development in the pertinent competency
on a 5-point Likert scale and in this rating process, point 1 referred to “not developed”, 2 to
“slightly developed", 3 to “moderately developed”, 4 to “developed” and 5 to “highly
developed”. Based on this categorization, a data analysis scheme was devised by the
researchers to meaningfully analyse the item means of the questionnaire with respect to
developmental levels. According to this scheme, the developmental categories of the
competencies were identified according to the item means. As a result, the item means
between 1 and 1.99 referred to “non-developed”, 2 and 2.99 to “least developed”, 3 and 3.99
to “moderately developed”, 4 and 5 to “most developed" competencies (See Table 1). The
scheme was shown to two statisticians for expert opinion and their views were received.
They gave positive responses. Also, the scheme was shared with the experts whose opinions
were taken about the closed- and open-ended questionnaire and they also gave confirmation
and did not reveal any criticisms. In line with this finalized scheme, the developmental level
of each competency was determined according to the item means and the results were
grouped and shown in tables.

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
42
Table 1.
Developmental categories of competencies
Item means
Developmental category of competencies
4 -5
Most developed competencies
3 -3.99
Moderately developed competencies
2 – 2.99
Least developed competencies
1 -1.99
Non-developed competencies
The findings of the open-ended questionnaire and interviews, and students’ project-related
productions were analysed via thematic analysis (Creswell, 2013). Through multiple readings
and meticulous analyses, the repetitive patterns were grouped under relevant themes. Coding
was, therefore, inductive, i.e., driven from the data as the thematic categories were step by
step formed by working through the data in an intensive manner.
3. Findings
3.1. Development in competencies
3.1.1. Findings of closed-ended questionnaires
Development in competencies following PBL was analysed via the closed-ended
questionnaires given to the students and students’ project-related productions. In the closed-
ended questionnaires, as a result of the analyses, the most developed competencies were
found to be the use of English daily life, oral presentation, introducing oneself in English
and time management, respectively. Table 2 displays these competencies with the related
item means.
Table 2.
Most developed competencies
Competency
Item Means
Use of English in daily life
4.56
Oral presentation
4.47
Introducing oneself in English
4.38
Time management
4.14
Among the competency categories, “moderately developed competencies” as a group was
the one with the highest number of items (n=13). According to the findings, the
competencies found to be moderately developed included using English confidently,
introducing people in English, doing research in English on the internet, speaking, listening,
reading and writing fluency in English, use of computer skills, use of creativity, autonomous
decision-making, using newly learned vocabulary in sentences, telling stories, and introducing
one’s environment in English. Table 3 shows these items along with their means listed from
the highest to the lowest.

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Table 3.
Moderately developed competencies
Competency
Item Means
Using English confidently
3.96
Introducing people in English
3.87
Doing research in English on the internet
3.85
Speaking fluency in English
3.78
Listening fluency in English
3.76
Use of computer skills
3.75
Use of creativity in project tasks
3.75
Autonomous decision-making
3.66
Using newly learned vocabulary in sentences
3.58
Reading fluency in English
3.54
Writing fluency in English
3.43
Telling stories in English
3.42
Introducing one’s environment in English
3.00
As for the least developed competency group, there was only one item found to belong to
this category. The item concerned interaction with international partners and displayed a
mean at the highest borderline of its group (2.99), very close to the lowest mean of the
moderately developed competency group. Lastly, there were no items found to belong to the
non-developed competency group.
3.1.2. Findings of students’ project-related productions
The students’ project-related productions were also analysed for further evidence to see
whether they presented any signs of development in linguistic and non-linguistic
competencies. As for linguistic competencies, the analyses displayed that the productions
showed evidence for development in the use of i) grammar and
ii) vocabulary as well as iii) writing and iv) oral presentations. Under the use of grammar, a
certain level of development was observed in the i) accuracy and ii) complexity of the
sentences. Overall, the analyses of the productions showed that the students’ sentences both
in their writings and oral presentations became more accurate and sophisticated over time.
They were often found to make more grammatical mistakes in the beginning but their
mistakes got fewer in the process. Most of the students were also found to have used simple
structures in their projects at the beginning, but more complex structures towards the end of
the PBL process. The structures in the latter category included longer compound sentences
with linking words. In terms of vocabulary, there was a wider variety of nouns, verbs and
adjectives used in the course of time. In the writings and oral presentations, coherence was
also seen to have improved. That is, the writings and oral presentations got more coherent
as evidenced by more neatly organized introduction, development and conclusion sections,
and increased use of linking words. Table 4 shows sample excerpts from the first, fourth,
and ninth project of the same student, revealing improvement in the accuracy, complexity,
and coherence in her writing.

