Jeffrey Mehring

Adrian Leis Editors

Innovations
in Flipping
the Language
Classroom
Theories and Practices
Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom
Jeffrey Mehring Adrian Leis
•

Editors

Innovations in Flipping
the Language Classroom
Theories and Practices

123
Editors
Jeffrey Mehring Adrian Leis
Freelance Instructional Designer Miyagi University of Education
West Bend Sendai, Miyagi
USA Japan

ISBN 978-981-10-6967-3 ISBN 978-981-10-6968-0 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956308

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore
Contents

The Flipped Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Jeffrey Mehring
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies . . . . . . 11
Anna F. Brown
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping a Course for
ASEAN Teachers of English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Marie Yeo
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course . . . . . . 45
Martha Ramirez
Flipped Learning and Formative Assessment in an English Language
Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
John M. Graney
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time in Your EFL
Writing Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Carolina R. Buitrago and Juliana Díaz
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class for Student-Centered
Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Martha Ramirez
Flipping EFL Classes for Future Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Akihiko Andrew Tohei
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking Skills . . . . . . 113
Mark Feng Teng
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom . . . . . . . . 123
Mark deBoer

v
vi Contents

Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading Classroom: A Group

Leader Discussion Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
C. J. Brown
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce Cognitive Load: A New
Way of Organizing Your Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Daniela Wagner-Loera
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Khalid Fethi and Helaine W. Marshall
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses with Online
Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Yu Jung Han
Content-Based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom:
A Case Study in the Japanese EFL Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Adrian Leis
Contributors

Anna F. Brown currently works as an Instructional Designer at Northwestern

College in Chicago, USA.
C. J. Brown currently works as an Assistant Professor in the English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) and Basic Education (BE) Programs at Akita International
University, Japan.
Carolina R. Buitrago currently works as a Full-Time Professor and Researcher at
Institución Universtaria Colombo Americana–UNICA in Colombia.
Mark deBoer is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Birmingham and currently
works as a Lecturer at Akita International University, Japan.
Juliana Díaz currently works as a Mentor and Teacher–Researcher in the
Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures at La Sabana University, Colombia.
Khalid Fethi currently works as an English Language Instructor and Principal at
his own school: Oum El Koura Language Center, in Berkane, Morocco.
John M. Graney currently works as the ESL Coordinator and teaches at Santa Fe
College in Gainesville, Florida in the United States.
Yu Jung Han is currently a Ph.D. student in Teaching and Curriculum at the
University of Rochester, New York, USA.
Adrian Leis is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of English
Education, Miyagi University of Education, Japan.
Helaine W. Marshall is currently a Professor of Education and Director of
Language Education Programs at LIU Hudson, New York, USA.
Jeffrey Mehring is currently a Freelance Instructional Design Specialist training
teachers throughout the United States of America.
Martha Ramirez currently works as a Lecturer at the Universidad de Los Andes,
Colombia and is an Independent Academic Consultant.

vii
viii Contributors

Mark Feng Teng is currently studying for a Ph.D. at Hong Kong Baptist
University, Hong Kong.
Akihiko Andrew Tohei is currently a lecturer at Sakura no Seibo Junior College
and Fukushima University in Fukushima, Japan.
Daniela Wagner-Loera currently works as an Adjunct Professor at Hawai‘i
Pacific University and the University of Maryland University College, College
Park, USA.
Marie Yeo currently works as a Language Specialist at SEAMEO-RELC in
Singapore, where she trains educators from all over Asia.
The Flipped Classroom

Jeffrey Mehring

Abstract This chapter provides the reader with a few of the ideas and theories
behind the flipped classroom. It is aimed to lay the foundation for the chapters that
follow, giving the reader the necessary background information to understand how
each author designed his/her flipped classroom. The chapter explains why the
authors feel this book is necessary, the role it can play in English language learning,
and a brief explanation of each chapter.

Considering this book contains chapters focused on the flipped approach, the edi-
tors decided that one chapter explaining the theories and research behind flipped
learning would be better than each chapter repeating similar information. So in this
chapter, I lay out some of the main ideas behind the flipped classroom that the
authors have used to design and develop their flipped classrooms.
Before discussing the flipped classroom though, I want to stress that technology
is not required for flipping your class. People usually associate the flipped class-
room with videos, but it is possible to flip your class without videos and technol-
ogy. The affordances of technology have made it easier through the creation of
videos, discussion boards, and online quizzes, but the main focus of flipping should
be on creating a student-centered learning environment. One where lessons and
content are more accessible, students have more control over their learning, and
students have time to reflect upon and become more critical learners. Even though
the following chapters may refer to technologies used, the key focus is a peda-
gogical change and not a technological one. With that in mind, let us explore the
theories behind the flipped classroom.
The flipped classroom model flips the traditional instructional format of a
classroom-based course. Famously demonstrated by the Khan (2011) videos and
later developed by Bergmann and Sams (2012), the flipped classroom is the
common instructional approach where teacher-created materials featuring instruc-

J. Mehring (&)
Freelance Instructional Designer, West Bend, USA
e-mail: jmehring012@gmail.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 1

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_1
2 J. Mehring

tion of new concepts are viewed outside of scheduled class time, in turn freeing
teacher–student time for more collaborative efforts in class.
Activities that would normally take place outside the classroom, conventionally
known as homework, are restructured and rescheduled to take place during the
times that the class meets face to face (F2F). This significant switch impacts the
roles and responsibilities of instructors and students alike and holds the potential for
improving classroom-based learning experiences for both groups (Baker, 2000;
Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000). The flipped classroom means personalized, inter-
communication among the members of the learning environment; higher levels of
personal responsibility on the students’ part; a combination of instruction from the
teacher and constructivist learning; and students actively engaged in the learning
outcomes.
This flipped pedagogy views education as a two-step process: the transfer of new
information, and the student’s ability to make sense of and assimilate the infor-
mation (Lambert, 2012). In the traditional classroom, the first step usually takes
place during F2F class time with the second step being assigned as homework.
During the second step, the student is on his own to make sense of the new
information encountered during F2F class time and assimilate the new information.
Essentially, the F2F class time needs to be flipped; students’ first exposure to new
learning takes place outside and before the class, while during class students col-
laborate with classmates and the teacher, enabling the teacher to give immediate,
corrective feedback as the students assimilate the new information and develop their
own thoughts and ideas.
In an English as a foreign language classroom (EFL), this could lead to a more
communicative classroom. The flipped EFL classroom could be structured around
more intercommunication as the method of learning and eventual outcome of
language learning. The flipped classroom technique requires students to think
through an answer, taking time to develop their thoughts and ideas. Students of
well-designed flipped classes may develop greater ownership of their learning,
collaborative skills needed for a participatory culture, and more opportunities to
interact with the instructor and classmates using authentic language.
F2F class time involves not only changing in-class teaching methods but also
adjusting the students’ perception of how they are accustomed to learning and the
teacher’s role in the classroom. For instance, the purpose of an Academic Writing
class could be to develop the students’ abilities to express their ideas in cohesive,
clear reports and papers in an academic situation. The course prepares students to
use the steps of research writing to critically analyze and compose logical academic
papers. Before class, the students review the flipped materials focusing on some of
the major parts of a research paper such as, title, thesis, body, transition sentences,
conclusions, citations, and references. To confirm that students have reviewed the
materials, the instructor opens a discussion forum on the school’s learning man-
agement system, or provides students with online practice exercises that require
them to label various parts of a research paper, which the instructor participates in,
or reviews before the next class. This process, called just-in-time teaching (JiTT),
requires students to produce work, usually via a web platform, which instructors
The Flipped Classroom 3

can read just before the next class (Edwards, Mehring, & Murphey 2006). Since
instructors read students’ work just before teaching, they can teach to the students’
needs and interests. Flipping allows instructors to efficiently address students’ needs
and interests while encouraging collaborative learning and modeling in class. In this
setting, students are more prepared to engage and discuss during class time leading
to stronger learning outcomes.

Technology in the EFL Classroom

With the adaptation of technology, it might be possible to shift even more from a
teacher-centered instruction to a more student-centered, communicative-based
format. Computer applications for language learning are employed in many edu-
cational EFL classes; however, unfortunately, in the past they have generally
comprised standard Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software,
which usually include simple digitally mediated versions of drills adapted from
paper textbooks, and are generally consigned to language labs as supplementary or
self-study material (Brown, Campbell, & Weatherford, 2008).
Instead, providing environments where students can use their new learning with
access to immediate instructor and classmate feedback enables students to correct
misunderstandings, organize new learning, and formulate their own
ideas/perceptions enabling easier future access to new learning (Bransford, Brown,
& Cocking, 2000). The feedback students receive in these interactive classrooms
enable them to examine and reflect upon their learning and growth. This new
learner-centered model forgoes unneeded teacher-talk time during class, scaffolding
the learning from the pre-class assignments before class. The flipped classroom
offers a model for creating a classroom environment that contains more active
learning exercises. For the EFL classroom, the flipped classroom presents a
promising possibility to create a communicative learning environment.

Disadvantages of Flipping

The flipped classroom creates a new learning environment and with it some
obstacles that both students and instructors may encounter along the way. Increased
workload is one challenge, as students are surprised by the amount of preparation
that needs to be done before class; therefore a gradual implementation of the system
should be taken into consideration. In a study by Mehring (2015), workload was
one area that participants felt was a negative aspect of the flipped classroom.
Participants mentioned that in the beginning, the flipped classroom was very dif-
ficult so it is important the instructor implements it step by step. Instructors need to
be aware that the number of assignments or activities needs to be less in the
beginning and grow slowly. In addition, the instructor may need to walk students
4 J. Mehring

through the process, demonstrating how students can start and stop videos, how to
use the discussion forums, and what is expected of students in regards to the
pre-class materials.
Additionally, the instructor will also realize the flipped classroom requires a lot
of preparation, creating pre-class materials and redesigning the F2F learning
environment (Bennett, 2013). For the benefit of both students and instructors,
implementation of the flipped classroom should progress slowly.
Finally, what if students do not review the pre-class materials or are too shy to
participate? By assigning online discussions or a survey, the instructor can get a
better understanding of which students are not doing the pre-class materials and talk
with them. It is important that the pre-class materials build a foundation for the F2F
activities and by not reviewing the pre-class materials, students will find it difficult
to actively participate during the in-class activities.

Benefits of Flipping

Learning in the flipped classroom involves the construction of identities, a learning

journey between master and disciple where students are engaged in both instructor
and learner roles, essentially learning by doing (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This is an
inherently social process where students interact among themselves and the content
being taught, rather than the instructor as the focal point of the lesson. In the flipped
class, students encounter more opportunities to learn independently, as well as
sometimes becoming mentors by helping struggling students and working together
to solve issues/problems in class.
For the shy students, the instructor needs to allow students a chance to just be an
observer during the small group collaboration, with the understanding that they will
have the opportunity to share first during the next class. These students might need
to be given the right to pass during small group time. They could then be asked to
submit a brief written account of the small group experience to the instructor
focusing on his or her understanding and contributions. The instructor could then
respond directly to that student to provide encouragement on how well the student
actually understands, or on how much the student actually has to offer the
group. This process will help to build confidence and demonstrate that their
questions are valued, important and helpful to everyone, in the hopes that this
student will then be encouraged to speak up more in future small group scenarios.
The flip technique can change in-class pedagogy based on cognitive as well as
social constructivist theories. Knowledge is gradually acquired in an individual’s
head, (Piaget, 1969), but individuals are situated in a social environment interacting
with different groups on a daily basis (Vygotsky, 1978). In the flipped classroom,
learning can take place on two levels, one the individual level and one the group
level. From the cognitive point of view, three important discoveries about how
people learn help justify the success of the flipped classroom: (a) having a strong
base of factual knowledge, (b) an understanding of the facts and ideas in a coherent
The Flipped Classroom 5

and organized manner that makes them easy to communicate to others, and
(c) organizing new learning in ways that assist retrieval and application (NRC,
2000). Flipped learning can enable students to link new content with their schemata,
(Shuell, 1986), in turn better enabling them to organize their learning and partake in
F2F class discussions/activities.
In addition to cognitive learning, the flipped classroom incorporates construc-
tivist learning theory. Social constructivism theory is based on the idea that
knowledge is acquired through interaction with others, (Vygotsky, 1981) and
that the internalization of actions is demonstrated by the creation of a public artifact
that demonstrates one’s new learning through an appropriate activity (Papert, 1980).
Pre-F2F time can stimulate students to use proactive techniques to expand their
knowledge and become more metacognitive as they discuss what they are doing
and how their understanding is changing. While in-class activities focus on the
construction of an artifact that demonstrates the student’s new learning from the
flipped materials and increased student–student and instructor–student
collaboration.
For example, in a conventional English as a foreign language (EFL) course,
instruction and practice must occur during class time because EFL learners are
handicapped by a dearth of opportunity to experience English in authentic settings
outside of class. However, by using the flipped classroom method, the task of
learning can be performed as homework through a video or other appropriate
resource, building upon the lower tier of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2001),
remembering and understanding. During this cognitive learning time, students are
able to strengthen their understanding of the course materials.
Subsequently, the instructor can structure F2F class time around social con-
structivist activities to enhance learning outcomes. Students could collaborate with
classmates as they discuss and expand their understanding of the content. During
this time, students would be required to create an artifact that would not only
demonstrate their new knowledge, but also focus on Bloom’s higher tier, applying,
analysis, evaluation, and creating, (Krathwohl, 2001). During the entire process, the
instructor is present guiding and helping students apply new learning or referring
them back to the flipped materials for further information. With constant feedback
from the instructor and classmates as well as viewing examples of others’ work, the
class becomes a community of learners. This community of learners is the central
point where learning takes place, where students develop their abilities through
peer-to-peer interaction. Through apprenticeships, instructors offer guidance as
students learn from the instructor as well as classmates (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Participation in these communities tends to be highly educational, freeing up F2F
class time in order to focus on more communicative, constructivist activities and
offering students opportunities to further test ideas and apply new learning.
The push to create authentic, communicative English learning environments
where students use English to negotiate meaning and build critical thinking skills
requires that present teaching methods change. The flipped classroom offers an
exciting new alternative for language learning in Japan and a change from current
practices. The flipped classroom model is not a panacea for all the challenges in
6 J. Mehring

language education. However, it is a valuable paradigm worthy of consideration by

educators, administrators, and policy makers that will prove advantageous in the
new era of communicative language teaching and learning.

Why This Book Now?

Over the past few years, many books have been published that look at the flipped
classroom in various subjects, for example, math, chemistry, or the social sciences
but there have been very few published on how to flip an English as a foreign
language (EFL) classroom. When studying English in an EFL context, students
have few opportunities to practice or use English in authentic situations, this is one
reason why the flipped classroom can play such an important role in EFL class-
rooms. With the shift to a more student-centered approach to teaching, in a flipped
learning environment, students are given more opportunities to practice the target
language while receiving immediate and effective feedback from the teacher. When
some teachers first hear about the flipped classroom they believe they had already
been using this technique. Unfortunately, it has become apparent to the authors that
teachers often do not understand the fundamentals of the flipped classroom and/or
do not know where to start when trying to design a flipped EFL course. Many
teachers find the task daunting and give up even before they begin. This book is
aimed to walk teachers through the process step by step with descriptions of suc-
cessfully flipped EFL lessons from teachers in the field so others can use such
lessons in their own classes.
The layout of this book is designed to allow teachers to jump around and use the
resources as they deem necessary. Readers are given vital background information
to better understand the specific lesson objectives and brief summaries of the skills
being taught and activities students completed. Authors also provide lesson plans so
readers are able to see how the lesson progressed and how each teacher tied
pre-class and in-class activities together. Descriptions of technologies used are
given, including why the authors chose the specific technologies and the role they
played in achieving the lesson objectives. The flipped classroom does not require
one to use technology so do not think that you must have access to technology to
make your lesson successful. Finally, some authors may include research they have
completed during their lesson to help readers understand more about the successes
and failures of the flipped classroom. Whether an author includes research or not, he
does give his personal thoughts on the flipped model and any changes made to this
lesson since he started. The author tells the reader how his ideas on flipped learning
have been incorporated into other lessons, how students reacted to learning in a
flipped classroom, and how he might continue or change aspects for future classes.
Some authors may have included a contact email in case you have questions or wish
to share your experiences when using their lesson. The book is meant to be a
The Flipped Classroom 7

resource for teachers, and depending upon one’s experience in the flipped class-
room, he can follow each lesson step by step to gain experience or for more
experienced teachers, the book may provide new ideas or methods they can add to
their flipped class.
The first four chapters examine some of the challenges teachers may face when
learning how to flip from experienced teachers who provided workshops on the
flipped classroom. Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies
walks you through some key points to consider before you begin to flip your
classroom. Although this chapter does not focus on English language teachers, it is
possible to learn how to avoid pitfalls in the flipped classroom from other disci-
plines. In this chapter, instructors share their learning experiences when imple-
menting the flipped technique in their classes. In Flipping or Flopping: Lessons
Learnt from Flipping a Course for ASEAN Teachers of English, the author
describes nonnative English teachers’ experiences when learning about the flipped
classroom. These teachers provide insight on how to address problems associated
with the flipped approach and how to adapt the flipped approach in the Asian
teaching environment. The final two chapters focus on lessons learned when cre-
ating a pronunciation course using the flipped approach for teacher training and
integrating formative assessment in the flipped classroom. These first four chapters
provide a strong foundation upon which the following chapters are built, providing
the necessary background in order to better understand the principles of the flipped
classroom and how it has become an important technique in learning.
The next five chapters focus on flipping productive skills. Each chapter exam-
ines how to apply the flipped approach to a specific language skill. Flipping Your
Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time in Your EFL Writing Classroom demonstrates
how teachers can use the flipped approach to free up face-to-face class time in order
to develop a student-centered learning environment. Flipping EFL Classes for
Future Teachers and Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking
Skills both discuss unique methods to create a more communicative classroom,
providing students more opportunities to practice speaking English, and improving
their abilities in this important skill.
Additionally, the next three chapters look at receptive skills. Flipping the
ESL/EFL Academic Reading Classroom: A ‘Group Leader Discussion Activity’
demonstrates how the flipped approach enables learners to assimilate content and
use classroom time more effectively affording them to gain a deeper understanding
of the target material, a greater appreciation of the best ways to apply the reading
skills and strategies, and increasing motivation. These eight chapters are packed full
of ideas and information you can apply directly to your classrooms or adapt to fit
the abilities of your students.
The final two chapters shift from a focus on skills-based courses to
content-based lessons. In Flipping Tech-Enhanced Content-based EAP Courses
with Online Content, the author examines the role online content plays in an
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at an American university. The
author provides suggestions for flipping content-based EAP courses. Finally,
Content-based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom: A Case Study in
8 J. Mehring

the Japanese EFL Environment provides the reader with tips on creating videos that
can include subtitles and recommendations for flipping content-based language
teaching courses.
We hope you find all the answers you need within these pages. Our goal is to
help new teachers design flipped EFL lessons that are rewarding to both the stu-
dents and teacher. For teachers with flipping experience, we hope you find new
ideas that you can apply to your classes. The flipped classroom continues to evolve
and transform learning; we hope this book will help you in this process.

References

Baker, J. W. (2000). The “classroom flip”: Using web course management tools to become the
guide by the side. In J. A. Chambers (Ed.), Selected papers from the 11th international
conference on college teaching and learning (pp. 9–17). Jacksonville, FL, USA: Florida
Community College at Jacksonville.
Bennett, B. (2013). Mastery. In J. Bretzmann (Ed.). New Berlin, WI, USA: The Bretzmann Group.
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every
day. Washington, DC, USA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Bransford, J., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience, and school. Washington, DC, USA: National Academy Press.
Brown, I., Campbell, A. P., & Weatherford, Y. (2008). Using DynEd and ALC with low-level
university freshmen. The JALT CALL Journal, 4(3), 37–53. Retrieved from http://journal.
jaltcall.org/articles/43Brown.pdf.
Edwards, J., Mehring, J., & Murphey, T. (2006). Exploring JiTT: Just-in-time-teaching. The
Language Teacher, 30(12), 9.
Khan, S. (2011, March). Let’s use video to reinvent education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://
www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.
Krathwohl, D. (2001). A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41
(4), 212–264.
Lage, M. J., Platt, G., & Treglia, M. (2000). Inverting the classroom: A gateway to creating an
inclusive learning environment. Journal of Economic Education, 31(1), 30–43. doi:10.2307/
1183338.
Lambert, C. (2012, March–April). Twilight of the lecture. Harvard Magazine. Retrieved from
http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/twilight-of-the-lecture.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York,
NY: Cambridge University Press.
Mehring, J. (2015). An exploratory study of the lived experiences of Japanese undergraduate EFL
students in the flipped classroom. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Malibu, CA, USA:
Pepperdine University.
National Research Council. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school
(Expanded Edition). Washington, DC, USA: National Academy Press. [Online]. Available:
http://www.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/.
The Flipped Classroom 9

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms. Children, computers and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.
Piaget, J. (1969). The mechanisms of perception. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Shuell, T. J. (1986). Cognitive conceptions of learning. Review of Educational Research, 56(4),
411–436.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. The development of higher psychological processes. Boston,
MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concepts
of activity in Soviet psychology. Sharpe: Armonk, NY.
Implementing the Flipped Classroom:
Challenges and Strategies

Anna F. Brown

Abstract The flipped classroom model holds both benefits and challenges for new
adopters. A learner-centered instructional perspective supports the development of
an effective flipped course. Instructors can assess their readiness for the conversion
process and prepare for a smooth implementation by learning about the experiences
and ideas of others. Instructors should also think through the readiness—both
practical and conceptual—of their institution and students. Preparing students for
the flipped model, and making use of their input when possible, eases the transition
for all. Aspects of course design to consider include content format, in-class
activities, and building connections between in-class and out-of-class components.
Instructors have numerous options for content delivery, and can base their selec-
tions on multiple factors, including technological skill and available tools as well as
student access and preference. Activity design can incorporate a variety of strate-
gies, often making use of peer interaction and collaboration. Changes to instruc-
tional methods result in alternate teaching roles and shifts in the classroom
environment. In addition, these changes warrant a fresh look at assessment meth-
ods, for students, instructors, and courses. Instructors who share their flipped
classroom experience, from initial design to final data collection and evaluation,
provide valuable learning for all.

Introduction

This chapter begins with the assumption that you already understand the value of
flipping your classroom—or you wouldn’t have picked up this book. You’re
motivated by what you’ve seen, read, or heard about this model, and you feel ready
to take on the effort. This chapter will present the benefits along with the challenges
to ensure you have a full picture of what to expect as you undertake this initiative.
This will help you assess your readiness, your institution’s readiness, and perhaps

A. F. Brown (&)
Northwestern College, Chicago, USA
e-mail: annafbrown@me.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 11

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_2
12 A. F. Brown

most importantly, your students’ readiness for the coming changes. The primary
purpose of this chapter is to provide information, from the general to the specific,
about successfully undertaking the conversion process. There will be questions to
ask yourself and road-tested strategies from which to choose for building you own
flipped course and developing your attendant teaching style. As you already know,
you have some work ahead of you, and this chapter is designed to assist you.
Before jumping into the details, I want to mention a few important points. First,
this chapter is based on the experiences of instructors, from a range of institutions
and disciplines, who have shared their experiences with me. As I work with faculty,
my main concern is what they have as goals for their classrooms and their students.
This chapter brings you their ideas and achievements, to show you what you also
can achieve for yourself and for your students.
Second, the conceptual framework within which these instructors’ experiences
are presented comes from Weimer’s identification of the central characteristics of
learner-centered instruction (Weimer, 2002). Weimer delineates the points where
critical shifts occur when instructional methods become more focused on student
needs: (a) the function of content; (b) the purpose and process of evaluation; (c) the
role of the instructor; (d) the responsibility for learning; and (e) the balance of
power. You will want to consider each of these points as you plan your adoption of
the flipped classroom model.
One final point before plunging in: The instructors I’ve worked with have
consistently expressed to me the fun they have incorporating this model into their
teaching practice. For them, “fun” refers to both the enjoyment of learning and
experimenting throughout the implementation (which often takes the form of an
ongoing learning process) and the pleasure they find in getting to know their
students better and addressing each student’s needs in a more customized way.
I wish you this kind of fun as you venture forth.

The Flipping Process

Before you undertake any significant project, it’s a good idea to document the point
from which you are starting—your baseline. Take the time to gather records such as
grades and student evaluations and other data that has an impact on why you want
to make changes. Also, take some time to record your own thoughts on what you—
and your students—are doing well, what you want to change, and why changes are
needed. What results are you working toward, and how will you know if your
efforts succeed? Write down your goals, and make sure they are measurable and
realistic. This step contributes significantly to your readiness for the work. The
documented reflection will guide your decisions during the project, provide clarity
and motivation during the tough spots, and demonstrate the impact at the end. You
don’t need to spend a lot of time on this task, but don’t skip it entirely either.
A balanced combination of planning and discovery will set you up for success as
you progress and learn.
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies 13

As a starting point, the following questions address the primary concerns about
flipping. Each of them will be discussed in detail in the coming sections.
• How will you alter the presentation of content? This question is the primary
focus of many flipped classroom discussions. Are you focused on—and excited
about—learning to make videos for your students? Have you considered
alternatives, such as reviewing open educational resources (OER), curating
videos made by others, or assembling a combination of video, text, websites,
and other components? Have you researched what others are using in your
discipline and/or at your institution?
• What will you do during class time? This is the first question many instructors
ask when hearing about the flipped classroom for the first time. Will you rethink
and repurpose the homework you assign your students? Will you start or expand
the use of group work, project-based activities, and student presentations? Will
you find new ways to evaluate student work when it is completed during class
time?
• How will you weave in- and out-of-classroom experiences together? This
question is often an afterthought of the flipping process, meaning that some
instructors don’t realize the need for it until after they have begun teaching a
flipped course. While discovery can be fun, you have the benefit of foresight on
this point. Have you considered ways to build connections between in- and
out-of-classroom activities? What might that look like for your subject, your
students, and your teaching style?
Each of these questions also finds new answers as student responsibility is
reconsidered—more on that topic to come.
From an instructor’s perspective, the flipped classroom can be both exciting and
daunting. It is generally acknowledged to be an upward climb at the beginning, as
you rethink content, revise your syllabus, and rework nearly every aspect of your
course. Your choices will depend on your schedule, institution, students, technical
skills, and other considerations. You will, ideally, put your creativity and devotion
to the test.
You may want to dive into a full conversion over a term break, or you may
decide to flip just one module of your course to familiarize yourself and your
students before going further. You may decide to add online content first, and then
gradually increase your students’ involvement with that content outside of class.
Any of these choices are equally valid and will require further adjustments once
implemented. It may help to think of flipping as a continuous improvement process,
or ongoing change, rather than a one-time conversion or “flip” as the name implies.
You will see new opportunities as you experience this model, and you will want to
take advantage of them. Allow yourself this flexibility.
To balance your efforts, you can expect some fun mixed in with the extra work.
Making significant changes to your teaching practice brings compelling new ideas
and fresh perspectives. The pleasure of challenge can be found in your efforts to
adopt new technologies and a different course structure. You will likely have a
14 A. F. Brown

profound experience as you rethink your role and alter your approach to teaching.
This, in turn, will result in the enjoyment of increased interaction with your students
and the satisfaction of observing their resulting engagement and growth.
As to one’s own learning through this process, instructors learn new technolo-
gies as they determine their methods for content delivery as well as tools that
support the weaving of in-and out-of-classroom activities. You may become a
content creator, building expertise at video creation and perhaps learning to include
interactive elements. You may find new ways of taking advantage of your insti-
tution’s learning management system. More importantly, though, you may learn a
new way of being an instructor. When transitioning from a traditional teaching
practice to the flipped model, the roles of expert and lecturer give way to coach and
guide. Ideally, you will develop the ability to let students find the answers to their
own questions. If you are ready to relearn everything you know about teaching, you
are ready to flip your classroom.
You will also want to consider the readiness of your institution. Often, inno-
vative instructors forge ahead on an initiative because of their own strong interest
and motivation to serve their students. However, taking the time to assess how your
school can support the project can help out down the road. Look around to see if
there are other instructors interested in flipping their courses, or involved in similar
ventures such as developing blended courses or project-based instruction. Sharing
ideas strengthens everyone’s efforts and can help make a case to the administration
for resources and support. How will your flipped class fit into the overall curriculum
of your program? Will yours be the sole flipped course, with students used to more
traditional teaching models in all other classes? Will you need to request changes to
the physical classroom setting to enable group work sessions? In addition, as you
choose the technology tools you will use for your project, you will need information
about what is available to you. Assuming your school provides a shared learning
management system, consider how well you know its many uses. You may also
decide you need to acquire and learn new software and hardware. Now is the time
to find out what support is available for purchases as well as professional
development.

Reflecting on Your Students

The primary motivation for instructors I’ve worked with is usually the needs of
their students. As you plan your flipped initiative, spend a little time considering the
ways in which this change you are planning will transform their learning experi-
ence. Start by thinking about the learning style to which your students are accus-
tomed. If they have previous positive experiences of student-centered instruction,
they will be more open to a flipped course. If on the other hand, they are very used
to a lecture-homework-exam structure, you will want to spend more time orienting
them to the flipped model. This would be one consideration as you determine
whether to convert your course all in one go or incrementally.
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies 15

Also, think about your students’ appreciation for, and access to, the technology
they would need to fully participate in a flipped course. If they tend to enjoy
technology use, this is your opportunity to indulge and leverage that interest. If not,
you can adjust your choice of content delivery methods accordingly, e.g., use more
text-based content or consider providing both video and text options for the same
content. (Options are almost always a good idea, though also usually more work for
you.) If you have a tech-savvy group with the latest toys, you will plan differently
than if you question whether they can access the Internet consistently at home. You
may even want to begin by gathering more information about your students if you
are not sure how ready they are for a flipped classroom experience.
Once you have investigated and determined the general readiness level of your
students, you can include in your plans some steps for involving them in your
process. If you work with the same students over multiple courses, or if you are
making small changes to one course during the term, you may want to consider
talking with your students about what is coming. This will give you a good
opportunity to explain, from their point of view, the value of a flipped classroom.
See if you can find ways to let them help you plan—deciding, for example, which
module to flip first. And whether you ease in or transition fully over a break,
regularly request their feedback and look for ways to incorporate their ideas and
preferences during the flipped experience. When students see the impact of their
feedback in real time, it reinforces their role as responsible learners.
The shift to greater student responsibility for learning, one of Weimer’s key
points, is a vital component of a successful flipped classroom. Students not used to
learner-centered instruction may balk and need a more gradual and thorough
introduction to the model. I have heard students express delight in their flipped
classes, as in, “Finally we are allowed to learn the way we want to learn!”—
demonstrating the enthusiasm for which all instructors hope. I have also heard of
students complaining to the school administration that their instructor was no longer
doing the job of teaching. While for most instructors it may be a new concept to
explain teaching methods to students, doing so helps them become more involved
learners. Particularly when you are converting an entire course, you will want to
begin the term with an orientation to the flipped model, the new practices that will
be required of them, and how it will impact their experience of the course. Discuss
with them the benefits and challenges of the model from their perspective. Make
sure your students are as prepared as you are for the adventure of flipping.
Perhaps, most importantly, go into your planning with the intention of finding
ways to involve your students in the activities and assignments you use. There are
many ways to achieve this goal. A key practice that works well here is to teach your
students to formulate their own questions, as well as to find their own answers, as
mentioned earlier (Rothstein & Santana, 2011). Questioning activities are particu-
larly good for connecting out-of-class content with in-class activities and discus-
sions. Other ways to involve students in the structure of the course are to: (1) build
in options from which students can choose for assignments, assessments, etc.;
(2) include opportunities for them to seek out and contribute to course content;
(3) design some activities around students presenting, to their work group and to the
16 A. F. Brown

whole class, about what they are learning. With this student-centered perspective as
a foundation, your course design and reconstruction efforts will result in greater
student engagement and impact on learning.

Preparing Your Course

Likely you know from experience that there are many ways to approach the course
design process—it can be iterative and ongoing. Current instructional design rec-
ommends a “backward design” process, which begins with clarifying the outcomes
that you intend for your students. These outcomes then guide the choice of eval-
uation methods, activities, and finally, content for the course (Wiggins & McTighe,
2005). With the hope that you are already familiar with this method of design for
your current courses, this section will discuss the three main elements to consider
for flipped design: content options, course design, and evaluation methods.
Often the dialogue around the flipped classroom focuses primarily on an
instructor making videos of their classroom lectures to post online for their students.
The tools and techniques for making these videos become the most important aspect
of the conversion. No doubt for many instructors, making videos is the least
familiar step with the biggest learning curve. Perhaps that is why it gets so much
attention. In fact, students tend to appreciate watching a video made by the
instructor they know from the classroom. Such videos build a type of personal
connection, and provide a link between in- and out-of-classroom work that other
forms of content may not. Instructor-made videos may not always be the best in
terms of production quality, but a more handmade style increases the student
viewer’s sense that it was made for them, thus increasing its relevance. Even if a
good selection of usable content is available online, you will want to consider
making and using some of your own video or audio clips (Bergmann & Sams,
2012).
That said, additional options for content are usually available and bring their
own unique contributions. Taking a broader look at methods of delivering online
content to your students will provide you with more choices and greater flexibility
as you design your course. Input from many voices via multiple sources can
enhance learning and promote discussion back in the classroom. As well, the
integration of different media can increase engagement and stimulate imagination.
In some cases, locating appropriate alternative sources may prove as
time-consuming as creating your own. On the other hand, some subject areas
provide almost too many options from which to choose. As you investigate further,
keep the following continuums in mind:
• High quality versus homemade
• Steep or easy learning curve for you in terms of creating the content
• Personal touch and presence in your students’ out-of-classroom experience
versus a curated blend of sources
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies 17

• Consistency and simplicity versus an engaging mix of media and formats

• High tech versus low tech
You will also want to think about how much time students are expected to spend
on your course between class sessions, as well as how long any given content
piece—whether video, audio, text, or other—would be. The typical recommenda-
tion is that videos be kept to a shorter length, with longer presentations being
broken into segments.
Some examples of content formats and combinations include:
• Camera recordings, made with a video camera, smartphone, or webcam:
– “Talking head” video
– Talking-head-style but with instructor writing on a whiteboard
– Talking-head-style but with instructor seated at a desk—camera alternates
from the instructor to an over-the-shoulder view of a demo on the desk
surface
– Talking-head-style but with instructor in conversation with colleague or
another professional who contributes a particular expertise or perspective
– Demo of an activity in appropriate setting (e.g., science experiment in a lab)
• Screencapture videos using various tools and formats:
– Slide deck with audio recording (as used previously in-class or altered—
perhaps made less wordy and more visual (Reynolds, 2011)—for online use,
or newly developed)
– Tablet recording with a whiteboard app
– Document camera recording
• Interactive learning objects built with specialized software: combinations can
include video of instructor, screencapture of slides enhanced with visuals and
movement, and other elements such as quizzes and annotated PDFs
• Text-based options such as plain old textbooks, eBooks, PDFs, and wikis (often
combined with some use of questions—either provided by the instructor or
solicited from the students as preparation for in-class activity)
Any combination of the above formats can be assembled on a webpage that
provide single-point access to internal and external links to videos, articles, social
bookmarking sites, and others; lecture notes and slides; and lists of class-prep
questions or other assignments. You can use your institution’s learning manage-
ment system (LMS) if available, or alternately a web-based LMS or freestanding
website. Ideally, this type of assembled content is integrated with instructions for
approaching and considering the individual elements. One final thought for gath-
ering content—assign the task to your students when appropriate. You might be
surprised at what they discover.
As you plan the format of your online content, you will no doubt also be
considering the activities that will now be the center of your students’ in-class
learning experience. Many instructors begin with the homework they previously
18 A. F. Brown

assigned, rethinking it for in-class, collaborative use. However, the best place to
start may be with activities students complete as part of their out-of-class work, as
was indicated in some of the examples of content formatting above. The reasons for
this choice? (1) to better prepare students for the session; (2) to provide a way of
assessing students’ engagement with and understanding of the online content; and
(3) to help guide the direction and tone of the session. Common methods include:
• Requiring students to develop questions on the content and submit them at the
beginning of class to be used for an opening discussion.
• Having students respond to an online survey about the content, which they
submit online the evening before class. Again, their responses can be used to
guide the focus of in-class activity.
• Having students take a quiz to demonstrate their out-of-class learning (can be
done before class online, or at the beginning of the class session). Options here
include providing the quiz questions along with the online content—a type of
open-book test—or devising a fairly easy quiz for the start of class that covers
basic concepts.
• Providing students with an easy-level practice problem to solve before class,
saving the more difficult problems to be worked in-class with classmate col-
laboration and instructor guidance if needed.
• Including one or more self-assessments with the content, shifting the task of
ensuring student readiness for the class to the students themselves.
This last option takes a clear step toward one of Weimer’s points—the moving
of responsibility for learning from instructor to students. While this will be a more
difficult undertaking with some groups of students that with others, the results are
well worth the effort. Any opportunities you have to allow students to choose how
they will demonstrate and further their learning will aid in their adoption of greater
responsibility for that learning. As mentioned earlier, providing students with an
orientation to the flipped model and clear expectations of their role will also con-
tribute to their willingness to change. As instructors, we must also change our
habitual ways of teaching to support this new way of learning for our students.
In-class activities of the flipped classroom often, perhaps usually, take some
form of peer interaction and collaboration—also known as group work. Typically, a
project is provided, selected, or devised by the group based on instructor guidelines
(which, in turn, are based on course outcomes), and students get to work. Of course,
the type of project will vary greatly depending on the discipline, course level, and
other factors. Groups may be formed by student choice or instructor assignment,
and may work together for the full term or only a single class session. A number of
strategies may be used to ensure that all students contribute equitably, such as
assigning roles and rotating responsibilities.
Getting used to so much activity in class may be a challenge for all. When an
instructor steps out of the center of attention and takes on the role of sideline coach,
the distribution of control—Weimer’s “balance of power”—can change signifi-
cantly. Students may be initially inclined to take advantage of this freer
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies 19

environment, but this inclination can be counteracted with vigorous project work.
Where the class-prep work was kept to an easier level, in a sense rewarding a
student for their solo engagement with the online content, in-class activities are
generally designed to be more challenging, with correspondingly higher grades to
be earned. With more at stake, peer pressure can also help to ensure that individual
students stay focused and involved. More persistent students can delve deeply into
the work, while the instructor can identify and provide support to those who need
assistance. This challenging new classroom environment provides greater oppor-
tunities for engagement and interaction for students and instructors alike.
Strategies can also be used to bridge from in-class activities to the upcoming
out-of-class engagement with the content. Well-designed connections at the end of
the class session can cultivate student interest in the content.
• Provide a brief overview of the upcoming content, as well as the preparation
needed for the next class session.
• Give students a list of questions to consider, or find the answers to, as they
watch, read, and otherwise engage with the upcoming content.
• Offer students a thought problem or a few difficult questions to entice them to
engage with the out-of-class content.
• Ask students what questions they have about the content to come.
This weaving together of in- and out-of-class activities makes the most of the
flipped classroom structure, mapping a path for students and enriching their overall
experience. While we often hear of the transformation of the instructor’s role from
sage to guide—another of Weimer’s key shifts—less is heard about the value of a
questioner’s stance. Laying aside the practice of lecturing means also giving up the
habit of providing authoritative answers to the student’s questions. You may have
noticed that most of the strategies presented above involve the use of questions.
Developing the practice of teaching through inquiry—coaching students to ask
good questions and seek out their own answers—strengthens their capacity for
life-long learning.
With the significant changes that the flipped classroom model entails for every
aspect of your teaching practice, your methods of evaluating students will also need
to be redesigned. In fact, in a flipped class session, with its increased interaction and
direct observation of student work, instructors are much better positioned to assess
student engagement and progress. Weimer emphasizes the need to integrate eval-
uation into the learning process, opposing the separate, teacher-centric method of
traditional classrooms. The flipped classroom makes this integration possible. By
prioritizing formative assessment over summative, an instructor gives students
regular opportunities to demonstrate their willingness to work and to show the
results of their efforts. Some methods of evaluation useful for the flipped classroom
model include:
• Student self-evaluation: mentioned above as pre-class strategy, this method can
also be part of a peer/group evaluation process
20 A. F. Brown

• Peer evaluation: you may find that students will need guidance on providing
each other with useful feedback and assessing the work of their peers
• In-class observation: can be useful for assessment of understanding as well as of
effort, growth, and professional behavior
• Student demonstration: an interactive process in which students present work,
individually or as a group, and explain their reasoning and problem-solving
process
Any of these methods can be used at regular intervals throughout the course.
Integrating multiple methods of student assessment with a consistent and trans-
parent approach (written outcomes, assessment rubrics, and formative feedback)
helps students see their own progress more clearly and understand what they can do
to improve if needed.
While the primary focus here is on the evaluation of students, it is well worth
your time, when making significant changes to course design, to incorporate
assessment of the course as well. This effort starts with your own assessment. Use
the baseline documentation you gathered, and check progress toward your goals at
regular intervals. Student feedback can also be valuable and gives them an
opportunity to contribute. One strategy for collecting their input is to use an
anonymous mid-term questionnaire—via an LMS or online survey tool—that asks
questions about student perception and experience of the course. Aggregate results
can be shared with students so they can see the overall results beyond their own
opinions. When possible, make use of helpful responses to make immediate
adjustments to the course, so that they can experience the impact on their own
learning experience. Any self-checks and student input will prove useful for your
final assessment of the project as well—once you have taught your flipped class
through for the first time and are ready to evaluate and share your work and
experience.

