1 Introduction

Project based learning (PBL) is widely used in college English teaching, emphasizing student subjectivity and group cooperation to enhance learning motivation and academic achievement. Academic English (EAP) aims to cultivate students' academic English skills and research abilities, and is a part of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The "Guidelines for College English Teaching" have been incorporated into the ESP curriculum, and improving the effectiveness of academic English teaching has become a research focus. Learning engagement is an important indicator for evaluating learning outcomes, and the PBL model is highly regarded in academic English teaching, but lacks empirical research.

2 Literature Review

The theory of language socialization emphasizes that through language practice and social interaction, beginners acquire communication skills, membership, and legitimacy in the community. This theory holds that language learning is a socialized process that focuses on the perspectives of members of the practical community on learning, emphasizing the development of language, cultural, and communicative abilities in the interaction between beginners and experts. Domestic research started relatively late and empirical research is insufficient. PBL is a project-based, student-centered teaching method guided by constructivist learning theory, completed through group collaboration with teachers providing support. PBL can stimulate students' higher-order thinking and has been widely used, but there is not much research on the impact of classroom identity on students' language learning in cooperative learning. Learning engagement is the effort that students put in within a community, influenced by interpersonal relationships, learning activities, and the environment, and is a multidimensional concept. Studies usually use scales for measurement, but it is difficult to examine influencing factors, so qualitative research methods are also used for learning engagement research. At present, there is relatively little research on student engagement in academic English courses using PBL, and there is a lack of analysis on the learning engagement of students with different identities. Moreover, a single questionnaire is often used, making it difficult to explore the influencing factors. This study intends to use a mixed research method to explore student engagement under the PBL model, examining the differences in learning engagement among students with different classroom identities and their influencing factors.

3 Research Design

This chapter elaborates on the design of a study on students' learning engagement in project-based teaching of academic English. The research aims to answer three core questions: student learning engagement under PBL mode, differences in learning engagement among students with different classroom identities, and factors affecting learning engagement. The research subjects are 48 first-year non English major undergraduate students from a university in Guangdong. They participated in a 12 week "Academic English" course, which used PBL mode for the listening and speaking parts. The course content covers topics such as shared bicycles and online live streaming, requiring students to conduct empirical research and conduct group oral presentations. The research tools include a learning engagement questionnaire adapted from the Wang Yashuang scale and interviews with team leaders and members. The questionnaire covers three dimensions: behavior, cognition, and emotion, using the Likert 5-point scale with a total of 21 questions. 42 valid questionnaires were collected, and reliability analysis showed that the overall reliability was acceptable. The interview data was processed using qualitative analysis methods. The study did not conduct construct validity validation, but the content validity was deemed effective by expert evaluation.

4 Research Results

Students exhibit high learning engagement in project-based learning (PBL), especially in terms of behavioral engagement, with the cooperative learning sub dimension being particularly prominent. However, the low investment in the sub dimension of teacher-student interaction indicates insufficient communication between students and teachers. Cognitive engagement is at a moderate level, indicating that students are able to use strategies for self-directed learning. Emotional investment is relatively low, and although students have a high interest in the course, there is a certain level of anxiety. Compared with team members, team leaders have significantly higher emotional and total investment, possibly due to their stronger interest in learning and sense of responsibility. The PBL model improves students' self-learning ability and initiative through group collaboration, independent project selection, and formative assessment. Students invest more in group cooperation, but there is less interaction between teachers and students, which may be influenced by academic difficulty and culture. Cognitive strategies are mainly used after class, and emotional investment increases with the progress of the course. The interest of textbooks has a positive impact on students' interests. The difference between team leaders and members may stem from the stronger learning interest of team leaders, more project organization responsibilities, and a dual responsibility towards teachers.

5 Discussions

Research has found that in academic English listening and speaking classrooms, students' overall learning engagement is higher under the PBL model, mainly due to project driven interest, team task enhanced cooperative learning, and formative assessment methods promoting the learning process. The project selection is based on students' interests, which promotes the formation of study groups and research development, and enhances learning interests and teamwork abilities. The evaluation method of PBL systematically examines the learning process, ensuring fairness in evaluation and enhancing learning motivation. From the perspective of language socialization, the group in the PBL model is a "practice community", and social interaction among members is the key to cultivating language communication skills. Students have the highest behavioral investment and the lowest emotional investment in PBL mode, and there are differences in investment in each sub dimension. There is a lot of investment in cooperative learning, but there is insufficient interaction between teachers and students, which may be influenced by traditional Confucian culture. To maintain learning interest, it is necessary to promote curriculum development, utilize online resources, and increase teacher-student interaction. The degree of internalization and learning interest of students increase with the progress of the project, actively participating in PBL projects, and constructing academic English knowledge through communication and interaction. The emotional investment of the team leader is higher than that of the team members, and learning interest is the main motivation. The team leader has a higher degree of identification in the group, a stronger sense of belonging to the group, and actively constructs social and cultural knowledge. There is a significant difference in total learning engagement between team leaders and members, possibly due to the stronger learning interest of team leaders, who have more opportunities to apply knowledge and skills, develop learning strategies, and receive emotional support. Different social and cultural factors affect students' language learning and use, and group identity can also affect learning engagement. Future research could investigate the impact of social and cultural factors within a group on learning engagement.

6 Conclusion

Students have a higher level of learning engagement in the academic English PBL mode, which is influenced by task characteristics and classroom identity. There are differences in emotional and learning engagement between team leaders and members, but the effect is weak. Suggest expanding the sample size, exploring social and cultural factors in depth, or using ethnographic research for cross validation.