Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation

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experimental class outperformed the control class (F(2, 116) = 4.002, p= .021). This, of course, could be attributable to the power of the online materials but it could also be a consequence of the extra learning time this class were given, their extra exposure to English or of a match between the tasks in the tests and those in the online materials. The results of the student questionnaire revealed that nearly all of the students considered that MEC helped them improve their English. However, most of them did not want to have an online component in their conventional learning. The analysis of the interviews revealed that the compulsory use of the online materials, the design of the programme and lack of print materials were important reasons for students’ discontent. Blending face-to-face teaching with an online programme as supplementary can be used to improve the achievement of students studying English as a Foreign Language (Al-Jarf, 2004; Al-Jarf, 2005; Bañados, 2006; Pazio, 2010). Teachers can assign complementary resources to students to improve their learning and engage them with English outside the class. Incorporating online tools such as an online LMS and authentic materials like articles and podcasts in class can foster student learning. However, the interview results indicated that students valued print materials over purely online resources in their learning, which suggested that students might prefer to have paper materials over purely online ones when studying. It seems that as we mostly assume that students of our time are technology oriented, we might mistakenly take it for granted that they will appreciate online materials readily. Stracke (2007) suggests that there is a need to carefully plan a blended course, providing students with comprehensive teacher and document guidance. Therefore, when we are designing a blended course, we should fine-tune the balance between the online materials and paper-based materials. If students use an online programme for the first time, it will take some time for them to get used to it. The way students are used to studying should be taken into consideration. In a report on the Hybrid Course Project at the University of Wisconsin, Aycock, Garnham, and Kaleta (2002) indicate that ‘students don’t grasp the blend readily’. They also indicate that many of the students don’t perceive time spent in lectures as ‘work’, but they see time spent online as ‘work’, even if it is time they would have spent in class in a traditional course. In this study, the compulsory use of the online programme was one of the reasons for student discontent. It seems that although students today are very technology oriented in their daily lives, they may not be as eager in their learning. This study offers some insights into blended language learning by showing a group of Turkish university upper-intermediate level EFL students’ engagement in a particular online commercial LMS as part of their courses. The results indicate that teaching English blending face-to-face teaching with an online LMS can be beneficial over solely in-class teaching, by providing an extensive range of authentic materials as well as a more learner-centred medium of instruction, which can complement classroom-based activities. 210 | Students’ CALLing
When considering blended learning, there is, of course, no single perfect blend because it is grounded on the notion of flexibility. Allan (2007) maintains that there is no prescription for designing effective blended learning programmes. However, the planning and design of effective blended learning practices can be challenging and demanding. To what extent to use technology and when to integrate are important questions in BLL. The most important aim in designing a BLL course is to find the most effective and efficient combination of the two modes of learning for the individual learning subjects, contexts and objectives (Neumeier, 2005). References Al-Jarf, RS (2004) The effects of web-based learning on struggling EFL college writers. Foreign Language Annals 37/1: 46–56. Al-Jarf, RS (2005) The effects of online grammar instruction on low proficiency EFL college students’ achievement. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly 7/4: 166–190. Allan, B (2007) Blended Learning: Tools for Teaching and Training. London: Facet Publishing. Aycock, A, Garnham, C and Kaleta, R (2002) Lessons learned from the hybrid course project. Teaching with Technology Today 8/6. Available online at www.uwsa.edu/ttt/ articles/garnham2.htm Bañados, E (2006) A blended-learning pedagogical model for teaching and learning EFL successfully through an online interactive multimedia environment. CALICO Journal 23/3: 533–550. Neumeier, P (2005) A closer look at blended learning: parameters for designing a blended learning environment for language teaching and learning. ReCALL 17/2: 163–178. Osguthorpe, RT and Graham, CR (2003) Blended learning environments, definitions and directions. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education 4/3: 227–233. Pazio, M (2010) Blended learning and its potential in expanding vocabulary knowledge: A case study. Teaching English with Technology 10/1: 3–30. Stracke, E (2007) A road to understanding: A qualitative study into why learners drop out of a blended language learning (BLL) environment. ReCALL 19/1: 57–78. Students’ CALLing | 211
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Blended Learning in English Languag
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ISBN 978-0-86355-706-4 © British C
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Part 3 - English for Specific Purpo
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Acknowledgements We would like to t
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To address this deficit I proposed
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Introduction This introductory chap
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an almost identical definition in h
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■■ Learners’ expectations - l
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To achieve a ‘principled approach
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its weakness in speaking.’ Contra
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References Adair-Hauck, B Willingha
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Rossett, A, Douglis, F and Frazee,
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1 A collaborative online reading an
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engaging approach to teaching, wher
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page evaluation strategies, and col