Future Directions

As discussed previously, flipping your classroom will typically be a gradual rather

than immediate process. After you have taught the initial version of your flipped
course, you have the pleasure of revisiting the baseline documentation you com-
piled to compare your starting point with your achievements. As with any pro-
fessional project, you will want to compile your final data, record your experience
and note any changes you want to make the next time you teach the course. You
will likely find at this point that you have many ideas about what steps to take next.
Take the time to process what you have learned and accomplished. Did you meet
the goals with which you started? Did you encounter surprises along the way that
caused you to alter your plan? Are there new goals you can imagine as you review
your finished work? As you can see, an important step when finishing is to plan
how to begin again.
Implementing the Flipped Classroom: Challenges and Strategies 21

In addition, consider how you will evaluate the flipped classroom you created.
What outside measures can you use? Are there course development rubrics that you
can adapt for this purpose? How does your experience line up with Weimer’s five
area of change? Which of the following did you manage to flip?
• Moving lecture online and homework into the classroom
• Instructor’s role from lecturer to content creator/curator and from expert to
coach
• The purpose of content from central importance to a support function
• The purpose of evaluation from final judgment to an integral part of the learning
process
• Students finding answers to their own questions rather than expecting answers
from you
• Student role from responsive learner to responsible learner
And finally, it is time to share your results with others—colleagues at your
institution and in your discipline, and the broader flipped learning community on
the web. Also, consider ways to share your results with your students. They have no
doubt contributed to your successful flipped classroom project, and so will find
interest in and learn from your conclusions about the process and product. It is my
hope that you can take from this chapter some ideas and insights that will be useful
for your own flipping efforts. As you read through the coming chapters, you will
find much to inform and inspire your own efforts. Be sure to pass on your expe-
rience to inspire others.

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every
day. Washington, DC, USA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Reynolds, G. (2011). Presentation zen. San Francisco, CA, USA: New Riders Press.
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2011). One resource for teaching this skill is make just one change.
Teach students to ask their own questions. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. San Francisco, CA,
USA: Jossey-Bass.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA, USA:
ASCD.
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt
from Flipping a Course for ASEAN
Teachers of English

Marie Yeo

Abstract This chapter describes and evaluates the use of flipped learning
approaches in a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) module for 13 non-native
speaker teachers of English who were enrolled in a Diploma in Applied Linguistics.
Learners participated in three flipped lessons during which they received input prior
to class through online lectures and readings, then engaged in activities in class to
clarify, consolidate, and check their understanding. Based on activity completion
rates, teacher observation, and a self-report survey, the study identified preferences
of methods and materials as well as issues in managing flipped learning.
Suggestions from learners provide insights into ways to address typical problems
associated with this approach and to improve delivery of flipped learning in teacher
training courses for international students.

Justification for Flipped Approach

Throughout Southeast Asia, policies relating to teaching English in primary schools

and teaching content-based subjects in English have fueled the need for well-trained
Local English Teachers (LETs). For most of them, English is a second or foreign
language (Richards, 2017). To enhance their credentials, an increasing number of
these teachers are enrolling in postgraduate courses in English-speaking institutions
overseas. A common belief among education providers is that such students, often
known as international students, lack the necessary English language proficiency to
succeed (Biggs and Tang, 2011). The problem is exacerbated when the traditional
lecture is used as the main teaching method. In explaining the disparate experiences
of “academic” versus “non-academic” learners, Biggs theorizes that when teachers
use passive teaching methods that focus on lower order thinking skills, the gap
between the “academic” and “non-academic” student increases. If, on the other
hand, the teacher employs active methods of teaching and targets higher order

M. Yeo (&)
SEAMEO-RELC, Singapore, Singapore
e-mail: marie.yeo@relc.org.sg

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 23

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_3
24 M. Yeo

thinking skills, the gap decreases. Biggs and Tang (2011) conclude that instead of
“blaming the student,” it is the teacher’s responsibility to teach in a more inclusive
way to reduce the achievement gap between learners with different orientations.
Citing Tyler (1949), Biggs (2003) declares that “Learning takes place through the
active behavior of the student” (n.p.), emphasizing that it is what the student does
that leads to learning, not what the teacher does. Although international students are
not necessarily “non-academic”, they are even more severely disadvantaged by the
use of traditional lectures as the unidirectional, rapid, and heavily accented delivery
of content demands good listening and note-taking skills. Previous studies such as
those by Ferris (1998), Kim (2006), and Lynch (2015) have noted that international
students encounter difficulty with listening and note-taking when attending
English-speaking universities. Lynch’s study, particularly, found that the cognitive
load that was placed on students because of the speed of delivery and density of
content resulted in comprehension difficulty. Students wanted their lecturers to
control their speaking speed, reduce the quantity of material covered during lec-
tures, provide more material online, and provide preparatory or follow-up readings.
Lynch (2015) also highlighted a study by Morell, Garcia and Sanchez (2008) on the
importance of integrating four modes in lectures, namely, speech, writing, projected
image, and body language, with an emphasis on using visuals. Finally, respondents
in Lynch’s study advocated for a more relaxed atmosphere, characterized by gen-
uine opportunities for questions from the audience. These suggestions—shifting
from in-class to online materials, providing pre- and post-readings, using multi-
modalities and creating a classroom atmosphere which encouraged questions—are
aligned with flipped learning.
As explained by Bergmann and Sams (2012) in their seminal book, flipping is
about taking attention away from the teacher and focusing on the learner. Flipping
seeks to eliminate large group direct instruction and to meet the individual needs of
each student. The Faculty Focus Special Report (2016) noted that although there is
no single universally-accepted definition of the flipped classroom, “active learning
and student-centered approaches” (p. 2) are at the foundation of flipping.
In view of the range of learners enrolled in the course and their varying English
proficiency levels, ranging from intermediate to near-native, flipped learning offers
unique possibilities for individualized and engaged learning. The course being
focused upon in this chapter, Second Language Acquisition, is by its very nature a
content-heavy and terminologically laden course, focusing on theoretical perspec-
tives, psychological, and social factors. The flipped approach offers learners the
opportunity to view and read materials before class at their own pace and, if
necessary, re-view and re-read the content, which is typically presented as video
recordings and readings with directed questions and/or tasks. Instead of using
lesson time to provide input (content), time can be spent on group discussions or
tasks aimed at allowing learners to clarify, check, and consolidate their learning.
Able to ask not only the lecturer but also their classmates, learners are able to work
within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and engage in “problem solving
under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky,
1978, p. 86). Activities that are commonly found in a flipped classroom
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 25

(e.g., classroom discussion, reciprocal teaching, problem-solving teaching, coop-

erative instead of individualistic learning, peer tutoring, cooperative instead of
competitive learning, small group learning, and questioning) are all found to have a
positive impact on student learning (Hattie, 2009, 2012; Fisher, Frey & Hattie,
2016). Hence, flipped learning was considered the optimal choice of teaching
method for this course.

Context of Student Population

This course is intended for in-service teachers of English with at least 2 years of
teaching experience and an undergraduate degree in a relevant area. In addition, a
minimum level of English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.5 (TOEFL
550, CBT 213, IBT 79) is required. Of the 13 participants in the cohort studied,
there were eight females and five males from seven ASEAN countries. One was
from Brunei, three from Indonesia, one from Malaysia, two from Myanmar, one
from the Philippines, three from Singapore, and two from Vietnam. Although they
were teachers of English, all participants identified themselves as second language
users, having spoken another language as a child at home. Five of the 13 had
previously studied in a context where English was the medium of instruction.

Introduction to the Flipped Lessons

The SLA module comprised 13 three-hour lessons and a final examination deliv-
ered over a 5-week period. Due to scheduling constraints, the lessons were not
spread evenly over the duration, with 10 of the 13 lessons taking place over a
3-week period. Of these, a flipped classroom approach was adopted for Lesson 5 (in
Week 3) and Lessons 6 and 7 (in Week 4) as shown in Appendix “Survey on
Perceptions of the Flipped Classroom (Administered on Survey Monkey)”. There
were three days between Lessons 5 and 6 but Lesson 7 took place the day after
Lesson 6. The decision to flip three contiguous lessons was to allow students to
become familiar with the approach, especially the technology. These three lessons
were chosen as they were content-heavy and required learners to view lengthy
videos and read journal articles in preparation for in-class activities.
The Second Language Acquisition course was not an English language profi-
ciency course, so the main objective was mastery of content rather than English
language development. However, as the level of English proficiency of participants
varied greatly, a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach was
employed. CLIL is “a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional
language is used for learning and teaching of both content and language” (Dale &
Tanner, 2012, p. 3). Specifically, the lessons were aimed at developing learners’
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). This term is used in bilingual
26 M. Yeo

education circles to refer to the “registers of language that children acquire in school
and which they effectively need to know in order to progress successfully through
the grades” (Cummins, 2000, p. 51). This includes using subject-specific termi-
nology and conventions of writing genres related to the subject. As well as CALP,
the lessons were designed to develop academic study skills such as
listening/reading and note-taking, summarizing, paraphrasing, synthesizing, argu-
mentation, and debating. Equally important was the focus on twenty-first century
deep learning skills, identified by Microsoft Corporation and the British Council as
global citizenship, collaboration, character, communication, creativity and imagi-
nation, real-world problem-solving, critical thinking, and use of ICT for learning
(https://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/regions/east-asia/asean-deep-leaning-policy-
engagement-series).
Although three lessons were flipped, in the interest of brevity and to avoid
repetition, only Lesson 5 is illustrated at length here. The other two lessons adopted
similar formats, with the inclusion of pre-class activities involving viewing recor-
ded lectures and reading academic articles. In-class activities aimed at consolida-
tion, clarification, and checking of understanding.

Progression of Flipped Lessons

The slides in Appendix “PowerPoint Slides—Progression of Flipped Lesson” show

the progression of the flipped lesson.

Pre-class Tasks

In keeping with flipped classroom approaches, participants were given instructions

to complete a series of tasks before class: (1) View PowerPoint presentations (with
voice-over of the lecturer reading the transcript) on “The Age Factor”; (2) Read the
articles “Age and the Critical Period Hypothesis” by Abello-Contesse (2008) and
“On how age affects foreign language learning” by Munoz (Munoz 2010);
(3) Consider this question: “In many countries, students are starting to learn English
at an earlier age. Is this always better?” (see Slide 1). These activities were not
assessed before class as participation and performance in the upcoming class were
contingent on having completed pre-class tasks.

In-Class Activities

To promote a relaxed and open atmosphere, the lesson included a variety of

teacher-led, group, and individual activities to check understanding and consolidate
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 27

learning of concepts. At the start of the flipped lesson, learners were asked to
“react” affectively to the online lecture and readings (see Slide 2). This activity
deliberately sought to evoke strong reactions, for example, ideas that “you really
liked (and would like to tell everyone about!),” and “you completely disagree with
(maybe it upsets or angers you!)” in an attempt to engage and involve learners in
the content of the lesson.
The next activity was a Group Support Activity (see Slide 3), in which learners
were divided into self-selected groups and given 30 minutes to work on questions
based on the online lecture and readings (see Appendix “Example of Questions
Based on Online Lecture and Readings”). Learners were allowed to refer to the
online lectures and readings and seek clarification from the lecturer. The group
work was revealing and functioned as an opportunity for Assessment for Learning,
as it showed which students had or had not completed the pre-class activities. It also
allowed the lecturer, who was circulating among the groups, to note common areas
of difficulty or misunderstanding. Learners were told that there would be a quiz
after the discussion and the quiz items were based on topics they had discussed.
Students were selected at random to pick a question strip to answer in front of the
class. The rationale behind these two activities was to provide scaffolding to
learners who may not have prepared adequately (or even at all!), to monitor which
students had done the preparation, to assess understanding, and to “warn” them that
if they were unprepared they would be held to account, if not by the teacher, then
by their peers!
Although this was a flipped lesson, it included some elements of a traditional
lesson in the form of a short lecture to summarize and extend key discussion points
(especially those points that were observed to have caused confusion during the
earlier group discussion) and to set the stage for a role-play activity (see Slides 4
and 5). The lecturer provided opportunities for learners to practice listening and
note-taking skills in an authentic content-based lesson. Coyle, Hood, and Marsh
(2010) note that in addition to linguistic gains, the CLIL approach promotes cog-
nitive and motivational benefits, which, in turn, enhances the learning of content
and the role of the teacher. At the end of the lecture, participants were asked to
share their positions on the question, “Is an early start always better?” and to defend
their position with arguments from the lecture and readings they had done before
the lesson, hence linking pre-class to in-class activities.
The role-play involved dividing the class into two groups. Playing the role of
members of the Parent Support Group, participants had to convince the school to
start teaching English in Grade 1. The other group played the role of the school
administration: Principal, Vice-Principal, and teachers. They had to explain to the
parents why the school did not want to start teaching English in Grade 1 (see Slide
6). Both sides were expected to use arguments based on the online lecture and
readings to argue their positions, again linking pre-class and in-class activities. In
preparation for the role-play, the groups were given 15 minutes to consolidate their
arguments and prepare rebuttals. The lecturer played the role of Chairperson,
inviting comments and rebuttals from each group and managing turn-taking as
needed. The role-play provided practice in public speaking, debating, and
28 M. Yeo

functional language use such as agreeing and disagreeing. It also raised awareness
of aspects of communicative competence such turn-taking, claiming a turn, and
relinquishing a turn.
“Personalized education tailored to their individual needs” (p. 6) was one of the
tenets in Bergmann and Sams’ (2012) original conception of flipped learning. The
final activity involved personalizing the content according to the context of par-
ticipants (see Slide 7). Participants were put in country groupings according to
shared linguistic and cultural factors: Brunei, the Philippines, and Singapore (where
English is the medium of instruction); Vietnam and Myanmar (where English is a
foreign language); and Indonesia and Malaysia (where the policy of English as a
medium of instruction for selected subjects had been implemented but was chan-
ged). Within their groups, participants discussed three questions: (1) When do
children start learning English in your country(ies)? (2) Do you think this is an
appropriate age? Why/Why not? (3) What are the main issues faced when we start
at this age for (a) students (b) teachers? They then presented their perspectives to
the class. This activity allowed participants to sieve out ideas from the online
lecture, readings, and role-plays that were relevant and meaningful to their contexts.
Gathering and synthesizing valid, reliable, and relevant data from multiple sources
are important academic English skills, and this activity provided a personalized
context for learners to practice and apply these skills.

Technologies

A Learning Management System (LMS) called AsknLearn, created by a local

Singaporean company, was used as a platform for the online lectures, readings, and
forums (www.asknlearn.com). This platform is relatively inexpensive and easy to
use as it was designed for public schools across all grade levels from primary to
tertiary. Online lectures were created by recording the lecturer’s explanations onto
PowerPoint slides. As the course was delivered to participants throughout Southeast
Asia, including countries with poor Internet connectivity, the lecturer also provided
transcripts of the recordings as PDF files in the event that participants were unable
to access the recordings.

Evaluation of the Flipped Lessons

To evaluate the effectiveness of the flipped classroom as a teaching approach and

identify ways to implement flipped learning more effectively in the future, three
aspects were examined: completion of the pre-class activities; participation during
in-class activities; and participant response to a survey. Although three lessons were
flipped, the evaluation of completion of pre-class activities and participation during
in-class activities was limited to the lesson described above. While this is
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 29

acknowledged as a limitation, the decision to focus on one lesson was taken for
practical reasons; it was difficult for the lecturer to carry out the role of teacher and
researcher effectively over the span of three lessons. The third aspect, participant
feedback on the flipped learning approach, was evaluated after the completion of
three flipped lessons as it was necessary for participants to have enough experience
of flipped learning to offer meaningful feedback.

Completion of Pre-class Activities

One of the advantages of using an LMS is that it allows the lecturer to monitor if
students have attempted or completed various pre-class activities. The system can
provide reports of the usage of the whole group and individual users, detailing the
number of attempts and time spent on a particular resource. An illustrative example
is shown in Fig. 1, where an empty circle indicates that the student has not
attempted a particular task. With regards to the pre-class activities for the flipped
lesson (Lesson 5), all participants had accessed the PowerPoint presentation and
article by Abello-Contesse (2008). The PowerPoint was accessed 61 times for a
maximum of 59 minutes and an average of 5 minutes. The article by
Abello-Contesse was accessed 39 times for a maximum of 41 minutes and an
average of 3 minutes. The variation between the maximum and average can be
explained by the different ways learners used the LMS. While some read the article

Fig. 1 Screenshot of a task participation report from the LMS

30 M. Yeo

online, others would have downloaded and even printed copies of the resources. It
should be noted that this data does not allow us to gauge the extent of the learners’
engagement with the activity nor their depth of understanding.

Observation of Participation During In-Class Activities

Teacher observation of group discussions and assessment of student responses were

used to evaluate participation. During the Group Support Activity, it was observed
that 12 of the 13 participants had made printouts of the PowerPoint presentations
with the lecture transcripts (PDF file) and the readings. While some had clearly
studied these resources closely, evidenced by highlights, annotations, and even
separate notes, a handful had not studied the notes prior to coming to class as they
were trying to read the transcript and article while their group members were
discussing the questions. In each group, there appeared to be some “passengers”
who were relying on other group members to provide the answers. These students,
however, were forced to participate during the quiz as there were 13 questions for
13 students and each student was selected at random to answer a question. Those
who came unprepared answered the questions by reading their notes from the group
discussion and, when probed further, were unable to explain their responses.

Survey of Learner Perceptions

On the completion of the third flipped lesson, an anonymous survey created on

Survey Monkey was administered to gather information about learners’ perceptions
of flipped learning (see Table 1). The focus of the questions was mainly to evaluate
how well the lecturer had implemented flipped learning, as it was the first time she
had attempted this approach. The first item sought to discover how many in the
group had had prior experience of flipped learning. In Item 2, participants
responded to 15 statements about three aspects of flipped learning: first, the
methods of delivery such as viewing, reading, listening to lecture (Items 1, 2, 3, 9,
12, 13, and 14); second, the materials, mainly the online lectures, transcripts, and
readings (Items 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8); and third, issues in managing flipped learning,
particularly, low engagement in pre-class activities (Items 10 and 11). There was a
final question about whether participants would themselves like to implement this
approach in their own teaching. A five-point Likert scale was used to enable par-
ticipants to Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (D), or Strongly
Disagree (SD) to each statement. In addition, there were four open-ended questions
about what they liked least, what they liked most, what the teacher should have
done about non-participating members, and suggestions on how to make the
implementation of flipped learning more effective.
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 31

Table 1 students’ perceptions of the class being flipped

No. Statement SA A N D SD
Methods
1 I enjoyed viewing the online lectures 3 5 5 0 0
62% 38% 0%
2 I would have preferred if the lecturer had explained 3 4 5 1 0
the content of the online lectures during class time 54% 38% 8%
3 I would have learnt the content better if it had been 4 3 4 2 0
delivered during class time 54% 31% 15%
9 The class activities helped to clarify content from 7 6 0 0 0
the online lectures and materials 100% 0% 0%
12 The flipped classroom approach made the learning 5 6 1 0 1
of content less boring 84% 8% 8%
13 The flipped classroom approach allowed me to 5 4 3 1 0
learn content at my own pace 69% 23% 8%
14 I would like more of the content to be presented as 1 4 7 1 0
online lectures 38% 54% 8%
Materials
4 It was useful having the lecturer’s voice on the 4 2 6 1 0
online lectures 46% 46% 8%
5 It was useful having a transcript of the online 10 3 0 0 0
lectures 100% 0% O%
6 The readings helped me understand the content of 8 5 0 0 0
the lectures 100% 0% O%
7 There was too much reading 1 6 4 2 0
54% 31% 15%
8 The readings were too difficult 0 3 4 5 1
23% 31% 46%
Issues in managing flipped learning
10 I completed all the necessary viewing/reading 3 5 5 0 0
before the lessons 62% 38% 0%
11 Everyone in my group had completed all the 1 3 4 5 0
necessary viewing/reading before the lessons 31% 31% 38%
15 I would like to try the flipped classroom approach 7 3 1 1 1
with my own students 77% 8% 15%

“Quasi statistics,” a term coined by Becker in 1970 (cited by Maxwell, 2010,

p. 476), were used to analyze the data for trends. Of the 13 participants, nine had
not experienced the flipped learning approach. In response to statements about the
methods of learning used in the flipped approach, there was strong agreement
(Strongly Agree or Agree) to Item 9 “The class activities helped to clarify content
from the online lectures and readings.” Eighty-four percent also agreed that the
flipped approach made “learning of the content less boring” (Item 12). Students had
32 M. Yeo

mixed reactions to statements about enjoying viewing online lectures (Item 1) and
preferred to have more traditional lecturing and explanations (Item 2). However,
only five agreed or strongly agreed that they wanted more content to be presented
through online lectures (Item 14). There were mixed reactions to the statement that
content would have been learned better using a face-to-face mode of delivery, with
less than half agreeing with this statement (Item 3).
In response to statements about the materials, there was strong agreement that “It
was useful having a transcript of the online lectures” (Item 5), with 77% even
expressing “strong agreement.” Surprisingly, only 46%—less than half—agreed or
strongly agreed that “It was useful having the lecturer’s voice on the online lecture”
(Item 4). Responses about the readings were very mixed. While all 13 agreed or
strongly agreed that “The readings helped me understand the content of the lec-
tures” (Item 6), responses about the amount and difficulty of the readings varied.
Although 54% felt that there was too much reading, the remainder responded
neutrally, with two even disagreeing with this statement. Similarly, there were
mixed reactions to the statement that the readings were too difficult, with 46%
disagreeing, suggesting the level of difficulty of the readings was manageable for
some but not others.
Finally, the responses to items about management of learning, specifically
completion of all the necessary reading/viewing before coming to class, were
somewhat inconsistent. In response to Item 10, “I completed all the necessary
reading/viewing before coming to class,” there was no disagreement (which would
suggest that everyone had completed the preparation) but five “neutral” responses.
However, in response to the statement “Everyone in my group had completed all the
necessary reading/viewing before coming to class” (Item 11), 38% disagreed,
suggesting that some of their group members had not completed the
reading/viewing.
Despite earlier misgivings about various aspects of flipped learning, in response
to the final item, 77% agreed or strongly agreed that they would like to try this
approach with their own students (Item 15).
Items 3–6 were open-ended questions that allowed respondents to elaborate on
responses from earlier questions or provide feedback about different aspects of the
flipped approach not covered in earlier questions.
In response to Item 3, “Write down three things you liked least about the flipped
classroom approach,” 23 distinct comments were made. Respondents pointed out
that the online method of delivery did not allow opportunities for interaction with
the teacher to ask questions or seek clarification and further explanation.
Furthermore, there were no opportunities for interaction with other learners: “We
can’t discuss with other students. It cannot offer interaction between teacher and
students and among students.” One respondent stated “I prefer working with people
than working alone. I sometimes feel in-secured when doing some tasks. I was
wondering if I understood what I was doing was right or wrong.” There were also
complaints about the online lecture and reading materials being too long and
difficult.
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 33

The main criticisms were related to the management of flipped learning.

Comments such as “The limited time (only a day) to catch up with all reading
material,” “Limited reading time, Long articles,” “lots of reading need to be done
in a limited time, quiet stressful if it is done everyday, struggling with the difficult
contents,” “Give at least 02–04 days time length to do reading otherwise time
constrain of just only reading for an overview,” and “The ‘flipped classroom’
lessons were placed too close to each other, so there wasn’t much time to do the
necessary work before attending the lectures” reveal participants’ dissatisfaction
with the time they had to complete the readings in preparation for the next lesson.
The other key concern pertained to the lack of preparation of group members
who had not completed the input activities before coming to class. One respondent
diplomatically commented: “Could be embarrassing if students did not do the
reading/viewing, they will not be able to contribute in the group.” Other respon-
dents were more pointed: “Having members in the group who can’t contribute
during the activities as they have not done the necessary work beforehand, so it
feels like you are 1 or 2 man short. Similarly, having members who are reluctant to
speak/offer ideas” and “There is no way to make sure that students will cooperate.”
Item 4 asked learners to list three things they liked most about the flipped
learning approach. Encouragingly, 35 distinct comments were recorded in contrast
to the 23 about what they liked least, hence positive comments outweighed negative
ones. The responses generally fell into two categories: those related to the devel-
opments in the learner (8 comments) and those related to improvements in the
learning process (27 comments). The flipped classroom approach was reported to
increase learners’ confidence, readiness/preparedness for class, learner indepen-
dence, self-monitoring, and sense of accomplishment. Commenting on the benefits
of this approach, one respondent stated, “The learners become well-prepared, more
independent in learning and able to share ideas/opinions/suggestions in class.”
Another added that flipped learning could “Help students to be more independent
and responsible to manage their own learning…Promote collaborative learning.”
Qualitative data also showed that flipping improved the learning process. Before the
lessons, learners could prepare by viewing and reading the materials, listening to
the lecturer’s voiceover in their own time, at their own pace, and in any convenient
location as the materials were available online. Listening to the lecture online was
reported to be less stressful than listening in a face-to-face situation. Respondents
said that they could “listen again and again,” had “more time to see again and
again,” and write down questions for the teacher to answer in class. As well, having
varied inputs including viewing PowerPoints with voice-overs, viewing online
videos, and reading different articles helped “break the monotony,” as reported by
one learner.
The benefits were also apparent during the learning process in class, with
learners commenting that lessons were less boring and involved less teacher talk.
Having “enjoyable activities” and “an active classroom” to create more opportu-
nities for collaboration and group discussion, as well as greater chances to apply
their learning were some of the areas students liked most. In the main, respondents
commented that the flipped learning approach had transformed what happened
34 M. Yeo

during class time. Not only was understanding increased because the pre-class
activities had provided a schema for learning, but learners were engaged as active
participants who constructed learning with their teacher and peers, rather than
passive recipients of content knowledge.
Item 5 asked what the teacher should have done about learners who did not
complete their viewings or readings before coming to class. The responses of
learners fell into two categories: support or consequence. Of the 17 comments, 12
suggested providing support before or during the lesson. It was suggested that the
lecturer posted lessons well in advance, sent reminders and/or notifications, and
presented overviews of the content and rationale of the online lesson and materials
before learners did the online preparation on their own. Other forms of support
suggested by the participants included starting the lesson by providing notes and
giving a brief lecture of the online materials.
Student recommendations on how to deal with those who had not done prepa-
ration ranged from one extreme to another. There were suggestions of leniency, that
the lecturer should find out why a student had not done the preparation and give
advice, or get other group members to assist them or give extensions. At the other
extreme were punitive measures such as including graded activities based on the
readings and online lectures or putting all those who had not prepared in the same
group. A radical suggestion was that the teacher should do nothing so that the
students in question would realize the pressure they were putting on their peers. As
one very honest student commented:
I think the teacher does not need to do anything because those ones who did not do the
viewing or the reading would experience the hardest time for the lesson. They have nothing
to share and contribute in group work and the lesson ends in a disaster. I was in this
situation and no one dares to do it a second time.

Finally, responding to the question on how to make the flipped classroom

approach more effective, learners felt that the methods of learning could be made
more interactive by including online forums. As well, the lecturer was advised to
provide an overview of the online lesson before students had to do it independently
and to provide clear information about the tasks to be completed. Learners wanted
materials that were brief, manageable, and accessible to all proficiency levels. As
some learners had experienced problems with Internet connectivity, they wanted
printed copies of the readings and offline video files to be provided. Many com-
ments related to time and behavior management. Learners wanted more time to
complete the readings and viewing, suggesting that the flipped lessons should have
been better spaced with longer intervals between lessons. One suggestion to reduce
the reading load was to adopt a jigsaw reading approach and assign learners dif-
ferent parts of the reading. Finally, to improve group work and cooperative
learning, one respondent suggested getting group members to assess the group’s
performance.
Table 2 summarizes responses to Items 3–6 in terms of what worked, what failed
and suggestions for improvement in the areas of methods of delivery, materials
used, and time and behavior management during the three flipped classes.
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 35

Table 2 Summary of responses to items 3–6

Areas Liked most Liked least Respondents’
suggestions
Methods – Reading lecture – Viewing – Include online
transcripts PowerPoint forums to increase
– Reading academic lectures (with opportunities for
articles voiceover of interaction during
– Participating in lecturer reading the pre-class phase
enjoyable, transcript) – Provide an overview
interactive, and – Lack of interaction of the content of the
collaborative with lecturer and upcoming flipped
activities classmates during lesson
pre-class “input” – Provide clear
phase instructions about
– Too much reading tasks
Materials – Transcripts of online – Online lectures too – Make online lectures
lectures long (20 min) shorter and easier
– Readings too long – Provide print copies
of the readings
– Provide offline
versions of
PowerPoint
presentations
Management – Opportunity for – Insufficient time -Increase interval
(Time or autonomous, between flipped between flipped
Behavior) self-paced learning lessons lessons
(anytime, any place, – Some participants – Adopt a “jigsaw”
as many times as did not complete method to lessen
needed) pre-class viewing reading load
and reading – Get learners to
peer-assess group
members’
participation

Discussion and Conclusions

Judging from completion of the pre-class activities, participation during in-class

activities, and learner response on the survey, several lessons can be learnt from the
flipped classroom experiment that will inform the implementation of this approach
in the future. Methods of learning that were found to be most effective were reading
transcripts and articles and participating in interactive and collaborative in-class
activities. A surprising finding was that the recordings of the online lectures were
not as useful as the transcripts, for some because of poor connectivity and for others
because it was more convenient and faster to read the transcript rather than listen to
the lectures. In future courses, as a means of scaffolding learners, the lecturer should
36 M. Yeo

provide a brief introduction to the content and purpose of the lesson and explain
how the content will be used in the following class. Learner training on how to
approach the online preparation should also be included and this could be done by
having learners undertake their preparation for the first flipped lesson under the
supervision of the lecturer.
Although some learners complained that the online lectures and readings were
too long and difficult, the real issue may not have been with the materials but with
inadequate time for preparation. Learners had three days to complete viewing the
20-minute online lecture and academic reading before the first flipped lesson.
However, between the second and third flipped lessons, they only had one after-
noon to complete viewing a 30-minute lecture and reading 24 pages from their
textbook. Therefore, if the flipped lessons had been better spaced out, with longer
intervals between the lessons, learners would have had more time to complete the
viewing and reading tasks and could have broken them down into manageable
bite-sized tasks, viewing a few slides at a time or reading sections at a time, instead
of having to complete the tasks in a hurry.
Turning finally to dealing with students who fail to complete their preparation, it
seems that the advice of the honest learner—to let them swim or sink—while
seemingly unsupportive, may be appropriate to encourage learners to be more
responsible and autonomous in their learning. Positive and educative measures such
as creating information gap and graded activities based on the online lectures and
readings are preferable to punitive ones like isolating non-compliant learners or
enabling ones, like going over the content of the pre-class lectures and readings at
the start of each class.
From the evaluation, it is clear that the implementation of the three flipped
lessons could have been better conceptualized and managed. Despite these failures,
the flipped learning experiment that was carried out as part of the Second Language
Acquisition module helped in developing learner agency through affective and
metacognitive gains. Most of all, there was greater learner engagement and inter-
action during class activities. Instead of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”
and abandoning flipped learning altogether, simple measures such as providing
additional scaffolding and learner training and timetabling flipped lessons with
greater forethought could greatly improve the delivery of flipped lessons in the
future.
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 37

Appendix 1: Survey on Perceptions of the Flipped

Classroom (Administered on Survey Monkey)

Q1. Have you ever experienced the flipped classroom approach before?
Yes No
Q2. Please choose the answer that best reflects your views:
Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (D), or Strongly Disagree (SD)
No. Statement SA S N D SD
1 I enjoyed viewing the online lectures.
2 I would have preferred if the lecturer had explained the content of the
online lectures during class time.
3 I would have learnt the content better if it had been delivered during
class time
4 It was useful having the lecturer’s voice on the online lectures.
5 It was useful having a transcript of the online lectures.
6 The readings helped me understand the content of the lectures.
7 There was too much reading.
8 The readings were too difficult.
9 The class activities helped to clarify content from the online lectures and
materials.
10 I completed all the necessary viewing/reading before the lessons.
11 Everyone in my group had completed all the necessary viewing/reading
before the lessons.
12 The flipped classroom approach made the learning of content less
boring.
13 The flipped classroom approach allowed me to learn content at my own
pace.
14 I would like more of the content to be presented as online lectures.
15 I would like to try the flipped classroom approach with my own students

Q3. Write down three things you liked LEAST about the flipped classroom approach.
Q4. Write down three things you liked MOST about the flipped classroom approach.
Q5. What should the teacher have done about students who did not complete the
viewing/reading before the lesson?
Q6. Please provide some suggestions on how the flipped classroom approach could be done
more effectively.
38 M. Yeo

Distribution of lessons
Week Days/Lesson
1 Tuesday—Lesson 1
2 Tuesday—Lesson 2
3 Monday—Lesson 3
Wednesday—Lesson 4
Thursday—Lesson 5 (flipped)
4 Monday—Lesson 6 (flipped)
Tuesday—Lesson 7 (flipped)
Thursday—Lesson 8
Friday—Lesson 9
5 Monday—Lesson 10
Tuesday—Lesson 11
Wednesday—Lesson 12
6 Tuesday—Lesson 13

Appendix 2: PowerPoint Slides—Progression of Flipped

Lesson

Slide 1
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 39

Slide 2

Slide 3
40 M. Yeo

Slide 4

Slide 5
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 41

Slide 6

Slide 7
42 M. Yeo

Appendix 3: Example of Questions Based on Online Lecture

and Readings
Flipping or Flopping: Lessons Learnt from Flipping … 43

Appendix 4: Perceptions of a Flipped Classroom Survey

Form
44 M. Yeo

References

Abello-Contesse, C. (2008). Age and the critical period hypothesis. ELT Journal, 63(2), 170–172.
Becker, H. S. (1970). Field work evidence. Sociological work: Method and substance (pp. 39–62).
New Brunswick, NJ, USA: Transaction Books.
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every
day. Eugene, OR, USA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university. New York, NY, USA: Open
University Press.
Biggs, J. B., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the Student
Does. Maidenhead, UK: SRHE & Open University Press.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning (1st
ed.). Cambridge, MA, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Toronto:
Multilingual Matters.
Dale, L., & Tanner, R. (2012). CLIL activities: A resource for subject and language teachers.
Cambridge, MA, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Faulty Focus Special Report. (2016). Flipped classroom trends: A survey of college faculty.
Retrieved from April 19, http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-reports/flipped-classroom-trends-a-
survey-of-college-faculty/.
Ferris, D. (1998). Students’ views of academic aural/oral skills. TESOL Quarterly, 32(2), 289–318.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Hattie, J. (2016). Visible learning for literacy, grades K-12: Implementing
the practices that work best to accelerate student learning. Corwin Press.
Hattie, J. A. C. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of 800+ meta-analyses on achievement.
Abingdon: Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. London:
Routledge.
Kim, S. (2006). Academic oral communication needs of East Asian international graduate students
in non-science and non-engineering fields. English for Specific Purposes, 25(4), 479–489.
Lynch, T. (2015). International students’ perceptions of university lectures in English. ISEJ—
International Student Experience Journal, 3(1). Retrieved from http://isejournal.weebly.com/
uploads/1/6/3/1/16311372/isej_028.01.15_tony.pdf.
Maxwell, J. A. (2010). Using numbers in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 475–482.
Morell, T., Garcia, M., & Sanchez, I. (2008). Multimodal strategies for effective academic
presentation in English for non-native speakers. In R, Monroy & A. Sanchez (Eds.), 25 years
of applied linguistics in Spain: Milestones and challenges (pp. 557–568). Universidad de
Murcia (Editum).
Munoz, C. (2010). On how age affects foreign language learning. In Advances in research on
language acquisition and teaching: Selected papers (pp. 39–49). Thessaloniki: Greek Applied
Linguistic Association. http://www.enl.auth.gr/gala/14th/Papers/Invited%20Speakers/Munoz.
pd.
Richards, J. C. (2017). Teaching English through English: Proficiency, pedagogy and
performance. RELC Journal, 47(1), 1–24.
Tyler, R. W. (1949). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago, IL, USA: University
of Chicago press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson
for a Teacher Training Course

Martha Ramirez

Abstract This chapter presents a description of a connected speech lesson applied

within a case study of an 8-week teacher training blended course in Bogotá,
Colombia. First, the author provides an overview of the course as well as of the
student population it was applied to: English language teachers of Spanish speakers.
Next, a step by step process of the lesson plan is described, including the in class
and out of class activities. Furthermore, this chapter presents an explanation of the
technological resources used for the different types of activities included in the plan
together with a description of how evaluation and assessment took place along the
lesson. Afterward, an analysis of the application of a flipped learning approach is
provided, which consists of explaining why this approach was chosen, the benefits
for the author as well as for students and what to keep in mind when flipping.
Finally, the author reflects on both the findings and results that emerged from the
case study along with those of the specific lesson presented in this chapter, which
are followed by overall conclusions and implications for future pronunciation
lessons.

Introduction

Teaching pronunciation nowadays can be a true challenge. One of them is the

limited knowledge educators have on how to approach the teaching of pronunci-
ation in their classes (Derwing, 2010; Scrivener, 2005). This idea is reinforced by
Yates and Zielinski (2009) when they state that “it is not given the attention it
deserves in teacher preparation courses” (p. 6). Brown (2014) also points out that
there is a poor coverage of this field in English language trainee teacher courses.
Moreover, students request to be taught pronunciation and are inclined to work hard
on it, regardless of its low priority treatment in the classroom (Hewings, 2004).

M. Ramirez (&)
Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
e-mail: contacto@martharamirez.com.co

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 45

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_4
46 M. Ramirez

In light of the above and due to a shortage of teaching pronunciation courses

available for English teachers, I designed a blended course with a flipped learning
model on pronunciation pedagogy, which was offered to English teachers at a
private university in Bogotá, Colombia. The following chapter will focus on a
lesson implemented in this course on connected speech. It can give educators a
number of ideas about how to teach this feature and, more importantly, can provide
steps to address any given pronunciation feature within the flipped learning
approach. It is also an invitation for teachers to take the plunge and teach aspects of
pronunciation while allowing flipping to become an ally through a number of
accessible online instructional resources (images, videos, audios, and texts). The
usage of virtual material and other available resources can allow the people who
educate to enhance their classroom work without necessarily being a pronunciation
sensei themselves.

Overview of Course

The teacher training blended course on pronunciation pedagogy was an 8-week

course consisting of a 2-hour face-to-face (F2F) session a week, complemented by
4–6 hours of weekly independent work. A flipped learning approach was adopted
due to two main reasons. First of all, covering pronunciation features includes a
considerable number of minutiae, since there are many rules that a teacher must
learn and understand when teaching in this field. Hence, the decision to flip allowed
students to learn all the details behind each pronunciation feature in order to apply
what was learned in the face-to-face sessions. The amount of content planned in this
course would not have been fully covered if it had only been set within a traditional
teaching method. Consequently, the second reason had to do with the hard work
behind explaining all the content to be covered in the 8-week period of the course,
which would have been marathonic had it not been flipped; the use of mostly
curated material permitted the in-class teaching time to be focused on situated,
active, and meaningful learning.
The content of the course was accessed through a platform called Fronter, which
contains explanations, articles, presentations, videos, audio, assigned teaching
tasks, pronunciation recording tasks, and interactive exercises to practice the pro-
nunciation features. The course covered different pronunciation features (sounds,
stress, connected speech, intonation, rhythm, etc.), teaching approaches, strategies,
and activities. It is important to clarify that the participants of this course were
English teachers who took on a double role: as students within the course and as
teachers at the moment of applying the concepts learned in their own contexts. For
the purpose of this lesson description, they will be referred to as Teacher-students
(TSs).
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 47

In the course, TSs were expected to work independently on the platform in the
different activities assigned for the week (mainly focused on learning the content)
and then attend the F2F session to clarify doubts, socialize, and carry out teaching
activities they were encouraged to apply in their own contexts. The face-to-face
session was offered once a week and the online session was made available every
following week prior the F2F session, so TSs would have 7 days to access the
information beforehand and prepare the assignments for their session.
The course objectives were: (a) to identify the different features of pronuncia-
tion, (b) to apply a variety of activities in their own classes for different pronun-
ciation features, (c) to design a lesson plan for pronunciation within a
communicative framework, (d) to design their own material for pronunciation
purposes, and (e) to gain awareness of their own pronunciation issues and work on
improving them.

Context of Student Population

The TSs of this course were 10 Hispanic English teachers with undergraduate
studies in Language Teaching and teaching experience at University and/or K-12
contexts. Their English proficiency level was between B2 and C1 in the Common
European Framework for Reference of Languages (CEFR) and their education level
went from a Bachelor´s degree to a specialization and/or Master’s degree. The
participants reported that their main motivations to take the course were based on
improving their own pronunciation and learning different ways to teach it in their
classes.

