Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation

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Preface Claire Whittaker When I took up the post of Training and Systems Manager with the British Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003, little did I know that it would result in the proposal for this publication, or better still that the proposal would be accepted. The rest, as they say, is history. Prior to this post my experience of using computers in English Language Teaching (ELT) had been somewhat limited. I had first used them as a teacher in 1997 when I had access to a computer room with an internet connection and a limited number of CD-ROMs. I used them for extension activities to complement my face-to-face sessions by providing the students with additional controlled practice of the grammar or vocabulary that had just been presented. This experience piqued my interest in using computers for language teaching and learning and so I read articles and books on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in an attempt to find practical suggestions for their successful integration and usage. I also attended courses on information and communications technology (ICT) in ELT, as it was then referred to, in my quest for knowledge. This interest and limited amount of experience and knowledge did not, however, adequately prepare me for my role as Training and Systems Manager in which I ‘inherited’ a blended learning course that was being used to teach English to military personnel in the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also the first time that I had heard the term ‘blended learning’ and I have to say, initially, I was sceptical about its longevity; how wrong I was. One of my first tasks in the role was to carry out a study into delivery of the English language in the 13 geographically spread language centres, to become familiar with their working practices. This highlighted the numerous significant inconsistencies in the language delivery between them, for example the length of courses, the timetables and syllabi. I felt that we needed to standardise the language delivery, not only to be able to manage the system more effectively, but also to provide each student with comparable learning opportunities. At this stage I was unconcerned by the fact that these courses employed a blended learning approach rather than a traditional face-to-face approach. Nor did I realise what it entailed or appreciate its potential. My outlook was soon to change though, once I began to understand the complexities of designing, or in my case redesigning, a blended learning course. Only once the course content and length had been standardised did I begin to question the blend itself and to consider the design, not only at lesson level but also at course level, for the first time. Unwittingly this resulted in what was to become a three-year iterative redesign process. Throughout this time I continued to read articles and books on what was now largely being termed blended learning, but was frustrated by the lack of advice on the principles and practicalities of blended learning course design (above lesson level) and descriptions or studies of blends in ELT contexts. Preface | 7
To address this deficit I proposed this publication so that ELT practitioners could formally share descriptions of their blends from a range of ELT courses (English for Academic Purposes, English for Specific Purposes, teacher training, and general English) and contexts, which most likely had been designed in relative isolation. It is hoped that these blends can be replicated or adapted by other practitioners to suit their particular teaching and learning contexts. In addition, the guiding principles and practical considerations that shaped the blends will hopefully help practitioners achieve a principled approach to blended learning course design in their contexts. 8 | Preface
Page 1 and 2: Blended Learning in English Languag
Page 3 and 4: ISBN 978-0-86355-706-4 © British C
Page 5 and 6: Part 3 - English for Specific Purpo
Page 7: Acknowledgements We would like to t
Page 11 and 12: Introduction This introductory chap
Page 13 and 14: an almost identical definition in h
Page 15 and 16: ■■ Learners’ expectations - l
Page 17 and 18: To achieve a ‘principled approach
Page 19 and 20: its weakness in speaking.’ Contra
Page 21 and 22: References Adair-Hauck, B Willingha
Page 23 and 24: Rossett, A, Douglis, F and Frazee,
Page 25 and 26: 1 A collaborative online reading an
Page 27 and 28: engaging approach to teaching, wher
Page 29 and 30: page evaluation strategies, and col
Page 31 and 32: Conclusion Students received course
Page 33 and 34: 2 Blended learning in English for A
Page 35 and 36: All in the blend Reports on the app
Page 37 and 38: level of agreement or disagreement
Page 39 and 40: Hyland, K and Hyland, F (1992) Go f
Page 41 and 42: Why blend? The decision to offer th
Page 43 and 44: to complete during the before, whil
Page 45 and 46: In addition, there are a number of
Page 47 and 48: Turgut, Y (2009) ‘EFL learners’
Page 49 and 50: ■■ English for Academic Purpose
Page 51 and 52: Figure 1: Stages of the incorporati
Page 53 and 54: Table 3: Schedule for Unit 1 Week U
Page 55 and 56: Internet - links and WebQuests: Som
Page 57 and 58: 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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2. ‘Technology is only important
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14 A longitudinal case study of the
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In the next version (v3) of the cou
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of a blend in Collis and Moonen’s
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of telecoms engineers, but it was w
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15 Using a wiki to enhance the lear
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The ‘history feature’ which can
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Figure 4: Student created listening
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Teaching methodology The blended de
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Figure 8: Student reaction to probl
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Lund, A (2008) Wikis: a collective
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hazard a guess that it was over con
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the management of the centres would
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There was a steady increase in the
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3. User experience - feedback on th
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17 A thinking-based blended learnin
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In each of the above parts, the lea
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Figure 1: Cycle of working with gra
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Model by JP, Form 10 Structure Mode
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Recommendation 2 Ensure that the on
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Sokol, A (2008) Development of Inve
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Moreover, as a result of increased
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In general, the students remarked t
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19 Students’ CALLing: Blended lan
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The students were taken to the comp
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When considering blended learning,
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Introducing Macmillan English Campu
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In both scenarios, the ratio of con
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attending scenario 1 courses. The o
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Conclusion Claire Whittaker
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Table 1: Neumeier’s (2005) framew
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Reasons given in the literature for
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Software Author and Chapter New Lea
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Keedwell’s (Chapter 13) blend on
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Table 7: Learning theories, languag
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What will the interactional pattern
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Whittaker (Chapter 16) believed tha
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Summary This chapter draws on the l
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Appendix 1 - Questions for blended
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Contributors Peter Aborisade lectur
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Jody Gilbert taught in post-seconda
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Juanita Pardo-González (BA Hons in
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The British Council is pleased to o
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