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Table 4.
Sample excerpts from a student’s projects
Project No
Subject
Sample Excerpts
1
Celebrities
She is singer. She is student, too. She sing songs. She lives in
Istanbul. She very much loves pink.
4
Wild Animals
(Pandas)
They are mammal. They have black and white fur. They eat
bamboo and hunt fish. Their habitat is China. They are
endangered animals because Chinese cut down bamboo trees.
9
Protection of
the
Environment
Environment is important because it is our home. There are
forests and animals in the environment. For example, there are
birds, bears and squirrels. We should protect all animals. We
should also plant and protect trees.
Besides, in oral presentations, the data showed signs of improvement in i) fluency and
ii) confident use of language. According to the analyses, in their oral presentations, the
students were seen to become more fluent with fewer hesitations. Their speaking confidence
was also seen to have increased since they tended to present a more self-assured stance in
the process with fewer pauses and filler words and a seemingly more confident posture and
tone of voice.
The students’ productions were also seen to provide evidence for development in non-
linguistic competencies, which are i) the use of creativity and ii) computer skills. It was seen
that the students used their creativity in their presentations and posters and enriched the
content with a great variety of creative additions. To illustrate, they made use of different
designs and varied visuals in their posters and presentations. They wore costumes and masks
appropriate for the topic. For example, in the project of wild animals, they wore costumes
and masks representing these types of animals. They sang songs and/or used audio-visual
materials relevant to the theme of the project. As for computer skills, they were also seen to
have used the PowerPoint more professionally over time. They tended to use more features
in their presentations to design and arrange their slides and attract the attention of the
audience. As a result, the students’ project-related productions displayed development in
several linguistic and non-linguistic competencies.
3.2. Project-based learning: Advantages, challenges and suggestions
3.2.1. Advantages
The pedagogical advantages of PBL were stated by both the students and the teacher.
According to the data analyses of the students, i) making an oral presentation, ii) conducting
internet-based research, iii) relatedness of the project topics to curricular units, and iv)
project-related online interactions with an international partner were the themes identified
as the pedagogical advantages of PBL.
Making an oral presentation was stated to be the most emphasized advantage of project
work. The students said they did project-related oral presentations approximately every three
weeks and this frequency in oral presentations put English in the centre of their lives. In this
regard, being constantly busy with English in daily life was the mostly mentioned sub-theme.
In this intense process, the students said they conducted research in English, wrote their own
texts in English, turned their texts into attractive presentations, and rehearsed them several
times. Below is a description that exemplifies such a case.

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S1: There was English, English, always English in my life. The presentations were so important.
Our teacher wanted us to make good presentations. One day we were searching the internet, the other
day I was working on my sentences. I was uttering these sentences everywhere to myself, at the breaks,
in the meals, on my pillow looking at the ceiling (laughs). We were even saying these sentences in the
middle of our conversations to our friends to make jokes.
Through these intense preparations for the oral presentations, some students added that i)
they regularly learnt new vocabulary items, ii) revised the already learnt grammar subjects,
and iii) improved their speaking. Thus, some other advantages of oral presentations pointed
out by the students include improvement in i) vocabulary, ii) grammar, and iii) speaking.
Correct pronunciation was particularly a highlighted sub-theme in terms of speaking
improvement. The students who mentioned this item stated that oral presentations laid the
grounds for them to search for the correct pronunciation of new words and utter them again
and again through rehearsals and active presentation, thus improving in this area. Here are
some related excerpts.
S2: My teacher says people cannot understand you if you say the words in the wrong way. So, I always
checked the pronunciation of my presentation words or asked them to my teacher.
S3: In order not to forget the pronunciation of different words, I repeated them to myself several times.
Another benefit specified by a great majority of students with regard to oral presentations
was increased speaking confidence. Several students said through oral presentations, they
were able to overcome their stage fright and gain confidence in speaking before others. Some
students mentioned that this happened gradually as they felt embarrassed and/or anxious in
their first presentations and then became more and more relaxed and confident throughout
time. A sample excerpt is given below.