Introduction to the Lesson

This lesson corresponds to the activities carried out in week 6 of the syllabus. In the
online session, the specific objectives were aimed at reflecting on how people are
perceived based on their accents, and understanding the rules of connected speech
about the assimilation or dissimilation, and disappearance of sounds in specific
speech contexts. Moreover, the F2F session aimed to clarify doubts about the
content learned in the online session, discuss positions regarding accent and
identity, socialize song activities planned and taught by the different
teacher-students, learn ideas for teaching pronunciation with songs, and carry out a
song pronunciation activity.
48
Lesson Plan
The following chart describes the overview of the lesson in the online and in the
F2F session (Table 1).
Technologies
For the fulfillment of this lesson, the use of different technological resources was
indispensable.
Table 1 Lesson plan
Activity
Online Session—Week 6
1 Task assignment
2 Readings about accent
3 Forum: What do you think about what has
been stated in the articles regarding
accent? Do you agree or disagree?
4 Accents website (optional)
5 Explanation of connected speech rules
6 Task: recording of connected speech
Face-To-Face Session—Week 6
1 Discussion: Clarifying doubts (10 min)
2 Recording task feedback (10 min)
3 Pair discussion: Bias on accent and
identity (30 min)
4 Group discussion: Song activities (30 min)
5 Explanation: Ideas for teaching with songs
(10 min)
6 Listening song activity (20 min)
M. Ramirez
Objective
To plan and apply a pronunciation song
activity and post activities and reflections
in a forum
To read four articles regarding accents
(latino accents, accent and fluency,
influence in an accent when getting hired,
accent and identity)
To post opinions about the articles read
To explore a website on accents around the
world
To learn the rules of connected speech for
assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, and
epenthesis
To post a recording applying connected
speech rules based on individual needs
To discuss and clarify doubts about
content studied in the online session
To give teacher-students feedback on their
recordings
To agree or disagree on controversial
statements concerning accent (based on
readings and forum posts)
To socialize about song activities
teacher-students planned and applied in
their classes
To get familiarized with more ideas on
how to teach with songs
To listen to a song and apply different
pronunciation activities learned in class
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 49

Online Session Fronter was used to host the content and the variety of activities
and resources that TSs were required to study on their own. It was through this
resource that the flipping was carried out. This LMS was chosen because it offered
the possibility to host the course privately, requiring user sign on and, in practical
terms, it allowed the upload of a number of content formats (images, ppt, pdf, word
docs, audio, video), forums, tutorials, and a direct recording option. This last option
was essential for the course, since some tasks required TSs recording themselves in
order to receive feedback on their pronunciation. Additionally, the interface was
easy to edit and user-friendly. The website used was pearsoncolombia.fronter.com
(Figs. 1 and 2).
The following resources were used within the LMS for a variety of teaching and
learning purposes:
Forums Two forums were created for this lesson: one to post opinions about
accents and another one to share the song activity planned, followed by a reflection
on its application. In this way, there was online interaction before the F2F session,
which contributed to the in-class discussion.
Embedded links Links with the articles on accent were embedded in the lesson
page and an website with a variety of accents was also included so that TSs could
come prepared to class with different perspectives on topics such as accent bias,
prejudice, and identity, and with an understanding on how different accents
sounded.
PDF files Other articles on accent were uploaded in pdf format which TSs could
download and save to their computers.

Fig. 1 Screenshot of lesson for week 6—section on accents

50 M. Ramirez

Fig. 2 Screenshot of lesson for week 6—section on connected speech

YouTube videos For the explanations of some connected speech rules, curated
YouTube videos were embedded to clarify and exemplify how they worked in a
visual way.
Images Some rules of connected speech were shown through images I created on
my own to provide the examples needed in a visually helpful way.
Face-to-Face Session. Different resources were used in the F2F session:
(a) A PowerPoint presentation was designed to guide discussions with questions as
well as to present new teaching ideas.
(b) A laptop was used to display the PowerPoint presentation.
(c) A video projector was necessary to show the PowerPoint presentation and to do
listening song activity.
(d) Computer speakers were necessary for the audio of the song activity.
(e) A video camera was used to record the whole session, which would then be
uploaded to YouTube and made available to TSs through Fronter, in case they
wanted to review or if they had missed the class (Fig. 3).

Pre-class Tasks

In this flipped lesson, the pre-class tasks were crucial for the fulfillment of the
in-class tasks; they were the base of some of the activities, and they allowed the F2F
session to advance in other topics, since more complex content had already been
covered. TSs were required to work on a variety of activities during the week (From
Saturday to Thursday) and come prepared to class (Friday) with the online lesson
ready and completed. Thanks to having flipped the content, I was able to do more
participative and reflective activities.
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 51

Fig. 3 Screenshot of F2F session content. Note After every F2F session, the resources
(PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, videos, etc.) used in the session were made available as
well as the recordings of the session (in an embedded YouTube video)

Task assignment In this lesson, TSs were assigned a task which consisted of
teaching a pronunciation feature with a song within the same week the task was
assigned. They were free to choose the feature according to their students’ needs.
The task was posted on the LMS,which required TSs to post the description of the
activity they prepared, including the level, number of students and pronunciation
feature being taught in a forum. Moreover, they were asked to share the YouTube
link of the song they used, worksheets or additional resources implemented, and a
reflection of the outcome of the activity. A tutorial on how to post in the forum was
also provided. In order to determine if the task had been carried out, I checked the
forum and commented on TSs’ work. This task was then socialized in the F2F
session.
Readings about accent In order to prepare for the in-class discussion regarding
accent, the readings in this topic were flipped and TSs were asked to read four
articles that covered different perspectives on this topic, mainly focusing on the role
accent has on shaping perceptions people have about identity and speech fluency
when hiring for a job.
Forum As a follow-up to the readings on accent, TSs had to answer the forum
question (What do you think about what has been stated in the articles regarding
accent? Do you agree or disagree?) and respond to their classmates’ posts to add
and contribute to the discussion. My role as a teacher was to read and also respond
to the posts. This discussion was later addressed in one of the in-class activities.
52 M. Ramirez

Accent website To enrich TSs’ knowledge and understanding of accents, they

were exposed to the Speech Accent Archive website (http://accent.gmu.edu/index.
php) as a resource they could use for their own knowledge or for their classes.
Explanation of Connected Speech Rules In the previous lesson, TSs had been
presented with the definition of connected speech as well as the rules about con-
tractions, blends, reduction, and linking. In this lesson, the rules, explanation, and
examples for assimilation, dissimilation, deletion, and epenthesis were flipped and
introduced through the platform. Some of the explanations included curated
YouTube videos and various examples.
Task: Recording of connected speech Keeping in mind that the focus of this
course was also for TSs to improve their own pronunciation, they were assigned a
recording task in every lesson. For this lesson, they were asked to record themselves
saying the examples provided in the online session applying the rules of connected
speech. Their choice of rules to record depended on their pronunciation needs.
Their deadline for this task was on Wednesday, so that I could provide the feedback
in the F2F session on Friday. TSs were provided with the tutorial on how to use the
LMS recording tool, in case they needed it.
In light of the above, flipping the accent readings as well as the connected speech
rule set the pace for the limited 2-hour F2F session.

In-Class Activities

The following activities corresponded to the F2F session of 120 min.

Discussion (10 min) The F2F lesson started with a Q & A session to clarify doubts
TSs had in regards to the content learned in the online session. This initial dis-
cussion was very important because it allowed me to connect to TSs’ online
autonomous work and make sure everyone was on the same page with what they
had studied.
Recording task feedback (10 min) After clarifying doubts, hand-written feedback
was handed out to each student of the connected speech recording they had posted.
Doubts were clarified.
Pair discussion (30 min) TSs were placed in pairs and given prompts to discuss
about accent and identity, which were projected in a PowerPoint presentation.
The prompts were:
• There is bias with specific accents
• Accents are part of our identity
• Reducing one’s accent means losing one’s identity.
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 53

TSs were asked to agree or disagree and report their conclusions to the class,
leading to whole group discussion and general conclusions on the different
statements.
Group discussion (30 min) Next, TSs were asked to take out the song activities
they had planned and taught in their own classes. TSs were placed in groups of 3–4
people and they shared the activity, mentioning the context they applied it in and
their reflections on the outcome. I monitored as TSs discussed and listened. At
times, I also provided insight based on their’ forum answers and the articles read.
Finally, each group reported on one of the activities shared, including conclusions
that came up in the discussion.
Explanation (10 min) After the socialization of song activities, I projected a list of
additional activities that could be used to teach pronunciation with songs. This was
a brief explanation since the next activity was intended to put TSs in the role of
pronunciation learners as they carried out many of the different activities presented
to them (Fig. 4).
Listening song activity (20 min) Finally, TSs were given a worksheet of the song
“Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio, which was divided into different activities that
summed up the teaching of a number of pronunciation features learned up to that
moment (See Appendix B). The intention of this hands-on activity was to put TSs
in a learner role and allow them to make sense of and experience the activities in
order to understand how they worked and better visualize their use in their classes.
The student-centered learning environment was created through activities that
allowed TSs to apply and share what they had learned through the flipped lesson.

Fig. 4 PowerPoint presentation slide with brief explanation of activities (one of three slides)
54 M. Ramirez

This meant that the my role was focused mainly on monitoring, facilitating, and
moderating in-class activities instead of providing direct instruction. A flipped
approach allowed the teacher talking time to be reduced as much as possible so that
TSs were the ones who were talking, participating, and learning with and from each
other.
Throughout the course, not just this lesson, TSs were asked to provide constant
feedback on how they felt with the use of new technology; they reflected in their
personal online forum and participated in a focus group on what they thought of the
content, the lessons, and their own learning. Moreover, a pre- and post pronunci-
ation test was applied, which determined improvement of pronunciation features,
indicating success in the objective of the course aimed at this aspect. Furthermore,
the lesson plans and the reflections on tasks applied in the TSs’ different teaching
contexts demonstrated the course was situated, meaningful, and contextualized to
their needs.

Evaluation

A flipped learning approach was chosen for this course due to the extension of
topics proposed and complexity embedded in teaching about pronunciation as well
as its various pedagogical approaches, perspectives, and activities. Moreover, the
use of this method allowed me to rely on other experts in the field through carefully
selected video lessons which offered ready-made available explanations on topics I
was not an expert in.
My expectations were focused on being able to cover all the content of the
course while providing a stress-free online and F2F learning environment that
would foster student-centered active learning and meaningful application of content
learned online. Because I did not want to spend time on explanations, flipping
became ideal for this purpose. In general, flipping the hard content worked very
well. Student-teachers carried out the different activities proposed and even did the
optional ones, showing motivation, consciousness of their own learning, and
autonomy in the development of the tasks. Here, it is important to note that this
course was offered as a free course with no final grades or academic credits;
therefore, there was no real pressure for TSs to finish the course even though they
did so.
Furthermore, there are some aspects to keep in mind when flipping, which I
learned along the way. First of all, it is important to set deadlines in order for
students to organize their study time. Providing tutorials for technological resources
is also a must, even if students have already worked on them. There will be students
who do not have the hang of it, so it is always good to let them access explanations
on how the resources work at any time. Additionally, finding appropriate videos
that match our teaching objectives can be challenging and time consuming, but it is
extremely helpful in topics we are not sure how to explain. Besides, even though
creating your own videos takes time at first, you will be able to reuse them in future
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 55

courses, which will save time in the long run. Last but not least, providing recorded
feedback is very effective. Though it was not provided in the lesson described
above, it was provided in previous ones. Regardless of the time it takes to do so, I
believe it is worth the effort, since it allows the F2F class to focus on the more
important things instead of taking a whole class or more to provide individual
pronunciation feedback.

Findings and Results

A case study was implemented in the course containing the lesson described in this
chapter. The research question was aimed at identifying how Colombian in-service
teachers of English could successfully learn about the teaching of pronunciation
within a communicative approach through a situated blended learning environment.
This question led to the design, implementation, and evaluation of the course in
order to identify success factors, which included the application of flipped learning
in the process. Different data were collected through surveys, pre- and post diag-
nostic pronunciation recordings, a semi-structured interview, teacher-student writ-
ten reflections, the researcher’s reflexive diary, a focus group, and lesson plans.
One of the main findings of this study indicated that TSs improved their pro-
nunciation by the end of the course, especially in consonant sounds and linking.
Likewise, they demonstrated the application of communicative pronunciation
classes in their contexts, including various strategies learned in each lesson.
In regards to flipped learning, this approach became the threshold for situated
learning to take place, which allowed the content to become applicable in the
teacher-students’ real-life contexts (Stein, 1998). Moreover, the F2F sessions
focused on practical activities and reflections regarding the content learned online,
making learning more meaningful for participants and allowing them to choose and
adapt the content according to the demands of their particular teaching contexts
(Rodriguez-Romero, 2008).
A benefit highlighted by TSs of FL approach was being able to access the core
content at any time and work at their own pace (Singh, 2003; Graham, 2006; Bicen,
Ozdamali, & Uzunboylu, 2014); this meant that TSs could go back and review
when they needed to. They also expressed feeling comfortable with the platform
and resources used to display the content, as well as the various feedback strategies
(i.e., recorded feedback), which facilitated their comprehension.
Finally, shifting the responsibility of content learning from the teacher to the
students—through flipping—allowed not only to save class time but also to com-
press time in order to cover all the content and pedagogical knowledge proposed in
each lesson. The concept of time when planning changes at the moment of flipping.
On the one hand, a 5-min explanation to a group of students with various learning
styles and knowledge levels could become an extended class explanation, without
mentioning the students who might already know the content and feel they are
wasting their time. On the other hand, a 5-min online explanation will just take you
56 M. Ramirez

the time you required to find a ready-made explanation or to create your own
explanation, but it will depend on each student how long they take studying the
content in their personal learning spaces; this means, class time is not spent on an
explanation, so students who need more time can take it and those who need less or
no time will not be affected.

Conclusions and Future Prospects

Since I began flipping, I have not wanted to go back to traditional teaching. It is true
that learning to flip takes time as well as getting acquainted with the technological
tools required to do so, but once you flip and learn how to eventually save more
time in teaching instruction than you do in preparing the flip (especially in large
classes), then there is no turning back. Flipping is definitely the way to go if you are
aiming for meaningful learning F2F environments.
One of the main reasons I decided to flip my course was because teaching
pronunciation is not an easy area to approach or teach because of its various
features and complexity. However, other areas that imply time-consuming expla-
nations are ideal for flipping if you want to get more covered and take advantage of
class time. I currently flipped my literature and public speaking classes and have
found great benefits, not to mention my teen students’ positive reactions to the
flipping. Nevertheless, any content explanation could be flipped, whether it is
simple or complex. The implementation of flipping has to do more with wondering
what the teacher wants to really focus students’ class time on: instruction or
application. Through this course, students expressed a preference for the flipping
approach as well as the blended method. When asked if they would take the course
only in a face-to-face format, the answer was no.
It is evident that flipping has been shown to be optimal for teaching pronunci-
ation and pedagogy courses which require a large amount of content and theory.
Likewise, using a variety of technological resources was effective as well as the
different activities proposed. However, the amount of content covered in each
lesson was extensive and required many hours of online work for TSs. For a future
course, I would stretch out the topics in more weeks to allow more reflection and
internalization of topics on students’ behalf. Additionally, I have added new tools
that have recently emerged, which were not available at the time of designing and
implementing this lesson and course. With all the current resources and feasible
access to content of any kind, flipping is not only becoming easier to do, but it
should be seen as a viable option for the twenty-first century teacher.
Flipping a Pronunciation Lesson for a Teacher Training Course 57

References

Bicen, H., Ozdamli, F., & Uzunboylu, H. (2012). Online and blended learning approach on
instructional multimedia development courses in teacher education. Journal of Interactive
Learning Environments, 22(4), 529–548. doi:10.1080/10494820.2012.682586.
Brown, A. (2014). Pronunciation and phonetics: A practical guide for English language
teachers. New York, NY, USA: Routledge.
Derwing, T. M. (2010). Utopian goals for pronunciation teaching. In J. Levis & K. LeVelle (Eds.),
Proceedings of the 1st Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference,
Iowa State University, Sept. 2009. (pp. 24–37), Ames, IA: Iowa State University. Retrieved
from http://apling.public.iastate.edu/PSLLT/2009/derwing.pdf
Graham, C. R. (2006). Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends, and future directions.
In C. J. Bonk & C. R. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives
local designs (pp. 3–21). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Publishing.
Hewings, M. (2004). Pronunciation practice activities: A resource book for teaching
English pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rodriguez-Romero. (2008). Situated pedagogies, curricular justice and democratic teaching in
Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI, 2008) Innovating to learn, learning to
innovate, OECD Publishing.
Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning teaching: The essential guide to English language teaching.
Oxford: Macmillan.
Singh, H. (2003). Building effective blended learning programs. Educational Technology, 43(6),
51–54.
Stein, D. (1998). Situated learning in adult education. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/
1998-3/adult-education.html
Yates, L., & Zielinski, B. (2009). Give it a go: Teaching pronunciation to adults. Sydney: AMEP
Research Centre. Macquarie University.
Flipped Learning and Formative
Assessment in an English Language Class

John M. Graney

Abstract One challenge that teachers meet when they flip their classes involves
assessment. Because the classroom becomes more interactive, teachers need to
adjust how they perform formative assessment. Two changes need to be made.
Integrate formative assessment into the classroom activities and use it to inform
planning. One way to integrate formative assessment is with text visualization.
Through text visualization, students engage the text several times. During the
activity, teachers can observe and provide feedback on both the procedures and the
content. This chapter describes a reading lesson using text visualization for
pre-class, in-class, and after-class activities taught in a pre-college English for
Academic Purposes program at a community college in the southern United States.
The students come from South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa to study and for
the most part are recent high school graduates in their countries. Using this lesson,
the teacher gains insights into the progress students are making toward proficiency
in the skills with these texts as well as guidance for planning future lessons.

Introduction

The transition into a flipped learning teaching approach may proceed something
like this. The teacher decides to change her approach to the classroom and teaching.
At first, she makes or curates videos for the pre-class activities and designs in-class
activities to take advantage of the additional time in class. The first efforts may look
somewhat like the teacher-fronted classes since the content and practices come from
previous terms. The videos adapt PowerPoint presentations; the in-class activities
make use of available worksheets, quizzes, and exercises. It takes time to form a
new mental model of what teaching and learning looks like. However, with each
semester the teacher adapts and innovates to adjust to a new type of relationship
with the students. The teacher becomes more of a “guide on the side”. As a guide

J. M. Graney (&)
Santa Fe College, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: john.graney@gmail.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 59

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_5
60 J. M. Graney

on the side, interactions with students change. Assessment changes also with more
teacher-student interaction and more involved in-class activities.
This chapter describes a lesson and the formative assessment included in it for an
intermediate English for Academic Purposes (EAP) class. Most students are recent
high school graduates in their native countries, but a few have graduated from
American high schools without reaching the English proficiency level the college
requires. The international students in this class come predominantly from South
America, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia supplying the majority, but
others come from Vietnam, China, Korea, and Bosnia. Most students come from
traditions of teacher-fronted classes but adjust well to the flipped learning approach.
Flipped learning classes change teacher–student dynamics. The pre-class activities
free up class time for deeper levels of engagement in class (Bergmann & Sams, 2014).
As classes become more student-centered, flipped learning teachers cede more
responsibility for learning to the students. With more class time available for active
learning activities, formative assessments change. Formative assessment involves
ongoing evaluation of student progress in the group learning space. In a
teacher-fronted class, the teacher uses quizzes and tests to take a snapshot of where the
students are at that time (Coombe, Folse, & Hubley, 2007). It is backward looking
assessment; in other words, it focuses on how they are doing up to now. With flipped
learning, formative assessment tells teachers how the students and teachers are doing
now with an eye toward the future (Bauer-Ramazani et al., 2016).
Formative assessment is a powerful tool for improving learning and teaching
(Heritage, 2010). One of the four pillars of Flipped Learning specifies the role of
formative assessment in the Professional Educator pillar where P. 2 says “I conduct
ongoing formative assessment during class time through observation and by
recording data to inform future instruction (flippedlearning.org, 2014).” The pillars
also emphasize ongoing observation and being available to provide feedback to
individuals and groups within the class. In addition, when done appropriately
formative assessment helps lower the affective filter by considering the personal as
well as the instructional issues (Krashen, 1982). Thus, formative assessment pre-
sents opportunities for scaffolding, individualization, and differentiation.
With the flipped learning approach, formative assessment happens in the daily
interactions of students and teachers, with problem-solving in the classroom, with
the projects and products of daily activities. This type of formative assessment
revolves around the now with an eye toward the future because good formative
assessment involves feedback that looks to what comes next (William, 2011). The
student struggling with subject–verb agreement needs targeted feedback. The tar-
geted feedback provides scaffolding to clear up his misunderstanding of the rela-
tionship between subjects and verbs in the present tense whether it be a difficulty
identifying the subject or a confusion about the singularity of the -body, -one, and -
thing (anybody, everyone, someone) indefinite pronouns.
These assessments help teachers to make on the spot adjustments to their
teaching and help them calibrate to meet individual needs. In turn, the assessments
help the teacher plan for the next class. In this type of formative assessment,
feedback plays a much larger role because feedback seeks to nudge students from
Flipped Learning and Formative Assessment … 61

the moment to the next phase in learning as well as address affective factors because
the student may be dealing with a family issue that makes focusing on the lesson
next to impossible. To be truly effective, formative assessment must be conse-
quential; in other words, it leads to closing the gap between where the student is and
where the student needs to be (Stobart, 2012).
Developments in digital technology have made some types of formative
assessment easier to do. Teachers can use their Learning Management Systems
(LMS) to perform traditional formative assessments with quizzes, discussions, and
homework submission. In addition, recent applications such as PollEverywhere,
Socrative, Flipquiz, and Kahoot can make in-class assessment easier for students
and teachers. Google Forms can be used for quizzes, discussion starters, and even
as an exit ticket. These applications assist in helping teachers with traditional
formative assessment.
Different types of formative assessment need to be done during classroom
activities. These types of formative assessment occur as the teacher observes and
diagnoses (Fisher & Frey, 2014). The teacher may find a student struggling because
of a difficulty outside of the classroom such as an illness in the family. The teacher
may observe and assist with procedural difficulties or content misunderstandings.
A student may not know how to use the LMS for the assignment, or the student
may have confused topic and main idea. Each diagnosis leads to some type of
feedback. In fact, feedback may be the most powerful element of formative
assessment (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Feedback enables the teacher to provide
individualized assistance.

Overview of the Course

When teaching reading, teachers face a serious problem. They cannot see the
thinking or the processes students use to understand a reading. Comprehension tests
provide little information with their focus on either discrete points or general
questions like main ideas and organizational patterns (Nation, 1979). This is true
whether the assessments are formative or summative. Instruction and assessment
that rely upon answer questions on a test where the only feedback is a letter grade or
rubrics provide insufficient guidance to learners. With flipped learning, teachers can
use formative assessment to better understand learner processes.
The intermediate reading class is part of a skills-based college preparation
program. Students work towards being able to identify main ideas, supporting
details, words in context, and text structures through identifying paragraph orga-
nizational patterns and relationships between and within sentences. These skills
provide a foundation to introduce critical reading skills such as discriminating
between facts and opinions and identifying evidence. Classes meet for 50 min a
day, 4 days a week for a one-semester term of 14 weeks of instruction and 1 week
of exams. The class is a pass–fail class, so students must pass a cumulative final
62 J. M. Graney

reading and vocabulary exam over the skills and vocabulary introduced during the
semester.

Context of Student Population

The community college is a 2-year college in the south of the United States that
prepares students for professional certification, associate degrees, and has a few
bachelor’s degree programs in specialized skills. Many international students enroll
in the college to complete the Associate of Arts (AA) degree in order to transfer to a
university or college in the United States. The EAP program is a pre-college
noncredit bearing program that helps raise English proficiency to prepare students
for college-level study. The international students in the program come from dif-
ferent countries with different language backgrounds having, for the most part,
completed their high school education in their countries. The college is their first
introduction to American education. A few students have graduated from high
schools in the United States but still need to improve their English proficiency. Two
students, a Chinese woman, and a Korean woman, have children in the local
schools and one student is in the college’s basketball team.
International students take the TOEFL or IELTS for admission to the college,
but neither test is used for placement. Students take reading, writing, and com-
munication classes based on their placement scores on the College Board
Accuplacer test administered to all students identified as nonnative English
speakers. The academic English program consists of three levels: low intermediate,
intermediate, and advanced. Students in the intermediate reading class place into the
class either by passing the low intermediate class offered at our institution or by
placement through the placement test.

Introduction to the Lesson

The lesson comes around the tenth week of the semester and involves assessing
student progress in four skills using two paragraphs. The students locate the main
idea in the text and its supporting information, identify the organizational pattern,
and determine the context that helps define the targeted word phrases. These skills
have been studied in previous classes with different texts, so this is a formative
assessment of these skills approximately midway in the semester. Students have
done visual text representations throughout the semester and used technology for
some of these activities. Another goal is to have students repeatedly engage the
texts from different perspectives.
Using graphic text representation to analyze texts provides an opportunity for
students to analyze a text and show their analysis (Der Koning & van der Schoot,
2013). It provides opportunities for interaction with the text, for engaging
Flipped Learning and Formative Assessment … 63

technology, and for the teacher to gain insights into the students’ understanding of
the text. Thus, it provides several opportunities for formative assessments during an
ongoing activity.

Lesson Plan

The lesson plan for this activity includes pre-class activities, in-class activities, and
after class activities. Table 1 details the activities and objectives.
The class meets in the ESL computer lab. Students work in pairs or individually.
They are instructed to visually represent their analysis of two paragraphs. Their
analysis should include identification of the main idea and supporting information,
the organizational pattern of the paragraph, and the definition of phrases with
information from the texts. A Google document that contains instructions for
completing the assignment, a rubric, and the paragraphs for analysis (Appendix A)
is shared with the students.

Table 1 Lesson plan

Study Student activities
space
Individual • Students review videos and resource
space— book about the main idea,
Pre-class supporting information,
organizational patterns, and
guessing words in context
• Students can review their choice of
introductory videos on use of
PowerPoint, Prezi, Google
Drawing, Powtoons, and Ease.ly
Group • Students meet in ESL lab and
space— choose working arrangements (pair
In-class or individual)
• Students access a Google document
with instructions and text
• Students work on text visualization
for two paragraphs. They show the
main idea, supporting information,
organizational patterns, and
guessing words in context in a
visual form
After class • Students turn in their assignments at
the end of class or before the next
class meeting
Objectives
• Students strengthen their
understanding of the skills to be
practiced in the class activity
• Students have familiarity with at
least one type of technology they
will use to complete the activity
• Students engage the texts to show
their proficiency with the skills of
identifying the main idea,
supporting information,
organizational patterns, and
guessing words in context
• Students interact with the text in
several different ways
• Students show visually their
understanding of the skills required
to complete the assignment
• Students can determine their
progress toward proficiency
• Students can identify areas needed
for improvement
64 J. M. Graney

Technologies

To solve the problem of gaining a better understanding of the learners’ processes of

understanding the text, several elements of flipped learning are used. These ele-
ments include technology in pre-class tasks and in-class activities that enable
integral formative assessment. The use of these elements assists the learners in
showing their learning and enables the teacher to directly assess the steps involved
in completing the tasks and to some extent the thinking involved in understanding
the texts because the teacher is present during the performance of the activity and
able to interact with the learners.
For this class, students use lab computers or their personal laptops or tablets.
Students have access to the video through the school’s LMS, Canvas. The LMS
contains exercises on main ideas, words in context, and organizational patterns. In
addition, students can access the class resource book. For the assignment, students
can use PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Drawing, Powtoons, and Easel.ly. Students
submit their projects through the LMS at the end of class or by the following day.
Assignments are evaluated and feedback provided. Feedback is given to the stu-
dents or groups and suggestions are made for revisions until successful completion.

Pre-class Tasks

During the semester, students have been assigned videos on main ideas, supporting
information, and organizational patterns. Students also have a resource book
available which explains the different skills addressed in this assignment along with
practice activities. This resource book is an e-book developed for the class and
focuses on reading skills specific to this class. The book is also provided in pdf
format. They are reminded to review the skills they have found difficult based on
reading comprehension tests’ feedback and their own analyses. Introductory how-to
videos for the applications (PowerPoint, Prezi, Easel.ly) used for this assignment
are available in the LMS.

In-Class Activities

The class meets in a computer lab. Students work on the project individually or in
pairs. During this session, the students work on two paragraphs for reading.
Students have access to a Google document with the two paragraphs along with the
instructions. The instructions outline the students’ tasks in outlining the two
paragraphs. They will show their proficiency at this point in the semester in
identifying the topic sentence, the supporting information, the paragraph’s
Flipped Learning and Formative Assessment … 65

organizational pattern, and the correct in-text definition for phrases (Appendix 1)
with visual representations.
During the activity, the teacher moves around and observes progress. She pro-
vides feedback on procedures such as helping to clarify the activity’s directions.
When asked or when students are observed struggling or going in the wrong
direction, the teacher provides feedback on the students’ accuracy in identifying
topics, main ideas, supporting information, words in context, and organizational
patterns. Feedback usually consists of asking questions about how the students
arrive at a particular choice and whether the choice is correct or incorrect. For
example, the teacher might ask a group the two questions used to identify a
paragraph’s topic sentence: who or what is the paragraph about? and what is the
writer’s opinion or judgment about the topic in the paragraph? When questions do
not provide enough guidance, the teacher can give a mini-lecture reviewing the
basic elements of the skill the students are struggling with.

Evaluation

Formative assessment occurs during the activity through observations of the stu-
dents and interactions either with the teacher or fellow students. Questions are
answered about procedures and about difficulties experienced in carrying out the
activity including working on the four skills for the activity. Feedback for the
procedures often consists of telling or showing someone how to make a diagram in
PowerPoint or Google Drawings. Feedback for the skills tends to be questions to
remind students about class work on main idea or organizational patterns. The
questions are adjusted to fit the students. Students struggling to understand are
asked different questions than the stronger students who are challenged to go further
in their thinking and analyses.
More formal formative evaluation occurs after the students submit the assign-
ment. The teacher gives feedback according to the correctness of the students’
answers. If a part or parts of the assignment are incorrect, the teacher gives sug-
gestions about how to improve the assignment such as pointing to relevant infor-
mation in the e-book. Students can revise and resubmit the assignment until they
attain the maximum grade. By asking for visual representations, a teacher can get a
better idea of the thinking processes involved in the students’ determination of the
different types of information. From the assignment, teachers can also identify areas
that need to be reviewed in future lessons.
One difficulty that emerged occurred when students showed difficulties in dis-
tinguishing the listing order from the classification paragraph organization.
Therefore, a video was made addressing this distinction and a follow-up activity
produced that focused on these two paragraph patterns. The difficulties experienced
by the students also led to the development of a handout distinguishing organiza-
tional patterns by showing how seemingly similar patterns differ.
66 J. M. Graney

Future Directions

Prior to using a flipped learning approach, assessment of student learning would not
involve a project like this; in fact, a project like this would have taken too much
time away from instruction. Instruction in a teacher-fronted class consisted of a
lecture, students doing practice activities in class, and followed by a test: a pre-
sentation, practice, and assess cycle. Formative assessment involved testing activ-
ities (Coombe et al. 2007).
Activities that challenge students to show what they know or what they are
learning present teachers with the opportunity to understand where the mistakes are
occurring, what thinking lies behind the mistakes and the correct answers, and how
to plan for future classes. Formative assessment involves more interaction with
students where they are when doing the activity (Fisher & Frey, 2014). Even more
importantly, by extending formative assessment from a snapshot of where students
are at the moment to looking at what should come next, assessment becomes even
more integral to the teaching and learning process. In other words, making
assessment forward-looking makes instruction forward-looking (William, 2011).
Just as flipped learning expands the learning opportunities outside and within the
classroom, formative assessment expands teachers’ capabilities of individualization
and differentiation of learning. Diagnosis and feedback enable the teacher to pro-
vide targeted instruction to individual students whether the student is struggling or
excelling. To borrow a term from big data, teachers can drill down in their classes to
address individual concerns.
Formative assessments provide a fertile base for understanding our students
better and the challenges they face (Stobart, 2012). They provide an alternative to
the current popularity of big data and drilling down. Instead, teachers collect small
data to help them differentiate and scaffold instruction. Since technology enables us
to do more and helps us move beyond the traditional formative assessments inside
and outside of classes, we can use formative assessments in less intrusive ways.
Furthermore, formative assessments enable us to provide feedback to assist students
in moving forward in their learning. But a caution is needed. Focused feedback
does not guarantee progress; we should be willing to adjust the feedback until the
students are capable of using it.

Conclusion

Flipped learning has provided teachers with a way to address “teacher talk”. With
flipped learning, students spend class time on the best learning activities teachers
can find or devise. Formative assessment makes flipped learning more responsive to
student needs for scaffolding, differentiation, and individualization. Teachers using
formative assessment and providing targeted feedback aimed at moving students
Flipped Learning and Formative Assessment … 67

forward in their learning journeys more fully realize the potential of flipped
learning.

Appendix A

Project Instructions
68 J. M. Graney

References

Bauer-Ramazani, C., Graney, J. M., Marshall, H. W., & Sabieh, C. (2016, 03). Flipped learning in
TESOL: Definitions, approaches, and implementation. TESOL J TESOL Journal, 7(2), 429–
437. doi:10.1002/tesj.250
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Gateway to student engagement. Eugene,
OR, USA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Coombe, C., Folse, K., & Hubley, N. (2007). A Practical guide to assessing English language
learners. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
De Koning, B. B., & van de Schoot, M. (2013). Becoming part of the story! Refueling the interest
in visualization strategies for reading comprehension. Educational Psychology Review, 25,
261–287. doi:10.1007/s10648-013-9222-6.
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Checking for understanding: Formative assessment techniques for
your class (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
flippedlearning.org. (2014). The definition of flipped learning. http://flippedlearning.org/domain/46.
Accessed March 28, 2016.
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77,
81–112.
Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment: Making it happen in the classroom. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin.
Krashen, Stephen D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford:
Pergamon.
Nation, I. S. P. (1979). The curse of the comprehension question: Some alternatives. Guidelines, 2,
88–103.
Stobart, G. (2012). The validity of formative assessment. In J. Gardner (Ed.), Assessment and
learning (pp. 323–146). London: Sage.
William, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Flipping Your Writing Lessons:
Optimizing Time in Your EFL Writing
Classroom

Carolina R. Buitrago and Juliana Díaz

Abstract This chapter presents the process followed by two University professors
in flipping the writing component in a general English as a Foreign Language
classroom in Colombia. It describes the particular context of the participants,
instructional design choices, and ICT tools used to conduct the flip. The authors
walk the readers through the creation of a compare-and-contrast essay by means of
flipped writing workshops and showcases the full workshop used for readers to use
as a reference and adapt to their own teaching context. This chapter suggests the
pre-class and in-class activities that make the flip of the writing part in a course
possible. Findings presented in the research section of this chapter suggest the
effectiveness of the flipped learning approach in composition writing in the EFL
setting. As well as the increase in students’ motivation toward the use of technology
for language learning.

Introduction

The Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Universidad de la Sabana

provides different English courses for undergraduate students. These courses go
from level 1 (A1) to level 7 (B2). The course chosen to implement flipped learning
was English Level 6 (B1+). Students work on essay rhetorical structures in the last
three levels. The main objective of the course is for students to demonstrate a solid
understanding of written and oral texts related to living spaces, weird news, trade
and money use, the latest advances in medicine, inspirational people, communi-
cation, and experts in different fields. Similarly, students at this level are expected to
produce a written composition and orally compare and contrast two topics related to

C. R. Buitrago (&)
Institución Universtaria Colombo Americana–UNICA in Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
e-mail: crbuitrago@unica.edu.co
J. Díaz
Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures at La Sabana University, Bogotá, Colombia
e-mail: julianadiaga@unisabana.edu.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 69

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_6
70 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

the ones mentioned before. Also, students are expected to express preferences and
give reasons about the topics mentioned above. Furthermore, at this level, students
are expected to use information and communications technology (ICT) and learning
strategies to help them to become responsible for their own learning.
The course has a blended learning methodology with 64 contact hours
(face-to-face) and 15 independent work hours (online) as mandated by University
law. In this general English course, the four communicative skills are equally
emphasized and projects are developed considering the task-based approach
(Nunan, 2004). The intensive vacation course lessons are composed of 14
face-to-face (F2F) sessions of four hours and a half each plus a 60 min online
session every day. However, it is important to clarify that not all classes can be
devoted to the writing process, thus, it was necessary to device writing workshops
in the interest of providing students with thorough writing practice during the
course. The students have to perform various independent activities targeting dif-
ferent skills using a Moodle platform called Virtualsabana, the university’s online
platform, in preparation for the next class’ topic. These activities contribute to the
development of the target tasks stated in each academic term.
Given the amount of content to be covered in the syllabus, the reduced amount
of time normally dedicated to writing and students’ low motivation, the
teacher-researchers decided to apply the flipped learning approach to this particular
level in the hope of increasing students’ writing results and engagement toward the
course. The program already uses an amalgamation of different methods like task-
and project-based learning. However, time is still an issue. Thus, flipped learning
was the most logical solution to tackle this situation because of the proven effec-
tiveness of the method in achieving higher levels of student engagement (Hung,
2014), its success in improving composition writing in the EFL setting (Engin,
2014; Leis, Cooke & Tohei, 2015) and its influence in achieving learner autonomy
(Han, 2015) which were the main concerns of the authors.

Context of the Student Population

Students in this course are young adults who are considered to be at the B1–B2
level (CEFR). The learners belong to the different undergraduate programs offered
by the university; they study English as a graduation requirement and have to take
an international exam by the end of the seven levels offered by the department. As
English is not the core subject of their academic programs, students are usually
disengaged in class.
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 71

Introduction to the Lesson

During the entire course, teachers covered a six-stage flipped writing workshop, but
for this chapter, the lesson plan describes the writing process for the first and second
paragraphs. For the full writing workshop used throughout Level 6, visit http://bit.
ly/1ViMG8L.
Students are expected learn how to outline a compare-and-contrast essay and
how to construct the introductory paragraph. During the lesson, students are trained
on how to write an outline keeping in mind a five-paragraph compare-and-contrast
essay as follows: introduction, comparison (similarities) paragraph, two contrast
(differences) paragraphs, and a conclusion. Also, as part of the writing process,
students are instructed on how to use logical connectors and punctuation.

Lesson Plan

English Level 6 is a general English course that covers the four skills (reading,
writing, listening, and speaking), grammar, vocabulary, and learning strategies.
Given the wealth of the course content, the level exit profile, the time constraints,
and the type of activities required for students to achieve the goals proposed, we
decided to flip only the writing component. The flipped writing workshop takes
place along the three weeks of the course.
The lesson plan below comprises the first two weeks and is focused on the
outline and the introductory paragraph. This is because the writing component is
merely a portion of the course content and it happens in small amounts of time each
week. This sample lesson plan is divided into two parts: independent work and
in-class activities. The total time estimated for students to work independently is 1
hour per week. In this hour, students are provided with input on the rhetorical
structure, outline design, and other features of the essay. In-class activities are
hands-on tasks for students to put into practice the knowledge gained when doing
their independent work. In-class time is also used to work on outlining and drafting
processes complemented with peer-feedback. Table 1 shows the writing component
within a two-session (two classes/4 h) lesson plan. As you can see, each session
portrays 1 h of class time devoted to writing and another hour dedicated to inde-
pendent work. Independent work in the lesson plan is understood as time at home
and in-class session refers to class time.
72 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

Table 1 Writing component within two sessions (classes)

Time Description
investment
Session Independent 1h SS watch a video to complete a chart on the rhetorical
1 work structure and other features of a compare and contrast
essay. In addition, SS do some further online research
on this type of essay
In class 1h Lesson objective: Students will analyze and
session 1 understand the process of writing a compare and
contrast essay
• In groups of four, SS share and discuss the
information they found and list five salient features of
this kind of text. Each group receives a different
compare and contrast essay sample. They color code
the essay sample in order to identify its structure as
presented in the input materials
• Individually, SS watch a video, then, in pairs, they
answer some questions in order to reflect on the
importance of constructing an outline prior to writing.
Finally, SS analyze an outline sample
• T provides a list of suggested topics. SS can either
select one of the topics from the list or choose any
topic they want. After selecting their topic, SS start
working on their own outline for next class
Session Independent 1h Individually, SS work on the outline of their chosen
2 work topic
In class 2h Lesson objectives:
session 2 1. Students will analyze and understand the process of
writing an introductory paragraph
2. Students will identify the elements of an
introductory paragraph: hook, background and thesis
statement
• In pairs, SS exchange their outline for peer-feedback
• Individually, SS rank a list of strategies to write a
hook. Then, in pairs, SS exchange their ranking
• SS read the features of a background. Then, they read
an introductory paragraph sample and highlight the
background part of it
• In groups, SS write what they understand by thesis
statement. Individually, SS identify two types of
thesis statements and choose a starter for the thesis
statement of their introductory paragraph
• Individually, SS write their introductory paragraph.
SS exchange their paragraphs and provide
peer-feedback on grammar, punctuation, connectors,
and clarity using a list of writing conventions and a
checklist
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 73

Technologies

One of the main pedagogical goals in the Department of Foreign Languages and
Cultures at Universidad de la Sabana is to seamlessly include technology in the
classroom. Therefore, the necessary infrastructure has been situated in order to
provide teachers and students with the best possible scenario for this integration to
happen effortlessly. Every classroom has a projector, a computer, and speakers.
Most students have smartphones, tablets or/and laptops. Besides, the department
also has a cart with 30 tablets that teachers can borrow to use in class. That being
said, we usually use different technological resources to flip our writing courses,
and the most common ones are PowerPoint presentations, curated videos from
YouTube, our own created videos using a screencasting web tool, Kahoot!,
ProProfs and the LMS our students use for every class, Moodle (Virtualsabana).

