Testing and analysis of the effectiveness of the project-based learning (PBL) method in teaching English to students of construction specialties

Abstract

Introduction  . Nowadays, traditional foreign language teaching methods at technical universities often fail to ensure the required level of student engagement, do not develop skills for solving applied industrial problems, and do not provide the necessary level of immersion in the profession. The goal of the research  is to substantiate theoretically and test experimentally the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in teaching professional English to construction students in the context of the digital transformation of education. The materials and methods.  The following methods have been used in the research: analysis of theoretical and methodological literature, systematization, and modeling; and empirical methods: pedagogical experiment, testing, observation, and analysis of results. The results  . During the PBL pilot, original futurological project themes were used in teaching English to construction students. A ready-made methodological case and descriptors for defending engineering solutions in English were developed. Data analysis revealed an 85% increase in professional thesaurus knowledge and a 140% increase in public speaking skills. Grammatical progress (+40%) was lower than lexical progress, confirming the communicative focus of the method. Key barriers were identified and classified: technical and psychological. It was proven that the project-based method bridges the gap between language theory and engineering practice, increasing students’ overall motivation by 2.3 times. Discussion and Conclusion  . The results of the pilot study indicate that the project-based method bridges the gap between language theory and engineering practice, develops critical thinking and students’ ability to justify their choice of materials in English.