Abstract
The limited effect of Project-based Learning (PBL) as a realization of Communicative English Teaching (CLT) on EFL learners was investigated in a case study of an English course that was designed to help EFL develop learners speaking and writing abilities. The projects were based on designing an English language magazine. The researchers first described the English magazine projects and examined the effect of the projects on the students' learning using questionnaire surveys and observations of students' communication in the classroom. The study found that the English magazine projects were an enjoyable experience for the students, but they did not have a strong positive effect on their learning English, contrary to the findings of the previous literature. The reasons of the projects' failure were discussed in terms of issues of CLT in EFL: the priority of task over tool in the same L1 classroom and lack of natural contact with L2 speakers outside of the classroom. A solution using IT technology was suggested for the future research.

Keywords: Communicative English Teaching, Japanese English learners, project-based language learning (PBL)

I. Introduction
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which emphasizes interaction as opposed to grammar instruction, has been an influential approach in English education in Japan(Cross, 2005). Introduced to Japan in the 1990's in response to the poor performance of Japanese English learners, the curriculum guidelines for secondary English education defined the goals of English education as "to develop students' ability to understand and to express themselves in a foreign language, to foster students' positive attitude towards communication in a foreign language, and to heighten their interest in language and culture, thus deepening international understanding." (Wada, 1994). In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced an Action Plan to Cultivate "Japanese with English Abilities"(MEXT, 2003) . CLT is so dominant in language teaching that "no one is willing to assert that they do not belong to the family (Nunan, 2004).

Among various realizations of CLT1, project-based language learning (PBL) seems to have the potential to provide foreign language learners with essential conditions for language learning. PBL is a goal-oriented teaching method effective in enhancing student motivation. It can offer English learners exposure to authentic materials, opportunities to use the target language, and motivation to learn, which are all considered to be essential conditions for language learning (Willis, 1996) . Moss reported PBL helped ESL learners develop various skills because PBL creates situations where learners need to communicate to get the job done (Moss & Van Duzer, 1998).

However, there is a lack of evidence to support the positive effect of PBL in the field of foreign language education. There are only a few studies that dealt with the effect of PBL on EFL leaning. For example, Machida et al reported improvement of English abilities and increased exposure to English materials among Japanese English learners after an English video production project in a Japanese university (Machida (Torikai), Watanabe, & Shimazaki, 1991). Onoda also reported that an English news program production project enhanced students' listening ability and critical thinking (Onoda, 2000). Although these studies reported positive effects of PBL in the context of EFL, the subjects of their studies did not include low level students, nor considered characteristics of EFL that might minimize the above mentioned potential of PBL: less exposure to authentic materials due to the monolingual environment of EFL countries and temptation to use L1 to complete tasks in classroom where the students share the same L1.

The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to describe an English course that focused on English magazine production projects at a Japanese university in the Fall Semester of 2005. The second was to examine the effect of the magazine projects on the learning of low English level students.

II. Overview of the English Magazine Production Projects
a. Course
Two English magazine projects were undertaken in an English course called English IVB. English IVB is a compulsory course taught by five English teachers at the University of Shimane, a small-scale public university in Japan. There were 245 sophomores in 2005 and they were placed into 10 classes from A to J with three levels: low 20%, middle 60%, and high 20%, based upon their placement test scores at the beginning of Spring Semester in 2005. The students met twice a week for 45 minutes over a period of 15 weeks. The average number of the students in one class is approximately 24 to 25, and each teacher is in charge of approximately 49 students.

The goal of English IVB is loosely defined as developing students' speaking and writing abilities in English using authentic materials from mass media. Each teacher has freedom to select teaching methods and textbooks.

b. Participants
The participants of the classes where English magazine projects were carried out were the 44 sophomores placed in the lowest classes: E & J. There were initially 48 students in the two classes, but 44 students successfully registered in English IVB. There were 22 registered students in E and J classes, respectively. Their estimated TOEIC scores were between 200 to 350. Some of those students have little love of learning English and take English courses simply to earn credits to graduate. Table 1 is the students' demographics of this study.