Videos

Curated videos from YouTube In order to provide students with grammar

explanations, ideas about the writing structure and input about the writing process,
we select videos from YouTube and embed them in the writing workshops and the
LMS. These videos are carefully selected to make them match our instructional
goals and to offer students the best possible input. Students are expected to watch
the videos at home and to come prepared to class with their notes on them (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Curated video—compare and contrast essay

74 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

Created videos We create other videos using Screencast-o-matic to narrate

PowerPoint presentations. Even though YouTube has a myriad of topics and
resources, those sometimes don’t fulfill our instructional goals. Therefore, the need
for more personalized and authentic materials arises. Students also like having their
teacher’s voice on screen. For those reasons, we offer them this alternative as well
(Fig. 2).
Kahoot and ProProfs Quizzes We create quizzes with these two sites and
implement in class the following day in order to hold students accountable for
watching the videos at home. These sites are very important to the flip because they
give us information regarding students’ commitment to their independent tasks and
also help us diagnose students’ needs for further instruction in the class period
(Fig. 3).
Virtualsabana (LMS—Moodle) Virtualsabana is the online space used in every
course at Universidad de La Sabana. As we mentioned before, it is built in Moodle.
As part of the English program, some contents must be uploaded to Virtualsabana
every week and they confirm the 5th hour students are supposed to work on
(face-to-face classes are 4 weekly hours). We use this space to host the writing
workshops students are supposed to print out for class next day, and we also use

Fig. 2 Created video—compare and contrast essay—writing your contrast paragraphs

Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 75

Fig. 3 Kahoot! about connectors

this space to upload the videos, slides, and all materials students have to use to be
prepared for the following day’s lesson (Fig. 4).

Pre-class Tasks

Students at the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures are expected to

carry out independent work as part of their course workload. In level 6, the main
difference in the independent work students do lay on the meaningful and short
pre-class activities to guarantee student involvement and commitment in the
face-to-face lesson. We explain some of the activities we assign as pre-class tasks
below.
Actively watch videos Grammatical and text structure explanations are provided
to students by means of curated and created videos. Students are expected to
actively watch videos by adding information to charts. The charts learners need to
complete are designed considering past students’ difficulties in an effort to clarify
the video content and the text structure. In order to hold students accountable for
watching the videos at home, verification activities done with Kahoot and ProProfs
were done during class the day following a video. Watching input videos facilitates
the knowledge acquisition process on the rhetorical structure of an essay and it also
frees class time for the writing process and peer-feedback which strengthens stu-
dents’ writing skills.
Do some research about the different features of the compare-and-contrast
type of essay Students are asked to independently consult websites to find
76 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

Fig. 4 Virtualsabana activity (5th hour)

information about the characteristic features of the kind of essay they would write.
Students’ research is very important for the development of the lesson because it
facilitates the flow of the class and students who actually do the research approach
the task differently and seem to have more clarity of the text structure. To verify
whether students complete this activity, some questions about the structure of the
text are put on slides and projected in the classroom. These questions are used as a
warm-up activity in the lesson following the assignment. In the flipped learning
paradigm, homework takes on a different perspective. Thus, students’ work
becomes decisive for the following day’s lesson. It is not merely about the research,
but about how this is verified and validated in class.
Read assigned input texts Even though videos are enjoyable tools for students to
grasp the necessary content, input texts are also available in order to vary the mode
of instruction. Besides, texts are selected because of their ease of use and their
flexibility. Also, as students in this particular flipped lesson are learning to write, we
think that offering them authentic models and samples is pivotal to help them
understand language conventions, punctuation, and structural features of the par-
ticular kind of text.
‘Knowledge’ type activities Models and samples are provided for students to
carry out some low-order thinking tasks (Krathwohl, 2002) such as identifying the
different parts of an introduction, identifying different connector types and punc-
tuation conventions, and recognizing the characteristics of contrast paragraphs. We
consider these activities important to be carried out in the students’ independent
learning spaces to honor flipped learning principles (Brinks-Lockwood, 2014).
These activities are never assessed, but we make sure students do them by checking
their texts and starting the lesson by using them the day after activities are assigned.
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 77

In-Class Activities

Creating and implementing active-learning-based activities has been one of the

biggest challenges for us during our flip since students expect a somewhat passive
atmosphere in the classroom. However, by offering them the opportunity for
engaging and meaningful activities has definitely made a difference in our students’
attitude toward learning. Besides, training them in activities such as reflection and
peer-feedback has raised the number of instances in which students use English as
the language to communicate. The most common activities carried out in our flip
are described below.
Checking for understanding Even though this is an old activity for teachers,
doing it by means of immediate response systems like Kahoot and Socrative has
been innovative for our students. We looked for a fun way to engage students in
doing the proposed out-of-class activities, and we discovered that creating quizzes
about them helped students be more interested. This kind of exercise usually takes
between 10 and 15 min in class and it boosts students’ attention and responsiveness
to the class activities to come. Besides, it achieves student buy-in since they know it
is necessary to carry out the out-of-class activities to be successful in the group
learning space.
Color code essay samples As the main focus of our flip is the writing skill, we
devote most of the class time to carrying out activities involving this productive
ability. Having students color code essay samples has helped us guide them in
understanding the rhetorical structure of a compare-and-contrast essay, the different
connectors to be used, the punctuation rules that apply to written compositions and
the language conventions (grammar, vocabulary, etc.). During these exercises, the
teacher takes on a facilitating role and circulates around the classroom while stu-
dents work in small groups, or pairs guaranteeing their involvement and the
transformation of the group space into a fertile learning space (Marshall H.W.,
personal communication, October 2016).

Writing

As mentioned in the section above, time in our flip has been used to produce
language in a written way. Students write their outlines and paragraphs with the
teacher in the classroom, thus being guided in this process. Flipping allowed us to
devote time for every step in the writing process (i.e., brainstorming, outlining,
drafting, revising, and editing) and to guide our students as they worked on every
link in the chain.
78 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

Reflecting

Another important class activity is reflection. Students are prompted with reflection
questions and are asked to discuss with their peers and teachers in order to draw
conclusions regarding necessary areas of improvement and major strengths. Before
flipping, reflecting was deemed futile by our students since they were not fully
engaged in their learning process. However, by flipping, we add an extra value to
metacognitive activities.

Peer-Feedback

Students are trained since the beginning of the course in giving authentic and useful
peer-feedback for their classmates to use in correcting their written products. In this
activity, the teacher steps aside and lets students make the necessary comments.
Peer-feedback in our context has three stages: students mark their partners’ writing
product using a list of writing conventions, then they use a checklist to assess the
rhetorical structure and last, they write a general comment about their peer’s per-
formance. This collaborative work generates discussion which may increase stu-
dents’ awareness of problems they may have in their own writing, and help them
clarify ideas or expressions used in the text (Hedge, 2005). This activity
strengthened the learning culture (FLN, 2014) in our classrooms.

Evaluation

The decision to use flipped learning in the writing portion of the course was mostly
a practical one. First of all, students needed to learn to write well in order for them
to succeed in their international exams, IELTS or TOEFL. The teacher-researchers
realized how writing was a difficult skill to develop following the traditional
method of teaching employed in the language courses. Results obtained were low,
and even though, students managed to pass the courses, when taking the exams,
their writing scores evidenced a flaw in writing instruction. Second, the material for
carrying out the flip was already available. One of the researchers had already
designed writing workshops that could be easily modified to meet the purposes of
flipped learning and that facilitated the organization of lessons around writing
sub-skills. Third, writing used to be a somewhat disregarded skill in the teacher’s
classrooms because of its complexity and the lack of time necessary to develop it
thoroughly, so even though the teacher-researcher had designed the writing
workshops, the most complex high-order thinking skills tasks were assigned for
students to carry out independently at home, yielding poor written results and low
grades. In addition, teachers used most of the class time to explain the rhetorical
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 79

structure of the essay; hence, students did not have time to go over drafting,
outlining, drafting, and editing writing processes.
We expected that using flipped learning (FL) would yield better written results
and a higher commitment from students toward their writing assignments. At the
beginning of the process, we saw flipped learning as an opportunity to ‘cover’ more
content related to the process of writing and to give students more time to write in
the classroom. Writing had been a neglected skill in the classroom because of the
amount of contents contemplated in the syllabus and our perceived need for
working on other aspects of language, such as grammar, more thoroughly. Thus,
flipped learning seemed to be an interesting approach to free up classroom time
from direct instruction and to make it more of a writing atelier.
Using the flipped learning approach to writing increased the quality of our
students’ work and made them more aware of their learning process. Since more
class time was being devoted to HOTS (high-order thinking skills) in the form of
writing workshops, and students had more exposure to writing within class time and
the guidance of the teacher, the quality of their work improved significantly. They
were more capable of writing complete sentences, using connectors, using con-
ventions to assess grammar, vocabulary and punctuation use, and recognizing the
rhetorical structure of a compare-and-contrast essay. They also were more aware of
their strengths and weaknesses, and those of their peers through the constant
analysis of their written products in the peer-assessment opportunities given in
class. Students’ writing grades increased and their attitude toward writing was more
positive than at the beginning of the implementation.
On the other hand, getting student buy-in and having them watch the videos and
work independently was a big challenge. Students had been used to work inde-
pendently before. However, the activities they used to do were more geared toward
mechanizing grammatical rules through workbook exercises, doing written com-
positions, and listening and reading activities. They were not used to watching
educational videos and be held accountable for the work carried out at home while
in class the following day. Some students evidenced poor study habits and time
management skills. They struggled to cope with the course requirements and evi-
denced their lack of organization in their constant failure to fully prepare for class
sessions with the materials required for the class. However, by the end of the
course, this challenge had been overcome and most students were aware of the
aspects they needed to improve.
In general, we could say that flipped learning was transformational of our
classrooms and our teaching styles and that it made writing more engaging for our
learners. First, our traditional teaching style was set aside during the writing
workshops, and we became ‘guides on the side’ helping our students reach their
potential and getting their messages across. Second, students have started to realize
the importance of writing in English for their academic careers and have learned
techniques to brainstorm, draft, edit, and refine their work, making them more
effective writers and better communicators.
80 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

Research—Findings and Results

We conducted a case study with two of our level 6 groups in order to pilot the
flipped learning methodology for writing workshops in 2015. The initial and pilot
stage of the project “Flipping English learning, improving our twenty first Century
Colombian learners’ outcomes through technology and autonomy” was carried out
during our summer course in July 2015. The pedagogical implementation was
conducted with 32 students. The data collection instruments used were (a) Students’
written artifacts; (b) Teachers’ field notes; (c) Video and audio recordings of class
activities; (d) An end-of-course questionnaire inquiring about student satisfaction
with technologies used, activities carried out, and also assessing the presence of the
11 indicators of flipped learning in class sessions (see Appendix 2).
The first data collection instrument used in this project were students’ written
artifacts. They were collected at the beginning and at the end of the implementation.
The first week of classes, students did a diagnostic writing task in which they had to
create a paragraph comparing and contrasting two places. This activity evidenced
that students did not naturally follow a structure or used proper cohesive devices to
compare or contrast both places. At the end, students took a final writing exam and
the improvement in their writing skills was evidenced in comparison to the first
artifact, since students used different vocabulary, grammar structures, and con-
sciously applied the rhetorical structure of a compare-and-contrast essay through
connectors and transitional phrases taught in the workshops. Students’ written
artifacts were analyzed using the list of writing conventions and the writing rubric
designed for the course (Appendixes 2 and 3). The teachers-researchers identified
improvement in the reduced amount of correction needed in the final product. Also,
as displayed in Table 2, the grades in the skill of writing improved significantly
from the second to the third academic term.

Table 2 Written grades Students 1st term grade 2nd term grade
improvement from term 2 to
term 3 in a scale of 50 S1 40 47
S2 40 46
S3 0 0
S4 27 31
S5 30 40
S6 28 34
S7 45 47
S8 50 50
S9 48 50
S10 20 36
S11 39 40
S12 26 33
S13 41 50
S14 30 45
S15 24 40
S16 30 30
S17 38 43
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 81

During class sessions, the teachers-researchers performed observations and data

collection exercises by means of other qualitative methods. Videos, audios, and
teachers’ field notes were used to capture teachers’ thoughts and in-class interac-
tion. Teachers could describe their thoughts and experiences toward the class and
students’ reactions when checking independent work activities connected the
writing process. These data were color-coded to look for patterns emerging within
the different data collection instruments.
The final data collection instrument used was a questionnaire applied at the end
of the course. The questionnaire had five distinct sections and was aimed at iden-
tifying students’ perceptions in regards to general satisfaction with the course, use
of technology in class, independent work, class work, and the application of the
pillars of flipped learning. We analyzed the data collected in the questionnaire using
grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 2008). We carried out the analysis of the end of
course questionnaire by coding the data and identifying categories. The most
important categories related to the writing process were autonomy, positive opin-
ions toward the independent work activities, technology and the writing process,
students’ accountability, and difficulties experienced. From this analysis, we con-
clude that:
• 100% of students considered the use of technology in the course was purposeful.
• 83% of students reported to have liked and watched the videos autonomously in
order to improve their writing process.
• The use of mobile apps was well received by students. Tools like Kahoot and
Aurasma were the best accepted (81 and 78% respectively) by students. These
tools were applied in the classroom to check students’ independent work.
• Students understood and were aware of the importance of following the writing
process including peer-feedback to reach writing task goal.
In general, students in our pilot study received well the use of technology, the
inversion of independent work and class activities, and the use of class time for
writing. Even though students were not explicitly made aware of the implemen-
tation of flipped learning in the course, they could assess teachers’ performance in
its implementation through a Likert scale included in the final questionnaire that
was designed taking into consideration the different indicators of flipped learning
suggested by the FLN (2014).
First, it could be said that teachers provided a flexible environment since 83% of
students were aware that teachers established spaces and time frames that permitted
them to interact and reflect on their learning as needed. Also, 86% of students also
observed that teachers monitored them. 89% felt they could have the opportunity to
access information in different ways. Furthermore, 96% of students reported they
could watch created and/or curated relevant content (typically videos).
Regarding the second pillar, the learning culture, students assessed teachers
highly in the creation of opportunities for learners to be at the center of their
learning process. 83% mentioned they felt teachers gave them opportunities to
82 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

engage in activities without the teacher being central and 90% estimated scaffolded
these activities through differentiation and feedback.
The third pillar, intentional content referring to the contents and materials used
thinking of students’ needs was also highly visible to students. 89% felt teachers
provided content for them to access it at a personalized rate; 96% agreed that
teachers created or curated materials (mostly video) for students. However, when
asked about the differentiation of content for students’ individual needs’ results
were more varied.
In regards to the fourth pillar, professional educator, questions about only P1 and
P2 were asked since P3: I collaborate and reflect with other educators and take
responsibility for transforming my practice is not observable to students. Thus,
89% agreed that teachers provided individual and group feedback as needed, and
86% were aware that teachers conducted ongoing formative assessments during
class time through observation and by recording data to inform future instruction. In
brief, flipped learning was made evident to students by means of teachers’ con-
scious and constant inclusion of the indicators of FL in their instruction to modify
their teaching style in order to achieve the specific objectives of the course.

Future Directions

The flipped learning model we started with is not the same one we currently use.
Our model has evolved and transformed based on our learning experiences
throughout the implementation. Students’ artifacts have also informed our thinking
and have helped us shape our flipped learning model. From those experiences, we
have learnt the following lessons:
Teacher-made videos are better than curated videos Even though we know
there’s a plethora of videos on the Internet, our students showed us no other speaker
or teacher is better than us. Students preferred the human component added by our
presence in the video. As suggested by Garrison and Kanuka (2004), teacher
presence in the online environment is a key factor to success. Our students are used
to seeing their teacher every day. Therefore, having the teachers’ faces and voices in
videos made it a lot easier for them to understand concepts and to relate them to
their own learning process.
In technology use less is more During the first offerings of our flipped writing
model, we wanted to use many websites and applications. However, we realized
how overusing technological tools became overwhelming and unnecessary for our
students. We decided, then, to settle for fewer, more purposeful, tools guaranteeing
a clear connection between our pedagogical goals and the technology to be used as
recommended by Mishra and Koehler (2006).
Our flipped writing model transformation As we mentioned above, our flipped
learning model has evolved. First, the contents for our students to use in their
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 83

independent time was hosted in Virtualsabana (our Moodle LMS) for them to
download. At some point, we thought of printing a writing workshop booklet and
include it in the textbook students purchase in order to guarantee all students have
the materials. Nowadays, we are even considering in-class flip as an alternative for
our students given their low commitment to and lack of time for out-of-class
materials. We will start planning our in-class flip for the coming semester.
Writing contents were put in the 5th hour (independent work) The input
information in regards to the rhetorical structure, features and the use of connectors
were uploaded in the 5th hour activities space in Virtualsabana (our Moodle LMS).
In the previous course, students had 5th hour activities and Independent Work tabs
in Virtualsabana; unfortunately, students did not know what to do with them or just
did one of the activities explained by the teacher. Having established an only
section for these activities in the course helped students find information more
easily.
Improvement in the grading scale for writing Based on the implementation
carried out during the summer course, we decided to make some changes to the
grading system we had for writing before. First, not all paragraphs in the essay are
assessed and graded independently anymore, but in twos (i.e., introduction and
comparison paragraphs; contrast and conclusion paragraphs). Second, a moment for
peer-feedback is generated at each assessable stage. Therefore, students are focused
on formative assessment and improving their texts since they can use checklists,
general comments, and writing conventions to reflect on their writing process.

Conclusions

Flipped learning has changed the way we see teaching and learning. Flipping
writing helped us uncover our students’ potential to its fullest since for the first time
we could focus more on their writing process and less on the grammar to be taught.
Students’ writing improved greatly in the course we implemented because of
many reasons, but basically because we flipped. We also realized that holding
students accountable for their independent work in class was of great help to
achieve learner autonomy.
Flipped learning has helped students in their writing process. They were willing
to work independently in order to understand the rhetorical structure of an essay and
its features. In addition, students were more aware of the importance of working at
home since they saw their relevance to the face-to-face activities developed in the
classroom.
Finally, peer-feedback helped learners assess and improve their writing products.
Students could take advantage of this stage by not only helping their partners, but
also reflecting on improving their own work.
In brief, flipping writing in our level 6 course transformed students’ writing
awareness, ability, and attitude. In our case, flipping writing showed us time well
84 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

spent in class is more fruitful than lots of assignments. Flipping writing allows to be
closer with our students and focus on what really matters: learning.

Appendix 1: Introductory Paragraph Checklist

Tick each circle if your partner took into account each factor. Please write a
comment on your partners’ performance writing the paragraph.
○ Did your partner include a hook, which catches the reader’s attention?
○ Did your partner include background information that describes the topics’
context?
○ Did your partner use an expression to introduce the thesis?
Comments:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________.

Appendix 2: Questionnaire Technology Implementation

in the Classroom Project

Dear student,
As we informed you at the beginning of the course, the Department of Foreign
Languages and Cultures is executing a research project on the implementation of
technology in the classroom. As part of this project, we would like to count on your
opinion regarding: the use of technology in the classroom, class work, independent
work, and flipped learning. This questionnaire will take about 20 min to complete
and it will give us valuable information about your perceptions and opinions
regarding the aforementioned topics. For that reason, we beg you to be as honest as
possible.
Thanks a lot.
Professors Level 6.
General satisfaction
1. Rate your general satisfaction with the following aspects of the vacation course
(level 6). 1 being “not satisfied at all” and 5 being “fully satisfied”.
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 85

1 2 3 4 5
Variety of activities
Use of technology
Ways to show my autonomy
My own progress
Opportunities for self-evaluation
Opportunities for peer-evaluation
Amount of outside of class work
Quality of revision of independent work
Enjoyment of the session
Other:

Use of technology:
1. Choose the option that best completes the following sentence. The use of
technology in the vacation course Level 6 was:
a. Appropriate
b. Insufficient
c. Exaggerated
d. Regular (as in every course I’ve taken)
e. Other: ________________________________.
2. Which of the apps and websites used in the course did you like the most? Mark
all that apply.
a. Kahoot
b. ProProfs Quizzes
c. Grammar videos
d. Aurasma
e. Other.
3. Which of the apps and websites used in the course did you like the least? Mark
all that apply.
a. Kahoot
b. ProProfs Quizzes
c. Grammar videos
d. Aurasma
e. Other: __________________________.
4. In your opinion, what was the objective of using Kahoot in class? You can mark
more than one option.
a. Grammar practice
b. Introducing a new topic
c. Listening practice
86 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

d. Reading practice
e. Evaluating information
f. I don’t know
g. Other ____________________________________________________.
5. In your opinion, the work you had to do independently and with technology
support (watching videos, creating videos, MyELT, etc.) was:
a. Too much
b. Too little
c. Enough
d. Regular (the same as in other courses I’ve taken)
6. In your opinion, did the use of technological tools in class had a clear purpose?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Explain your answer
In-class work:
1. Did you find any of the activities done in the vacation course particularly
difficult?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Which? __________________________.
2. Did you find any of the activities done in the vacation course particularly easy?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Which? __________________________.
3. Did you find any of the activities done in the vacation course particularly
interesting?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Which? __________________________.
4. Did you find any of the activities done in the vacation course particularly fruitful
for your learning?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Which? __________________________.
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 87

5. Did you find any of the activities done in the vacation course particularly
boring?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Which? __________________________.
Independent work:
1. Assess your commitment with the activities assigned as independent work (1
being “uncommitted” and 5 “highly committed”)

1 2 3 4 5
My ELT
Grammar videos
Writing workshops
Additional materials
Workbook
Other: _______________________________

2. Do you think the grammar videos you saw before class were well-used in the
class session in the classroom?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Explain your answer
3. Do you prefer the professor to…
a. Explain grammar in class
b. Assign YouTube videos about grammar
c. Create grammar videos
d. Use a combination of the previous options
e. Other:
f. Explain your response briefly
Flipped learning:
1. How observable were the following aspects during the vacation course level 6.
Rate them from 1 to 5 (1 being “not observable” and 5 being “clearly observ-
able”). This section was adapted from the FLN checklist of indicators (2014).
88 C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz

1 2 3 4 5
Teachers created spaces and timeframes that allowed students to
interact and reflect on their learning
Teachers continuously observed and monitored students to make
adjustments when needed
Teachers offered different ways to learn the content and show
mastery
Teachers offered different opportunities for students to get involved
in meaningful activities without the teacher being central
Teachers guided these activities as mentors or guides and made
them accessible to all learners through differentiation and feedback
Teachers prioritize concepts used in direct instruction to make them
accessible to students
Teachers created or curated relevant content—generally videos—
for us
Teachers used differentiation to make content accessible and
relevant to all students
Teachers were available to give individual and group feedback as
needed
Teachers carried out formative evaluations during class time
through observation and keeping of data to complement instruction

Additional Comments:

________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________

Thanks for your cooperation!

Appendix 3: Rubric For A Compare And Contrast

Essay-Final Exam

Name __________________________ Code __________________________

Group __________________________
Category Meets expectations
Grade: 5
Task •Develops and supports a
fulfillment COMPARE-CONTRAST essay
10% outstandingly on a given topic
•Addresses all the requirements
of the task accurately
•Shows high knowledge and
command of the subject/topic
•Word number is outstandingly
reached
0.5
Coherence •Gives a well-framed and
and organized piece of writing (clear
cohesion introduction, supporting
20% arguments to state similarities -
differences and a conclusion)
•Makes excellent use of
connective devices and discourse
markers
1 0.8
Language •Expresses ideas and responses
use with ease in well-controlled
30% sentence structure and tenses
•Shows excellent controlled
precise/concise, relevant,
appropriate and consistent
grammar usage of a variety of
tenses and voice
1.5
Discourse •Makes an exemplary
and lexical development of relevant,
resource
Meets most expectations
Grade: 4
•Develops and supports a
COMPARE-CONTRAST essay
sufficiently on a given topic
•Addresses most the
requirements of the task
accurately
•Shows enough knowledge and
command of the subject/topic
•Word number is mostly
reached
0.4
•Gives a framed and organized
piece of writing (clear
introduction, supporting
arguments to state similarities -
differences and a conclusion)
•Makes proper use of
connective devices and
discourse markers
•Expresses ideas and responses
in controlled sentence structure
and tenses
•Shows effective controlled
precise/concise, relevant,
appropriate and consistent
grammar usage of a variety of
tenses and voice
1.2
•Makes a sufficient development
of relevant, extended,
Shows consistent progress
Grade: 3
•Develops and supports a
COMPARE-CONTRAST
essay partially
•Some of the requirements
are generally addressed
accurately
•Shows some knowledge and
fair command of the subject/
topic
•Word number is
approximately reached
0.3
•Gives adequate information
but loose organization, which
is somewhat coherent and
cohesive
•Makes a fair use of
connective and discourse
markers but organization may
be somewhat loose
0.6
•Expresses ideas and
responses with enough
control of grammatical forms
and proper sentence structure
•Shows somewhat controlled,
appropriate grammar usage
of basic tenses and voice
0.9
•Makes fair development of
relevant, generally
Needs Improvement Shows Minimal Progress
Grade: 2 Grade: 1
•A •A
COMPARE-CONTRAST COMPARE-CONTRAST
essay is poorly developed essay is minimally
or supported developed or supported
•Addresses very few of the •Addresses none of the
requirements requirements
•Shows limited knowledge •Shows no knowledge and
and command of the the paper is off topic
subject/topic •Word number is not
•Word number is poorly reached
reached 0.1
0.2
•Provides paragraphs •Paragraph structure is not
which lack appropriate evident
structure •Gives disconnected and
•Gives some disconnected confusing ideas that turn
and confusing ideas that repetitive and lack
turn repetitive and lack coherence
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time …
coherence •Lacks of basic connective
•Makes ineffective use devices
and/or overuse of basic 0.2
connective devices
0.4
•Expresses ideas and •Expresses ideas and
responses with frequent responses with
inconsistent and inconsistent and
fragmented sentence fragmented sentence
structure structure
•Shows several •Shows inconsistencies
inconsistencies with with grammar usage
grammar usage 0.3
0.6
•Makes a poor •Makes a minimal
development of ideas and development of ideas and
89
(continued)
(continued)
Category Meets expectations
Grade: 5
30% extended, supportive and
explanatory contributions
•Shows highly varied and related
vocabulary studied in class
•Makes excellent use of
expressions to explain
similarities and differences
•Makes consistent word choice
1.5
Mechanics •Shows accurate punctuation,
10% capitalization, and spelling
0.5
Meets most expectations
Grade: 4
supportive and explanatory
contributions
•Shows enough varied and
related vocabulary studied in
class
•Makes proper use of
expressions to explain
similarities and differences
•Makes accurate word choice
1.2
•Shows accurate punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling in
spite of some errors that do not
distort the message
0.4
Shows consistent progress
Grade: 3
supportive, explanatory
contributions
•Shows fair use of related
vocabulary which
occasionally may be
repetitive
•Makes a fair use of
expressions to explain
similarities and differences
•Makes fair word choice
0.9
•Shows somewhat
appropriate punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling in
spite of some errors which
slightly distort the message
0.3
Needs Improvement
Grade: 2
contributions lack
relevance
•Shows limited vocabulary
that is little related and
often repetitive.
•Has limited control of
word choice
•Uses words mostly in an
inaccurate manner
0.6
•Attempts punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling
but frequent errors which
usually impede reading
0.2
90
Shows Minimal Progress
Grade: 1
contributions lack
relevance
•Shows lack of vocabulary
that is unrelated and
repetitive
•Lacks of control of word
choice
•Uses words totally in an
inaccurate manner
0.3
•Lacks of punctuation and
capitalization
•Spelling but frequent
errors impede reading
constantly
0.1
C. R. Buitrago and J. Díaz
Flipping Your Writing Lessons: Optimizing Time … 91

References

Brinks-Lockwood, R. (2014). Flip it! Strategies for the ESL classroom. MI/United States:
Michigan University Press.
Engin, M. (2014). Extending the flipped classroom model: Developing second language writing
skills through student-created digital videos. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning, 14(5), 12.
Flipped Learning Network. (2014). Definition of flipped learning. Retrieved from http://www.
flippedlearning.org/domain/46.
Garrison, R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative power in
higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 7, 95–105.
Han, Y. J. (2015). Successfully flipping the ESL classroom for learner autonomy. NYS TESOL
Journal, 2(1), 98–109.
Hedge, T. (2005). Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hung, H. (2014). Flipping the classroom for English language learners to foster active learning.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28(1), 81–96. doi:10.1080/09588221.2014.967701.
Krathwohl, D. (2002). A revision of bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41(4),
212–264.
Leis, A., Cooke, S. & Tohei, A. (2015). The effects of flipped classrooms on English composition
writing in an EFL environment. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language
Learning and Teaching, 5(4), 15. doi:10.4018/IJCALLT.2015100103 .
Mishra & Koehler. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for
teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.
Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching: A comprehensively revised edition of designing
tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory
procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publications.
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class
for Student-Centered Learning

Martha Ramirez

Abstract In the Chapter “In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class for

Student-Centered Learning”, the author starts by defining what an in-class flip is. In
brief, it can be defined as doing in class station rotation work with flipped content;
in other words, the flip takes place inside the classroom. This definition is further
complemented by the description of the benefits and challenges of in-class flipping
according to the author’s experience with this approach. Next, the teaching context
where the lesson took place is presented, which was a 7th-grade literature course
within a Colombian bilingual school. Afterwards, the lesson content and objectives
are presented along with a detailed description of the station work set up, the tasks
students were required to do, the various teaching resources used, and the role
technology had in the teaching and learning process. The author then illustrates the
logistics behind preparing the station work in this type of flip as well as the way the
lesson and students were assessed. Finally, a reflection on the motive behind using
in-class flip is presented together with an analysis of what worked and what could
be improved in future lessons, which includes final conclusions and further teaching
recommendations.

Introduction

The “in-class” flip—a term coined by Jennifer González (2014)—is an emerging

approach and an alternative for teachers who do not count on students’ access to
technology outside of class, be it computers, tablets, cell phones, or internet con-
nection. It is also an alternative for teachers who have flipped classes, but have
students who come to class unprepared (González, 2014; Tucker, 2016).
In-class flip is defined by Barnes and Gonzalez (2015) as moving the “home”
part of the flip into the classroom within a stations set up; this means that students

M. Ramirez (&)
Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
e-mail: contacto@martharamirez.com.co

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 93

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_7
94 M. Ramirez

can access the content or direct instruction through one of the stations and then
apply what they learnt within the other ones when they rotate.
Moreover, González (2014) clarifies that different activities are planned in other
stations, which will complement the lesson being taught while others will focus on
diverse content; these can be for independent or group work. This approach has
been seen as a combination between the flipped classroom model and a station
rotation model (Tucker, 2016). However, according to my experience, in-class flip
can also be done without the station rotation configuration.
In-class flipping provides a number of advantages and challenges. One of the
advantages of using an in-class flip is that it allows teachers to focus their class time
on monitoring, assessing, guiding, facilitating, clarifying, and supporting students’
learning in a more meaningful way, thus providing an up-close view of students’
process while they are carrying out a variety of individual or group activities and
tasks. Another advantage is that working by stations will allow the teacher to count
on a myriad of resources to provide content instruction which does not necessarily
require the teacher to hold a high level of expertise in a particular topic. A careful
planning of station work will assure coverage of input and output of language and
content on behalf of students as well as the flexibility of moving at their own pace.
Furthermore, this type of flip allows the students who are falling behind to catch up
and those who are moving fast to keep advancing. Nevertheless, there are some
challenges that come with this approach and they include planning a meaningful
lesson, preparing the station work with the appropriate resources, creating
self-made videos (when necessary), managing rotation, and mapping out the
logistics of the stations. Needless to say, the advantages outweigh the challenges.
For the reasons previously stated, I believe the teacher who reads this lesson—
whether content or language focused—will encounter a new approach toward
planning and organizing lessons in a way that will focus students on specific tasks
while they are being assessed and benefitting from a student-centered class.

Overview of the Course

The lesson in this chapter was carried out in a 7th grade English literature course
whose focus was a literacy-based approach with an intensity of approximately 9
hours a week. In this course, students are taught about a variety of readings, genres,
and strategies as well as grammar, writing, and speaking skills. In terms of writing
skills, students are expected to learn how to write short stories and memoirs
including the different short story elements. Moreover, they should write with
correct past and perfect tenses, spelling, punctuation, and rich vocabulary. The
literature book used in this course is correlated with common core standards and
focuses on presenting a collection of readings of different types (media, short
stories, poetry, articles, memoirs, drama, etc.) within a general theme in order to
develop the various English language skills. Considering the reasons mentioned
above, in-class flipping was presented as a viable solution to issues that would arise
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class … 95

with homework assignments, different language levels, and student’s learning pace,
among others. With this approach, direct instruction and teacher talking time were
significantly reduced in the lesson in order to focus on assessing application
activities carried out by students during the flip. Students could access the content
and explanations through the station work as well as different practice activities. In
the lesson described ahead, a mixed in-class flip was planned (Ramirez, 2017),
which meant students could work on the activities while counting on the freedom to
go to the flip stations to review the content if necessary. Meanwhile, I was able to
monitor and provide one on one support to the most struggling students.

Context of the Student Population

This course was composed of 26 students (between 12 and 14 years old) at a

7th-grade level in a Bilingual School in Bogotá, Colombia. They have an English
level between B1 and B2, according to the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages. By the end of 11th grade (the last school year), students
take the TOEFL test in which most have reached a B2+ or C1 level. Due to the
school’s strict homework policy, teachers are not allowed to leave more than 2 h of
homework per day (maximum 30 min per subject), and since there are 18 subjects,
leaving homework becomes a hassle, especially for English Lit teachers, due to the
high number of class hours they have.

Introduction to the Lesson

This English literature lesson was planned for a 90-min class aimed at preparing
students to write a memoir. Students had previously read a memoir and now needed
to understand how first person narrative worked as well as the use of past perfect
tense in order to start writing.
The specific objectives of the lesson were: (a) to understand first-person narra-
tive by reading Chap. 1 of “World War Z” by Max Brooks; (b) to demonstrate
understanding of the reading by answering comprehension questions; (c) to review
the use of past perfect tense; (d) to identify events in the reading and create a
timeline using past perfect; and (e) to demonstrate understanding of the past perfect
tense in a pair work activity. These objectives were the basis for the planning of
each of the stations.
96 M. Ramirez

Lesson Plan

The following figure shows a visual layout of how the objectives of the lesson were
converted into activities and each one placed in a station.
As is indicated in Fig. 1, this lesson was planned in five stations. These were
divided in two types: flip and practice stations (Ramirez, 2017). The flip stations
contained the content being flipped, which included the explanations or core
readings; in other words, where the input or instruction was provided. The practice
stations intended for students to demonstrate an understanding of the content
(provided in the flip stations) through various application activities, i.e., output
activities. This allowed the teacher to shift the learning responsibility to students
and save precious learning time by avoiding a teacher-centered explanation.
The stations were planned according to Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Technologies

For the flip stations, three main technological resources were used: (a) Laptops for
students to access the video explaining the past perfect as well as the audiobook of
the chapter; (b) Wi-Fi connection (which the school provided) in order to watch the

Fig. 1 In-Class flip lesson layout. The lesson format is divided into flip and practice stations
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class … 97

Table 1 Station 1
Activity Explanation of the past perfect tense
Teaching Instruction
focus
Student Individual
interaction
Resources (a) Printed explanation with illustrations
http://www.really-learn-english.com/past-perfect.html
(b) 3 laptops with internet access
(c) Youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIL8LDt1gZU
Description Here students could access a flipped explanation of the past perfect tense
through laptops with a previously selected Youtube video and a printed
explanation with examples and images. They were encouraged to take notes
and clear their doubts with the teacher.

Table 2 Station 2
Activity Reading of Chap. 1 of “World War Z” by Max Brooks
Focus Instruction
Student Individual
interaction
Resources (a) 8 copies of Chap. 1
(b) 2 laptops with audio book of the first chapter
Description In this station, students could read or listen to the chapter of the book, which
is written in first-person narrative. The aim of this reading was to provide a
model for first-person narrative as well as develop students’ reading
comprehension skills and ability to identify important events.

Table 3 Station 3
Activity Reading comprehension questions
Focus Application
Student Individual
interaction
Resources (a) Copies of reading comprehension questions about Chap. 1 of WWZ—
one for each student
Description In this station, students were required to read the comprehension questions
provided and write their answers based on the reading. This activity was to
be turned in at the end of the class.
98 M. Ramirez

Table 4 Station 4
Activity Make a timeline
Focus Application
Student Individual
interaction
Resources (a) Copies of blank timeline format—one for each student
Description Students were asked to identify ten main events in the reading and write
them in past perfect answering the question “What happened before the
outbreak?”. The aim of this activity was for students to identify the main
events and place them in chronological order. This would lead to a further
discussion (in a following class) about not necessarily having to write events
in chronological order when writing a memoir.

Table 5 Station 5
Activity Past perfect matching
Focus Application
Student Pair work
interaction
Resources (a) 13 copies of student A student B cut-out activity p. 2 (Taken from: http://
www.teach-this.com/images/resources/the-other-half.pdf)
Description Ss work in pairs to complete a matching activity that requires the use of Past
perfect.

online videos; and (c) the YouTube videos displayed in the corresponding stations
both for the explanation of part perfect and the audiobook recording.
These two main resources were chosen for this lesson because of their avail-
ability and appropriateness in facilitating content comprehension. The school had a
laptop cart, so counting on the laptops was a possibility. Moreover, when looking
for an easy explanation of the past perfect, I found there were many options on
Youtube, so I chose the one I considered was easy to understand for my students.
Consequently, it became unnecessary for me to create my own video explanation,
with so many available explanations by different teacher experts around the world.
Furthermore, it is important to note that if the school does not provide earphones
or headphones, which was my case, students can be asked to bring their own. In my
particular context, most students already carried earphones/headphones in their
bags. Likewise, if there is no accessible Wi-Fi connection, it is recommendable to
download the videos in a memory stick and copy them into the laptops.
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class … 99

Pre-class Tasks

The purpose of using an in-class flip is to avoid relying on pre-class tasks, espe-
cially in cases where students cannot carry them out, do not count on the tech-
nology at home or when they are reluctant to do the homework. The in-class flip
allows students who did the homework to advance while those who did not do it
work on the core content and then move on to the other stations. For this lesson,
students were previously asked to do the reading of the chapter of World War Z.
However, after getting to know my students, I knew there were many who would
not come prepared to class. That is why the reading station was set in place.
Additionally, students had been introduced to the past perfect tense in previous
classes, but some had expressed still having doubts in its use. As described above, I
decided to use a mixed in-class flip to address this problem.
With this in mind, the practice stations became the starting point of those stu-
dents who carried out the pre-class activities, and the flip stations were for those
who did not.

In-class Activities

In order for the in-class flip to work, there were a number of steps that had to be
taken before dividing students and placing them in different stations. First of all, the
room had to be organized into five stations. Since my classroom was very small, I
asked to use the Art room, which had six big tables and stools. I used five tables and
made sure to have all the materials in place according to each station (one big table
per station) before class started; this implied having the laptops on and with the
YouTube videos ready as well as the copies available for students to work with.
Figure 2 shows the layout of the classroom.
As soon as students arrived to class, I walked them through each station,
explaining what each one was for and what was expected of them. Then, in order to
assign students to the different stations, I asked who had done the reading home-
work (six in total) and divided them in stations 4 and 3. After, I asked which
students understood past perfect tense, and I placed them in station 5 in pairs (eight
students). Next, I placed eight students in the reading station and another four in the
past perfect explanation station. That way, all students were set. As they worked in
each station, I monitored and made sure to direct them to another station depending
on which one they were working on and what content knowledge they already had
(i.e., use of past perfect tense and/or about the chapter assigned). Figure 3 illustrates
the logistics of the stations and where students were to rotate.
Even though students were directed to specific stations at the beginning of the
class, they shortly demonstrated autonomy to move around the different stations
according to the number of classmates that were in each and according to the
stations they had worked in. Students understood that the flip stations were the base
100 M. Ramirez

Fig. 2 Classroom layout of stations for in-class flip (with permission from David Beltran, 2017)

Fig. 3 Illustration of stations rotation. In the figure, the order of the stations in which students
should rotate is suggested (with permission from David Beltran, 2017)
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class … 101

for the practice stations and that, for instance, they could not do the past perfect
matching activity if they did not understand past perfect. In other words, practice
stations could not be worked on if students did not have the flip ones covered.
Nevertheless, if students had done the work in the corresponding flip stations, had
done the reading at home or had already understood the past perfect tense (from
previous classes), then these were the cases in which students could go directly to
the practice stations.
When the station work was set in motion, my job was to monitor students’ work
and provide feedback or clarify doubts. That meant that the work was the sole
responsibility of the students, making them the center of the learning process.
Toward the end of the lesson, some students finished before class time was up,
so they were handed exit slips to evaluate the approach. However, there were two
students who had handed in everything with a few minutes of class time remaining,
so I encouraged them to take out their personal reading books and read while the
class was over. This way, all the students were focused on a specific task until the
lesson was over.
Feedback provided by students through the exit slips indicated that all students
liked the activity. Among the various comments, they expressed finding this
approach “cool,” “awesome,” interactive, fun, helpful, and easy to do. Moreover,
one student stated it helped her work better and another said he understood more
through this type of lesson. Additionally, two students said they were able to
concentrate more in class.