S4: I was really afraid of presentations. My heart bumped madly. I did not want to make any
presentations at first, but there was no other choice. I presented, I presented and I got used to them
through time.
Oral presentation was also said to improve technology-enhanced learning. Most students
said they became competent in computer-based oral presentation skills since they mostly
used the PowerPoint and other means to make presentations. Besides, technology and other
means were found to be used creatively to attract interest. To illustrate, one student said
S5: In order that our friends and our teacher like our presentations, we used the computer. We did
them with the PowerPoint, the slides, and added nice titles and pictures. We used the animations in
PowerPoint. We wore masks. We prepared posters. And there were songs. We sang songs. We really
had fun.
Lastly, oral presentations in PBL were found to give the students the opportunity to improve
not only speaking but also listening skills. Through these presentations, they were able to
listen to their classmates as presenters and also got intensely exposed to spoken English in
the classroom via whole class interactions. The students also evaluated each other as
presenters and this was said to make them listen more intensively and take the presentations
seriously. Here is an excerpt of a student who commented on such a case.
S6: My friends were always on the stage talking about different things. We were like a jury. We told
them what we thought and gave them points. Thanks to this, we were more careful about our
presentations.

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The second aspect the students found advantageous in terms of PBL was conducting
internet-based research in English about the project topic. Thanks to this aspect, the students
were exposed to various texts and videos in English. This intense exposure to English was
said to broaden their horizons and help them gain new perspectives about the global use of
English. Most students said before PBL, they thought of English as a subject matter limited
to coursebooks and few words and sentences. However, after PBL, English was stated to
become a living entity and they became conscious of the multiplicity and complexity of
English use all over the world and this global awareness increased their motivation to use the
language and produce and share their own written and oral outputs with others. As stated by
one student
S7: (Before PBL), I didn’t know that the internet was full of writings and videos in English that
much. I was just using my father’s phone to play games. There is a huge world and when you google a
word, there is always English. Different people speaking in English in different ways, different pages,
different pictures, videos… For all these, you must know English.
The third positive aspect the students mentioned about PBL was the relatedness of the
contents of PBL to the given units. That is, the topics of the units and the projects were the
same and this helped them not only revise the content-based knowledge learnt in the
classroom but also extend it to more advanced levels. For example, if the unit was about wild
animals, they did further investigation on the kinds of such animals, read more texts, watched
varied videos and interacted with their classmates, their teacher, and elders and increased
their knowledge, and improved their English in this area. Besides this, they spoke about the
given subject that they had covered in class in detail by making oral presentations about it
and expressed their feelings and opinions about the themes and suggested solutions for the
given problems. Therefore, they said a seemingly simple unit became complex and varied
through PBL and personalized learning.
S8: In projects, we dealt with the subjects we covered in the classroom. Indeed, we made them bigger.
We searched the internet. We wrote writings. We made presentations. We were always doing projects.
The fourth benefit of PBL in the research context was project-related online interactions
with an international partner. The students said these international online interactions and
knowing that the projects would be shared with their Italian project partner increased the
motivation and satisfaction they derived from doing project work.
S9: We were excited before our meetings with Italy. And when our teacher showed us their project
products, I liked them. I thought in another part of the world, students were doing projects like me.
Besides, these online interactions increased the speaking confidence of students:
S10: We talked with the class in Italy and saw that we could speak English. Indeed, they didn’t
speak English so well (laughs). We were much better.
The teacher was also asked to state the pedagogical advantages of PBL. Project work was
said to offer the advantages of intense exposure to English in and outside the classroom,
enhancement in content-based learning, increased confidence in the use of English, and
academic achievement in the centralized exams on the subject of English. As the teacher
pointed out, before PBL, the students had been exposed to and practiced a limited amount
of English, however through PBL, their exposure to English in and outside the classroom
became more and more intense and varied. Moreover, project work was said to enhance

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content-based learning in the English classes. Accordingly, the students were said to i) learn
a great variety of life-based information, ii) improve their vocabulary and grammar by getting
exposed to new items and practicing the already-learnt ones, iii) form their own contents,
and iv) present them both orally and in written form in multiple ways.
One further benefit of PBL was increased confidence in the use of English according to the
teacher.
T: Since the students were in a rural setting, they felt both physically and psychologically distant to L2
learning opportunities and thought that they were restricted and inadequate in the use of English. Yet,
after they started to apply PBL, the students became more and more aware of the online opportunities
to improve their English and they became more and more confident in using English by the tasks of
research, interaction and presentation they did within project work.
