Here - EnglishAgenda - British Council

16A military blendClaire WhittakerIntroductionThis case study will describe a blend used to provide English language training tomilitary personnel in the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH). It willconsider what the blend is comprised of, the materials and software used, howthe modes complement each other, the timetable arrangement, designing for asuite of courses (elementary to upper-intermediate), and the teaching and learningmethodology. It will also highlight the rationale for the decisions that were taken inrelation to the design of the blend, detail the main lesson learned during the designprocess and offer advice to would-be blended learning course designers. Lastly, itwill critically reflect on the blend and suggest areas in which it could be enhanced.Course overviewThe English courses described in this study were developed and managed by theBritish Council’s Military English Support Project (MESP) that formed part of the widerPeacekeeping English Project. The courses provided English language training tomilitary personnel (mainly officers) in the AFBiH primarily to enable them to partakein peace support operations. I was the Training and Systems Manager on the Projectand responsible for overseeing the evolution of the blend over a three-year period.The courses ranged in level from elementary to upper-intermediate and were taughtin 13 centres across the country to accommodate the geographical spread of theAFBiH personnel. The low-level courses (elementary and pre-intermediate) weretaught by unqualified officer instructors, who received extensive pre-service andin-service training from MESP, and the higher level courses (intermediate and upperintermediate)by qualified English language teachers employed by MESP. I am unsurewhat the rationale for this split was as it was in place when I took up my post, but Iassume it was to do with the differing levels of linguistic competence and pedagogicability between the officer instructors and teachers. All the courses were intensive,23 hours per week, and ran for 12 weeks, totalling 276 hours per level. The numberof learners on each course ranged from 12 to 16, with an annual turnover of 600learners per annum.Why the blend was introducedA version of the blend was in place when I took up post and it is my understandingthat this approach was primarily adopted to support the unqualified officerinstructors with their teaching. The reason for employing a blended approach asopposed to a purely computer-led course is unknown to me, although I wouldA military blend | 175