b. Satisfaction with Class
This concept was measured by the students' answer to the statement of "I enjoyed the class," "I enjoyed working with my partner," and "I enjoyed using a computer." Approximately half the students were satisfied with the class. The dramatic increase of positive attitude toward working with their partner in Survey 2 was probably due to an extra lesson provided after Project 1. The teacher included an activity of exchanging commitment cards between the partners after she observed instances of some students unable to do their pair work due to their partner's frequent absences from class. Their attendance to class improved after the lesson and more students were able to engage in productive pair work.

c. Learning
This concept was measured by the answer to the statement of "I learned something" and "I learned English." Approximately 60% of the students answered they learned something in Survey 2. However, less than half of the students answered that they learned English (6.3%+37.5%). More than half of them are not sure if their English ability has increased or not.

d. English Use
This concept was measured by the answer to the statement of "I used English." 46.9% of the students (6.3%+40.6%) reported that they used English in Survey 2, showing increase of English use from 27.8% (2.8%+25%) of those in Survey 1. However, the students who did not use English also increased from 22.3% (16.7%+5.6%) in Survey 1 to 28.2% (18.8%+9.4%) in Survey 2.

V. Results of the observation of the students' communications
a. Classroom interaction
Contrary to the typical teacher-centered classroom, the interaction of students in this magazine project was active. The class experienced more interaction patterns than a typical English class for speaking and writing in Japan. There were instances of one-way interaction of T-S-T and S-S, and a spontaneous series of T-S-T-S and S-S-S-S interaction. T-S one-way interaction occurred at the beginning of each lesson, when the teacher explained the goal of a lesson, specific procedures of an activity, repetition of key expressions. Then the students interacted with each other most of the time. Also the students asked questions to the teacher more often than ordinary classes and the questions were real, not display questions.

During the series of the tasks, there were a few lessons where the students initiated a lot of questions to the teacher spontaneously. It is rare for Japanese students to initiate interaction in classroom except asking for test coverage or excusing themselves for going to bathroom. They were lessons in which the students used their PC's. They raised their hands asking the teacher how to use WORD, such as how to insert a section marker, how to change the margin, etc. The interaction of the students and the teacher was genuine. For example, a student needed to rotate a picture at 90 degrees to the right, but he did not know how to do it, or how to say "rotate" in English. He asked the teacher how to rotate an image in Japanese. The teacher said to him: "You can rotate it this way," when the teacher observed a flash in his eyes that indicated his understanding the word and the technique. Doing something using a PC definitely increased the number of spontaneous genuine utterances among the students.

b. English Use
The students' spontaneous utterances in English were rarely seen in the classroom. Despite the teacher's English directions, model conversations, and English handouts, they did not use English when they needed to use those examples. They repeated model conversations after the teacher, but they lapsed into Japanese even when they had opportunities to use the models. When they spontaneously asked questions, they did not use any of the models and spoke to the teacher in Japanese. Some students insisted the teacher to answer in Japanese, which she found hard to refuse, because they knew she knew Japanese.

In terms of writing, they first wrote sentences in Japanese and then translated them into English. The influence of the translation-method on Japanese English learners is deep-rooted. Since they were taught to translate English into Japanese in junior and senior high school English classes, they wrote Japanese translation in the handouts. They depended on English-Japanese dictionaries when they looked up words.
They also used Japanese to send their files on-line to the teacher, which the teacher found so disappointing because she showed how to send email to professors in English in the previous semester. Figure 9 is what most of the students wrote when they sent email to the teacher. Only two students wrote messages in English.

VI. Discussions
The limited effect of the projects on students' learning English is re`lated to the difficulty of using English in the EFL class that is composed of the same L1 with limited contact among natural English speakers. The difficulty stems from priority of task over tool in the homogeneous classroom as well as lack of natural contact to English speakers.

a. Priority of task over tool in the homogeneous classroom
Priority of task over tool in the homogeneous classroom CLT gives priority to the content of communication rather than the form, which leads to the view that language is a mere tool to achieve a task. Priority of achieving a task over language form is considered to encourage learners to use the target language without worrying about making mistakes, by having them focused on the content of communication. Therefore, in the goal-oriented projects, language becomes somewhat less important than the goal of communication.