As the teacher emphasized, through PBL and the efficient use of technology-enhanced
opportunities and by constantly collaborating with their teacher and peers, the students did
not feel restricted and distant to English in their rural setting; rather than that, they felt free
and equipped in making their project-related preparations, made use of multidimensional
opportunities to improve their receptive and productive skills and thus got intensely involved
with L2 and felt closer to it throughout the process.
Lastly, one year after the study was completed, the teacher was interviewed about the impacts
of PBL on the performance of her students in English and she stated that she deemed project
work had a substantial impact on the academic achievement of students in the centralized
exams on the subject of English. As she explained, the class did intensive project work in the
7th and the 8th grade when they were getting ready for the centralized high school placement
exam given by the Turkish National Education Ministry, through the effect of which the
secondary school students in Turkey can be placed in state high schools giving education
with higher quality. As she stated, the students had established achievements in English like
having very high scores in these exams and being the first of the region. The teacher
concluded
T: The students got more interested and became more confident in English and their proficiency
improved thanks to projects. I think our hard work for project work and exams, and the support I
have tried to give have all affected the academic achievement of the students.
3.2.2. Challenges and suggested solutions
As for the challenges of PBL, there were three themes pointed out by the students: i) heavy
workload, ii) intense preparation for oral presentation, and iii) the high level of English in
the project-related internet-based research. Regarding PBL, heavy workload was the most
mentioned topic by the students. Almost all the students found PBL challenging in terms of
workload and they said they were constantly busy preparing and presenting their English
projects almost every three weeks and as each project required a novel field of investigation
with a new topic and involved investigation, interaction and production steps, the students
said they got exhausted in the long run. Some students who mentioned this challenge
suggested the load of project work be lessened in the forthcoming terms. Despite this
challenge, most students said they were content with project work as they thought it was a
useful process.

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S2: Project work was really very, very tiring. Once one project finished, another one started. We were
busy with English all the time. On the other hand, thanks to our teacher and the projects we achieved
many things.
Another challenge emphasized by the students was getting prepared for the oral
presentations. The students said it was forbidden to read the things they planned to say in
the oral presentation so, it was arduous to get prepared for this presentation stage. Most
students mentioned that they had a hard time preparing to present their projects with
accurate use of English and in a natural way with suitable gestures, voice tone, and mimics.
They suggested that they had to make repetitive rehearsals to achieve their goals.
The third challenge was the high level of English in the project-related internet-based
research of students and their difficulty in understanding the related reading and listening
texts. The students said in the first stages of the project process, in order to feel safe, they
mostly checked Turkish websites and made translations with the help of their teacher and
adapted the information they found to the English they knew. But throughout time, their
confidence increased and with the support of their teacher, they got more and more involved
with English texts and videos on the internet and got exposed to mostly English texts. As
stated by a student
S5: When I had difficulty in understanding the English on the internet, I asked my teacher or friends.
I googled the words and looked up dictionaries. I didn’t understand anything at first. It was like a
melody to me. But now I am better.
As for the challenges mentioned by the teacher, the specified themes were i) project work’s
being effortful, ii) lack of parental support, iii) lack of computers at students’ residences, and
iv) integration of e-twinning into the project process. Firstly, similar to the students, the
teacher also said the project work required a great deal of effort. She stated she had to devote
a great amount of time and energy to each project group before, during and after each project.
Besides, she pointed out that she constantly encouraged each of her students to do their best
and with the effect of rural life she had close relationships with her students, thus giving
intense psychological and linguistic support to her students. She derived satisfaction from
each of her help but it was also an intense and exhausting process. She stated
T: Project work has been one of the most challenging works of my professional life. But when I saw
my children achieve success, I forgot everything.
Also, as the teacher mentioned, the students lacked parental support in terms of English
lessons. In addition, since the teacher was seen as the only authority figure in terms of English
in the school and the rural setting, this made her feel more responsible. Hence, she made
extra efforts to support her students. On the other hand, as the teacher pointed out, her
students never complained to her about the workload and did whatever she told them with
care. Thus, the teacher said her being the only authority figure in the rural setting about
English and the students’ respect and unconditional surrender to this figure and their taking
this for granted might have caused her to work more than expected and with this impact,
she possibly had her students work a lot.
