The making of adult learners through project-based learning

Different learning theories including action learning, experiential learning, and project-based learning have been used in adult learning, which usually takes place in community colleges. Since 2000, Hong Kong universities have established their own community college to provide a second chance for individuals to further studies in universities or gain work skills to facilitate their return to the society. Among all approaches, project-based learning is the most popular approach in English language learning in community colleges because the traditional teaching methods did not work well on passive and dependent Chinese students. This chapter discusses the features of project-based language learning and then examines the language students' perceptions towards project-based learning so as to better the program design. The findings show that students have developed reading, writing, and research skills through group projects, and the language teacher, feedback, and collaboration are vital to the success of project-based learning.