Evaluation

The motive behind using an in-class flip for this lesson was based on three main
reasons: (a) an initial need to provide a learning environment that would allow
students to work at their own pace and focus on their learning; (b) a need to have a
closer look at how students were working through one to one interaction that would
allow me to provide feedback to each individual student based on what they were
really understanding, which is not easy in a class of 26 students; and finally, (c) the
possibility to cover the amount of activities planned in an approach that would save
a lot of time while fully centering on the student. Hence, my expectations for this
lesson were to accomplish the objectives set for the class without rushing the slow
students or pulling back the faster ones, and making sure each student understood
the instruction and demonstrated their understanding through application activities.
In the implementation of the in-class flip, there were some aspects that stood out.
First of all, students were focused. They were quieter and more concentrated than in
previous classes. Additionally, I was able to collect a number of activities to grade
(timeline, reading comprehension questions, and past perfect matching activity),
which would have probably taken the triple amount of time, had I done them in a
traditional class setting. Other positive activities included providing students with
exit slips to receive their feedback regarding the flip as well as using reading as a
102 M. Ramirez

backup plan with the fast-paced students. Nonetheless, the aspect I highlight the
most is the opportunity this approach provides for teachers to focus on monitoring,
guiding, facilitating, and assessing learning. Teachers can directly engage with
students instead of being content providers (Barnes & Gonzalez, 2015). It allows
teachers to see students’ learning up close and individually, and in this way, support
them accordingly.
However, there were other aspects that could be improved. For instance,
regarding the pair work activity, even though students found a partner to work with,
I discovered later on that it was easier to paste a list of names on the board with
ready selected pairs of students based on my knowledge of which partners worked
best. This way, students knew who they had to work with and avoided the hassle of
having to choose a partner. Furthermore, after having explained instructions to
students, some still asked me what they had to do, so I learned that writing the
instructions down on a piece of paper or printing them and pasting them on the
station tables or walls avoided doubts or confusion on what students had to do.
Indicating the next stations they should go to on the instructions was also very
helpful. Additional recommendations include downloading videos in case internet
doesn’t work. Likewise, if there is no access to computers, have a plan B with a
printed explanation. Flipping does not necessarily imply the use of technology;
what matters is giving students access to the content which you are flipping, even if
it is in a “less dynamic format” (Barnes & Gonzalez, 2015, p. 94). Also, it is
recommendable to plan activities for less than the time of the class, that way the
slower students have time to finish. Finally, have an activity prepared for students
who finish before time (e.g., exit slips—reading) or a station that does not rely on
any instruction station which “can be short hands-on activities, skills practice,
games, or reviews of prior knowledge” (Barnes & Gonzalez, 2015, p. 87); in other
words, a stand-alone or independent station.

Future Directions

From the moment I started flipping, I encountered the countless benefits of focusing
instruction in different ways, not to mention the shift it implies for the teacher in
terms of assessing learning and focusing on the student. In-class flip has also
changed my concept of timing in a class. I was surprised by how much students
could accomplish in short periods of time and how at ease they felt when being
faced with the possibility to move around autonomously to fulfill specific tasks at
their own pace. Starting the planning process came with its challenges, since this is
still a new approach and there are not many teachers in-class flipping, but expe-
rience and trial and error has provided me with a wider grasp on what to do and
how to plan a successful flip.
Nowadays, my mind is set on flipping at any opportunity I can, since I have
witnessed the advantages it provides not only for student learning, but also for my
own teaching practice. Flipping has challenged me to improve my teaching and find
In-Class Flip: Flipping a Literature Class … 103

better ways to assess and see students’ understanding at a shorter distance and with
a wider view. Moreover, it has defied me to dive into teaching new content with the
confidence of being able to rely on other experts (through YouTube, for instance).
This is why I am convinced that the in-class flip is an ideal alternative for teachers
of any language or content subject who struggle with homework assignments and
unmotivated students at different age levels, but more than that, it is a great way to
teach without necessarily being in the role of a teacher; in this format, learning
experiences are provided and students are the protagonists. Likewise, the in-class
flip provides teachers with more time to get involved, connect, and engage with
students while offering a more personalized learning experience.

References

Barnes, M., & Gonzalez, J. (2015). Hack 7: The In-Class Flip. Bypass the Hurdles of Flipped
Learning by Keeping it in School. In Hacking education: 10 Quick fixes for every school (Hack
Learning Series), (pp. 84–96) Cleveland, OH, USA: Times 10 Publication.
González, J. (2014, March 24). Modifying the flipped classroom: The “In-Class” version [Blog
post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-in-class-version-jennifer-
gonzalez.
Ramirez, M. (2017, May 30). What’s an in-class flip? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://
martharamirez.com.co/blog/whats-an-in-class-flip/.
Tucker, C. (2016, January 7). In-Class flip: The flipped classroom meets the station rotation
model [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://catlintucker.com/2016/01/inclassflip/.
Flipping EFL Classes for Future Teachers

Akihiko Andrew Tohei

Abstract This chapter describes how flipped learning was applied in an English as
a foreign language (EFL) classroom. A large number of students were training to
become teachers in the future and they required a method of acquiring knowledge
outside of the classroom while putting into practice what they had learned in front
of their peers. A survey was used to determine how students perceived flipped
learning. Students were extremely positive about the approach, particularly the wide
range of activities that came from learning the basics beforehand and then using the
in-class time to complete challenges. Although face-to-face teaching time was
lessened after implementing flipped learning, the students gained more chances to
interact with their instructor and peers in the class.

Introduction

The course “English Communication II” is designed to provide learners with an

opportunity to learn basic conversational English necessary for traveling abroad. In
addition, it is a chance for students to give second language (L2) presentations in
front of their peers, in preparation for them becoming elementary school or junior
high teachers in the future.
Since the students in the course are in their second or third year of university,
most have to go off campus for teaching practice during the semester and miss
multiple weeks of classes as a result. Also, as English Communication II is a
required course for graduation, the class was made up of a large number of learners
with varying degrees of English proficiency. The challenge for the teacher is to
present knowledge within a specific curriculum structure to a wide range of students
without them falling behind.

A. A. Tohei (&)
Sakura no Seibo Junior College, Fukushima, Japan
e-mail: tohei@ssjc.ac.jp
A. A. Tohei
Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 105

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_8
106 A. A. Tohei

Individualized instruction in a class of learners with mixed abilities is essential

for quality learning, but how could that goal be achieved in a setting of 30–35
students? Problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration skills are important for
communication in any language, but how could they be incorporated into a 90-min,
once-a-week framework? And how could the instructor push higher level students
to go further while at the same time not ignore lower level learners? The answers to
these questions could be found through use of the Flipped Classroom model.

Context of Student Population

These classes typically are made up of 30–35 students in the second and third year
of university. All of the students are studying to acquire elementary school or junior
high teaching licenses. Some will go on to become English teachers, while others
choose different fields such as physical education, history, and Japanese. The
learners encompass a wide range of English levels ranging from false beginners to
those who have experience studying abroad in an English-speaking country.

Introduction to the Lesson

The objectives of each lesson can be seen in Table 1.

A typical 90-min class starts with an instructor-led warm-up activity tailored to
the theme of the lesson. Student presentations eventually take the place of these
activities and occur in the second half of the semester after the instructor has
provided weekly examples of classroom-appropriate activities. This warm-up is
followed by a homework review, creation of original role-plays, viewing of per-
formances, and peer and self-evaluation.

Table 1 Objectives of each lesson

Students will understand…
• that there is not only one set
way to express themselves
in a given situation
• that in-class activities
should be related to the
overall theme of the lesson
Students will know… Students in class
will…
• various words and phrases to use • create and present
in common situations one may their own original
encounter when abroad role-play with a
• how to ask for help when partner
communication breaks down • use a rubric to
evaluate peers’
performances
• reflect upon their own
performance
Flipping EFL Classes for Future Teachers 107

Technologies

The technologies used in this class are Google® Forms to create the homework
questions and Flubaroo to record student grades. The use of these two technologies
provides students immediate feedback, rather than having to wait until the fol-
lowing class for the teacher to pass back assignments. The homework questions are
distributed by having students use their smartphones to scan a QR code and the
audio is uploaded to the university server. Learners are also required to have
smartphones with video capabilities in order to record their weekly in-class
role-plays.
Students also grade and comment on their peers’ presentations and role-play
performances in the class. The in-class feedback learners give to classmates and the
reflections on their own performances all can be submitted online through Google
Forms for ease of collection.

Pre-class Tasks

Learners are given audio recordings of situational conversations to listen to before

the class. The files are in MP3 format and may be downloaded directly from the
university server by accessing the name of the course. These recordings usually are
four short conversations with comprehension questions, and one longer conversa-
tion with fill-in-the-blank questions. Key vocabulary items are also given in the
students’ native language (i.e., Japanese) before asking learners to provide the
English equivalent. The comprehension questions are answered online through
Google Forms and submitted to the teacher before a given time and date.
Along with the sound files, students also have access to a worksheet that
explains the content of the role-play to be performed during the next class and also
contains examples of useful phrases. These phrases are not transcripts of the con-
versations that are assigned as homework, but rather other variations of questions
and answers that could be heard in the given situations. Students are asked to
become familiar with these phrases before the next class and think about how they
could fit in the context of their role-play. At the beginning of the following class,
the instructor quickly checks the students’ pronunciation of these phrases and of the
homework conversations and then construction of the role-plays is ready to begin.
Providing the main content of the class online is beneficial to students in a
variety of ways. First, busy learners have the option to work ahead. Since many of
the students in English Communication II are absent during their teaching practice
times, they do not miss any of the content covered in the class if they do the online
work. The Flipped Classroom model also gives the lower level students control
over learning the material at their own pace outside of the classroom.
As all of the assignments are submitted online, the instructor may choose to warn
the students that any timestamped submissions after the deadline will not be
108 A. A. Tohei

accepted. Having the deadline a day in advance of the next class is ideal, as it gives
the instructor an opportunity to see what questions cause trouble for a majority of
the students and go through them in detail during the class. This gives the students
opportunities to learn through differentiation, another benefit provided by the
Flipped Classroom approach.

In-Class Activities

The lesson begins as soon as students walk through the classroom door. They
choose playing cards from a deck placed on a table near the door. This determines
the students’ groups and partners for that class. An easy way to divide students into
groups is by using card numbers (for smaller groups) or suits (for larger groups).
Pairs are formed by combining numbers and suits (e.g., three of hearts pairs with
three of diamonds).
The class warm-up is led either by the instructor or the student presentation
group for that week. In both cases, the activity is related to the theme of that week’s
lesson (e.g., “At Immigration” or “Going Shopping”). The warm-up involves the
whole class, which has already been divided into groups. Examples of easy
warm-up activities include:
• One student is in the “hot seat” and stands in the middle of the group. The other
members provide hints to vocabulary words of that lesson without saying the
word itself. Learners switch roles after each correct answer.
• One student starts off by saying a sentence with a key piece of information (e.g.,
“I went to the store and bought an apple.”). The next student repeats the pre-
vious sentence and adds a piece of original information. The answers could be in
alphabetical order or theme related.
During the warm-up, the instructor walks around to each group to make sure
they are using the L2, or student presenters fill that same role while helping any
learners that are having difficulty. Using a variety of easy warm-up activities helps
students review key concepts that they should have learned through the homework
and also gives them ideas for their own English classes in the future.
If students lead the warm-up activity for the class, each group is given the same
activity rubric to follow when creating their presentation. This rubric can be
determined by the teacher or by the students themselves after in-class discussion of
what makes a successful warm-up activity. Upon completion of the activity pre-
sentation, students are graded by their peers and by the instructor.
The class warm-up is followed by a quick review of the homework, with more
time spent on explanation of questions that may have given the students problems.
After the homework review, learners break off into pairs (ideally) or groups of three
to create their original role-plays based on the textbook conversation. Again, these
Flipping EFL Classes for Future Teachers 109

pairs are determined by the playing cards drawn before class begins, thus elimi-
nating any wasted time.
In some textbook conversations, there may be an imbalance between the number
of words or lines spoken by each person. In this case, it is up to the instructor to
balance out the roles by adding additional dialogue. Teachers can require a certain
number of keywords or phrases to be said by each student, or can present a con-
versational situation that must be followed in a set time limit (e.g., between 3 and 4
minutes). During creation of these role-plays, the instructor walks around to each
pair to make sure they follow these guidelines.
After making and practicing their role-play with each other, each pair presents it
in front of the class. Depending on the class size, two pairs may present simulta-
neously at different ends of the classroom. The order of presentation is determined
by the cards drawn before the start of class (e.g., ace, two, three, etc.). The pair that
is presenting hands their cellphones to the next pair in order for them to video the
performance. After all, students have finished presenting, they observe the
role-plays they recorded and give feedback to that pair. Finally, students view their
own performances and write self-reflections.

Evaluation

Three main goals were considered when deciding to use this model of teaching for
the English Communication II course:
• A way to benefit students of all abilities
• A way to help students become responsible for their own learning
• A way to support busy students in their learning
The Flipped Classroom model helped to achieve all three of these goals. Because
work that would normally be done during class time was done beforehand, strug-
gling students were able to receive extra attention on points they did not grasp and
were not forced to ask or answer questions in front of the class that might have
caused embarrassment. The more advanced students also benefitted through having
immediate feedback from the teacher and being encouraged to produce original
ideas and patterns in their classwork.
As all of the class participants were studying to acquire teaching licenses, many
of them missed class time due to teaching practice sessions at various junior and
senior high schools. However, under the flipped method, since the class assign-
ments were offered to the students in advance, learners were able to pace them-
selves and become more responsible for their own learning. They chose the time
and the place to access the class material and the amount that they took in. Even
while away from the classroom, students could still stay on top of their learning and
submit assignments for assessment from the teacher.
110 A. A. Tohei

An unexpected result of using the Flipped Classroom method was the effect it
had on classroom management. Previously, students who may have interrupted a
lesson by talking because they wanted attention no longer had a whole-class
audience. Learners who lacked the confidence to speak up because they did not
grasp the material were able to receive the help they needed on an individual basis.
Finally, higher level students who would have become bored easily now had
challenging activities to occupy their time.
Of course, not all student behavior problems were solved through the Flipped
Classroom model. However, the method provided ample opportunity to address
these issues individually instead of stopping the class to correct one student. All in
all, the Flipped Classroom has proven to be more effective for me than traditional
methods of teaching. Previously, I was overwhelmed with the task of personalizing
the education of a large number of students. I generally followed what Bergmann
and Sams (2012) dubbed the “shotgun” approach to teaching, which is to “present
as much content as [educators] can in the time they have, and hope that it hits as
many students as possible – and sticks” (p. 7). The Flipped Classroom has provided
me with a more effective way of teaching, and my students with a better way to
become self-guided learners.

Findings and Results

In an attempt to gauge the effects of using smartphones in the classroom as it relates

to students’ attitudes and effort toward study in their private time, Leis, Tohei and
Cooke (2015) used this flipped classroom model to answer the following questions:
• Do students who are allowed to use smartphones in class tend to make more
effort in their study at home?
• Do students who are allowed to use smartphones in class show more tendency
towards being autonomous in their study?
• Do applications used in class reflect what students use in their private study?
The textbook materials and role-plays used in the study were the same as the
ones used in this university course. Students in the experimental group of the study
were required to use their smartphones to video record themselves practicing,
enabling them to view their role-plays immediately. Learners were also encouraged
to save their videos in order to have visual proof of their progress during the course.
To provide these students with an opportunity to receive immediate feedback on the
intelligibility of their English pronunciation, they also were required to download
free dictation applications to their smartphones. Students in the control group were
allowed time to reflect on their role-plays and also to consider ways of improving
their performance and pronunciation. However, without the use of their smart-
phones, they were unable to make judgments based on recorded evidence.
Flipping EFL Classes for Future Teachers 111

In terms of testing, the control group was given written tests on paper and the
results were returned seven days later (in the following class). On the other hand,
the experimental group was given forms through Google Drive and their scores
were recorded via Flubaroo. The results and answer keys were returned by e-mail to
these students within a few minutes upon completion of their tests.
A post-experiment questionnaire was distributed to the two groups which
measured their metacognitive skills, intrinsic motivation, attitudes toward using
smartphones in private study, and attitudes toward using smartphones in the
classroom. The results indicated that students who were allowed to use their
smartphones in class studied twice as much at home on average than those who
were not allowed to use smartphones in the classroom.
Students who recorded their role-play performances on smartphones were able to
hear the intonation and volume of their voice, as well as visualize their posture and
other nonverbal aspects of their communication skills. According to student
answers, these opportunities encouraged the use of metacognitive skills that pushed
the experimental group towards becoming more autonomous learners.
Finally, a large majority of students (70%) in the experimental group indicated
that they used the applications and methods introduced in the classroom for their
private study. These results were very encouraging and demonstrated to the authors
that the use of smartphones in the classroom can bring about a more positive
approach to learning.

Future Directions

Student response so far to the flipped model presented here has been overwhelm-
ingly positive. Examples of reactions include:
It was very fun to do different activities each week. It was also enjoyable to work with a
variety of students in this course.
I liked how we could choose the topic we wanted to present. It was hard for me to make a
good presentation, but I learned a lot from speaking in front of others.
I would like to be a teacher in the future, so it was valuable for me to learn how to make
active tasks for my class.
This was a very active class. I learned a lot of about teaching, including how to go around
the desks and check on students.
It was exciting to see each week what kinds of activities could come from just one topic.
I have improved my English communication skills through this class.

Reading student feedback about the flipped classroom, and their personal
reflections on their progress throughout the course, has provided valuable insight
into the effectiveness of my classes. Thanks to the success of this model, I have
incorporated aspects of flipped learning into all of my university classes. Whether it
is viewing a controversial American sitcom episode before Cross-Cultural
112 A. A. Tohei

Understanding class, or asking students to gather examples of targeted advertising

in a Writing Skills class, the knowledge that the learners bring into the classroom
even before the lesson starts gives the class a dynamic aspect that teacher-centered
classrooms do not have.
Before adopting the flipped method of teaching, it was very difficult for me to
have classes proceed at a pace that was beneficial for all learners. Higher level
students would finish readings or worksheets ahead of the others and become bored
easily. Lower level students would hide their faces to avoid being called on by the
teacher. And, especially in Japan, any attempt at an open class discussion would be
met with stunned silence from most students. This goes along with the Japanese
saying, “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”
However, the flipped model allows learners to proceed at their own pace, both
before and after class. The classroom activities are geared towards the group
mentality of the Japanese culture and give students an opportunity to actively
participate, something that they may not be able to do in other classes. Finally,
instead of the stress on rote memorization of facts and figures, the flipped classroom
can be an arena where these students can demonstrate original thought and
expressive communication. Active participation, original thought, and expressive
communication are skills that are necessary in current society, as Japan looks to
welcome the world to the Summer Olympic Games in 2020.

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every
day. Eugene, OR, USA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Leis, A., Tohei, A., & Cooke, S. (2015). Smartphone assisted language learning and autonomy.
International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 5(3), 75–88.
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL
Students’ Speaking Skills

Mark Feng Teng

Abstract As the use of flipped teaching spreads throughout educational disci-

plines, teachers who teach English as a foreign language (EFL) need to consider its
potential for our field. This chapter, framed within constructivist pedagogy, syn-
thesizes an example of flip teaching that clearly demonstrates the benefits of flipping
the classroom in improving EFL students’ speaking skills. I also showed how
flipped learning provides opportunities for increased academic success. It is sug-
gested that a spoken class can be flipped by shifting students from passive to active
learning and emphasizing the role university teachers play in facilitating students’
engagement with speaking. Interviews also showed that students were more satis-
fied with the flipped classroom method. Through this example of how flipped
learning can take shape in a cross-cultural communication course, this chapter
concludes with a consideration of both the benefits and the challenges pertaining to
this approach for EFL teaching and learning.

Introduction

I spent last year flipping my 100-student Cross-cultural Communication course.

This course is designed to help improving speaking skills for students who learn
English as a foreign language (EFL). It helps them to get familiar with the usage of
English in social life, develop functional language, and advance appropriate usage
of vocabulary and complex sentences. It also aims to equip students with relevant
knowledge essential to communicate effectively with people from different cultures.
In our traditional teaching, a teacher stands at the front of the classroom,
delivering a lecture and writing some important notes on a whiteboard. Students are
hunched over desks arranged in rows, quietly taking notes. At the end of the hour,
students copy down the homework assignment. This teaching mode has its own
disadvantages. For example, the teacher does not have time to organize in-class

M. F. Teng (&)
Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
e-mail: tengfeng@uni.canberra.edu.au

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 113

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_9
114 M. F. Teng

activities. Therefore, we need to break this lecture-centered instructional model by

shifting the focus from the curriculum-pacing guide to student learning needs as the
driver of instruction. This shows the importance in adopting an alternative model of
instruction called flipping the classroom.
Flipping the classroom is a pedagogical method to blended learning in which the
typical activities of classroom lectures followed by homework in traditional
teaching procedures are reversed in order, and often supplemented or integrated
with instructional videos (Hung, 2015). The flipped part of the flipped classroom
means that students watch or listen to lectures or videos at home and do the harder
work of assimilating that knowledge in class through strategies such as
problem-solving, group discussion, or debates. There are many ways that a class-
room can be flipped, as can be seen in this volume. This chapter synthesizes an
example of flip teaching that clearly demonstrates the benefits of flipping the
classroom in improving EFL students’ speaking skills. Framed within constructivist
pedagogy, this chapter also details how a spoken class can be flipped by shifting
students from passive to active learning and the role university teachers can play in
facilitating their students’ engagement with speaking.

Context of the Student Population

Participants were first-year university students from various majors, but none was
English major. The course consisted of 100 students (65 males and 35 females) who
had learned English as a foreign language for at least six years. None of the students
had any experience studying in a country where English was the official language.
They received two 40-min class periods, per week, in an audio-visual classroom
where each student was allotted a computer. These students did not have any
learning experiences related to flipped classrooms in their high school years. They
took Cross-cultural Communication as an elective course and volunteered to par-
ticipate in this study.
The students were required to take a Public English Test System (PETS), which
is a standardized test administered by the Ministry of Education in China for EFL
students. This test included two sections: paper test and speaking test. As they had
passed PETS-3, they were judged to be at an intermediate level. Language learners
who are assessed to be at this level have partial command of English language; for
example, they have basic knowledge of grammar and vocabulary but are hesitant
and under-confident, and sometimes have incorrect sentence formations. They are
likely to make sentences with wrong verb tense and have an incorrect pronuncia-
tion. Although they are able to handle basic communication, professional knowl-
edge is still weak to comprehend cultural issues. Participants’ English academic
standard in speaking was approximately 4.5–5 if benchmarking with International
English Language Testing System (IELTS).
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking Skills 115

Introduction to the Lesson

The four lessons were designed to introduce issues of cross-cultural communication

to students. Students were expected to understand how culture affects communi-
cation and identify possible barriers to effective cross-cultural communication. The
main objective was to provide students with the skills to engage and communicate
more effectively and confidently with the following themes: (1) cultural differences
on politeness between China and the West; (2) the differences in tea-drinking
culture between China and the West; (3) differences in food culture around the
world; and (4) cultural differences in body language.
These lessons involved three basic objectives: awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Students formed an awareness of cultural differences and then found out about the
host culture in comparison to their own culture. Students were also expected to
acquire basic skills of public speaking and intercultural competence. Public
speaking, in this regard, is a skill where the students perform a presentation
focusing on a cultural issue by directly speaking to all the class members in a
structured, deliberate manner. Intercultural competence is the ability for the students
to communicate effectively and appropriately on some basic cultural issues with
people of other cultures. To that end, they needed to understand some basic rules or
norms related to cultural issues and try to contemplate how to apply their theoretical
know-how about specific cultural differences to everyday life in another culture.

Lesson Plan

This flipped teaching was carried out over a period of 10 weeks. Week 1 was the
preparation phase. In this phase, the students received an orientation with regard to
the use of WebQuests and an introduction to TED-Ed. They also received an
introduction to the Cross-cultural Communication course.
The implementation of flip teaching took place from Week 2 to Week 9. The
implementation covered four teaching lessons. Each lesson took up four 40-min
class periods, two periods per week, for two consecutive weeks. The first two class
periods were for instruction and learning; the third class period was allotted for
students’ presentation, and the fourth period was for assessment. The self-reflection
phase was held in the 10th week. In this week, some learners were invited to
participate in informal interviews. The lesson plan is presented as follows:
116 M. F. Teng

Lesson One

Before Class
• Students watched five movie trailers.
• Students were encouraged to choose other favorable videos and materials for
learning.
• All the materials (organized in the QuestGarden format) were delivered to the
students for them to learn.

First Class Period

• Introduction to movie genres (10 min)
• Tutorial on WebQuest strategy training (15 min)
• Tutorial on TED-Ed strategy training (15 min)

Second Class Period

• Classroom conversation activity (15 min)
• Group discussion based on five movie trailers (15 min)
• Interactive feedback session, in which the students worked in pairs and the
teacher assisted them in designing presentation (a digital story-telling task) over
the following week (10 min)

Third Class Period

• Presentation (40 min)

Fourth Class Period

• Completing multiple-choice questions for video comprehension and learning
materials (10 min)
• Assessing learners’ oral presentation on an assigned topic (30 min)

Technologies

Web-based learning is effective in improving learners’ communication skills, and

empowering them to be actively involved in the learning process and to be
responsible and accountable for their own learning (Lee, 2005). In my flipped
teaching program, WebQuest, an active learning strategy based on an inquiry-based
learning format, was applied. WebQuest is beneficial for students to inquire into
web-based materials, and it is an effective method of teaching the English language
to learners (Hung, 2015). WebQuest can be used to organize relevant learning
materials systematically. WebQuests can be created using QuestGarden (see http://
questgarden.com for further details). Teachers can use this website to set up a group
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking Skills 117

page as an interactive platform, with which learners can provide feedback to each
other in a process of developing new WebQuests.
TED-Ed (see http://ed.ted.com/lessons) is also an effective learning tool.
TED-Ed is a platform devoted to spreading ideas, usually through short, original,
and powerful talks. TED-Ed allows teachers to customize their own interactive
lessons. Teachers can also flip a lesson based on a range of selectable videos on this
platform. TED-Ed’s affordability and effectiveness are the two main factors that
have contributed toward the inclusion of TED-Ed in the flip teaching for this
course.

Pre-Class Activities

All the in- and out-of-class learning materials were organized in the QuestGarden
format. The materials were delivered to the students before each lesson. Interactive
feedback can be realized by this website, which can ensure that all the students had
received the materials and exerted efforts in learning them prior to the class. The
students were also encouraged to (1) explore useful English learning websites and
online materials, such as the Internet Movie Database and TED-Ed; and (2) watch
some video clips as discussion prompts (students were told that these videos were
useful for discussion during class) and share their thoughts in subsequent in-class
activities. Pre-class assignments also include reading quizzes or worksheets. The
pre-class activities are important for flip teaching. For example, allowing learners to
study prior to class as lecture replacements to free up class time for active learning
activities. This can help them better prepare for in-class participation. This is a very
important step in ensuring a success in flipping a classroom.

In-Class Activities

Flipped classrooms allow for a variety of learning modes. Flipped teachers can
physically rearrange their learning spaces to accommodate the lesson. This requires
some in-class activities, which might involve group work, independent study,
performance, and evaluation. The purpose of assigning in-class activities is to allow
students move from being the product of teaching to the center of student-based
learning. Students in these activities are oriented to knowledge formation through
opportunities to participate in and evaluate their learning in a manner that is per-
sonally meaningful. Students are also directed to explore topics in greater depth
using student-centered pedagogies appropriate for their readiness level or zone of
proximal development (Mayer, 2008). In-class activities are listed as follows:
118 M. F. Teng

Think-Pair-Share (Time on Task: 10–15 min)

• The teacher prepares a topic that demands analysis, evaluation, or synthesis. For
example, the teacher takes a central concept presented in the out-of-class
materials (e.g., differences in tea-drinking culture between China and the West).
• The students take a few minutes to think through appropriate responses.
• The students turn to their partners and share their responses.
• The teacher takes this a step further by asking students to find someone who
arrives at an answer different from their own.
• Student responses are shared within larger teams or with the entire class during a
follow-up discussion.

Circle Chat (Time on Task: 15–20 min)

A circle chat is another activity for student–student interaction. This activity is
similar to Speed Speaking, developed by Teng and Wong (2015), which allows a
platform for sharing thoughts with peers.
• Clear a space in the room large enough for all the students to stand together in
two concentric circles.
• Take the total number of students in the room and divide it by half. In this
course, it is 100 students.
• First, 50 students sit in a circle.
• Call the next 50 students to come forward and form a circle around the first
circle of students.
• Tell the students in the inner circle to turn around and face their new partner in
the outer circle. Everyone should have a partner.
• The students will talk to their partners about the topics posed by the teacher,
which had been selected from the learning materials. For example, topics
include “Talk about something related to cultural differences between China and
the West,” “How do people from different countries greet each other when they
meet for the first time?,” and “Are people from different countries usually on
time, early, or late? When is it okay to be late?”
• At the 2-min signal, the teacher asks students in the outer circle to take one-step
to the left. Each student should have a new partner to talk to.
• Continue this process—asking a new question each time new pairs are formed—
until the students have worked their way around the circle.

Fishbowl Debate (Time on Task: 15–20 min)

• Ask students to sit in groups of three.
• Assign roles. The first student prepares a topic for debate. Topics were also
related to cross-cultural differences between China and the West.
• The second student reads and provides comments, and the third student takes
notes and decides whether the comments by the second student is convincing
and provides his or her own argument.
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking Skills 119

Evaluation

There are benefits to flipping the EFL classroom. First, a flipped classroom allows
more time for teachers to provide individualized instruction, answer individual
questions, and solve problems arising in the classroom. Second, flip teaching
enables teachers to see the process that students go through in completing
inquiry-based assignments, and thus identify areas of misunderstandings or skills
that need to be developed. In this context, the teacher’s role is not a lecturer or
instructor, but a facilitator or mentor.
However, flip teaching also means an increased workload for teachers. For
example, teachers may regard that creating videos and other online materials in
advance requires more time and heavy front ending of lessons. In addition, tech-
nical problems can occur. Teachers need to be trained to use the new technology
proficiently and have backup plans in mind when technology fails.

Findings and Results

Graded Performance My class was quite successful. The students’ graded per-
formance—examined in a multiple-choice test of measuring comprehension of
videos and learning materials—advanced remarkably after this course. This was
contrasted with another class receiving similar content, tasks, exams, and learning
materials in a traditional classroom without flip teaching The class with flip
teaching scored above 80% on the exam while the class without flip teaching only
scored above 50% on the exam.
It seemed that the students were not disoriented when I did not spend class time
lecturing the materials. Judged from their improved performance, most of them
seemed to have watched the videos and read the materials before class. As a result,
class discussion of content became effective. Their comments at the end of the
semester made it clear that most of them were satisfied with flip teaching. However,
some students expressed that they still preferred a typical lecture class. This sug-
gests that it is still challenging to conduct flip teaching for students in a large class.
Probably, we may not entirely abandon the lecture, but it can be minimized.
Furthermore, it may be necessary for both teachers and students to prepare for
the flip teaching. Teachers and students participating in flipping classrooms play an
important role in flip teaching In this regard, teachers should change their roles
correspondingly to facilitate students learning. This remains a continuing challenge
for the teachers who want to flip their classrooms in the future.
Speaking Performance The students’ speaking performance—examined in a
presentation on a story-telling task—showed remarkably improved results in
comparison with another class conducted without flip teaching. The students were
120 M. F. Teng

able to discuss the complexities of cultural issues in a way I have never seen among
non-English majors. In order to present well before the class, the students were
clearly thinking hard and engaged in the learning materials for the course.
There may be several reasons for the improvement of speaking performance.
First, moving direct instruction outside the classroom makes room for engaging
students in communicative activities and interaction in the target language. Class
time may be much more productive when students spend time at home watching the
videos and other materials. Second, flip teaching allows more learner-control and
student engagement and provides more opportunities for differentiation than tra-
ditional models, and for some, improved speaking performance. Finally, flipped
teaching is viewed as more learner-centric than the traditional classroom because
students decide when and how they watch the lessons, and they can pause and
replay them at will. This allows the teacher to meet the needs of lower level students
while keeping the more proficient students engaged.
However, improving speaking performance takes a lot of classroom practice. It
is also related to a motivation and skill to speak. Preparing more diverse and
creative speaking activities becomes essential to improve learners’ speaking skills.

Analysis of Interview

A total of 10 students randomly selected from this class took part in this interview.
Overall, students commonly regarded flip teaching as a useful approach. In detail,
three categories were concluded, based on students’ comments.
Promoting Autonomous Learning Nine interviewees (90%) reported that they
focused more on active learning. They were not in favor of depending on teachers
for explaining ready-to-use learning materials. In other words, these students pre-
ferred to depend on their own ability for learning materials and solving problems.
For example, one student said, “It is important for me to study and find the solutions
on my own to comprehend the materials, rather than simply following the teacher’s
guidance.”
Promoting Higher Participation Levels in and Beyond Classroom Eight
interviewees in this class (80%) reported high participation levels in and out of the
classroom. As one student noted, “I like to give presentations in the class because
I have watched the videos several times for presentations in the class. I also spent a
lot of time preparing for the course, beyond the class, because this is interesting.”
Promoting Active Cooperation Nine interviewees (90%) also reported that they
were more willing to cooperate with their classmates in classroom activities. For
example, one student said, “I was very happy to do some tasks with my classmates
because I had prepared very well for these tasks. I used to be very scared in
speaking publicly.” Another student added, “Now I will try to talk with my
classmates because I want to express what I have learned or known so far. I have
Flip Your Classroom to Improve EFL Students’ Speaking Skills 121

noticed that other classmates also feel in the same manner. This learning experience
has taught me to cooperate in different circumstances.”
Promoting Self-assessment and Peer-assessment With an exception of only two
participants, all interviewees in this sample noticed that they had started
self-assessment and peer-assessment. One student said, “I become aware of the
goals that I should achieve in a task, and I have attempted to evaluate my perfor-
mance on the basis of these goals. This self-evaluation has increased my confidence
in my performance.” Another student added, “I have started to evaluate other
classmates’ performance. I have witnessed this change in me and my partners since
the time I started taking the lessons.”

Future Directions

Evaluating the perceived and real benefits of flip teaching as well as the amount of
research recently done should be an incentive to consider flip teaching as a valuable
way to reach students and approach mastery of content. In other words, effectively
flipping a classroom brings many benefits. In future teaching, flip teaching is related
to the use of technology, which can remove passive, one-way lecturing as the only
means of teaching. Thus, the instructor and students can interact within the newly
gained instructional time. Technology can also save time for material delivery. This
can increase teacher–student interaction during class time, which is what charac-
terizes its success. Then classroom time is used to solve problems and apply to
other contexts (in future studies, e.g., the application of higher order thinking
skills).
Another key secret about flipping a class is the content delivery. In future
teaching, a teacher’s priority is to figure out pre-class activities that keep students
engaged and motivated to prepare for class. Put simply, they have to come to see
the value of doing assigned pre-class activities. In addition, coming to class is an
effective way to share what they had learned or known. This takes considerable
effort, particularly in larger classes, to run pedagogically sound flipped classes It
also takes a lot of energy to develop activities that work for the learners—and what
works for my class may not work well for another class. However, all the activities
that work well for the learners are related to students’ engagement in group work,
interest, and language proficiency level. This is the foundation for designing any
in-class activities. The major challenges and limitations of flip teaching include
(1) course design, and (2) student buy-in. Future studies on designing an effective
flip teaching course and gaining student buy-into this innovative course are
essential.
In conclusion, this chapter describes, from a different perspective, the change of
leadership from a traditional lecture-delivered model to a flipped classroom model
for better student engagement. This chapter demonstrates the importance of ade-
quately preparing both teachers and students for participating in flipped classrooms.
122 M. F. Teng

This suggests the important role of both teachers and students in flipping class-
rooms. The implication drawn from this chapter is that the flipped classroom is a
useful approach that can facilitate real change for EFL students’ speaking skills.
However, adjusting to a new educational paradigm is never easy. Students in the
Chinese EFL context come out of secondary school classes that are a largely
lecture-based struggle with flip teaching. Teachers may also try this method of
teaching and learning for the first time. Since flipping the classroom requires a
communicative approach plus the addition of technology, it is obvious that this may
be more challenging to accept in some cultures. Therefore, teachers need to be
prepared to manage the pedagogy of flipped classrooms. This gives rise to a cor-
responding shift in the role of university teachers, as they now become facilitators
that guide student learning. Teachers should feel comfortable with relinquishing
control of the learning process over to their students. Rather than being a performer
standing at the front of the class, the teacher’s role shifts to that of a learning coach,
though this may remain to be a continuing challenge for the teachers who want to
flip the classrooms in the future.
However, there may be no set formula for the flipped classroom Implementation
of flip teaching will differ because of various variables, such as class size, disci-
pline, school policy, teaching style, technology, teaching resources, and curriculum.
Other factors, such as opportunities for group discussion, formative assessment, and
feedback are also indispensable to flip teaching. Despite the obstacles that flipping
may present, it is recommended as a new methodology, and the rewards can be
great, as I have learned. Flipping addresses students’ needs in the twenty-first
century. Once students and teachers embrace flipping, they are likely to notice that
flip teaching is a superior experience for their English learning and teaching.

References

Hung, H. T. (2015). Flipping the classroom for English language learners to foster active learning.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28, 81–96.
Lee, L. (2005). Using web-based instruction to promote active learning: Learners’ perspectives.
CALICO Journal, 23, 139–156.
Mayer, R. E. (2008). Learning and instruction (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson
Education.
Teng, F., & Wong, J. (2015). Applying Speed Speaking into the foreign language classroom.
Philippine ESL Journal, 14, 50–70.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process
in the Flipped EFL Classroom

Mark deBoer

Abstract In this chapter, the author outlines a flipped EFL classroom based on a
syllabus that focuses on the process of learning in a sociocultural setting. Instead of
the seemingly traditional approach to flipped classroom learning, the projects in the
syllabus take place over several weeks, allowing the learners to discuss the tasks in
an online environment and then bring those discussions to class in the face-to-face
environment where they can discuss their progress with the teacher in dialogic
inquiry. In this study, the learners chose a topic that they wanted to research and
present about from a number of short videos posted in the LMS. The analysis here
shows the discussions face-to-face at the beginning of the task, the subsequent 4
weeks of online discussions, and the final face-to-face discussion 1 week prior to
presenting. It shows the progression of how the online dialogue coupled with the
face-to-face dialogue gives learners experience in collaboration and in skills nec-
essary for them to complete the tasks. The flipped classroom becomes an arena for
learners to collaborate face-to-face and then continue that collaboration online in
this sociocultural approach to learning.