Another rural life-related challenge was lack of computers at students’ residences. This was
said to make the teacher feel that she had to have the students make use of technological
opportunities at school for project work, which meant that the groups did the research in
the classroom with teacher support and asked their immediate questions to her. All these

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tasks also created a comfort zone in the project processes of students, but increased the
workload of the teacher at the same time.
Lastly, the teacher made efforts to have her students engage in international communications
with their English-speaking peers. Hence, she conducted an eTwinning project with Italy and
integrated the projects they fulfilled into the eTwinning framework. This was another
challenge mentioned by the teacher as she was the one to arrange all the correspondence,
oral interactions and project reports throughout the process. As for suggestions for the
mentioned challenges, the teacher said she was fully satisfied with what she was doing and
accepted her being the only authority in terms of English as a fact of the rural setting so she
had no suggestions except for accepting this reality and doing her best for her students.
T: It feels that in this village, without the teachers’ efforts these students would have never done such
things. By the way I don’t think I have done such an extraordinary thing. It was normal to me. I did
what I had to do as a teacher. The process was so beautiful as my students did whatever I asked them
to do.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
This study has aimed to present an in-depth analysis of an implementation of PBL in ELT
classes within a rural setting in Turkey. Typically, rural settings are considered to be limited
in terms of opportunities for foreign language teaching and skills improvement, and this is
verified by several studies on ELT in rural education (Carrillo, 2019; Faisal & Ali, 2021;
Izquierdo et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2021; Li et al., 2018; Musa et al., 2012; Prabowo & Akmal,
2019; Putri, 2021; Saiful & Triyono, 2018; Samaranayake, 2016; Şahin, 2021). On the other
hand, in this study with a multifaceted project work design, effective use of the internet and
continuous teacher support, the students have intensely been exposed to English and
efficiently used it in meaningful and purposeful ways.
The findings of the study have shown that PBL has been favoured as an educational means
contributing to the development of various competencies. Firstly, according to the students’
responses, English was used at a high level in daily life. Further student and teacher reports
were seen to support this finding. They were reported to spend a lot of time and energy
investigating the given topic, interacting about it with their project partners, classmates,
teacher and elders, creating written and oral outputs, and presenting them to their classmates
as well as their international audience. The PBL process also made them feel that they were
able to effectively use English for investigation and communication purposes. Besides, as
this communication was not restricted to their monolingual rural environment but included
a wider audience consisting of international partners, they realistically experienced the use of
English in daily life with genuine interlocutors. In this study, in addition to the use of English
in daily life, the highly developed competencies thanks to PBL were reported to be the oral
presentation, introducing oneself in English and time management.
Apart from the competencies mentioned above, almost all the other competencies
concerning PBL were thought to be developed moderately. The only competency falling into
the least developed group concerned interaction with international partners and the item
displayed a mean at the highest borderline of its group (2.99), very close to the lowest mean
of the moderately developed competency group. Additionally, there were no competencies
reported to be non-developed. The fact that the competencies mostly revealed to be highly
and moderately developed and that the least developed competency level still remained very
close to the moderately developed category and that there were no non-developed

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competencies implies that project work has substantially influenced the development of the
students in terms of linguistic and non-linguistic competencies. That is, the students not only
developed with regard to reading, writing, listening and speaking in English, but they also
improved in the aspects of time management, autonomous decision-making, use of creativity
and computer skills. As emphasized by Stoller and Myers (2020), PBL not only improves
students’ language skills but also helps them gain mastery of life skills. This was seen in this
research as well as in Castañeda (2014), Fragoulis and Tsiplakies (2009), Pichailuck and
Luksaneeyanawin (2017), Saenz et al. (2018), and Santhi et al. (2019), reporting a variety of
improvements in linguistic and real-life-based competencies.
When the students’ productions were examined to answer the second research question
about the developmental aspects observed in PBL, it was seen that there was progress in
some linguistic and non-linguistic competencies. Firstly, the students were found to improve
their use of grammar and vocabulary as well as writing and oral presentation skills. They were
also seen to have used English more confidently and fluently in their oral presentations.
Apart from the improvement of linguistic skills, there was also evidence that the learners’
computer skills and creativity were boosted in the process of PBL. They were encouraged to
investigate the topics through various sources and present their products in a way that
attracted their classmates’ attention. Thus, throughout the duration of the study, the students
made use of different technological tools and added variety to their visual products and oral
presentations.