However, priority of task over tool creates a serious problem in the classroom of English as a foreign language. When a class consists of homogeneous learners who share the same L1, the L2 becomes a very inefficient tool of communication. Speaking English is like using an old computer when a new one is available. Why use English when they can finish the job in their native language in a snap?

Japanese teachers of English fall into temptation to use L1 to Japanese English learners, too. Although it takes longer to explain English concepts in English, it is quick to translate it in L1. Take an example of explaining "government." A teacher may explain that it is a group of people who controls policies of a state. However, his or her learners must understand beforehand those words used in the teacher's explanation. Otherwise, the teacher must explain the words used for the definition to clarify the meaning of "government." Since a language is a closed system, the definition of a word is circular. If the concept the teacher is trying to explain is a key word or the target of the lesson, he or she may continue to elaborate it. If it is not crucial to achieve the goal of the lesson, he or she should stop dealing with the subject halfway. The teacher may be able to carry on explaining in English until her student understands it, but it is nearly impossible in a situation where there are many students waiting for her instructions.

The tendency to use L1 is especially apparent when the students' English level is low. Since both of them are not good at English and share the same L1, they lapse into using their L1 in their pair work to satisfy their communicative needs.
Thus, the view of language as a tool of communication by CLT is a dilemma in the homogeneous classroom whose participants share the same L1.

b. Lack of natural contact with English speakers outside of the classroom
Perhaps the most significant problem for the limited effect of the magazine projects on students' English use is the lack of natural contact with English speakers in EFL countries. The students went out of the classroom to find information, which is a method of PBL, but once they were out of the classroom they were bombarded with L1. Their friends, professors, library and administrative staff, almost all people in campus speak L1. In the community the medium of communication is L1 wherever they go.

Figure 10 compares the different layers of communication surrounding language learners. The turtle is the learner of EFL and the rabbit is the learner of ESL. The personal environment symbolizes the sphere of communication at home characterized with intra-personal and inter-personal communication. The local environment stands for the sphere of communication in the local community characterized with face-to-face communication with others, such as meeting friends on campus, going shopping, working part-time and going to the hospital.

The small circles written as "L2" are impressionistic representations of one's target language. In EFL countries, English (L2) use is most likely to occur in the personal and local spheres when learners do their homework at home and attend English class. The area of English use is limited and the boundary with the surroundings is definite. On the other hand, in ESL countries where English is spoken everywhere, the boundary of the English use is indefinite and ESL learners have natural contact to the target language.

The global environment is the sphere of communication beyond the local level such as mass-mediated communication. "L1" and "L2" are written in the respective global environment, but it is not limited to L1 or L2 only, because other languages are used in the global environment. Today it is possible for language learners to expose themselves to their target languages in the global environment using mass media and IT technology. Seeking exposure to the target language through mass media is an indication of a good language learner. However, not all students of foreign language are willing to take full advantage of their exposure to the target language unless they are forced to do it.

VII. Conclusion
Based on the results of the questionnaire surveys and observation of the students' classroom interaction and email samples, it can be concluded that the English magazine projects were positive in terms of their satisfaction, but the projects did not have a significant effect on English learning for low level students, due to their extensive dependency on their mother tongue to achieve the goals or tasks. The findings of this study shed light on the issues of PBL English teaching in EFL: priority of task over tool in the homogeneous EFL classroom and lack of natural contact to native English speakers outside of their classroom.

Considering characteristics of EFL minimizing the PBL English teaching, it is necessary to design a course that encourages EFL learners to use more English and to seek exposure to English. It is true that English teachers may penalize students who speak Japanese in class, or conduct English-only instruction and fail students who can not live up to the teacher's expectation. However, instead of being so tough, we believe it is possible to create a positive environment where English becomes a necessity if EFL teachers and learners in Asia cooperate with help of IT technology. The Internet can provide EFL learners in Asia with a community where learners can be engaged in real communication in English. English has already become the international language when Chinese, Koreans and Japanese people meet. We have started such a collaborative EFL teaching and learning using Moodle, a free open source course management system designed to help teachers create on-line courses. We would appreciate it if you could contact us at ma-eguchi@u-shimane.ac.jp and visit http://gsv.u-shimane.ac.jp/ma-eguchi/moodle/.

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