Introduction

In a nonideal learning environment, knowledge is treated as something that is

contained in the minds of experts and in published books and can be transferred
from one container to another (Wells, 1999) and there is a “general distrust in the
value of encouraging students to express their beliefs and opinions in an open
dialogue of which the outcome is unknown” (p. 112). This learning environment is
pervasive especially in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms where
grammar translation studies (yakudoku) (Kikuchi & Browne, 2009; Yoshida, 2003)
and the tests that follow, influenced by the university entrance exams

M. deBoer (&)
Akita International University, Akita, Japan
e-mail: markdb@aiu.ac.jp

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 123

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_10
124 M. deBoer

(Brown, 1995; Gorsuch, 1998) do not provide learners with the opportunities to
communicate and develop any sense of the language as a communication tool.
In an ideal learning environment then we might see collaborative knowledge
building occurring between students, providing both the context and motivation for
learning (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1996) by allowing free communication to take
place. A social constructivist (Vygotsky, 1978) attitude towards learning is nec-
essary. “Rather than treating the subject of English as a subject matter to be
memorized, a constructivist approach treats it as a body of knowledge, skills, and
strategies that must be constructed by the learner out of experiences and interactions
within the social context of the classroom” (Applebee, 1993, p. 200).
Building the ideal learning environment seems to have instigated more tech-
nology in the classroom, providing the technology for the sake of the latest gadget,
but “technology should be the servant and not the master of instruction. It should
not be adopted merely because it exists” (cited in Gentry, 1995, p. 3). Many online
courses have little concern for design (Conole, 2013; Laurillard, 2002; McConnell,
2006) and provide nothing more than PDFs as the reading material.
This brings us to this concept of the “flipped classroom” where schoolwork is
done at home through online videos or other materials and the classroom is reserved
for discussing the homework through some sort of collaborative activities (Joanne &
Lateef, 2014; Leis, 2015; Sung, 2015). Especially in the EFL environment, there
must be cautious movement so as not to proceed with the technologies that pay little
attention to collaborative efforts and with assignments that merely provide exercises
for students to study before coming to class. Language learning in this flipped
classroom environment needs to be dealt with from a much deeper theoretical level.
It must include collaborative knowledge building and communicative efforts
between learners.
The “flipped classroom” outlined in this paper is an example of setting the stage
for life skills, providing the venue for learning, asking the teacher to cease from
“teaching grammar” from the front of the classroom to rows of obedient students,
and to put the onus on the students for their learning, so that the learners have a
voice and learn how to use it. The flipped classroom here is a revolutionary way of
setting a classroom with the most minimal amount of technology, which in today’s
society is in the hands of virtually any student with a phone.
In this chapter, I will discuss the layout of a course that brings in elements of
skills learning, language acquisition, and student autonomy, with the onus for
learning entirely on the students. The course can best be described as “one con-
tinuous conversation between students, with the teacher joining now and then,” a
revolutionary approach to a flipped classroom. I will begin with the outline of the
course and will hone in specifically on one 6-week section, discussing the pre-class
activities, face-to-face activities, and the evaluation and research that has come out
of this approach.
In order for a flipped classroom to be effective it needs to do the following,
otherwise it has no reason to exist:
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 125

• Create student autonomy

• Put the onus on the student for their learning
• Create a higher level of agency
• Provide learners with opportunities to develop skills
• Provide learners with the opportunities to communicate in English outside the
classroom
• Create an atmosphere during the face-to-face time that resembles the outside
world
• Changes the role of the teacher to a facilitator and one of dialogic inquirer
I will address these criteria in this paper and identify the areas where this
“flipped classroom” is effective in these regards. To begin, the context of the
students will be discussed.

Context of the Student Population

The students in this study are first-year engineering and agriculture students in a
general English conversation class at a university in northern Japan. The students
have had a minimum of 6 years of English (Junior High—3 years and Senior
High—3 years), but primarily grammar translation and grammar focused teaching
(Gorsuch, 1998; Hino, 1988; O’Donnell, 2005). The students have all taken
TOIEC prior to this class in order to be placed in a class according to their level.
These students roughly had a 400 level of TOEFL. There were 37 students in this
class and this paper is from lessons in their first term of university. This course
ran for 15 weeks, 90 min a week, and they also took one other class with another
teacher, but the content was not related to this class.

Introduction to the Lesson

A number of activities are weaved throughout the syllabus and each contributes to
the students’ skill base. There are no single-class lessons, each activity spans a
number of weeks to allow learners to be able to collaborate and prepare for some
kind of presentation. The six main components to the course are outlined in
Table 1a.
The three colors (Table 1b) in Table 1a represent the main focus of that class.
The blue represents the dates where final file uploads needed to occur. These may
be poster files, PowerPoint files, or reports. The orange represents the face-to-face
discussion in class for that particular activity. The teacher moves around the
classroom discussing the direction the students have taken with their topic in the
activity. The yellow represents the time that the students did a presentation or
speech.
126 M. deBoer

Table 1a Schedule overview of the course

Activity Apr Apr Apr May May May May Jun Jun Jun Jun Jul Jul Jul Jul

/week 16 23 30 7 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23

Project

Rubric

Pecha

Workshop

Debate

Readers

Table 1b Color labels for Table 1a

Upload file (report, slides, rubric)

Face-to-face discussions with teacher observing

Speaking in-class (presentations, posters, book speeches)

The project activity is a 15-week group project, where the students research local
topics, such as pet bottle use, chopstick use, fast-food, local foods, and convenience
stores. The students work in groups to prepare for and present a poster and
PowerPoint presentation on their topic, and they individually submit a final report.
The rubric activity is a group activity to create assessment criteria that they will
use to peer-assess a presentation. There are two rubric activities, the second rubric is
used to assess the final presentation.
The Pecha activity is a “pecha kucha” presentation on the Nobel Peace Prize
Laureates, and although it is an individual activity (each student is responsible for
making three slides: an introduction to the laureate, why they received the Nobel
Prize, and any other interesting information), each student’s slides are combined
with the other student’s slides in chronological order, and each slide is set on a 20 s
timer. The students line up and give a continuous pecha kucha style presentation.
The workshop activity is a group presentation on a specific environmental issue,
the students watch a short video in class on their topic and then work in groups to
create a 5-min PowerPoint presentation on that topic. This is the activity that will be
discussed in this paper.
The debate activity is a group project but becomes a class debate on different
energy forms. Each group chooses an energy form (such as oil, nuclear, solar, or
coal) and prepares a short presentation and questions for the other groups on their
energy forms.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 127

The final component is the reader’s activity. Each student reads four graded
readers, prepares a short report summarizing its content and gives a 30 s speech on
why they liked or didn’t like the book. The book speeches were 30 s each, and there
was also a Learning Support Desk at the university where students could do their
speeches.
Groups used the face-to-face time to work together, but when they were not
co-located they used a forum in the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle
platform. The teacher could monitor the forums to provide assistance to the stu-
dents, but this was not common practice, the forums were designated to be where
the students could collaborate without any outside influence or impedance. Privacy
settings ensured group work could not be seen by other groups, except in the case of
the debate activity forum where their discussions could be seen. Seeing information
being discussed by other groups helped them prepare targeted questions for their
debate.

Lesson Plan

The workshop activity will be discussed in this paper (Table 2). There are six
distinct parts to this lesson, covering 6 weeks. The final self-reflection part is not
included here in the analysis or discussions.
In the initial class, the students watched the videos, took notes, used the Internet
to do additional research, and recorded their information in the designated forum.
The students were given choices of seven topics (earth breathing, Florida sea levels
rising, Lake Chad, Larcen B ice shelf, ocean currents, polar ice caps, and time-lapse
glaciers), and they were automatically assigned to a group based on their choice.
A maximum of six students were allowed per group. Each group was required to
give a 5-min presentation on the topics in the video. In the LMS itself, there
were short introductory videos (approximately 1 min each) about each topic.

Table 2 Weekly lesson outline for workshop activity

Day/Week Description
April 30th Watch video and discuss topic in class face-to-face with group
May 1st to May Collaborate online with group members to create the PowerPoint
28th presentation. Before May 28th class upload current PowerPoint
presentation file
May 28th Face-to-face discussion with group and teacher
May 29th to Work with group online to finish PowerPoint presentation slides and script
June 3rd slides
June 4th Give PowerPoint presentation in class and peer-assess other group
presentations
June 4th to June Teacher uploads presentation videos to course. Self-reflection on
11th presentation with group in online forum
128 M. deBoer

During this class time, the teacher talked with each group individually, discussing
their videos and answering questions to make sure there was no confusion about the
topics.
Short quizzes (10 questions), one for each video topic, were assigned for
homework. These were formatively assessed, the learners had unlimited attempts to
get the required 100% on each of them, and this was to give all students exposure to
the vocabulary that were in the other groups’ videos. The presentations were peer
assessed so understanding the topics and basic vocabulary were deemed to be
helpful.
Students used the forums over the next few weeks to continue working on their
presentations, gathering information, until the June 4th class, where they were
required to upload a draft presentation file. During this class, they would discuss
their presentations face-to-face in their groups, with the teacher moving from group
to group asking and answering questions.
In the final week before their presentation, students would again use the forum to
continue to make their PowerPoint presentation file and their script. The final
PowerPoint presentation upload deadline was the night before the presentation.
The final class on this workshop was the following week where the students
gave their presentations. These presentations were peer assessed using the rubric
that the groups had made (the group leaders consolidated them and came up with
one final rubric).
After the presentation, the teacher uploaded the presentation videos to the course
so the students could review their presentation and self-evaluate.
The group data that will be discussed here is the “polar ice caps” group. Initially,
there were five students in the group, but one student dropped out of the course
leaving four students in this group.

Technologies

Tool-mediated learning (blended learning) provides the learners with resources to

create PowerPoint slides, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and online forums
such as Moodle (Dougiamas, 2011) to collaborate if not co-located. Mehring,
through student interviews showed that students had actually scheduled “forum
discussion time” “We decided ‘forum time’ on Saturday in order to discuss smoothly.
Of course, we discussed other day too. Thanks to it [forum], I think we could speak
frequently.” (2015, p. 70). Class time gives them the opportunities to discuss their
projects face-to-face while being able to use the computer to make changes to files,
search for information, or discuss concepts using their prepared materials. The class
time is an opportunity for the learners to continue their dialogue and still have the
technology available to them if needed. Electronic dictionaries were also widely used
by the students and as Mehring also discovered in interviews with students, one
student stated “I had the hardest day when I forgot to bring my own dictionary!
I couldn’t say anything. I was just quietly sitting there.” (2015, p. 70).
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 129

Pre-class Tasks

For the introduction to the workshop activity there was no pre-class task, the initial
class was done as explained previously. The group discussions were recorded using
a Toshiba Voice Recorder at each group, the recorders were collected at the end of
the discussion and transcribed. The entire transcripts for the “polar ice caps” group
are in “Appendix 1”. Following are some key parts of the transcript. In Table 3, the
students are discussing some of the key words and general meaning of “polar ice
caps.”
During the discussion, they also focused on the central theme of the presentation
(Table 4). Here the group members discuss the theme around global warming.
Knowledge building through progressive discourse is necessary and Bereiter is very
clear that progressive discourse is valid within the classroom:
Classroom discussions may be thought of as part of the larger ongoing discourse, not as
preparation for it or as after-the-fact examination of the results of the larger discourse. The
fact that classroom discourse is unlikely to come up with ideas that advance the larger
discourse in no way disqualifies it. … The important thing is that the local discourses be
progressive in the sense that understandings are being generated that are new to the local
participants and that the participants recognize as superior their previous understandings
(Bereiter, 1994, p. 9).

The teacher has moved to this group now (Table 5) and makes some suggestions
for the direction of their research. Many of the groups wanted to focus their
attention on providing a solution to the issues that they saw in the videos, but the
teacher wanted them to focus only on the facts surrounding their issue.

Table 3 Students discussing
the meaning of “polar ice cap”
after watching video
S5: The cause is global warming and high temperature. I think a
polar bear or some species are confusing, they lost their habitat.
S1: Yes, you are right. At first, make keyword.
S3: How many polar caps. What is meaning.
S5: Ice cap means ice.
S3: The top of ice.

Table 4 Students discussing
the presentation order
S5: What should we do next? Study about ice cap or polar ice
affect… some species?
S4: Let’s decide the main theme of presentation. global
warming is melting sea ice
S5: Cause global warming? I think affect other people, species
what happen in polar?
S1: As it happen…what happen in our life.
S5: Yes
S1: For example melt ice polar creature affected.
S5: Melting ices cause higher sea surface in some island or
small island. Flood
130 M. deBoer

The students continued their discussions in the online forum during the next few
weeks. There were two main forums, one for discussing the scripts for the pre-
sentation, and the other for creating the PowerPoint slides. The initial face-to-face
and the online collaboration until the May 28th class can be regarded as the
pre-class task for the activity. Below (Tables 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11), parts of the
PowerPoint forum dialogue are shown, there were 36 posts between four students,
and a total of 21 file exchanges. The students did not start creating their PowerPoint
slides until Saturday May 25th. The students use this file as the focus of their
dialogue, each time the file is uploaded by a student, the other students in the group
download it, examine it for the changed content, determine what changes need to be
made, make the changes, change the file name to a newer version, and upload it
again. This content that the students collaboratively change is referred to as the
“improvable object” (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1996) and this is one prerequisite for
this collaborative knowledge building to continue (Wells, 1999). The start of the
improvable object appears in the third post (see “Appendix 1” for all posts).
Following this post, S2 makes comments in the forum and uploads a file that
holds different content than the previous file. The students have determined that the
scripts for the presentation also need to be made, which in itself is content that can
be considered an improvable object in a different modality (Wells, 1999). The
students are also discussing roles in the poster, which reflect organizational skills
and division of labor.
Students use the forums to discuss their topics or their intentions, not always
uploading files as seen in Table 8.

Table 5 Teacher discussing
the topic with student
T: ah Polar ice cap. Think about why the polar cap is important.
S2: What important is because wild animal, for example polar
bear only can live in polar, not other place, so we should make a
solution.
T: Don’t focus on the changing or solution. Just tell me what is
happening and why this is not good. There are all kinds of
different solutions and you only have 5 min to talk, so focus
really hard on what is happening. More than solutions or what
we should change. Tell me what is happening and what the
impact is.

Table 6 The first instance of the improvable object

P S Dialogue File Time
upload
3 s1 First, I made title and introduction. Polar ice Sunday, 26 May
Teacher told us that keep slide simple. cap1. 2013, 11:49 a.m.
I think only few people find this forum and this pptx
assignment, but even few people, we should
complete the presentation slide.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 131

Table 7 Students use the forum to discuss their roles and share files
P S Dialogue File upload Time
4 s2 I see. Thank you s1! Polar ice Sunday, 26 May
I make slide about air and sea temperature. Is it cap2.pptx 2013, 07:34 p.m.
s3’s part?
s3’s part is little short in 1 min.
So, It is good to add explanation of graph in this
slide to his script, I think.
I’ll make script and other slide.

Table 8 Students discuss their role in the activity

P S Dialogue File Time
upload
8 s4 Good morning. Monday, 27 May 2013, 07:56 a.m.
I’ll make slides rise in sea level.

Table 9 Student upload their files and discuss the content

P S Dialogue File upload Time
9 s2 Sorry, I didn’t notice what I should do. Polar ice Monday, 27 May
Should I make a new slide? cap5.pptx 2013, 01:43 p.m.
How about third slide? Is it need more
impact?

Table 10 Students discussing content and making suggestions for organization

P S Dialogue File Time
upload
14 s3 How about changing these position? 7th Monday, 27 May
slide is conclusion, isn’t it? 2013, 11:09 p.m.
And you should change file’s name.

In Table 9, there is also evidence that students discuss their roles and also the
information contained in the slides. Keeping in mind that these are new first-year
students who have never encountered online asynchronous dialogue, they are
making an effort to communicate with the other members of the group, possibly due
to the fact that they have met them face-to-face and discussed the project, thus
reducing the barrier for communication they may have normally (Wang, 2006).
As seen in Table 8, not all forum posts involve uploading files. In Table 10, the
post is discussing the content of the slides and here also is a suggestion from s3 to
s4 that the file name should be changed when uploading (post 12 and 13 have the
same file name uploaded, but they are different in content).
132 M. deBoer

In post 15 the presentation is uploaded and ready for the next day’s class. This is
the last upload before the face-to-face time with the teacher.
Next, the face-to-face time dialogue will be discussed and analyzed.

In-Class Activities

During the face-to-face time, the teacher discussed the key words that the students
had selected to use to structure their presentation and discovered a misunder-
standing of “floating ice” and rising sea levels. Through discussion the teacher was
able to assist them to clarify the concept as a group. They had discussed this within
the forum (within the PowerPoint files they had uploaded, starting in post 13, file 7.
pptx), the concept of rising sea levels with respect to the polar ice caps melting.
After discussions here, the information identifying the polar ice caps melting as the
cause of sea levels rising disappears. The script data also showed evidence that they
had researched the concepts of “floating ice” and “land-based ice” after discussions
with the teacher (Table 12).
Even with the teacher not in discussion with their group, each group continued to
speak in English, as identified by the voice recorders. This behavior continued
throughout the entire semester, the students were constantly making efforts to
discuss their topics in English in a very active learning environment. Mehring noted
that in his interviews with students, their view of the flipped classroom identified
their understanding of the difference between an active and passive learning
atmosphere. “‘In other classes, there is no communication at all. Very passive.’ one
student pointed out, ‘Other class teacher all explain and students hear but this class
to make groups we talk with group members so we can communicate with class-
mates’ Another student emphasized that, ‘The students are in charge of the actions.
We can’t be passive.’ the first student added, ‘It is an active class. The others are
passive classes.’” (Mehring, 2015, p. 65).
In all cases, the basic understanding of an introduction, main body, and con-
clusion within a presentation was very foreign to students. Here discussions lie with
opening the presentation by describing the polar ice cap and its location (Table 13).
Discussions also helped the students understand some of the basic ideas that
needed to be researched for their presentation. This kind of discussion was done
with this project because it helped the students realize that this also needed to be

Table 11 Students discuss content

P S Dialogue File Time
upload
15 s2 Everyone nice job! Thank you for Polar ice Monday, 27 May
collecting slides. cap9.pptx 2013, 11:28 p.m.
S4’s slide is good!
I have question. How finish our
presentation? And I change letter place.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 133

Table 12 Face-to-face discussions with the teacher

T: Polar ice caps OK, so what are some key words?
S2: Ice is melting and sea level is rising and sea temperature is also rising. Wild animals may
extinct.
T: The polar ice cap… Didn’t you say that sea levels are rising? Yes?
S2: Polar ice cap…
T: Do the sea levels rise when the polar ice cap melts?
S2: Yes.
T: How?
S4: The arctic ice melts… the arctic ice melts.. the sea level don’t rise
T: Yes, it doesn’t rise.
S4: Don’t rise.
T: Why not?
S1: Ice in the glass, ice in the glass, when it melt, water level don’t rise.
T: Yes, that is floating ice
S1: Floating ice, yes.
T: So there you go, it’s floating ice.
S2: Floating ice
T: That’s a key word, floating ice

Table 13 Discussions about opening slide

T: So what is a good opening slide, or opening statement?
S1: Opening statement… Polar ice cap is easy to slip. Because it is melting.
T: Where is the polar ice cap?
S3: Arctic.

done with other projects. By introducing this kind of preliminary research skill early
on in the course has shown to have an impact on their approach to the other
activities. The students had not started their research early enough to completely
understand the concepts, which they realized and implemented in the other activ-
ities. As one student noted “Preparation was not meant to memorize by rote.
I aimed to talk with thinking and to convey my research. It helped my developing.”
(Mehring, 2015, p. 66) (Table 14).
During discussions the teacher also referred back to the video to see if they had
understood the content and could apply it to their explanation in their presentation.
Here the teacher was able to determine that the students had understood the video
concept of the reflecting sunlight on ice versus water and could make abstract
conclusions about it (Table 15).
After the teacher had moved onto another group, the polar ice cap group con-
tinued discussions on the organization of their presentation. This showed that the
students were using the time after the teacher-student discussion to reinforce what
they had discussed and to organize the remainder of their time (Table 16).
At this point the class ended. The students now have one more week to complete
their presentation, so following the class, the students used the forum again to
continue working on their presentation. The students begin to alter their presenta-
tion based on the discussions and the advice from the teacher. Immediately we
begin to see changes based on the face-to-face discussions. One student had gone to
134 M. deBoer

Table 14 Connections to the
other groups were also made
through face-to-face
discussions
T: Yes, well the polar bears use the ice to move, yes, but what is
the job of the polar ice cap?
S1: Cooler box of the earth.
T: That’s right, if there is no polar ice cap, the earth becomes
hotter and hotter. You should talk to the group doing their
presentation on ocean currents. There is a current that goes to
the north, becomes cool, and then travels back south, it’s a nice
balance. So the weather will change. No polar ice cap, the earth
gets hotter.

Table 15 Discussions about T: What happened in the video?

the video content
S3: Reflect?
T: Yes. So what happens.
S3: Reflect sun light.
T: OK, the ice reflects the sun light, ok. Why is that important?
S2: Sunlight also rise the temperature.
T: What about the water, does water reflect sunlight?
S3: Yes.
S1: No
T: Think about a lot of ice, and think about a little ice and what
happens to the ocean?
S3: Reflect. Polar caps main cap is cooler earth.
T: OK, so what are your key words?
S2: Reflect, floating ice, shrinking, cooler box
S3: Sunlight
T: Arctic ocean

Table 16 After the teacher
moves to another group, the
students continued
discussions
S2: What to say for the first? Introduction is ok?
S4: What is ice cap?
S1: Introduction is what is ice cap and where is it and what it is.
Next introduction it is melting. So why is it melting because…
something, something… reason slide is only graph and speak
about graph.
S3: Hmm
S1: And after reason, what with happen in this condition. Next,
why melting ice cap is problem. Because it is other cooler
reflect.
S3: How about saying the role of polar ice cap that is cooler.
S4: With graph and picture
S3: To explain this to use graph and pictures.
S1: So let’s decide what I speak about the presentation

the Learning Support Desk at the library and asked for further advice, possibly to
clarify something he had not understood in the classroom (Table 17).
The continuation of the PowerPoint presentation in the forum had a direct
relation with the discussion with the teacher in the classroom. Here S2 is adding the
information about the job of the polar ice cap and it is the “cooler” for the earth
(Table 18).
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 135

Table 17 Discussions continue in the forum and changes are made to the improvable object
P S Dialogue File upload Time
22 s3 I added some slides. Polar ice Wednesday, 29 May
Today, I went to the library and I cap11.pptx 2013, 06:52 p.m.
was given advices.
The important thing is “what Polar
Ice Cap is?”
To tell this to audience, we should
make slides.

Table 18 The improvable object continues to be changed

P S Dialogue File upload Time
24 s2 Thanks s3. Nice job! Polar ice Thursday, 30 May 2013,
I made slide about cooler. I’ll add cap13.pptx 09:45 a.m.
more slides.

Table 19 The improvable object is changed based around the teacher-student discussions
P S Dialogue File upload Time
27 s1 I added the slide to help my Polar ice Saturday, 1 June 2013,
introduction. cap16.pptx 07:28 a.m.
Sorry for changing only about my
introduction.

Table 20 The group leader uploads the final file

P S Dialogue File upload Time
31 s1 I completed it. Polar ice cap20. Monday, 3 June 2013,
Let’s upload this pptx 08:02 p.m.
“Polaricecap20”.

In Table 19 the dialogue shows that S1 is altering the introduction. There are a
number of revisions that the introduction goes through, based on identifying where
the polar ice cap is located and the countries around it.
The final PowerPoint file is uploaded by S1 here and he instructs the other
students to also upload it into the “workshop activity” in the Moodle course. The
teacher had asked that all students upload their group’s PowerPoint file into the
workshop activity so that the students doing the assessment of that person during
the presentation could also review the PowerPoint file afterwards for any final
assessment adjustments based on the PowerPoint slide quality (Table 20).
The group leader also used the forum as a place to organize and direct the other
members of the group. Here he is reminding the other members to make sure that
they upload their file before the deadline, also referring to the teacher’s reminder
136 M. deBoer

Table 21 Students discussing the meaning of “polar ice cap” after watching video
P S Dialogue File Time
upload
32 s1 Everyone, please don’t forget to upload final Monday, 3 June
powerpoint in today. 2013, 08:10 p.m.
Teacher sended us E-mail.
I have uploaded polar ice cap file.

email. The teacher also used the LMS course “participants” function to do mass
mailings to the students in the course to remind them of specific deadlines or events
(Table 21).
Here we saw the results of collaboration between students from the onset of the
activity through to online collaboration, face-to-face collaboration in a “flipped
classroom,” back to the online collaboration right up to the presentation. Through
the research done on this classroom and the students, I will provide a definition for a
“flipped classroom” in an EFL setting.
To create a flipped classroom environment, the learners come to the face-to-face envi-
ronment in order to continue in the discussions they have been engaged in through asyn-
chronous dialogue. It is a space where the teacher can then join in the dynamic assessment
of learners through dialogic inquiry. This is the essence of a sociocultural approach to
learning. There needs to be a purpose to the discussion, a purpose which then students,
upon leaving the face-to-face environment will be able to continue again through asyn-
chronous dialogue as a group.

This is a very powerful approach to the EFL classroom as the data reveals.
Research for the higher education level English education reveals that more com-
munication is needed, skill development is needed, and there needs to be less
emphasis on studying for the test (METI, 2010) and more on lifelong learning skill
development (Wells & Claxton, 2002). The data, the interview data, and the setup
of the classroom all point in that direction. There is a higher level of agency (van
Lier, 2004), students are becoming more autonomous and assisting in each other’s
learning. More teachers need to step aside and put more onus on the students to help
them become more autonomous learners.

Evaluation

There are two distinct facets to the evaluation process. The students collaborate to
create the assessment rubric and then use the rubric to peer assess the presentations.
They work in their groups to create an assessment rubric and the group leaders
collaborate to consolidate each group rubric into one final assessment rubric. It is
this final rubric that the teacher integrates into the “Workshop activity” in Moodle,
which students can then be assigned to peer assess. McConnell (2006) states:
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 137

If students are actively involved in decisions about how to learn and what to learn and why
they are learning, and are also actively involved in decisions about the criteria for
assessment and the process of judging their own and others’ work, then their relationship to
their studies will probably be qualitatively different from that of students who are treated as
recipients of teaching and who are the objective of others’, unilateral, assessment (p. 92).

When students create the tool for assessment (rubric) and use the tool in the final
assessment process, they are involved in a tools-and-results activity (Newman &
Holzman, 1993). The product of collaboration is used in the process of assessment.
The evaluation of the students is not done on an individual activity level, as there
are many skills the students are acquiring for the first time. The experience they
build with each activity assists them with their process in the main project. The
main project carries the bulk of the evaluation. Currently, research is being done to
examine the process, the experience acquired during the various activities and how
they are applied to the poster and PowerPoint presentations.
Formative assessment (Scriven, 1967; Taras, 2005) is used only as a tool to
assist learners in learning vocabulary. This is not part of the final assessment nor
part of the workshop assessment.

Research

Research is being done in a number of different areas concerning this class and the
dialogue from not only this workshop activity forum, but also with the other forums
and with the in-class transcripts. Research on the experiences of Japanese under-
graduate EFL students in the flipped classroom was done using this classroom
(Mehring, 2015) and the results of the interviews have aided in this author’s
understanding of the student’s experiences.
The dialogue of the data from the main project groups is being analyzed for
instances of dynamic assessment (Lidz, 1991; Poehner, 2008) in peer-peer online
interactions as part of the requirements of a Ph.D. and the interactions of this nature
using this “flipped classroom” approach has proven the positive effects of student
interaction outside the classroom working collaboratively, while the classroom
face-to-face time collaboration continues with the teacher present for dialogic inquiry.
Other research includes peer-peer dynamic assessment, examining how students
interact with each other and how they mediate each other’s learning as Vygotsky
states “… the distance between the actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined
through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more cap-
able peers” (1978, p. 86). By examining the dialogue between students, we can
understand how they divide the labor, how they bring personal experiences to the
group and how they contribute those experiences, but most importantly how those
experiences are adopted by the other group members and how that brings the
improvable object closer to completion. There is evidence of this occurring even in
the dialogue shown here.
138 M. deBoer

Future Directions

The flipped classroom approach introduced here may be unique in its methodology,
yet what it is doing for the learners is providing them with an atmosphere that is
similar to a business meeting, or something that does not resemble the walls of the
classroom. While there continues to be research done on the flipped classroom, the
effects of student collaboration outside the classroom using the technologies
afforded by today’s society can be studied and there will continue to be proof that
the flipped classroom in an EFL context needs to be one where the learners are
using English by sharing ideas and collaborating on projects that help further their
language abilities as well as skills in areas that are beneficial to their future.

Conclusions

What has been shown here is an example of students mediating each other’s
learning through different modalities: asynchronous dialogue, sharing files, video
files, face-to-face discussions, teacher-student discussions, and through the
PowerPoint presentations. The flipped classroom here is an integrated activity
followed by other activities intertwined throughout the term. During the workshop
activity discussed here, the students are also working on the assessment rubrics, the
pecha kucha activity, and the main project activity. Yet, the skills from one activity
can be transferred naturally from one activity to the next, presentation skills are
transferable, computer skills are transferable, and each step of the course gives the
students more experience to complete the next activity.
Through other research on the main project data, it is obvious that more dialogue
in the forums is taking place, the presentations are becoming better, and the second
assessment rubric is much more detailed based on their experiences from the first
half of the term. So while the majority of the onus is on the learners to do the initial
research, the face-to-face time becomes a valuable discussion time for the students
to get feedback from the teacher. For the EFL environment, especially at the higher
education level, this approached to the flipped classroom seems to offer the students
a more complete skills based experience.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 139

Appendix 1

April 30th Polar Ice Caps Group Transcript

S2: I don’t have show the movie exactly
S1: We want to see it again. The important thing is the relationship between global warming and
ice cap.
S5: The cause is global warming and high temperature. I think a polar bear or some species are
confusing, they lost their habitat.
S1: Yes, you are right. At first, make keyword.
S3: How many polar caps. What is meaning.
S5: Ice cap means ice.
S3: The top of ice.
S5: Sorry, we don’t know how many.
S2: The ice cap is higher or lower?
S5: It starts melt, lower.
S1: Global warming increasing and it starts melt.
S5: It starts melt, smaller and smaller
S1: Change of global temperature.
S3: Yes, the ice surface is easy to slipping.
S5: Really?
S1: Because it start melt
S3: Yes.
S5: What should we do next? Study about ice cap or polar ice affect… some species?
S4: Let’s decide the main theme of presentation. Global warming is melting sea ice
S5: Cause global warming? I think affect other people, species what happen in polar?
S1: As it happen… what happen in our life.
S5: Yes
S1: For example melt ice polar creature affected.
S5: Melting ices cause higher sea surface in some island or small island. Flood
S1: Small island will sink.
S3: Not only people but also animals.
S5: Effect for people and animal is good theme.
S1: All creature will be damaged.
S3: Yes.
S3: Researching place is not Antarctic.
S5: Oh
S3: Antarctic is continent.
S5: Only polar bear also in arctic.
S3: Antarctic is continent. Arctic is only ice.
S5: I think in the future the …um, um
S3: Artic
S5: Ah, arctic will disappear, I think. What can we do for stop melting.
S3: What should we do?
S5: What to do?
S1: At first we explain the global warming is not only effect for people but also wild animal, and
after it,
T: Hello, any questions? Are you OK?
Ss: OK
T: What is your group?
S5/S1: Ice cap
(continued)
140 M. deBoer

(continued)
T: Ice cap?
S3: Polar ice cap
T: Ah Polar ice cap. Think about why the polar cap is important.
S2: What important is because wild animal fx polar bear only can live in polar, not other place,
so we should make a solution.
T: Don’t focus on the changing or solution. Just tell me what is happening and why this is not
good. There are all kinds of different solutions and you only have 5 min to talk, so focus really
hard on what is happening. More than solutions or what we should change. Tell me what is
happening and what the impact is.
S1: So it is difficult because we have to make this sentence without solution. Only what
happening for 5 min. We have to make long sentence.
S3: I think the ice melt so the sea level is higher and higher.
S5: Main fact.
S1: The islands are more and more smaller.
S5: Yes
S1: We should search graph or picture which something have impact.
S2: We have to collect more information

May 28th Polar Ice Cap Group Transcript

S1: We made a mistake from now but most of discussion is finished. So we should discuss detail
of the presentation.
S3: Don’t need what we should doing thing? Not need?
S2: I don’t understand
S3: What we should do for a global warming. The scene is need this slide. Need or not. Last
slide…
T: How are you doing?
S3: We decide key word in slides
T: Ok, so your project is
S1: Polar ice caps
T: Polar ice caps OK, so what are some key words?
S2: Ice is melting and sea level is rising and sea temperature is also rising. Wild animals may
extinct
T: The polar ice cap… Didn’t you say that sea levels are rising? Yes?
S2: Polar ice cap…
T: Do the sea levels rise when the polar ice cap melts?
S2: Yes.
T: How?
S4: The arctic ice melts… the arctic ice melts.. the sea level don’t rise
T: Yes, it doesn’t rise.
S4: Don’t rise.
T: Why not?
S1: Ice in the glass, ice in the glass, when it melt, water level don’t rise.
T: Yes, that is floating ice
S1: Floating ice, yes.
T: So there you go, it’s floating ice.
S2: Floating ice
T: That’s a key word, floating ice
S2: Floating ice
(continued)
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 141

(continued)
T: The ice is melting. What is good impact word? If you have something very big like the polar
ice cap and it’s becoming very small, what word can I use that is a good impact word?
S2: aaaaah
T: Let’s say I buy a sweater, it’s a gorgeous sweater, I love it. I wear it once or twice and then I
wash it. Then I put it on and it’s very tight, I can’t wear it anymore.
Ss: Laughter.
T: How could I say that in English?
Ss: chijimu…how do you say chijimu…
S3: The sweater is tighting, what’s tighting?
S1: Shrink
T: That’s right, shrink, so if you think about it, the polar ice cap is shrinking.
S2: Ah!
T: You can say the polar ice cap is getting smaller, that’s ok, but ‘shrinking’ is a stronger word in
English.
So what do you have, shrink, ice is melting, floating ice,
S3: Floating ice
T: So what is a good opening slide, or opening statement?
S1: Opening statement… Polar ice cap is easy to slip. Because it is melting.
T: Where is the polar ice cap?
S3: Arctic.
T: OK, but where?
S3: Top or south?
T: Ok so you could tell me what countries are around the Arctic.
S3: Greenland
T: OK Greenland
S1: Russia
T: Russia
S4: Canada
T: Canada of course, and you’ve got Iceland… Is there any land where the polar ice cap is?
S3: No humans, no humans.
T: But is there land?
Ss: hmmmm
T: There is no land. It’s the arctic ocean. Why don’t you start explaining where the polar ice cap
is? This is the polar ice cap, this is Russia, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the polar ice cap is
floating on top of the arctic ocean. Super. Then I know where the polar ice cap is. Please
introduce the polar ice cap! Then you can think about… this is the polar ice cap 50 years ago. It’s
big! This is the polar ice cap today…. It’s shrunk. So little by little your story unfolds. So tell me
about the polar ice cap. Tell me where it is, how big it is, If you want to compare it to Japan, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6… 20? Japans. So that kind of information really helps me understand the size of the
polar ice cap. And how dangerous it is when it melts. When it is melting, is it a good thing?
S1: No
T: Why not?
S1: It is the home of the polar bear.
T: Yes, well the polar bears use the ice to move, yes, but what is the job of the polar ice cap?
S1: Cooler box of the earth.
T: That’s right, if there is no polar ice cap, the earth becomes hotter and hotter. You should talk
to the group doing their presentation on ocean currents. There is a current that goes to the north,
(continued)
142 M. deBoer

(continued)
becomes cool, and then travels back south, it’s a nice balance. So the weather will change. No
polar ice cap, the earth gets hotter.
T: What the another job?
Ss: hmmm
T: What happened in the video?
S3: Reflect?
T: Yes. So what happens.
S3: Reflect sun light.
T: OK, the ice reflects the sun light, ok. Why is that important?
S2: Sunlight also rise the temperature.
T: What about the water, does water reflect sunlight?
S3: Yes.
S1: No
T: Think about a lot of ice, and think about a little ice and what happens to the ocean?
S3: Reflect. Polar caps main cap is cooler earth.
T: OK, so what are your key words?
S2: Reflect, floating ice, shrinking, cooler box
S3: Sunlight
T: Arctic ocean
T: How thick is the polar ice cap?
S3: 30 m?
S1: 1 km?
T: No it’s actually about 4 m. But recently it is not only becoming smaller, it is becoming
thinner. So, you need to give a lot of information about the ice cap. Keep going, give me a lot of
good information.
S1: We have about 4 min. So not about animal, but about cooler and reflecting. It is what
happening. So introduction where is polar cap and it is easy to slip, why? It is for 1 min.
Because rising temperature and rising sea temperature it is for 1 min. And what’s happen in this
condition is 1 min. And the conclusion is 1 min so 4 min. I think 4 people one person make one
part. But making slide is everyone making one slide. We should remake the pp slide.
S2: Sharing information. Shrinking, melting ice. When sun light reflects what happen?
S3: More thin and the ice cant reflect sun light. So sea temperature easy to rise.
S2: Ok thank you.
S1: So we should make script and slide.
S3: How about separating for a relationship, for example, sunlight reflect and thick. And sea
level south of…
S1: We should make it today as soon as we can. So it is long presentation so we should make it
from today.
S2: What to say for the first? Introduction is ok?
S4: What is ice cap?
S1: Introduction is what is ice cap and where is it and what it is. Next introduction it is melting.
So why is it melting because…something, something… reason slide is only graph and speak
about graph.
S3: Hmm
S1: And after reason, what with happen in this condition. Next, why melting ice cap is problem.
Because it is other cooler reflect.
S3: How about saying the roll of polar ice cap that is cooler.
S4: With graph and picture
S3: To explain this to use graph and pictures.
S1: So let’s decide what I speak about the presentation
(continued)
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 143

(continued)
S3: Each person’s?
S1: Make one long script and after it and divide it. I made an in script forum I made introduction
so I will introduction about first. About what is ice cap. So someone make after because. I will
until the polar ice cap is easy to slip? Because it is melting.
S3: To make script or slide?
S1: All script and slide make four people. After making divide it. I think we should do so.
S4: Which the first script or slide?
S3: Script is better I think.
S1: I think upload script with speaking sentence in presentation forum. In slide forum upload
slide and with script. And the script forum, mix it. We should look, what is going. So we should
upload many time.
S2: He say introduction choose? What to say in presentation?
S3: What I should choice? What should I make?
S1: Second is because. Third is what will happen about cooler. And fourth is about sunlight.
I think conclusion is last of 4th person.
S3: I make what will happen and what is happening.
S1: Which Cooler or sunlight
S2: Both of them.
S1: I think conclusion is not for 1 min.
T: Everyone, your presentation should be for about 6 min. 4 min is not enough.
S3: 75 min each person.
S2: Seconds
S3: In our group 5 people? Another person?
S2: 4 people?
S3: Another people?
S1: Disappeared.
S1: 70 s. Conclusion is too short for 70 s so fourth person should introduce about what will
happen about sunlight and conclusion. And third person introduction and cooler, which you will
do? I think everything is ok.
S2: How about add the slides.
S1: Of course. Not only my slide, everyone slide add.
S3: Anyone make construction.
S1: Yes.
S3: Other person
S1: More slide.
S1: So we have only one week so we should hurry up from today. So what will you do?
S2: I want to make cooler script.
S1: Ok so second or fourth. Because or conclusion?
S3: Second.
S4: Fourth
S1: So you are sunlight and conclusion ok.
S4: ok
S1: So 4 people makes 6 min presentation, so 75 s.
144 M. deBoer

References

Applebee, A. N. (1993). Literature in the secondary school: Studies of curriculum and instruction
in the United States. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.
Bereiter, C. (1994). Implications of postmodernism for science, or, science as progressive
discourse. Educational Psychologist, 29(1), 3–12.
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1996). Rethinking learning. In D. R. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.),
The handbook of education and human development (pp. 485–513). Cambridge, MA, USA:
Blackwell.
Brown, J. D. (1995). English language entrance examinations in Japan: Problems and solutions. In
JALT 95 Conference Proceedings (pp. 272–283).
Conole, G. (2013). Designing for learning in an open world. New York, NY, USA: Springer.
Dougiamas, M. (2011). Moodle (Version 2.x) [Computer software]. Perth, Australia.
Gentry, C. G. (1995). Educational technology. A question of meaning. In G. J. Anglin (Ed.),
Instructional technology: Past, present and future (pp. 1–10). Englewood, CO, USA: Libraries
Unlimited Inc.
Gorsuch, G. J. (1998). Yakudoku EFL instruction in two Japanese high school classrooms: An
exploratory study. JALT Journal, 20(1), 6–32.
Hino, N. (1988). Japan’s dominant tradition in foreign language learning. The Japan Association
for Language Teaching Journal, 10(1), 45–55.
Joanne, C. S. M., & Lateef, F. (2014). The flipped classroom: Viewpoints in Asian universities.
Education in Medicine Journal, 6(4), e20–e26.
Kikuchi, K., & Browne, C. (2009). English educational policy for high schools in Japan. Regional
Language Center Journal, 40(2), 172–191.
Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking university teaching: A framework for the effective use of learning
technologies. Oxon, UK: RoutledgeFalmer.
Leis, A. (2015). Dynamics of effort in flipped classrooms in an EFL environment. Educational
Informatics Research, 14, 15–26.
Lidz, C. S. (1991). Practitioner’s guide to dynamic assessment. New York, NY, USA: The
Guilford Press.
McConnell, D. (2006). E-learning groups and communities. New York, NY, USA: Open
University Press.
Mehring, J. G. (2015). An exploratory study of the lived experiences of Japanese undergraduate
EFL students in the flipped classroom (Dissertation). Pepperdine University. Retrieved from
http://gradworks.umi.com/36/80/3680237.html.
METI. (2010). Release of report by Global Human Resource Development Committee of the
industry-academia partnership for Human Resource Development. Tokyo: Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry.
Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky. Revolutionary scientist. New York, NY, USA:
Routledge.
O’Donnell, K. (2005). Japanese secondary English teachers: Negotiation of educational roles in
the face of curricular reform. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 18(3), 300–315.
Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic assessment: A Vygotskian approach to understanding and
promoting L2 development. Norwell, MA, USA: Springer.
Scriven, M. (1967). The methodology of evaluation. In R. Tyler, R. Gagne, & M. Scriven (Eds.),
Perspectives of curriculum evaluation (pp. 39–83). Chicago, IL, USA: Rand McNally and
Company.
Sung, K. (2015). A case study on a flipped classroom in an EFL content course.
Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning, 18(2), 159–187.
Taras, M. (2005). Assessment—Summative and formative—Some theoretical reflections. British
Journal of Educational Studies, 53(4), 466–478.
Dialogic Inquiry as a Process in the Flipped EFL Classroom 145

van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective.
Norwell, MA, USA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Wang, H. (2006). Teaching Asian students online: What matters and why? PAACE Journal of
Lifelong Learning, 15, 69–84.
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wells, G., & Claxton, G. (Eds.). (2002). Learning for life in the 21st century. Oxford: Blackwell.
Yoshida, K. (2003). Language education policy in Japan: The problem of espousing objectives
versus practice. Modern Language Journal, 87(2), 290–292.
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading
Classroom: A Group Leader Discussion
Activity

C. J. Brown

Abstract This chapter describes a flipped classroom approach to the teaching of

academic reading skills, as currently used in the “Academic Reading Across the
Disciplines” (ENG 101) course within the author’s Japanese university’s “Basic
Education” program. The course is mandatory and is designed for sophomore
learners in a Liberal Arts university context whose first language is not English,
though the ideas may be readily adapted and applied to other learners and settings.
The author has found that using the flipped approach enables teachers to depart
from a traditional didactic role, where they assume responsibility for learning input,
and instead to function more as facilitators and mentors. Likewise, learners, who
have taken time prior to class to assimilate content, are able to use classroom time
more effectively, and to scaffold each other to a deeper understanding of the target
material, gaining a greater appreciation of the best ways to apply the reading skills
and strategies they are attempting to master. Consequently, motivation is enhanced;
learners are provided with time and opportunity to explore the content in greater
depth and can focus on developing the metacognitive skills that will support them
in their future learning.

