A Case Study of Project-based English Learning Experience in a Simulated Business Context

Abstract

Simulation technique could be effective if it is cleverly manipulated and incorporated in a project-based learning context. This current study aims to explore students’ learning experience in a project-based simulated business context. The participants were 51 second and third year students who took Business English as an elective course at a private university in central Taiwan. In the project, the participants modeled an episode in a reality TV show, The Apprentice, and tried to plan their projects of selling beverages to the students on campus using English. The students were engaged in the whole process from initial project planning to the final oral report of presenting their selling strategies. The results from the participants’ questionnaire responses and interview data revealed that they felt the course was more motivating, interactive and practical than traditional business course. It is also suggested that this simulated business project provide students with opportunities for social interaction and a psychologically safe team environment to work collaboratively, which both contributed the development in synergistic knowledge.

The Impact of English Language on Business Communication in Asia: A Scoping Review

“…In 2018, one article (Clement & Murugavel, 2018) examined English language use among corporate employees. In addition, three articles were found from 2019 (Huang & Huang, 2019;Xie & Chen, 2019;Krishna, 2019) and 2020 (Xu, 2020;Nawaz et al, 2020;Thavabalan et al, 2020), respectively from the five databases. One relevant article (Suningsih et al, 2021) published in 2021 was identified, while two articles (Xie, 2022;Sukkrong et al, 2022) were found in 2022 respectively that examined English language in business communication.…”

“…As for the distribution by country, the highest number of studies were conducted in China with four (n=4) (Xie & Chen, 2019;Xu, 2020;Nawaz et al, 2020;Xie, 2022) and India with three (n=3) (Clement & Murugave, 2018;Krishna, 2019;Thavabalan et al, 2020), respectively. Meanwhile, three countries, namely Taiwan (Huang & Huang., 2019), Indonesia (Suningsih et al, 2021), and Thailand (Sukkrong et al, 2022) were recorded with one study each, as shown in Figure 4.…”

“…From the accumulated 10 studies, six (n=6) studies (Clement & Murugave, 2018;Krishna, 2019;Xie & Chen, 2019;Thavabalan et al, 2020;Nawaz et al, 2020;Suningsih et al, 2021) were quantitative research, followed by two (n=2) (Huang & Huang., 2019;Xu, 2020) studies which employed a qualitative research design. Meanwhile, only one (n=1) study (Sukkrong et 2022) used quasi-experimental research method and only one (n=1) study (Xie, 2022) utilised a mixed-method research design.…”

Project-Based Learning Implementation in a Participative Planning Course: Strategies, Outcomes, and Challenges

“…PBL interventions have been found to improve science achievement in high school chemistry and physics (Krajcik & Shin, 2022). Additionally, PBL has been shown to enhance students' social interaction skills in business English (Huang & Huang, 2019). Students participating in PBL have reported feeling happier, more motivated, and more creative (Ad'hiya et al, 2023).…”

“…It has also been found to enhance students' learning outcomes in various subjects, including mathematics, engineering mechanics, and biology (Ashfahani et al, 2020;Hikmawati & Suryaningsih, 2020;Pohan & Rambe, 2022). Additionally, PBL has been shown to increase students' interest and engagement in learning, as well as their social interaction skills (Huang & Huang, 2019;Krajcik & Shin, 2022).…”