چكيده
The aim of this study was to conduct an investigation of the effect of project-based learning (PBL) on reading motivation and reading anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. Undoubtedly, finding new methods and approaches to enhance reading motivation and diminish reading anxiety is one of the most important demands in the field of language teaching. In so doing, 90 intermediate learners were selected randomly out of 270 students – studying at Mahd Sokhan language institute as the population of this study – in order to take the NELSON proficiency test and 60 learners whose scores fell between one standard deviation below and above the mean score were selected as the main participants of the study. The selected participants were divided into an experimental group and a control group. Then, a foreign language reading anxiety scale (FLRAS), developed by Saito, Horwitz, and Garza (1999) was given to participants to measure the students' reading anxiety. Also motivation for reading questionnaire (MRQ), developed by Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) was given to students in order to evaluate their reading motivation. After eight sessions of treatment (with project-based learning) for experimental group and teaching (without project-based learning) for control group, the same questionnaires that were implemented as pre-tests were given to all the selected participants as post-tests in order to check the progress of participants in two groups of the study. The results clarified that project-based learning (PBL) had significant effect on reading motivation and reading anxiety of Iranian EFL intermediate learners. In fact students' reading motivation increased and their reading anxiety decreased. The findings of this study can be beneficial for various groups and organizations such as: language teaching institutes, schools, EFL students and teachers, universities and material designers and developers.