Introduction

The flipped classroom approach, used in the “Group Leader Discussion Activity”
(GLDA) described here, fits within the “Academic Reading Across The Disciplines –
ENG 101” course, in the “Basic Education Program” at Akita International
University (AIU), an English-medium liberal arts university in northern Japan.
Several sections of this course run concurrently and are taught by a team of
approximately four teachers each semester.
The 15-week course is mandatory, and aims to build confident use of academic
reading strategies and skills, improved comprehension, an ability to provide sub-

C. J. Brown (&)
Akita International University, Akita, Japan
e-mail: cbrown@aiu.ac.jp

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 147

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_11
148 C. J. Brown

stantiated commentary on complex, authentic, academic reading texts, and an

improved reading fluency rate “through an emphasis on self-directed learning”,
AIU ENG 101 Course Syllabus (Akita International University, 2015a, 2015b,
2015c). The course also emphasizes continuing acquisition of high-frequency
academic (and some discipline specific) vocabulary, derived from the texts studied,
which also appear in the Academic Word List (AWL), Coxhead (2000).
ENG 101 aims to scaffold learners into more independently and successfully
managing the kind of academic material found in higher level content classes at
AIU and study-abroad host universities, by providing exposure to increasingly
difficult reading texts, moving from shorter, prescribed readings to authentic aca-
demic journal articles. The process includes ongoing self- and peer evaluation.
Coursework culminates in a major “Critical Reading Project” (CRP), with
learners selecting one journal article through which to demonstrate growth in their
strategies’ and skills’ capabilities.
Prior to introducing the flipped classroom approach, apart from set reading
homework activities, which were later checked by the teacher, most of the course
content was delivered by teachers, using a lecture style, during class time. Learners
had only one opportunity to hear key information, and because the pace of lessons
was generally fast, and each semester had a heavy content load to cover, they had
little opportunity to review and assimilate critical material, practice skills in depth,
consider challenging questions and each other’s opinions deeply, discuss ideas with
each other, or extend their understanding overall. This teacher-centered approach
was considered not to be meeting the stated course objectives effectively, so an
alternative was sought by the ENG 101 teaching team.
To address these concerns, and to avoid teachers having to repeatedly lecture
their way through similar content every semester, the teaching team decided to
create content input materials, in the form of videos made available to students
online, with associated out-of-class readings and support tasks, and to flip the
classroom, so that students could control their learning process and engage with the
content more effectively. They could then deal with the content input and practice
tasks at their own pace, which would enable classroom time to be better employed
for in-depth discussions, further skills practice, and extension activities. This flip-
ped approach was employed primarily during the preparation and participation
phases of the GLDAs explained below.

Context of the Student Population

ENG 101 learners have completed the “English for Academic Purposes” freshman
program. They are generally confident users of English, with (paper-based) TOEFL
scores around 500–600, or B2/C1 of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR). Most have been schooled within Japan.
However, several, identifying as Japanese, have studied abroad, or at international
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 149

schools within Japan. A few non-Japanese learners, whose first language is not
English, occasionally participate.
AIU has a relatively diverse student population (around 25% of enrolments are
international students), and most reside on campus, offering non-native speakers of
English opportunities to develop English skills within and beyond the classroom.
All classes (except foreign languages and the “Teacher’s License Program”) are
conducted in English. Every full-time undergraduate student must complete one
year studying abroad, where credits earned count toward AIU graduation require-
ments. Thus, the ability to manage authentic English academic material is critical.
For many of the Japanese learners, their high school classroom experience has
been largely teacher-centered, with relatively few opportunities to manage material
and classroom time themselves. Helping learners to adjust to the more
student-centered and active learning styles common in AIU content classes is a key
function of the first- and early second-year English and Academic Skills courses.
Thus, a flipped classroom approach is increasingly being used in these classes to
develop an awareness of the necessity for developing independent learning skills
and habits and to enhance the quality of in-class learning experiences of learners.

Introduction to the Lesson

GLDAs are stand-alone activities within specific lessons. Eight GLDAs occur each
semester and are designed to progressively develop independent learning skills,
improve specific academic reading skills and strategies, build high-frequency
academic vocabulary knowledge, and allow learners greater control over content
and activities. Each learner leads two GLDA group discussions a semester, while all
learners are group participants and evaluators each time (including the leader, who
self-evaluates).
The GLDAs provide opportunities for learners to practice targeted reading skills and
strategies. These include previewing texts, locating main ideas and topic sentences,
assessing authors’ credentials, distinguishing generalizations/bias/fact/opinion, and
recognizing errors in logical reasoning (McWhorter & Sember, 2014). The GLDAs are
a necessary preparation for the CRP, which is designed to demonstrate overall mastery
of course content.
Formal learning goals relevant to the GLDA, from the AIU ENG 101 Course
Syllabus (2015a, 2015b, 2015c), include the following:
• overcome fear of reading academic texts and become confident, skillful readers;
• utilize a variety of reading strategies for academic texts;
• improve reading rate and comprehension;
• learn to self-assess progress and address challenges;
• build metacognitive skills for improved reading proficiency;
• strengthen the use of background schemata; and
150 C. J. Brown

• strengthen global comprehension skills, including analyzing texts and synthe-

sizing parts of texts to form opinions/points-of-view.
Informal goals include the following:
• develop well-organized, independent study habits;
• accept responsibility for one’s own learning;
• understand and accept responsibilities entailed in being a member of a group
with common goals; and
• build an appreciation for collaborative processes and the knowledge and skills
of others and use these effectively to enhance learning.
To reach these goals, each GLDA employs the flipped approach in the first two
of the following three-phase process, and in so doing, the onus is placed on each
learner to be thoroughly prepared and fully participatory.
• Phase One—Pre-class input and preparation activities (including reading,
watching input videos, note-taking, and preparatory exercises). Leaders prepare
group handouts and questions.
• Phase Two—In-class feedback, discussion, and evaluation activities based on
prior input.
• Phase Three—Post-class written activities (group leaders only) and review (all
learners).
For the flipped approach (as utilized in the GLDAs) to be successful, it is
important for all learners to complete the required preparation and to take part fully
in all activities, since the quality of preparation impacts directly on the quality of the
group discussion experience, the depth of final understanding of the reading text,
and ultimately the sense of accomplishment that learners experience when they
know they have achieved understanding.
It is also important that learners develop confidence in expressing the personal
opinions that they have developed independently through the preparation process.
By coming to class already familiar with the material and well prepared, they have a
stronger basis in which to present and support these. The fact that other students are
also prepared, often with different opinions and ideas, makes for more stimulating
discussions. Learners begin to develop an understanding that many issues are
complex, by being exposed to points of view that vary from their own. Such
opportunities are fewer in a classroom where the teacher controls the discussions.
Learners are also encouraged to give fair and honest evaluations of each GLDA
discussion. In-class self- and peer evaluation enables greater opportunity for per-
sonal reflection on learning than the previous teacher-fronted approach allowed.
Strong preparation by all inevitably assists each group member with greater com-
prehension of the reading text that is being studied, and the informed peer input
enables leaders to improve the quality of the written work submitted after the
GLDA has taken place, since this helps to shape their final assessed papers. Thus,
the input that learners offer each other, based on what they bring to class, is critical.
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 151

Lesson Plan

Table 1 illustrates how the GLDAs fit within the first six lessons of the ENG101
course and demonstrates the general pattern of in-/out-of-class work. (“HW” is
homework, “Ss.” is students, and “Q & A” are questions and answers.)
Round #2 GLDA group leader allocation takes place at mid-term. Toward the
end of the 15-week semester, discussion on an academic article selected for the
CRP begins, and group work follows a similar format to that of the GLDAs. No
lengthy reading of texts takes place inside the class. The focus of class time is
student-managed discussion with minimal teacher-fronted activity. Instead, the
teacher acts as a facilitator, monitoring groups, and encouraging learners to find
solutions to problems themselves. Table 2, below, illustrates the stages in a typical
GLDA lesson.

Table 1 In-class activities and homework assignments during the course

Class In-class activities
1 • Course introduction/explain syllabus
• Explain video materials, course
expectations & requirements
• Introduction to textbook
2 • Chapter (strategies + skills) and video
group discussion using HW worksheets
• Prepare for chapter reading (to practice
strategies + skills just introduced)
• Collect HW
3 • Return HW + feedback
• Chapter reading: group work (practice
for GLDA#1) using HW worksheet
• Review peer evaluation sheet and rubric
for evaluating a summary and
peer-evaluate day’s GLDA discussion &
summary HW
• Introduce target skills for next chapter
• Review + Q&A on HW videos
• Collect GLDA practice template &
summary HW
4 • Group discussion, (skills + strategies)
using HW sheet
• Review GLDA expectations
• Review + Q&A on HW videos using
HW sheet and discuss Critical Response
models
HW assignments
• Read assigned chapter
(strategies + skills section), complete
HW worksheet
• Moodle: Watch video #1 “Learning
Vocabulary” + video HW sheet
• Moodle: Watch video #2, “What is a
GLDA?” and #3, “Writing a Summary”
• Read chapter reading, download &
complete “GLDA Practice Template”
• Complete summary and print HW for
submission. Print and read rubric for
summary evaluation and peer evaluation
sheet. Bring to next class
• Moodle: Ss. review all textbook readings
to be used for GLDAs
• On Moodle, Ss. indicate their preferred
GLDA leader allocation (Round #1)
• Watch video #4, “Bloom’s Taxonomy”
and #5, “Writing a Critical Response”
• Read next chapter (skills + strategies)
• Complete HW worksheet (+ questions
on videos)
• Watch video #6 “How to Paraphrase”
• Read next chapter reading and prepare
for GLDA #1 following guidelines in
video # 2
• Group leaders create handouts
(continued)
152 C. J. Brown

Table 1 (continued)
Class In-class activities HW assignments
• Prepare chapter reading • Everyone completes comprehension and
• Collect HW critical thinking questions from textbook
(for submission)
5 • GLDA #1 and complete self-/peer • Read next chapter (skills + strategies
evaluation sheets section)
• Confirm summary and critical response • Complete all assigned work on HW
HW for GLDA #1 leaders worksheet
• Q&A and highlight target skills and
strategies for next chapter
• Collect HW (GLDA #1 handouts from
leaders, answers to textbook comp. and
critical thinking questions from
everyone & GLDA self/peer evaluation
sheets)
6 • Collect rewritten summary and critical • Read next chapter reading and prepare
response from GLDA #1 leaders for GLDA #2 (as for GLDA #1)
• Group work using HW worksheet Adapted from the Akita International
(skills + strategies) University ENG 101 Weekly Course
• Q&A and prepare for next chapter Outline (2015)
• Collect HW

Table 2 Stages of a GLDA lesson

1. Lesson introduction. Return HW + feedback, Q &A
2. Learners randomly form groups, four/five per group
(depending on class size/number of group leaders who
selected that day’s target text)
3. Group leaders distribute handouts, elicit feedback Teacher monitors group discussions,
on their summaries and make notes for HW summary facilitating where necessary
rewrite
4. Leaders explain their outside information. Group
members ask questions and comment
5. Leaders introduce/manage discussion on
comprehension questions. Group members compare
answers/negotiate differences
6. Leaders introduce/manage discussion on critical
thinking questions. Group members elaborate answers,
substantiating opinions using supporting information/
background knowledge/experience
7. Leaders summarize discussion. Everyone completes
self-/peer evaluation sheets
8. Teacher collects evaluation sheets, HW and leader’s
handouts. Class Q&A/comment time. HW is
explained. Teacher posts answers to textbook
questions online. Learners check independently
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 153

Technologies

As previously explained, GLDAs should be understood in the context of inde-

pendent preparatory work that all learners necessarily complete. For GLDAs to be
effective, all learners must view and attempt to understand the online video material
prior to the relevant classes, posted as closed YouTube links accessible via Moodle,
and complete the assigned course reading texts and tasks.
Most videos are created in-house, though occasionally outside sources are used.
Examples of the kinds of input topics are as follows:
• selecting/learning vocabulary,
• writing a summary,
• writing a critical response,
• avoiding plagiarism/referencing correctly,
• understanding a GLDA, and
• understanding critical thinking skills.
Videos covering core content input are introduced in tandem with the relevant
skills and strategies that will be covered in each chapter of the textbook. Learners
are encouraged to view these before the associated class discussions, and then apply
these skills and strategies incrementally as they approach and attempt to understand
each of the GLD readings throughout the course. Videos and related supplementary
materials are regularly updated and everything remains available to learners, via
Moodle, throughout the course. Learners are encouraged to view the material as
many times as they feel they need to, and at a pace that suits them.

Pre-class Tasks

Prior to the semester, the teaching team selects the textbook chapters and reading
texts to be used and prepares the required video material relating to the skills and
strategies that will be covered in those chapters, and the written work required in the
course.
(The first section of each textbook chapter provides information about target
strategies and skills, and the second contains a reading text designed to enable
practice of these. Textbook reading sections include follow-up comprehension and
critical thinking questions.)
Learners are informed of these decisions early in the course and are asked to
review the semester’s selected chapter readings for homework, choosing two for
which they would like to be group discussion leaders. Readings are usually
assigned to specific leaders via the Choice Module on Moodle, and the GLDA dates
are set. There are two selection rounds, one in each half of the semester. Learners
who miss their first choice on the first round get their first choice on the second. The
teacher creates a record of who is assigned to each reading text (with GLDA dates),
which is posted on Moodle.
154 C. J. Brown

Before any GLDAs take place, learners watch a video explaining the nature of a
GLDA itself. This explains the goals and structure of the GLDA, task requirements,
and assessment standards and procedures. Learners also view separate videos
showing them how to write a Summary and a Critical Response. Learners also
preview the assessment rubrics for the Summary and Critical Response sections of
the GLDA, and the self-/peer evaluation sheet (“Appendices 2, 3 and 4”), which are
then discussed in class.
Early in the course, a model GLDA handout is provided (“Appendix 1”) and used
in class as a practice GLDA, which is not assessed. Learners also watch another
homework video introducing Bloom’s Taxonomy, Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill,
and Krathwohl (1956), which is discussed in a subsequent class, and which explains
the kinds of questions group leaders need to create for their GLDA handouts. The
content of this video also relates to the Critical Response that will be written after the
GLDA, since learners should try to illustrate their ability to use the higher order
thinking skills explained in the video, as they express their opinions and ideas.
Prior to specific GLDA lessons, learners study the material about reading
strategies in the target chapter and complete a homework sheet. One pre-GLDA
lesson is usually devoted to discussing these. Following that, in preparation for the
GLDA itself, for homework, all learners read the target reading from part two of the
same chapter, answer the textbook comprehension and critical thinking questions,
and view any other related video(s) pertaining to that lesson, while group leaders
prepare their handouts. The GLDA then takes place in the following lesson. The
handout that group leaders create must follow the model below:
• a summary of the text (250 original words);
• brief (related) outside information of the leader’s own choosing (in the leader’s
own words), with a correct reference;
• six comprehension questions (three from the textbook and three original
questions); and
• four critical thinking questions (two from the textbook and two original
questions).
The leader copies a handout for each group member and an extra one for
submission to the teacher.
By flipping the course input from teacher lectures to video viewing, reading, and
pre-class tasks, all of which are to be completed outside the classroom, all learners
must engage fully with the material and key concepts prior to lessons, which
necessitates them taking responsibility for managing their learning themselves.
Because the GLDA requires students to work in groups, they are also responsible to
each other, and since the GLDA leaders are assessed (and assessment includes the
evaluations learners give each other), there is a stronger motivation for learners to
complete the required work thoroughly, to share ideas and to participate actively,
than previously existed in the more teacher-fronted classes of the former ENG 101
course. Homework assignments cannot be completed if the necessary reading and
video-viewing preparation have not been done. As these form the basis for group
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 155

discussions in class, a GLDA will not work well if learners are not prepared.
Learners quickly come to realize that the success and level of interest of classroom
activities depend on their active engagement, and generally encourage each other to
prepare thoroughly.

In-Class Activities

On GLDA day, learners form into groups. During the activity, the teacher remains
in the background, listening to discussions, making notes for later comment, and
facilitating where appropriate. The teacher simultaneously checks to see that the
homework activity sheets have been completed. These are submitted after the
lesson, and homework points are awarded appropriately.
Flipping the classroom means that learners, rather than teachers, manage their
groups and discussions, including the allocated time, themselves, and the focus is
shifted to student activity rather than lecturing. (The GLDA activity usually takes
around 30–35 min out of a 75-min class. Other class time is devoted to other
aspects of the course and involves similar student-focused activities, though these
are not necessarily always prepared by learners beforehand.)
Leaders distribute their handouts, allowing about 5 min for group members to
read their summaries and provide feedback. Learners should refer to the summary
assessment rubric when commenting, and leaders should make notes to assist with
their summary rewrite after class.
Next, leaders introduce their outside material, explaining what they selected,
how it relates to the reading text, and why they chose it. Group members are invited
to question and comment, making connections to their own knowledge and expe-
rience. The leader then introduces the comprehension and critical thinking ques-
tions, focusing on their own original questions, since all group members have
already completed all the textbook questions, and the answers to these will later be
posted on Moodle anyway. This is important, since time may pass quickly, and it is
preferable that learners have the chance to discuss those questions they consider
most relevant and interesting.
Though leaders should be well prepared, they know they are not required to
provide all the answers. They can prepare questions about aspects of the reading
they themselves have not understood, using the group discussion to help them reach
greater understanding too.
Having the time to negotiate meaning, and attempt to reach understanding
together, though challenging, is viewed as a benefit of this approach. Moreover, it
also allows learners to be exposed to well-argued and varying points of view, since
learners have had time to develop an independent point of view, before coming to
class. This is not possible to the same degree in a teacher-fronted classroom, as
learners are generally unprepared for the kinds of questions a teacher may ask, and
have not had the same opportunity to handle the course material or to prepare their
ideas.
156 C. J. Brown

Finally, all group members complete the self-/peer evaluation sheets. These, and
the leaders’ handouts, are collected by the teacher, who then asks the whole class to
discuss any remaining questions and any matters learners themselves wish to raise.
As homework, all group members check answers to textbook questions on
Moodle, and leaders rewrite their Summary and write their personal Critical
Responses. These two pieces of work are submitted in the next class.
Some learners do seek additional teacher input prior to submitting written work.
The teacher makes suggestions, reflecting the requirements indicated in the
assessment rubrics, but does not correct anything. It is the learner’s responsibility to
consider how to improve their work prior to submission. (Peer support tutors are
also available at AIU.)
After the GLDA class, the following assessment procedures are employed.
Formally, a percentage score for each GLDA leader is assigned using an average of
the scores from the completed self-/peer evaluation sheets, the rewritten Summary
and the Critical Response, with each part having equal weighting. Each learner’s
two GLDA scores (for the semester) are combined to form a percentage of the total
course grade. Summaries and Critical Responses are most successful when learners
follow the instructions in the input videos and heed assessment rubric guidelines.
Learners who indicate weaknesses in this regard are encouraged to review the
videos and rubrics and/or get tutoring support.
If the second-round GLDA receives a higher score than the first, this is usually
because the required written work has improved, and/or because the learner has
better handled the group discussion. The proof of success overall can be seen in the
quality of the final CRP, since it is in this that learners may demonstrate any real
improvement in their skills.

Evaluation

The flipped approach described here, evolved, over several semesters, out of a
desire to improve the quality of in-class experiences for learners. Specifically, this
meant an improvement of the quality of in-class discussions, as well as their
learning experiences overall. To begin, the practice of having learners watch con-
tent input videos prior to a discussion class began partly as an experiment, to
encourage learners to take more responsibility for acquiring input themselves, and
as an attempt to improve attainment of the course goals outlined above.
Prior to using the flipped approach, teachers delivered content input (relating
particularly to reading skills and strategies) repeatedly, across semesters, in a lar-
gely teacher-centered way, in a manner that was heavily dependent on the content
and organization of the prescribed commercial textbook.
The change also arose out of a concern to make course content and class work
more interesting and the mode of presentation more varied, in the hope that learners
would engage more fully, and would more clearly perceive the relevance to their
personal academic learning needs. It was hoped that doing this might motivate them
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 157

to engage more fully with the ideas, practice the target skills and strategies more
effectively, and to remember and apply the ideas and information to their academic
reading, not only in the current course but also other university coursework.
The teaching team also viewed it as desirable to begin to create a bank of flexible
learning materials focusing on key content, to remove the necessity of repeatedly
delivering essentially similar course content, lecture style, in class, from one
semester to the next. The material created for pre-class viewing also required more
judicious use of existing course content, removing much of the extraneous material
that was formerly included simply because it was in the textbook. Creating separate
free-standing materials also allowed for greater flexibility in terms of course
organization and order of delivery.
Likewise, the creation of content input videos was considered desirable as this
meant less dependence on an expensive textbook that learners used for only one
course, which was not designed with their specific learning needs in mind. (In fact,
whole textbooks will not be required at all in the future, since free-standing and
more up-to-date reading texts will eventually replace these.) The videos, then,
present key principles and concepts, course and task information, and skills and
strategies, without the teacher having to spend classroom time doing this, and
selected reading texts from a range of sources can be added or removed, as needed.
As previously mentioned, the flipped classroom approach also gave students
greater control over the rate at which they dealt with new material, and an
opportunity for repeated exposure to content, as they preferred. This meant that
learners were under less stress when coping with new material, and they appeared
more familiar with key concepts in subsequent classes.
The role of the teachers also changed. They switched from being lecturing
“experts” to mentors and in some cases co-learners, as their students came to class
with new information they had researched themselves. This resulted in classroom
settings that were perceptibly more egalitarian, in a relational sense, than the more
uni-directional (top-down) structure a teacher-fronted class commonly promotes.
Success was also reflected in livelier class discussions. Learners began to par-
ticipate more readily and began to demonstrate a better understanding of content,
frequently articulating connections to other ideas and information they had
researched. They now had a non-threatening setting in which to offer their own
insightful reflections on the target reading, and because they had more time to
consider the content, were more likely to relate ideas to their prior knowledge and
experience. When the evaluation comments on the self-/peer evaluation sheets also
reflected this, it demonstrated that the preparatory work done outside of the
classroom was of a satisfactory standard.
Since a key goal is greater learner self-management, a successful GLDA was
also viewed as one in which the learners activated their pre-class learning to the
extent that the teacher did not have to resort to “damage control” during group work
(i.e., there was neither a rescuing of stalled discussions nor an excessive amount of
content accuracy correction or teacher input).
Of course, success also depends on the degree to which learners understand the
purpose of, and are willing to engage fully in, the flipped approach. For this reason,
158 C. J. Brown

over time, it was decided to introduce short quizzes (three to five questions)
covering video content, which were administered at the start of the lesson following
a required homework video viewing, and to include the results of these in course
assessment records. This was to ensure that learners did, in fact, complete the
required work outside the class, as items in the quizzes were designed to be
answerable only if the material had been viewed.
Learners were also expected to stop videos at certain points and complete
exercises that were explained therein. Often, this involved written responses that
had to be printed out and completed before class. Any learner who had not com-
pleted the work became immediately visible in a group and found themselves
unable to participate well in the in-class discussion. In such cases, their peers would
comment vociferously to them on how this affected the quality of their group’s
work. So far, there have been surprisingly few learners who have found themselves
in this situation.

Research

Learner feedback data from several class groups have been gathered but, to date,
have only been analyzed informally. (Feedback comes from the comments and
questions sections of the post-GLDA self-/peer evaluation sheet in the Appendices
below.) While further analysis is needed, the following five categories, which relate
more to the GLDAs themselves (rather than the flipped approach per se), have been
identified thus far. Samples of comments here provide a snapshot of student per-
ceptions and indicate the kind of metacognitive reflection that commonly takes
place.

Comprehension

Positive. “It was very helpful (to) me to understand such a difficult reading with so
many special terms, and I had an opportunity to know other’s opinion. It was good
for understanding.”

Negative. “She gave me opportunity to rethink about (the topic). It was nice, I
think. However, she had many misunderstandings on (her) summary.” (This
problem is easily rectified, since the GLDA summary is only in draft form and is
rewritten after the discussion, taking into account the comments made by group
members.)
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 159

Critical Thinking

Positive. “Because of the Critical Thinking Questions, I was able to relate this topic
(to) other social problems, which deepened my understanding of this material.”

Negative. “The questions she made (were) the important point(s) of this essay, so
it helped us to understand deeper, but I wanted her to tell her own ideas to our
opinions. She had to drive the discussion.”

Vocabulary and Concepts

Positive. “I can deeply understand about power distance thanks to the outside
resource.”

Negative. “(I didn’t understand) cognitive versus emotional component. It was too
vague.”

Quality of the Group Discussion

Positive. “The outside source which ‘S’ shown us is unbelievable! I was stimulated
to think about the topic by the information. Her summary was very great!”

Negative. “I felt that questions were not so creative. Although I think the article was
quite different from usual ones, leader could have thought more and made questions
that make discussion more active.”

Self-directed Nature of the GLDA Learning Experience

Positive. “He created interesting questions and made the discussion heated.”

Negative. No negative comments about the GLDA activity as a self-directed

activity were submitted.
The above comments are typical of the many received over separate semesters,
covering five classes, each with an average of 16 learners. 163 separate learner
comments from the “Explain your answer to question 6” section of the self-/peer
evaluation sheet were collected (150 positive and 13 negative).
Out of a total of 42 actual responses to the question “What questions do you still
have about the reading text (if any)?” there were 28 indicating questions that
learners felt were not adequately addressed during discussions. The remaining
answers were either “No” or “Nothing,” explained that the discussion had answered
all their questions, or the comment space was left blank.
160 C. J. Brown

While feedback provides a sense that the GLDA was largely viewed positively
by learners, more data need to be collected and investigated, before the efficacy of
the activity, in terms of real impact on learning outcomes, can be demonstrated. It is
hoped that further research will demonstrate more clearly the true value of the
GLDA, as a manifestation of the flipped classroom approach, in this specific EFL
academic context.

Future Directions

While the author considers the flipped approach appears to be working effectively
in its current manifestation, there are some aspects worthy of further consideration.
First, rotating group members for each GLDA may help to avoid the formation
of positive or negative biases developing (toward certain individuals) within fixed
groups and may contribute to more objective peer assessments, but this is still
speculation and needs further investigation. Rotation does appear, though, to stop
learners from getting stuck in a group in which there may be someone who con-
sistently fails to prepare adequately (though this is extremely rare). Group selection
each time can be a bit tedious, so creating several quick, but varied, means of
ensuring random selection each time would be useful.
Second, while group leaders should complete all tasks, to help them fully
understand the text, it may be better if they submit only their self-created handouts
during the GLDA class, not the answers to all the comprehension and critical
thinking questions as well. This reflects the fact that leaders expend considerable
time and energy grappling with the material while preparing to confidently lead
their discussion group, creating the kind of high-quality handouts they are proud to
present to their peers on discussion day. They must complete the textbook questions
anyway. Having to submit a handout only would make their workload more
manageable.
More models of Summaries and Critical Responses, drawn from the work of
willing learners in previous classes, would be useful, along with extra practice and
peer evaluation sessions, to help learners become more skilled at giving good
feedback and identifying the standard of work required. The reading of these could
be done independently before class, with models provided on Moodle, accompa-
nied by references to the assessment rubrics.
An alternative, currently being explored, is to collapse the Summary and Critical
Response writing into one document (a Critical Review), which combines the key
elements of both, along with a new assessment rubric. Since this is a reading course,
not a writing course, and the workload for learners and teachers is quite high, this
seems a practical adjustment.
It would also be interesting to provide video content on Moodle of previous
learners commenting about the challenges (and successes) they experienced using
the flipped approach and the coursework generally, plus useful strategies they
employed in their independent learning. Regular learner video-journaling might
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 161

facilitate this, though this would add to an already demanding workload for learners
and may not be perceived by learners as directly relevant to a reading class, since it
would be delivered in spoken format. It is also time-consuming.
The Moodle voting system does not always work, in the sense that there are
always some students who fail to vote for their chapter reading preferences. Such
people usually end up not getting their choice of texts for which to lead discussions,
which may affect their motivation, albeit a self-inflicted problem. To avoid using
class time allocating non-voters to lead specific GLDAs, it may be necessary to
create another more effective voting system that captures everyone.
During the second round of GLDAs, the texts used should more closely
approximate the authentic academic journal articles that learners will read for their
Critical Reading Projects. Textbook material could be substituted with portions of
such articles (e.g., a model abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology
section, and conclusion). These could be provided on Moodle with videos
explaining these, and tasks created for learners to complete prior to class, with later,
in class follow-up.
While the discussion here relates to the specific learning and teaching context at
AIU, the principles underlying the flipped approach, as they relate to the concept of
a GLDA, may be readily adapted to other settings. The three-phase process can be
employed, with appropriate modification and the inclusion of suitable reading texts,
questions, and support materials (such as online videos and activity sheets) to other
levels of learning, provided learners have the maturity and commitment to engage
in independent learning activities outside the classroom, and have access to the
technology they may need.
Working in teaching teams also helps to share the preparation load and to ensure
that content matches the needs of specific learners along with the demands of
curriculum and institutional requirements.
In summary, based on the generally positive feedback given by learners, and the
ENG 101 teaching team’s experience, the flipped approach, and the GLDA as a
specific expression of this, appears to yield several advantages that may be relevant
to a wide range of learning and teaching environments.
These include an increased focus on the learner as the key agent managing the
learning process, both inside and outside the classroom. Moreover, classroom time
is better utilized, and student-centered learning opportunities are maximized within
this.
Additionally, learners appear to show genuine growth in their ability to think
independently and critically, and increasingly demonstrate (through the improved
questions they create and discuss themselves) higher level thinking skills in keeping
with stated course goals.
As learners are required to take more responsibility for their own learning
process, they are increasingly seen to manage their learning experiences for
themselves capably and with confidence. This may well generalize to other areas of
learning. (The GLDA, for example, from the initial preparation phase, to the par-
ticipation and reflection stages, uses an integrated “multi-skills” approach that
enables learners to employ more than just their reading capabilities.)
162 C. J. Brown

When there is thorough prior preparation, the classroom becomes a venue for
more thoughtful discussion and negotiation of meaning around content that has
already become familiar, rather than a place for the first meeting of input. This
enables learners to develop and explore new concepts well beyond their initial
encounter with these, and, because they control the discussions, to pursue directions
of their own choosing.
Indications are that this flipped approach, particularly in the academic English
skills’ classroom, enables learners to grapple more deeply with both content and
language and, consequently, to enjoy an enriched learning experience. From
anecdotal observations of the AIU teaching team, and the qualitative feedback
gathered thus far, learner engagement and motivation have been enhanced, and
there is accumulating evidence of satisfying growth in the ability of learners to
master and apply the higher level academic reading skills required for further, more
advanced content study in English.

Appendix 1: Sample from Model GLDA Handout

ENG101 Academic Reading Across Disciplines: Group

Leader Discussion Model

Chapter 1
Stereotypes and Prejudices: Seen One, Seen ‘Em All
by Kosslyn and Rosenberg

Part I. Summary
In “Stereotypes and Prejudices: Seen One Seen ‘Em All,” Kosslyn and
Rosenburg outline the origins, nature, and consequences of stereotypes. The authors
claim that we create both positive and negative stereotypes (or beliefs) about par-
ticular groups of people, from a wide range of stimuli and sources, and we do this to
cope with the huge amount of social information that we are encounter in daily life.
They also state that stereotypes are “shortcuts” that enable us to categorize this
information quickly. However, they warn that our stereotypes may mislead us, by
causing us to reject information that is inconsistent with our beliefs even though this
information may be true. Another danger is that we may create “subtypes” within
our stereotypes, in order to maintain our beliefs, especially if discrepancies between
information and our beliefs are too strong to overlook. Kosslyn and Rosenburg go
on to say that the consequences of stereotypes include prejudice and discrimination.
Prejudice has two elements, cognitive and emotional, resulting in negative attitudes
toward certain disliked groups of people, while discrimination is negative behavior
toward those groups. Though we may admit that discrimination is wrong, we are
not always aware that we are acting in a discriminatory manner unless it is pointed
out to us. We may experience discomfort (or “cognitive dissonance”), and because
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 163

of this we may change our behavior in order to reduce that discomfort. The authors
conclude that stereotypes, once formed, are difficult to change, since they are often
“self-perpetuating.” However, with conscious effort, they claim stereotypes can be
overcome.

Part II. Outside/extra Information

Who is Bessie Delany?
Bessie Delany was the second black woman dentist in New York. Bessie and her
sister, Sarah “Sadie” Delany, were interviewed by Amy Hill Hearth, a New York
Times reporter, and three of them worked together to write a book “Having Our
Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years” which describes professional African
American women’s lives.

Source http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/
annie_delany.html (retrieved on September 2, 2014).

Part III. Comprehension Questions

1. Define the following three terms: (1) stereotype, (2) prejudice, and (3) discrim-
ination in your own words.
2. Why do people formulate stereotypes?
3. Why are stereotypes likely to stick in our minds?
4. What does the phrase “to avoid drowning in this sea of social information” in
paragraph 2 mean? Explain in your own words.
5. What does the phrase “making prejudice self-perpetuating” mean in paragraph
8? Explain in your own words.
6. What do the authors mean by “cognitive dissonance” in paragraph 10? Explain
in your own words.
164 C. J. Brown

Part IV. Critical Thinking Questions

1. Why are stereotypes and prejudice so difficult to break through?
2. Think of an instance in which you let a stereotype or prejudice guide your
reaction to another person. What stereotype or prejudice were you applying?
Describe your experience in detail.
3. What can be main factors to cause discrimination specifically in Japan? Why so?
4. How could we possibly reduce causes of discrimination? Share your ideas.
Some questions above taken from McWhorter & Sember (2014).
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 165

Appendix 2
166 C. J. Brown

Appendix 3
Flipping the ESL/EFL Academic Reading … 167

Appendix 4
168 C. J. Brown

References

Akita International University. (2015a). Academic reading across the disciplines-ENG 101:
Course syllabus. (An ‘in-house’ document generated each semester by EAP faculty.
Unavailable for public viewing).
Akita International University. (2015b). Academic reading across thedDisciplines-ENG 101:
Weekly course outline. (An ‘in-house’ document generated each semester by EAP faculty.
Unavailable for public viewing).
Akita International University. (2015c). Academic Reading across the Disciplines-ENG 101:
Worksheets. (In-house documents generated by the EAP faculty. These may be photocopied.
For reference purposes, please cite the current volume).
Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of
educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive
domain. New York: David McKay Company.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213–238.
McWhorter, K. T., & Sember, B. M. (2014). Academic reading (8th ed.). Essex: Pearson
Education Ltd.
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom
to Reduce Cognitive Load: A New Way
of Organizing Your Classroom

Daniela Wagner-Loera

Abstract The reduced cognitive load classroom (RCLC) approach with flipped
elements is introduced on the example of a university ESL integrated skills class in
an American intensive English program (IEP). The RCLC with flipped elements
allows learners to grow in ability and confidence using English as a result of a
controlled cognitive load environment. Designing and planning a class with the
goal to keep cognitive load low allows learners to focus on building their skills
regardless of the common distractions they experience in their busy lives.
Evaluations have shown that students not only felt better in the classroom but also
performed better in the RCLC with flipped elements. Additionally, the RCLC with
flipped elements results in easier planning, which allows instructors more time to
assist and advise learners. Overall, this modern approach promotes a strict routine
that allows learners greater autonomy in their learning resulting in more confidence
and better performance in English.

Overview of Course

The flipped classroom approach to reduce cognitive load used in the ESL/EFL
classroom described here fits within the Intensive English Program (IEP) as well as
skill-based ESL courses at any major university. However, the approach was
specifically applied at the IEP at the Maryland English Institute at the University of
Maryland College Park in Maryland, USA. This chapter illustrates the approach for
an IEP course.
The 15-week courses in the IEP are voluntary and prepare students for the
language requirements at American universities such as the TOEFL or IELTS
exam. The IEP aims at improving and developing overall proficiency. The IEP
classes are split into two sessions, a reading, writing, and grammar (RWG) course
and a listening and speaking (LS) course. The flipped classroom approach to reduce

D. Wagner-Loera (&)
University of Maryland University College, College Park, USA
e-mail: daniela.loera@gmail.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 169

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_12
170 D. Wagner-Loera

cognitive load is applied mainly in the RWG classroom. Both courses also
emphasize on the development and continuing acquisition of academic vocabulary,
derived from the texts studied and the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead,
2000).
The approach here is sampled on a high-intermediate ESL course. The level
equals a TOEFL iBT score of 70–85 and an IELTS score of 4.5–5.5. The flipped
classroom approach is employed at certain stages for certain skills and an expla-
nation is provided when it is most useful to lower students’ cognitive load.

Context of Student Population

The high-intermediate to low advanced RWG classes are for students who have
reached a minimum of 70 on the TOEFL. Generally, learners have some command
over the English language and some experience applying English for academic
purposes. Most students have just newly arrived from their countries and attend the
IEP to either reach the proficiency level needed to apply to any university in the
USA or to satisfy the language requirements of the university to remove the con-
dition from their admission. All students are non-native speakers of English with
varying backgrounds and degree aspirations. The mission of the program and
objectives of the classes are to help students acquire academic English proficiency,
academic skills, as well as confidence as non-native speakers.

