Vol. 5 (2023)
Emerging Trends in Education

Articles

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING FOR 21ST-CENTURY SKILLS: THE FIVE C’S FOR L2 STUDENTS: Received: 04th May 2023; Revised: 21st August 2023, 06th September 2023; Accepted: 14th September 2023

Published 2023-11-06

  • Gulbahar H. Beckett

Gulbahar H. Beckett
Ph.D., Professor, Department of English, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA

Abstract

This article proposes a project-based approach for teaching the five C’s of the 21st-century skills – Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Competencies in digital literacy, to promote deeper learning, higher-order thinking, and language development contextually and functionally for second language students. It calls for language socialization theory and practice within the systemic functional linguistics paradigm and elaborates the rationale. Those proposals are illustrated with five C’s project ideas that benefit students and teachers. With those projects, students can develop their five C’s competencies by asking vital questions, gathering, assessing, and interpreting information, posing and solving problems, drawing conclusions, and proposing alternatives with justification while developing the associated language. Teachers can utilize the project ideas provided in this article with necessary modifications to their contextual needs and possibilities in their teaching of the five C’s and the associated language. They may also add components such as the assessment they needed to those project ideas. Depending on their needs and contextual possibilities, they may design, implement, and assess semester-long projects for competency development in all five C’s. The arguments and proposals included are applicable to all contexts. Researchers, teachers, and curriculum developers may utilize them for their needs with modifications as well.

Keywords

Project-Based Learning, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Digital Competencies, Second Language Students, Systemic Functional Linguistics

PDF

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