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Conclusion Students received course
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2 Blended learning in English for A
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All in the blend Reports on the app
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level of agreement or disagreement
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Hyland, K and Hyland, F (1992) Go f
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Why blend? The decision to offer th
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to complete during the before, whil
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In addition, there are a number of
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Turgut, Y (2009) ‘EFL learners’
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■■ English for Academic Purpose
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Figure 1: Stages of the incorporati
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Table 3: Schedule for Unit 1 Week U
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Internet - links and WebQuests: Som
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References Allan, M (1985) Teaching
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My advice to intending EAP course d
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5 A blended learning teacher develo
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The face-to-face element Because of
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ookmarking because social bookmarki
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and instructional design of the onl
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Encourage learner autonomy and refl
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packages, setting up online account
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Clearly there are advantages to hav
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Lessons learned When deciding what
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References Osguthorpe, RT and Graha
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The learner and the context Althoug
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typically involve writing or applyi
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where possible, to bring them toget
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8 Blended learning: The IDLTM exper
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learning and characteristics, and k
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There is a fourth activity type in
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their own style of learning. At the
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Garrison, D and Vaughan, ND (2007)
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variety of teaching contexts (e.g.
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Figure 3: The homepage in a Module
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Figure 5: The projects page carries
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adding things in response to feedba
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Appendix 1 Extract showing first th
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■■ Cambridge ESOL was reporting
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■■ Including later units on, fo
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The rationale behind the blend The
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Figure 2: An example screen from a
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environment and to meet the student
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■■ Fine-tuning of online course
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Comments on Part 2 Brian Tomlinson
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Learning a new language and reflect
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11 Blended learning: Podcasts for t
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to the content (see below). Additio
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Making recommendations My friend An
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Sustainability Blended learning oft
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Kukulska-Hulme, A and Shield, A (20
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The face-to-face aspect of the cour
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The course covers listening, speaki
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latest, most secure and flexible pr
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not so much for language improvemen
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the reader/listener as customer) an
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Page 143 and 144: 14 A longitudinal case study of the
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Page 157 and 158: Teaching methodology The blended de
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Page 161 and 162: Lund, A (2008) Wikis: a collective
Page 163 and 164: hazard a guess that it was over con
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Page 171 and 172: Comments on Part 3 Brian Tomlinson
Page 173 and 174: 17 A thinking-based blended learnin
Page 175 and 176: In each of the above parts, the lea
Page 177 and 178: Figure 1: Cycle of working with gra
Page 179 and 180: Model by JP, Form 10 Structure Mode
Page 181 and 182: Recommendation 2 Ensure that the on
Page 183 and 184: Sokol, A (2008) Development of Inve
Page 185 and 186: Moreover, as a result of increased
Page 187 and 188: In general, the students remarked t
Page 189 and 190: 19 Students’ CALLing: Blended lan
Page 191: The students were taken to the comp
Page 195 and 196: Introducing Macmillan English Campu
Page 197 and 198: In both scenarios, the ratio of con
Page 199 and 200: attending scenario 1 courses. The o
Page 201 and 202: Comments on Part 4 Brian Tomlinson
Page 203 and 204: Conclusion Claire Whittaker
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Page 207 and 208: Reasons given in the literature for
Page 209 and 210: Software Author and Chapter New Lea
Page 211 and 212: Keedwell’s (Chapter 13) blend on
Page 213 and 214: Table 7: Learning theories, languag
Page 215 and 216: What will the interactional pattern
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Page 219 and 220: Summary This chapter draws on the l
Page 221 and 222: Appendix 1 - Questions for blended
Page 223 and 224: Contributors Peter Aborisade lectur
Page 225 and 226: Jody Gilbert taught in post-seconda
Page 227 and 228: Juanita Pardo-González (BA Hons in
Page 229: The British Council is pleased to o
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