In addition to the development in competencies, the advantages and challenges of PBL and
the ways suggested to deal with the challenges were investigated. The advantages pointed out
by the students include intense improvement in oral presentation skills, regularly held
internet-based investigation about the topics and relevant reading and listening tasks and
interactions, relatedness of the topics to the units of the coursebook and students’ lives as
well as international interactions with the partner class as a part of the eTwinning project.
The teacher also emphasized the students’ intense and multivariate exposure to English and
their noteworthy progress in the use of English and content-based knowledge. According to
the teacher, prior to PBL, she witnessed that her students felt both physically and
psychologically distant to L2 learning opportunities and thought that they were limited and
insufficient in the use of English. Yet after PBL, her students got closer to English and
improved in various ways and had notable academic achievements in the centralized English
exams.
The findings of this study are in compliance with Castañeda (2014), Fragoulis and Tsiplakies
(2009), Pichailuck and Luksaneeyanawin (2017), Saenz et al. (2018), and Santhi et al. (2019)
in that PBL was found to offer several pedagogical benefits to the students learning English
in rural settings. As in those studies conducted in rural contexts, PBL was reported to
improve not only students’ linguistic skills but also content knowledge. It has paved the way
for students’ participatory, collaborative, communicative, and autonomous learning. It has
increased participation, motivation and self-confidence among learners and aided them to
raise awareness of English as a communicative tool rather than a subject matter in the
curriculum without any context. Likewise, PBL in this study has also provided the learners
with an opportunity to express their feelings and ideas and suggest solutions for local and
international problems in meaningful ways. Moreover, through PBL as well as the continuous
efforts of the teacher, the class had remarkable success in the centralized English exams as
in Pichailuck and Luksaneeyanawin (2017).

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The project process was also said to pose some challenges. Heavy workload was stated to be
the most emphasized challenge due to the high number and intense content of projects
involving an effortful process of investigation, writing and oral presentation. On the other
hand, the participants overall thought PBL had been a very useful and productive means to
improve English and the advantages of PBL outweighed the drawbacks, thus, they suggested
with hard work and high motivation and with the teacher’s and classmates’ supports, projects
can be managed in the best way. Compared to the findings related to the challenges of PBL
in ELT in rural contexts, this study presents novel results. Fragoulis and Tsiplakies (2009)
state implementation of PBL in rural schools posed problems related to the students’
unfamiliarity with group work, long duration of project work and the shift in the role of the
teacher from being a knowledge provider to a facilitator. Santhi et al. (2019) also mention
that in applying PBL in rural English lessons, the students had problems in adapting to the
technology. In the current study, the participants did not have such problems, but overall,
they thought that the project work was not only an arduous but also a beneficial process with
multifarious tasks targeting at students’ improvement in several areas.
The study is also unique in the way that it has integrated international interaction and
collaboration into PBL with an eTwinning partnership. Moreover, the projects in this study
were designed in such a way that they complemented the syllabus already covered in the
English lessons by focusing on the same themes of the units from multiple perspectives.
Technology-wise, the study also presents a different case because, in rural schools in both
local and international contexts, lack of technology is often reported to be a common
problem (Aksoy, 2008; Carrillo, 2019; Çiftçi & Cin, 2017; Çakıroğlu & Çakıroğlu, 2003; Faisal
& Ali, 2021; Izquierdo et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2020; Kızılaslan, 2012; Prabowo & Akmal,
2019; Putri, 2021; Saiful & Triyono, 2018; Şahin, 2021). However, this rural school setting
was technologically well-equipped and the teacher made use of this opportunity by having
her students utilize this technology to improve their English via PBL through activities
including internet-based research and oral presentation. Besides, even if the students did not
have computers and internet connection at their homes, the teacher did not see this as a
problem and took advantage of the technology supplied by the school and had her students
prepare their projects in the school setting. Taneri and Engin-Demir (2011) mention that
education at rural schools does not often provide students with the necessary skills. Yet, in
this study, it was concluded that PBL, with its intense content, had a remarkable influence
on the development of students’ linguistic skills particularly speaking, as well as real-life
oriented skills such as autonomous learning, time management, and analytical and creative
thinking. Also, the students had global interactions with their Italian project partners, became
aware of their own use of English as well as the importance of ELF, and witnessed a genuine
English variety from Europe via real-life communications. Thus, they personally experienced
the benefits of the approach of ELF-aware pedagogy (Kemaloglu-Er & Bayyurt, 2019).
