An EFL flipped learning course design: utilizing students’ mobile online devices

Abstract

This paper reports on a research project in a university English as Foreign Language (EFL) program in Japan which explored ways to sustain active participation in e-learning tasks. The tasks were intended to improve students' scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a test used by businesses to make hiring decisions. The research adopted a Flipped Learning (FL) approach to Blended Learning (BL). A web-based courseware, ATR CALL BRIX (http://www.atr-lt.jp/products/brix/index.html), which featured e-learning materials for the TOEIC Test, was used. The students used mobile devices to access the courseware before class in order to prepare for in-class teacher-student analysis of their performance on the learning tasks. The teaching methodology integrated the online and in-class tasks in a single learning environment by means of an e-mentoring system used in conjunction with an in-class student self-evaluation task. The findings of pre-and post-TOEIC testing showed a significant degree of TOEIC score improvement in the experimental group. Post-course evaluations revealed that the combination of e-mentoring and the in-class self-evaluation system had encouraged sustained engagement in outside-of-class learning activities.

The flipped classroom in second language learning: A meta-analysis

“…Chen Hsieh et al (2017) also had students draft ‘the final dialog collaboratively’ (p. 4) under the conventional learning condition. Hung (2015) and Ishikawa et al (2015) likewise had their non-flipped learning groups engage in classroom discussions about the content presented in class. While not all researchers intentionally used communicative activities for their comparison groups, the fact that communicative features were observed in both the flipped and non-flipped groups makes it unlikely that the results of the present meta-analysis are attributable simply to communicative activities.…”

“…Intermediate was anchored to B1 according to the CERF. As an illustration, Ishikawa et al (2015) was coded as ‘below intermediate’ as the reported TOEIC scores were within the A2 range of 250 to 550; Karimi and Hamzavi (2017) was coded as intermediate since reported Cambridge PET scores established a B1 level. The remaining studies were coded in the same manner where either empirical evidence or an argument anchoring the learners’ proficiency (e.g.…”

“…Oh, 2017), and standardized tests such as TOEIC (e.g. Ishikawa et al, 2015). These investigations were implemented on a range of age groups, from elementary (e.g.…”

Flipped Classroom Model With Young Learners’ Vocabulary Learning in Primary Elt Classrooms

“…Fewer studies have been conducted at the primary and secondary school levels (Unal & Unal, 2017;Yang, 2017). The researchers in EFL mostly explored the use of the FCM in general academic success in second language learning (Ishikawa et al, 2015;Unal & Unal, 2017;Yang, 2017), grammar teaching (Al-Harbi & Alshumaimeri, 2016;Zainuddin & Halili, 2015), pronunciation (Yang & Chen, 2020), and vocabulary (Kang, 2015) as well as four basic skills; reading (Huang & Hong, 2016), listening (Roth & Suppasetseree, 2016), writing (Farah, 2014;Leis, Tohei & Cooke, 2015), and speaking (Wu, Hsieh & Yang, 2017). Also, some studies investigated the FCM's effect on learner autonomy (Han, 2015), student engagement and satisfaction (Alsowat, 2016), confidence (Mehring, 2015), motivation (Chen Hsieh, Wu & Marek, 2016), attitudes and perceptions (Prefume, 2015) in EFL classrooms.…”

Evaluating a flipped intermediate Spanish course through students and instructor’s perceptions

“…Learners in flipped learning courses improved their language performance and communication skills (Lee & Wallace, 2017;Obari & Lambacher, 2015;Ishikawa et al, 2015), and increased linguistic and lexical understanding (Kang, 2015;Moranski & Kim, 2016;Leis, Cooke, & Tohei, 2015) when their pre-and post-test scores were measured and compared to non-flipped courses. Further, learners demonstrated high level of engagement during application of content concepts (Egbert, Herman, & Lee, 2015;Hung, 2015;Ishikawa et al, 2015), increased their motivation for completing language activities (Chen Hsieh, Wu, & Mark, 2016;Evseeva, & Solozhenko, 2015), had more flexible access to the content materials online (Ishikawa et al, 2015;Hernández Nanclares & Pérez Rodríguez, 2014), and acquired technological skills (Egbert et al, 2014). In particular, Moranski and Kim (2016) examined the impact of explicit grammar explanations of Spanish non-agentive se, given outside the classroom through video presentations, and guided practice, on a task-based class lesson.…”