The study indicates that it is beneficial to integrate PBL into rural English language education
and improve students’ English via multivariate opportunities such as internet-based research,
analytical and creative thinking, oral presentations and international collaborations
conducted in online settings. Teachers in rural settings are often highly respected in their
contexts and with their devoted efforts and continuous support, it is possible to supply
students with a wide range of opportunities to make them competent in English and broaden
their horizons with intense content knowledge and online interactions. As stated by Holguín
and Morales (2016), English courses may be conceived by rural students as a
decontextualized subject matter not relevant to their lives owing to their familial status often
identified with a low level of education and income. In their mindsets, English may be

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perceived as one of the subjects to pass in the curriculum to get to the upper grade and as
most of them may not have a chance to practice it communicatively, they may not be aware
of the significance of English as a global language. This makes it necessary to raise their
awareness of the importance of English as a global means of communication and increase
their motivation and interest in learning this foreign language. In this study, PBL has been
used as a vehicle to serve these purposes and thanks to the intense projects carried out by
the students, their interest in English was found to increase and through continuous
collaboration with their teacher, they were seen to overcome the feeling of being distant to
English and develop in several competences.
The study also shows that applying PBL is possible in the current English curricula of state
schools in Turkey, and it is even more doable in rural settings with the teacher’s authority
and power in the nature of rural settings provided that teachers are willing to spend extra
time and energy for their students’ progress. The utilization of PBL is also recommended in
the English course books used at state schools, but the suggested projects may not be
implemented by English teachers in action since they are not compulsory. Some other
reasons for not doing project work might be concerns for extra work and/or limited course
time. This study shows that all these barriers can be overcome through high levels of teacher
and student motivation and hard work, and well-organized planning.
Another implication is that ELT at rural schools should be given by teachers with a
professional licence. Before the teacher was appointed, the English classes either remained
teacherless or were conducted by temporary teachers who did not have any professional
license and/or experience. There were no attempts to teach English communicatively then
since the lessons were often governed with mechanical exercises and misguided practices.
However, after the teacher in the research setting who had recently graduated from an ELT
department at a reputable state university in Istanbul was appointed, there was a remarkable
shift in the lessons and the English lessons became productive and PBL-oriented. This shows
us the significance of appointing teachers with relevant educational and professional
backgrounds to particularly rural settings so as to accomplish effective outcomes. Also, ELT
at rural schools should be a part of pre-service and in-service language teacher education
programs and teachers should be provided with relevant knowledge and experience and both
scholars working on this topic and practitioners with pertinent experience should share their
knowledge and practices in such programs.
As a result, in this study which has taken place in a rural education setting, PBL has proved
to be an effective way to improve students’ English and develop their linguistic and non-
linguistic skills. The teacher as the only authority figure with regard to English, was seen to
have devoted a great deal of time and energy to PBL to make it as multifaceted and
productive as possible. The students who were respectful to their teacher were seen to have
developed their English. This happened despite the seemingly limited conditions of their
rural environment such as lack of internet in their residences, lack of international travel
opportunities, lack of parental support, and lack of urban experience. By using the internet
and eTwinning partnership opportunities and with constant care and support, the teacher
was able to create a PBL-based atmosphere and improve her students’ English and increase
their confidence in using English. She also managed to equip her students with several real-
life-related competencies such as time management, use of creativity, autonomous decision-
making, use of computers, conducting an investigation, and making an oral presentation.

Project-Based Learning in English Language Teaching at a Rural School: A Case Study from Turkey
Kemaloglu-Er & Sahin
53
Future studies may focus on PBL application at rural schools in wider contexts with larger
populations and/or compare PBL in rural and urban settings. In this research context, PBL
has been successfully implemented via the teacher’s and students’ strenuous efforts and made
remarkable contributions to the students’ educational development. This study has intensely
described this practice to present a sample for ELT practitioners at other rural schools as
well as scholars, policymakers, material writers, administrators, teacher trainers, and all the
other stakeholders concerned with the field of rural education and /or PBL. It is a fact that
only with the collaborative efforts of stakeholders can PBL become a common pedagogical
means in ELT in rural educational settings and impactfully influence students’ L2
development, make them discover their strengths, and open them the windows of different
worlds.
Note on Ethical Issues
The authors confirm that the study does not need ethics committee approval according to
the research integrity rules in their country (Date of Confirmation: 30/03/2022).
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