Introduction to the Lesson

The reduced cognitive load classroom (RCLC) introduced here is more than a
lesson. It is an approach, which was developed by the author, for teachers to use
and set up their entire classroom. Thus, instructors plan their lessons weekly rather
than daily. As a result, the students’ as well as instructor’s cognitive load is
reduced, which frees up time to assist students in class and during office hours.
While parts of this approach can be selected, instructors will quickly see the benefits
of this approach and be encouraged to apply it to the entire class.
The RCLC approach is based on the cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988,
2010). According to the theory, people have a working memory (WM) capacity that
is accessible at any given point in time. This WM capacity generally consists of 7 +
2 spaces. In other words, students should have 5–9 WM spaces available at any
given point in time in the classroom. These spaces are used to process incoming
information, filter it, and transfer it to long-term memory where it can be stored and
retrieved for future use. However, students do not come to the classroom empty. In
other words, these cognitive spaces can be occupied by needs such as the needs
described by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs (McLeod, 2016). Additionally, it is
proven that ESL/EFL students experience higher cognitive load than their
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 171

counterparts due to cultural and linguistic adjustments and subsequent discomfort

(Miller & Endo, 2004). As a result, when students arrive in the ESL/EFL classroom,
several of their WM slots may already be taken, leaving instructors with 1–4 WM
spots per student available for learning. Understanding this cognitive challenge for
individual learners helps to pinpoint the importance of reducing the cognitive load
of the weekly lessons and instruction (For examples of the cognitive load theory in
ESL, see “Appendix 1: Cognitive Load Theory in ESL Examples”).
Every student comes to class with a pre-existing cognitive load that instructors
must be aware of when planning their classes. A carefully planned classroom
routine can help make use of the few WM spots available. Thus, in the RCLC, it is
the instructor’s task to provide a comfortable learning environment that serves as a
safe place for learning and exploring new content in all skills in the IEP. The
reduced cognitive load allows learners to better focus on these skills. Formal
learning goals, most relevant to the RCLC, from the IEP syllabus (2016) can be
found in “Appendix 4: IEP RWG Course Goals”.
The flipped classroom approach allows learners to do most of the actual learning
at home while practicing in the classroom. This not only allows learners a chance to
study on their own pace but also teaches them to take responsibility for their
learning. The flipped classroom approach lowers cognitive load as it allows learners
to pace their learning and make time to study certain skills when they feel ready.
Additionally, it allows learners time to think about questions. Based on the findings
of the Zeigarnik effect, the brain remains active and continues to work on solutions
when information is not fully presented (Bayes, Heath, Williams, & Ganz, 2013).
Thus, encouraging students to learn new information at home, using the flipped
approach, and then following up with activities and practice in the classroom is a
successful strategy that reduces confusion and cognitive exhaustion in the class-
room. In other words, students prepare the new materials at home and come to the
classroom with questions, which may be answered through either exercises, brief
reviews (teaching moments), or questions.
However, for the RCLC approach to work, instructors must set up a
well-organized routine in the first 2 weeks of the semester to allow for reduced load
and avoid students’ confusion and frustration when preparing materials at home.
Therefore, there are several steps involved in leading a successful RCLC with
the flipped approach:
• Step 1: Set up a weekly course organizer for the entire semester.
• Step 2: Decide which elements to flip.
• Step 3: Use week one and two of the semester to establish a routine.
• Step 4: Follow the set routine with as few exceptions as possible.
172 D. Wagner-Loera

The Weekly Course Organizer and Lesson Plan

Table 1 illustrates how the IEP classes can be set up to reduce cognitive load and
integrate the flipped approach. The table is based on the example of a
3-hour-a-day/5-day-a-week RWG class. An explanation of each skill/activity can be
found in “Appendix 2”.
Benefits of the Schedule The benefits of the outlined schedules above are plen-
tiful. First, the clear routine allows students to be fully prepared each day.
Additionally, not all skills are needed and challenged each day, which allows time
for information to settle. Second, the schedule allows for a homework schedule that
resembles that of university classes that meet once or twice a week. Thus, home-
work is not due from one day to the next but allows students a minimum of 48
hours to complete the work. Third, instructors will find it easier to keep track of
assignments and gain additional time for grading and providing feedback. A more
relaxed instructor results in a more balanced and comfortable class environment for
the students.
Forth, students will not be subjected to surprises. By following a clear routine,
students will be ready for tasks and will gain confidence quickly. This confidence
will free up cognitive spaces for learning, which will help them process information
quicker and more efficiently.
Benefits for Planning In addition to the aforementioned benefits for instructors,
the class/course will be easier to plan. Instructors following the RCLC approach
utilize the Zeigarnik effect and, therefore, do not depend on finishing or completing
tasks in order to plan the next day. As long as the topics for each week are selected,
each day can be planned independently from the next for the entire semester. If
important teaching points cannot be completed, Fridays can be utilized to catch up.
Benefits for Flipping The above schedule allows many opportunities to incorpo-
rate the flipped approach to help students process information more efficiently.
First, by encouraging students to watch videos for certain teaching points or read
through instructional chapters prior to coming to class their thought process is

Table 1 A week in RWG

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Vocabulary Building Building Reading Building Writing Fusing Reading Vocabulary Quiz
Skills Skills and Writing
Grammar Conferences,
Reading Writing Reflection, Q&A,
Writing,
Timed Writing Assignments
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 173

stimulated and class time is preserved for practice and questions. Additionally, the
Zeigarnik effect is used to improve memory processing. As students begin to study
new information at home, they know that a securing phase will follow in the
classroom. Furthermore, the Zeigarnik effect will cause the new information to
remain activated in the unconscious mind (Bayes et al., 2013), which allows stu-
dents to continue to process the information until they have received the actual
instruction or practice in the classroom.
In the proposed schedule, instructors can flip all elements and skills or choose to
flip just some parts. For example, the instructor may want to flip vocabulary and
grammar but may choose to explicitly teach reading and writing. This can also vary
on a weekly basis.

Lesson Plan

After the initial 2-week period of introducing the schedule, the coursework begins.
This 2-week transition period allows learners to get to know each other and the
class and settle other issues in their lives (living arrangements, grocery stores,
admission requirements, etc.). Hence, in the first 2 weeks, the schedule is used to
review academic skills, do light reading practices, set goals for the semester, and
organize materials. Building up the workload in the first 2 weeks is an important
part of the RCLC approach as it eases cognitive load. Also, this transition time
allows instructors to decide which elements to flip. Each group is unique and,
therefore, may require either a more guided approach or a flipped approach.
Table 2 shows a sample course plan for the first 4 weeks of the IEP class. It has
been simplified and demonstrates the general pattern of the class only (Table 3).

Technologies

RCLC classes should be understood in the context of independent preparatory work

that all learners complete. This approach enables learner to be self-empowered and
take charge of their progress. For RCLC classes to be effective, all learners must
view and attempt to understand the online video material prior to the relevant
classes. However, as this can never be guaranteed, brief reviews and integrated
teaching points will bridge gaps for those who either did not watch or could not
fully understand the video materials. It will be apparent for instructors who had
issues understanding the materials and who did not view them at all.
Most videos are created and updated in-house, though occasionally outside
sources are used. Examples of the kinds of input are as follows:
• understanding the importance of goal setting;
• selecting/learning vocabulary;
174
Table 2 Sample course plan for first 4 weeks of IEP class
Class In-Class activities
1 • Course introduction/syllabus and weekly
plan explanation
• Explain video materials, course
expectations & requirements
• Introduction to textbooks, materials, and
online course tool (electronic learning
management system (ELMS)
• Diagnostic testing
2 • Chapter “The Flipped Classroom”:
– Vocabulary, grammar
– Skills and strategies (reading, writing)
– Content of chapter (practice reading,
writing)
• The Narrative Language Learner
Autobiography—Draft 1 (Writing)
• Video 1 Grammar (in-class review and
practice)
• Collect and discuss goals (1:1 or in
groups)
• Vocabulary Quiz 1 (graded), practice
grammar quiz (not graded)
3 • Return HW, quiz, and draft 1
• Chapter “Implementing the Flipped
Classroom: Challenges & Strategies”:
– Vocabulary, grammar
– Skills and strategies (reading, writing)
– Content of chapter (practice reading,
writing)
• The Narrative Language Learner
Autobiography—Draft 2 (Writing)
• Introduce research paper (semester
project)
• Video 4 Grammar (in-class review and
practice)
• Vocabulary Quiz 2 (graded)
• Complete peer evaluations of draft 1
4 • Return HW, quiz, and draft 2
• Chapter “Flipping or Flopping: Lessons
Learnt from Flipping a Course for
ASEAN Teachers of English”:
– Vocabulary, grammar
– Skills and strategies (reading, writing)
– Content of chapter (practice reading,
writing)
• The Summary/Response (Writing)
(PowerPoint)
• Discuss research paper ideas
• Video 3 Grammar (in-class review and
practice)
D. Wagner-Loera
HW assignments
• Set goals as directed in class
• Organize class materials (binder,
highlighters, etc.)
• Written introductions on the course
ELMS
• Watch video 1 (grammar) for week 2
• Use strategies to brainstorm, outline, and
draft autobiography
• Complete grammar HW online Chapter
“The Flipped Classroom”
• Watch video 2 (grammar) for week 3
• Watch video 3 (‘How to Improve Your
Autobiography, Moving from Draft 1 to
Draft 2’)
• Print HW for submission. Print & read
rubric for summary evaluation and peer
evaluation sheet. Bring to next writing
class
• Use strategies to move from draft 1 to
draft 2
• Complete grammar HW online Chapter
“Implementing the Flipped Classroom:
Challenges & Strategies”
• Watch video 4 (grammar) for week 4
• Watch video 5 (‘The
Summary/Response)
• Use prewriting strategies to brainstorm
research paper ideas
• Post-peer feedback on ELMS and
complete practice reading
• Complete final draft for Autobiography
• Watch video 6 (grammar) for week 5
• Watch video 7 (‘The Summary’)
• Complete practice summary following
the steps in the video (bring to class for
submission)
• Finalize weekly goals and post on ELMS
• Complete online grammar homework
(continued)
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 175

Table 2 (continued)
Class In-Class activities HW assignments
• Vocabulary Quiz 3 (graded)
• Grammar Quiz 1 (Weeks 1–3)
• Review and reset students’ goals and
discuss individual participation
(self-evaluation)
A note to instructors: It can be difficult to reduce the pace of the class in week 1 and 2. It may feel
as if valuable time is lost in the first few weeks. Additionally, it may feel that building skills on
only one day a week does not move quickly enough. However, after the first 4 weeks, students will
have retained the information much better than in a non-RCLC class, which allows for a faster
pace. Be sure to trust this process and commit to it fully. Changing the routine in the first few
weeks will result in higher cognitive load for the students

Table 3 Illustrating the stages in a typical RCLC lesson

1. Lesson introduction (Agenda see Table 5) is written
on the left side of the board and left up for students
to follow along during the lesson)
2. Opening Activity (e.g., Vocabulary game, timed Teacher monitors group discussions,
reading practice, prewriting task, pre-reading task, facilitating where necessary
etc.)
Learners either work in groups or on their own.
Group sizes should not exceed four to ensure
everyone gets a turn (15–25 min)
3. Teaching Point (Review of video or introduction of Teacher monitors group discussions,
new point—not to exceed 10 min) facilitating where necessary
4. Application of new skill and practice (allow
sufficient time for everyone to get some
work done—20–40 min)
5. Discussion of exercises and Q&A
6. BREAK (not to exceed 15 min)
7. Teaching Point 2 (not to exceed 10 min) and
practice or application/practice 2
8. Summary of the lesson and explanation of HW and
deadlines. Brief overview and reminders for
tomorrow’s lesson (To be posted on ELMS as well)

• writing a summary; and

• writing a critical response.
While technology is heavily used to supplement lessons outside of the class-
room, it is not necessary to have technology in the classroom when using the RCLC
approach. As long as instructors have the opportunity to update the class ELMS
daily, a low or no-tech classroom works well with this approach.
176 D. Wagner-Loera

Pre-class Tasks

Prior to the beginning of the semester, the department or instructor select the
textbook and preview the chapters to be taught. Please note that it is most important
to have interesting and relevant reading sections tailored to the proficiency level.
For the grammar portion of the class, an online tool is recommended, so that
students can complete their practice at home with instant feedback.
Instructors will also provide a detailed semester plan on the syllabus outlining
the content and main assignments for each week. This is important as it helps pace
the class and orient the students. It is not necessary to put details but topics and
major assignments should be listed as semester guidelines. Providing this overview
in the beginning of the semester sets clear expectations, which further reduces
cognitive load.

In-class Activities

During any application or practice session, learners form into groups. The instructor
remains in the background, listening to discussions, taking notes for later com-
ments, and facilitating where appropriate. The instructor can also simultaneously
check homework assignments to see if students are properly prepared for the
practice and fill gaps as needed.
Teaching points are presented by the instructor using the whiteboard in the
classroom. These moments require the full attention of each student. During this
time, students should not work on other tasks, use dictionaries, or ask questions.
A practice session follows, which allows time for student’s individual questions.
The reason for reducing questions links back to the cognitive load theory (Sweller,
2010). While some students may immediately have questions, they need to learn
that they may be able to find their own answer shortly. Additionally, for students
who take longer to process new information, questions can cause confusion and
frustration, which can potentially overload their cognitive capacity.
After each lesson, instructors should remind students of the upcoming day and
due dates. At the end of each lesson, students will most likely not retain information
anymore; thus, it is important to post reminders electronically daily.

Evaluation

In order to evaluate students, the RCLC approach with flipped elements does not
affect the types of assignments or testing administered in the classroom. However, it
will be apparent that students are better prepared, more confident, and less stressed
about graded assignments.
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 177

First, students know exactly when assignments are given, which helps them
focus on learning and improving rather than testing. Additionally, students feel that
there is more time to prepare as assignments are regularly given once a week.
The goal of the RCLC with flipped elements is to allow learners to feel confident
and self-empowered. Thus, it is essential to supply them with the tools needed to be
successful. A set routine, fixed outcomes, and clear objectives will help achieve this
goal.

Research, Findings, and Results

Feedback from students from several classes using the RCLC approach has been
collected and informally evaluated (see “Appendix 3: Student Feedback”). While
further analysis is needed, students have responded positively to the approach. Both
the reduced cognitive load and the flipped approach have been evaluated. Samples
here demonstrate students’ perception of the RCLC with flipped elements.
Additionally, the grade point average (GPA) of classes completing the program
prior to the implementation of the RCLC with flipped elements was compared to the
GPA of the classes who have been instructed using the RCLC with flipped elements
approach. An ANOVA analysis was used to compare the results.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback collected from learners was followed by
a review of grade point average. Prior to the implementation of the RCLC and
flipped approach, the class average of a total of 75 students (6 classes) was 80%.
Since the implementation of the RCLC and flipped approach, 82 students (7
classes) have completed the classes with an average of 84%. An ANOVA analysis
using SPSS revealed that the difference was statistically significant (F
(2,80) = 4.467, p = 0.21). Hence, despite the small data sample and the need for
further research, the RCLC approach with flipped elements revealed promising
results.
The positive feedback and results point to the advantages and success of the
RCLC with flipped elements approach. Not only does the RCLC with flipped
elements empower the learners but also does it increase their comfort level and
confidence, both of which contribute to a lowered cognitive load for students and
potentially increase learning.
The RCLC approach with flipped elements showed that learners experienced a
genuine growth in their ability to take charge of their learning and think inde-
pendently and critically while successfully meeting the stated course learner out-
comes. Despite the strict routine dictated by the schedule, learners experience
greater autonomy over their own progress, which fostered their confidence and
success.
178 D. Wagner-Loera

Future Directions

The RCLC approach with flipped elements has shown great results at the Maryland
English Institute for the intermediate to low advanced levels in its current mani-
festation. Yet, there are some aspects worthy of further consideration.
First, it is important to note that each instructor is different and follows a dif-
ferent teaching philosophy. Hence, each instructor needs to carefully plan how
hands-on or hands-off an instructor s/he wants to be prior to the beginning of the
semester to avoid confusion in the classroom. Furthermore, while the strict routine
proposed in the RCLC approach makes the workload easier for the instructor, it is
mainly the distribution of the work that shifts. Again, this must be carefully con-
sidered by each instructor prior to the term to ensure proper planning and
preparation.
Second, there is a chance that some groups will not work well together and/or
may not complete their work at home. This routine depends on students’ work ethic
and ability to collaborate. While different constellations can be tried, instructors
must remain open to a more teacher-fronted approach if needed.
Third, currently, most feedback is provided either on students’ assignment sheets
or face-to-face. However, it would be helpful to use video feedback that students
review either in the lab or at home to also allow them to process the feedback on
their own pace. Yet, it must be noted that video feedback would tremendously
increase the teachers’ workload. One option, however, would be to provide video
feedback on either first or final drafts, but not exclusively resort to it.
The RCLC approach with flipped elements, furthermore, allows great flexibly
for both the learner and instructor. The learner has more processing time between
days of instruction and has perceivably more time to complete tasks such as
homework assignments and reviews. The instructor also has more time between
days of instruction, which does not only allow for long-term planning but also the
opportunity to have more time for grading and addressing students’ concerns and
questions. In addition, the instructor can choose how many elements to flip based
on comfort level, experience, materials, and teaching philosophy.
It is recommended to begin the RCLC with only a few flipped elements initially
unless the program already has flipped materials. This is simply to avoid over-
loading the instructors with work. Finding or creating effective videos to instruct
students in all skills can be very time-consuming. Hence, building up to flipping it
all over several semesters or splitting the workload with colleagues is
recommended.
The careful implementation of the RCLC approach with flipped elements pro-
vides students with ample opportunity to prepare prior to coming to the classroom.
Therefore, the classroom becomes a place for deep discussion, practice, and critical
thinking rather than a place of new input and initial idea exchange. The RCLC
enables learners to explore new concepts and ideas beyond the superficial intro-
ductory level while challenging each other with questions and critical thinking. In
other words, learners control the depth of their learning as well as the direction and
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 179

speed as they take the discussions into the direction of their own choosing. This
empowers learners and helps them realize that they are in charge of their own
success, which subsequently boosts their confidence.
Another benefit of the RCLC approach with flipped elements is that it meets the
contemporary standards of the current student population. Students are used to a
fast-paced environment that frequently requires them to shift their attention
(TESOL, 2015). The shorter instructional periods, consisting of either the flipped
elements or the short in-class teaching points or reviews, followed by more
game-like discussions, applications, and practice sessions, resemble the skills
needed to succeed in the twenty-first century. Ultimately, the RCLC approach
adjusts and reduces the cognitive demands of the classroom to a comfortable level
familiar to the students so that they have enough space left to process and store the
new information taught each day. Considering the many stimuli nowadays, this is
essential to ensure learning takes place in and outside the classroom.
In conclusion, the RCLC approach with flipped elements has demonstrated to
enhance not only learning and performance but also the overall learning experience
for students. Students and instructors reported that they feel more relaxed and ready
to learn (teach) throughout the semester, which has reduced the stress levels and
increased students cognitive capacity needed to process and store information.
Additionally, students feel ready to work upon arrival to the classroom and are
more motivated throughout the semester in this enriched learning environment that
allows them to take charge of their learning. Last but not least, students continually
emphasize that they feel more like real college students rather than ESL learners,
which shows their integration and adaptation to their new culture and further
increases their confidence in the English language learning process.

Appendix 1: Cognitive Load Theory in ESL Examples

Chin-Mae1 is currently enrolled in the low-advanced ESL class in the IEP at the
University of Maryland English Institute. Her goal is to reach English proficiency,
so she can get a 100 on the TOEFL iBT and gain acceptance at UMD. Before
coming to class, she got into an argument with her sister via text message. The
argument delayed her morning routine, so she left to class without breakfast.
Additionally, she forgot to pack her sweater and textbook. So, upon arrival to the
class, Chin-Mae still thinks about the argument and monitors her phone for a
possible message from her sister to settle the argument. This thought process
occupies one WM spot (−1). In addition, she is hungry (−1) and feels cold in the
classroom as she forgot her sweater (−1). She is also uncomfortable because she
forgot her materials and had to complete the homework in her textbook (−1).
Counting the preoccupied WM spots, she already has four of the 7 ± 2 spots taken.

Names are fictional and do not represent actual student names.

1
180 D. Wagner-Loera

If she only has five (7 − 2), then she has only one of them left for learning and
processing information that morning. If she has a total of 9 (7 + 2), then she has
five left to process information correctly.
Another example is from Martin (see Footnote1). Martin is currently enrolled in
the writing class, one of the institutes’ skill-based classes. As a conditionally
admitted student, he already takes regular degree-seeking classes part-time. He is
running late (−1) for his writing class as he studied all morning for the test his has
in his regular class (−1). Being late is stressful for him as he knows that his
instructor keeps attendance by the minute. Martin also forgot his phone at home,
which makes him uncomfortable as he can neither check his messages nor the time
(−1). On top, he has forgotten to call his best friend for his birthday (−1). Last but
not least, he worries that the first few minutes of class that he missed by being late
were an important review for the midterm exam next week (−1). Counting his
preoccupied WM spots leaves little to no room for learning. If Martin only has 5
WM spots available, he will not be able to pay attention to the class and it will be
difficult for him to properly receive, store, and later retrieve the information pro-
vided in today’s class. While he may have more spots available, they must be
carefully used in the class with no other distractions to make learning possible.

Appendix 2

Table 4 shows a sample of an RWG class setup to follow the RCLC approach. As
can be seen, each day focuses on the development of a skill. The week begins with
Vocabulary and Grammar skill building. The selected vocabulary is taken from the
reading and writing tasks of that same week. In other words, the vocabulary and
grammar introduced on Monday will be used and needed throughout the week. In
this IEP class, students meet from 9 to 11.50 a.m. The instructor will take a break at
approximately 10.45 a.m. for 15 min on each day. This is part one of the routine:
always break at approximately the same time. Avoid splitting the class exactly in

Table 4 A week in RWG

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Vocabulary Building Building Reading Building Writing Fusing Reading Vocabulary Quiz
Skills Skills and Writing
Grammar Conferences,
Reading Writing Reflection, Q&A,
Writing,
Timed Writing Assignments
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 181

the middle as it will be harder for students to concentrate for two equal sessions. It
is better and motivating for them to break with a shorter period left.
On Tuesdays, students will work on their reading skills. A good way to begin the
day is with a focused timed reading. Then a new skill is taught, for example,
skimming for main ideas. After the break at 10.45 a.m., the skill is practiced on a
text.
Wednesdays are used to build students’ writing skills. The class should follow
the natural flow of writing. Begin with a prewriting task or strategy, move on to
organization, samples, and conclude with a practice task or a timed writing (if the
program implements those). Timed writings can be used every other week or once a
month as indicated on the course plan on the syllabus.
Thursdays are used to fuse reading and writing. The day is grayed on Table 4 to
indicate that this would be a good day to teach in a computer lab—if available.
A good way to start the day is to begin with a timed reading practice. If a lab is
available, many timed reading websites and software programs are available. This
helps students focus and get a second practice in the week to improve their reading
proficiency and speed. Then, the rest of the time, with the typical break around
10.45 a.m., is used to fuse reading and writing skills. This is an excellent time to
practice summary/response writing, work on stating main ideas in own words, work
on research for writing, and provide peer feedback.
Fridays are used to take a weekly vocabulary quiz testing the words that were
introduced on Monday. All assignments (other than the Timed Writings) will be
taken on Friday to avoid disruptions of learning during the week. Additionally,
Fridays are used to review, answer students’ questions, and reflect on students’
accomplishments and goals for the week. When no assignment is given, other than
the weekly quiz, group and one-on-one feedback can be provided on the Timed
Writing, allowing students some individual attention from the instructor.

Appendix 3: Student Feedback

The Classroom Routine

“I finally know how to manage my time and feel ready for real academic work. This
class felt like a college class as I was allowed to focus on one skill each day.”
“I always knew what to expect and did not need to be afraid before class. I could
also easily keep track of my homework assignments.”
“The teacher is very organized, which helped me learn how to organize myself.
This will help me a lot in my future classes.”
“I don’t like to organize, but this class showed me why it helps so much. I have
improved my English and academic skills a lot, but also my organization skills.
Thank you.”
“I never felt stressed in this class, though we worked very hard every day.”
182 D. Wagner-Loera

“I never noticed how hard I worked until we reviewed at the end of the term. Best
class.”

Flipping
“The videos were very helpful. At first, I thought the teacher is lazy and has
(the) computer teach me. But I soon realized that I learned better by preparing a
little at home and working a lot in the classroom.”
“The online elements are helpful. I can listen many times and rewind and review. In
the class, I can ask questions and practice. This makes me actually study as I do not
like to practice on my own.”
“Honestly, I did not always watch the videos. But the practice in the classroom
helped me learn quickly and often I went back and watched the video after all.”
“I felt in charge of my learning. I can influence how much I want to learn and how
quickly. But, I like the teacher-made videos better than the generic ones from the
internet.”

Overall Learning
“This class has taught me so much more than just RWG. I have advanced academic
skills now and know how to find answers to my questions.”
“My ESL class made me feel like a real college student. I have learned so much and
finally passed my TOEFL. Thank you.”
“The teacher worked very hard to teach me a lot in one semester. I liked this class a
lot and am so confident in my English now. I can read faster and finish an essay in
30 min. Also, I have learned so much vocabulary.”
“Best class I have had. I never felt stressed, yet learned so much. I feel ready for
college. Thank you.”

Appendix 4: IEP RWG Course Goals

For reading,
• improve reading speed and comprehension;
• distinguish main ideas from details;
• summarize an academic text using own words; and
• strengthen global comprehension skills, including analyzing texts, and synthe-
sizing parts of texts to form opinions/points-of-view.
For writing,
• use prewriting strategies to organize ideas;
• compose a 5-paragraph academic essay (argumentative, definition, compare/
contrast, summary/response); and
• utilize editing strategies to revise essays (peer and self).
Flipping the ESL/EFL Classroom to Reduce … 183

For grammar,
• build passive structures;
• master tenses;
• use complex sentences to express ideas; and
• learn to self-assess progress and address challenges.
Informal goals include the following:
• develop goal-setting skills to self-assess progress (weekly application);
• develop well-organized, independent study habits;
• practice self-reflection and self-evaluation (using rubrics);
• accept responsibility for one’s own learning;
• understand and accept responsibility of working in groups with common goals;
and
• build an understanding for peer assessments and feedback to enhance learning.

Two: Vocabulary Practice Games—Explanation

Practice 1: Class Taboo

Step 1: Preselect the target vocabulary for the week.
Step 2: Cut out small 1″  1″ cards using one color for each week. Write one word
on each card.
Step 3: Bring the cards to class on Monday.
Step 4: Put students in groups (not to exceed 5 learners/group)
Step 5: Give some of the words to one student in each group. Only the student
holding the cards will see the words. Ask the student to look at word one and
explain its meaning without using the word. Also, encourage students to begin by
determining the part-of-speech (POS) first.
Example: Student 1: My word is a verb. It means to reach a goal or successfully
complete a task or assignment. It can be used with nouns and phrases like task, a
lot, things, etc.
Step 6: Once the learner has explained two words, s/he will pass on the remaining
cards to the next person until all cards have been explained. Should any words be
too difficult, the instructor can help or students can look up the words.
Step 7: In the following week, bring the new cards and the cards from prior weeks.
This will allow students to not only work with the new vocabulary for the week but
also review previous words as well.
184 D. Wagner-Loera

Practice 2: Part-of-Speech (POS)—Game

Step 1: Preselect the words for the week and prepare the cards exactly as described
in Practice 1.
Step 2: Bring the cards to class and have students form groups (not to exceed 5
learners/group).
Step 3: Ask learners to lay out the cards and organize them according to POS.
Step 4: Have learners create sentences for each word using the determined POS.
Step 5: Learners share their sentences either on the board or as homework on the
ELMS.

Practice 3: Mouthing Game (A Pronunciation Game)

Step 1: Preselect the words for the week and prepare the cards exactly as described
in Practice 1.
Step 2: Bring the cards to class and have students form groups (not to exceed 5
learners/group).
Step 3: Give each learner an even amount of cards.
Step 4: One student will begin. The student will read the card without using a void
or aspiration. In other words, the word will only be mouthed showing the lip,
mouth, and tongue movement. The group members will then guess which word is
spoken. Whoever guesses the word correctly, will take the next term.
Step 5: Instructors will walk around and watch the mouth movement. It allows for a
great opportunity to review pronunciation and syllable length and stress.

References

Bayes, D., Heath, A., Williams, C., & Ganz, J. (2013). Pardon the interruption. Teaching
Exceptional Children, 45(3), 64–70.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213–238.
McLeod, S. A. (2016). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.
org/maslow.html.org/maslow.html.
Miller, P., & Endo, H. (2004). Understanding and meeting the needs of ESL students. Phi Delta
Kappan, 85(10), 786–791.
Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science,
12, 257–285 (1988). doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4.
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science,
12, 257–285.
TESOL. (2015). TESOL convention. Educational sessions. Convention Program. Retrieved from
http://www.tesol.org/convention2015/education-br-sessions.
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement

Khalid Fethi and Helaine W. Marshall

Abstract This chapter introduces a unique method of flipping movies in an

advanced intermediate-level speaking and listening course. The adolescent students
at a language school in northeastern Morocco participate in viewing films together
in class, along with pre-class activities that are flipped to prepare them for the
language and themes of the films. Then, the in-class work utilizes a system known
as SHAC (Share, Help, Ask, Comment), in which students engage with each other
as they explore their thoughts and reactions to the films. The students work on
selective listening skills, oral discussion skills, cultural competence, critical
thinking skills, and leadership skills. Results from this implementation have indi-
cated that the students participating in the course increased their motivation to learn
English and improved markedly in their aural/oral skills. An important side benefit
of the course was engagement with the public, as they designed projects based on
the films that took them out of the classroom and into the community.

Introduction

It is commonly known that movies provide exposures to “real language”, used in

authentic settings and in the cultural context which the foreign language is spoken
(e.g., Truong & Tran, 2014). Studies focused on the use of film in English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms have also found that movies catch the learn-
ers’ interest and positively affect their motivation (Xhemaili, 2013; Yaseen &
Shakir, 2015). Flipping movies acts as the core learning experience for an advanced
communication skills course at the Oum El Koura Establishment (OKE) in
Berkane, Morocco. In this intermediate-level listening, speaking, and writing

K. Fethi (&)
Oum El Koura Language Center, Berkane, Morocco
e-mail: okelanguagecenter@gmail.com
H. W. Marshall
LIU Hudson, New York, USA
e-mail: helaine.marshall@liu.edu

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 185

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_13
186 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

course, the students work on selective listening skills, oral discussion skills,
and cultural competence. In addition, the instructor exploits the cultural content of
the films and assigns activities that require critical thinking skills and build lead-
ership skills. The in-class work follows the SHAC methodology (Fethi, 2015),
consisting of four stages: Share, Help, Ask, and Comment, as shown in Table 1.
The culminating project requires students to engage in sociocultural activities
relevant to the themes of the movie.

Table 1 Share, help, ask, and comment (SHAC) activities and feedback
Day 1 The students interact following the four features of SHAC: share, help, ask, and comment
Time frame Activity Description Rationale
7 min Share and In small groups, the
help students share what they
have learned from the
out-of-class activities
and how they answered
the assigned questions
They also help those
students who struggled
or even those who could
not do their tasks
5 min Ask and In pairs, students ask
comment each other a variety of
questions relevant to the
out-of-class activities
It depends on the length Feedback On the basis of the
and type of the questions, students’ answers, the
but each activity should instructor selects
not last for more than language errors to be
7 min immediately corrected as
they directly pertain to
the lesson objectives
The instructor hands out
the best out-of-class
work samples and the
students examine their
classmates’ strengths
In an informal classroom
atmosphere, the students
learn how to interact with
their peers, collaborate,
and share what they have
learned
The instructor’s role is
limited to monitoring
The scaffolding stage is a
peer evaluation activity
This ensures that the
students assimilate the
movie content and target
vocabulary
The instructor’s role is
limited to monitoring
Apart from correcting
errors, this is a very
motivational moment
The students read their
peers’ answers and get
inspired
This also increases the
competitive spirit, both
in class and out of class
(continued)
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 187

Table 1 (continued)
Day 1 The students interact following the four features of SHAC: share, help, ask, and comment
Time frame Activity Description Rationale
7 min (max) for each Practice The students are Assimilating the lesson
activity introduced to a variety of objectives
drills and games to
practice language skills
5 min (max) for each Critical The instructor introduces The students work more
activity thinking a variety of questions, on oral and written
and visual pictures, facts, and communication skills,
intelligence statistics related to the such as developing
movie conclusive arguments,
These are discussed in scrutinizing details,
pairs or teams, in written learning how to debate,
form or orally and acquiring fluency

Innovative Model of Flipped Learning

Before the implementation of flipped learning, language classes at OKE had gone
through two stages of development. Initially, OKE adhered to a traditional approach
to English language instruction, conducting teacher-centered classes with intense
classwork and assigning homework focused on the four language skills. Following
this, and in alignment with the TESOL field in general, OKE adopted the com-
municative approach that focuses on engaging the students in the learning process.
Nevertheless, even with the more student-centered orientation, because students
needed to progress through the levels of the program assessed through the four
language skills, there was little time or opportunity to delve deeply into topics
raised in the readings or videos viewed as part of the course. The school director
had a vision of the school that went beyond language instruction, a vision that
incorporated contemporary social issues, intercultural projects, leadership skill
development, and improved critical thinking ability. As the director learned more
about flipping instruction, he transformed his classes to accommodate his vision.
This chapter will describe the instructional design he developed and show how
flipped learning facilitated the transformation of learning and teaching in OKE.
188 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

Context of the Student Population

Oum El Koura Establishment (OKE) was founded in 2000 as an English and French
language school. Since then, it has grown at a fast pace and the number of the
enrolled students is currently 4000 per year. The school teaches foreign languages
to students of all ages. The students are grouped as follows: (a) Junior Class,
8–12 years old; (b) General English Class, 13–20 years old; and (c) English for
Specific Purposes Class, adults.
Students are further grouped by ability based on a placement test. Each semester,
students take an achievement test to determine their readiness to move on to the
next level. At the end of the school year, the students receive a certificate of
completion, including both their language proficiency levels and evaluations of
their leadership skills.

Introduction to the Project

This project focuses on how Flipping Movies, an instructional unit designed using
the flipped learning approach, can result in dynamic engagement by students in
their learning experiences. Learning objectives include a focus on both language
and content, as well as learning strategies. Using the SHAC methodology, students
complete the following activities: watch the movie, answer questions about the
film’s themes, and work in groups to share responses and reactions to key scenes in
the film. After critical thinking skill development and visual intelligence tasks, the
students take part in creativity workshops including, for example, art and tech-
nology projects, public speaking events, or community service.

Lesson Plan Sequence

Each unit is designed around a specific film selected for its cultural content as well
as its universal themes. The primary criterion for selection is to find films that
include a moral that can be exploited to help students grow in their ability to make
judgements, reflect on multiple perspectives, and develop ways of thinking that
foster leadership skills (Callahan, Whitener, & Sandlin, 2007). In order to
accomplish these overall goals, the unit follows four phases: (1) Pre-Movie—
Out-of-Class Activities; (2) Movie Day—In-Class Viewing; (3) Post-Movie—
Out-of-Class Activities; and (4) Extension and Creativity—In-Class Workshops.
Throughout this section, each activity conducted is described in a way that illus-
trates how the flipped approach made it possible for the students to increase their
fluency and accuracy with respect to the four language skills while at the same time
delve more deeply into the themes of the films, extend these themes beyond the
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 189

films into real life stances and actions, and, ultimately, to develop both higher level
critical thinking and leadership skills.

Rationale for the OKE Model of Flipped Instruction

The decision to show the films in class and not make the film viewing, like the
viewing of most videos in a flipped setting, an out-of-class activity, requires a clear
rationale. At first, it does appear to be, in fact, the exact reverse of flipped learning.
However, when viewed through a different lens, we can see that what is done out of
class and what is done in class remains consistent with the principles of flipped
learning. This model includes an “in-flip” (Gonzalez, 2014), in which students
watch a film together in class. It is consistent with the principles of flipped learning
for the following reasons:
• Low-level comprehension tasks are completed at home rather than taking class
time.
• Higher order thinking tasks, such as the SHAC and CAP, take place in class
where there can be peer interaction, instructor feedback, and expanded language
use.
• Full-length feature films are designed to be viewed as entertainment, not as
homework, so viewing them in a classroom enables the instructor to take
advantage of the motivational aspect so important for flipped learning and at the
same time capitalize on the language and content in the film to meet learning
objectives.
In addition to the guiding principles of flipped learning, there are practical
considerations regarding viewing the films together in class. Lower level students
will need pauses, explanations, time to take notes, and an opportunity to ask the
instructor questions, and using class time for the film provides this much-needed
support. In addition, in the EFL setting described here, films cannot be sent home
with students, and they would not be able to access feature films on their own.
Finally, in consideration of the values espoused by the culture of the society around
OKE, the films must be edited for inappropriate material and could not be used as
posted online in any case. Thus, it is clear that this innovative model of flipped
learning is uniquely suited to this particular instructional setting. Some or all of
these considerations may apply in other EFL settings, and thus, this model could be
a way for instructors in such settings to use films for dynamic engagement in their
English classes.
190 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

Pre-movie—Out-of-Class Activities

Activities conducted outside of class before viewing the movie serve as a lead-in to
the language and content of the movie students will see in class. Similar to
pre-teaching vocabulary tasks in the conventional class, the students, via docu-
mentaries or songs, complete a number of activities out of class. For example,
before watching Gifted Hands, the students viewed Dr. Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands
documentary. Having background knowledge increases the students’ motivation
and encourages a more focused viewing of the movie, resulting in a greater
assimilation of the material and promoting a stronger subsequent analysis. Equally
important, the students worked with an inspirational song “Superheroes” interpreted
by The Script. Both the short film and the song highlight the qualities of people who
make difference. Hence, coming to the creativity stage, the students will have been
well-armed with multiple inspirational scenes and stories. Through activities such
as these, the students become familiar with the target vocabulary and receive an
introduction to the issues raised in the film.

Movie Day—In-Class Viewing

A major innovation of this flipped learning model is that the viewing stage is
conducted in class. In this way, the Flipping Movies project is an example of the
“in-class flip” (Gonzales, 2014). The instructor creates a movie theater like atmo-
sphere by setting up a large TV screen. In a darkened classroom, students sit in
rows and enjoy their popcorn; taking notes is optional. With lower levels, the movie
is presented with captions and is paused every 10 min for the instructor to ask basic
questions to ensure the students’ understanding; advanced students are not inter-
rupted during the viewing.

Post-movie—Out-of-Class Activities

After viewing the film in class, the students complete out-of-class tasks, where they
can reflect and develop the language they need to take their viewing experience to
the next level. The primary objectives of the out-of-class activities are to increase
the students’ vocabulary, to guide them in using it effectively in context, and to
develop their listening skills. They work at their own pace and target their indi-
vidual needs. The purpose is to motivate them, build their language and thinking
skills, and prepare them for the in-class activities, where they will be able to
demonstrate their linguistic proficiency and cognitive development with new
confidence.
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 191

Developing the Students’ Listening Skills

The approach prioritizes active listening, one of the most challenging skills for EFL
students. Selective listening aims at developing the recognition of the words and
sounds mentioned. The instructor plans a variety of tasks to help students enhance
their ability to accurately receive and interpret individual segments of English
messages. This includes both verbal elements and nonverbal cues that characterize
an English conversation. Nonverbal communication enhances understanding of the
sociocultural aspects of language use.
To attain these goals, the instructor should plan activities that are: (1) specific,
such as targeting certain difficult sounds or stress patterns; (2) short and varied, to
maintain focus and interest; (3) attainable, with just enough of a challenge and
additional resources for support; (4) separate and apart, not tied directly to the
listening activities to follow.

Listening Comprehension

These exercises develop the students’ ability to understand language in context.

While watching or listening, the students identify the different subjects tackled by
the speakers in the movie. The student listens, rewinds, and pauses at a comfortable
pace until able to provide the correct response to a given item. Moving from
recognizing words to understanding ideas is meaningful for any learner. What used
to be demotivating in the conventional methodologies, becomes motivational and
attainable when Flipping Movies.
To help the students succeed at this stage, the instructor should prepare questions
that range from easy to more difficult, from global to specific, and from
closed-ended question formats to summarizing ideas. Again, at this stage, the
questions should be unrelated to stage one, so that any errors made here will not
affect the entire lesson. The objective is to help the students answer by both
challenging them and supporting them.

Vocabulary Building

The richness of the vocabulary that a movie can offer is of great benefit because it
ranges from formal registers and literary language to slang, idioms, figurative
language, and rhetorical devices. Apart from the script that provides words, the
students are exposed to concrete visual settings. Thus, with a variety of activities,
they will improve vocabulary required in different types of communication. The
instructor should provide guidance concerning the target vocabulary, including its
meaning and use, in a variety of contexts. Accordingly, the series of activities
192 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

should be built in a linear way, with each activity complementing the one that
precedes it, moving students from the most basic meanings of the words to highly
used collocations and idiomatic expressions. To achieve this goal, the instructor
should include a variety of tasks to help students memorize and practice the new
words, for example, mind-mapping, posters or pictures, cartoons and drawings, and
silent videos followed by questions.

Visual Intelligence

At the beginning of the school year, students may lack an ability to focus on visual
details in the film. “They look but they don’t see. They will look at a tree, for
example, but not notice that the leaves are different, that they seem to get smaller
towards the top of the tree” (Haigh 2008, pp. 131–132). This lack of noticing is the
basis for the principle followed in Flipping Movies that “image is everything.” In
everyday life, many secrets are unveiled; therefore, the students have to identify the
world around them and then move to judging and evaluating. The students are
given some shots to watch and identify some special actor’s reactions or gestures.
The instructor can give hints as needed.

Direct Grammar Instruction

This component takes place, preferably, in a separate class period. Flipping Movies
offers the students the opportunity to deal with grammar in context; for example, the
movie Gifted Hands enabled the class to study the use of the conditional. While
watching, rewinding, and pausing, the learners explore the many factors that decide
the structure of any statement, including the stress, tone, and pace. So, when
flipping, grammar is no more a monotonous subject that frustrates the students as
the context gives it life. Motivation to practice is usually very high. The attainability
of this objective, learning grammar through Flipped Movies, is feasible if the
instructor considers the following tips:
• Select the shortest and easiest quotes
• Introduce a list of easy and constructive questions that lead the students to the
right answer
• Give scaffolded practice that can help the students write their own definitions
• Provide video links for any required support
• Predict student difficulties and prepare clues
• Keep in mind that challenging questions should be kept for the in-class
activities.
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 193

Because a focus on grammar can detract from the other objectives, have a
separate class so that the students can practice more and produce more using the
target rules.

Students’ Questions and Comments

This activity can be very fruitful. It first helps the instructor explore students’
attitudes, how they construct their questions, and statements that reflect their pro-
gress, preferences, intelligence, and diligence. Equally important, the students tend
to be more confident to take an active role in class by asking “smart questions”.
Haigh (2008) reminds educators about the importance of creating “a classroom
conducive to questioning” (p. 132).
The goal is to take students from idea-consumers to idea-producers, or at least
independent thinkers. They become largely independent from the instructor’s
“dictatorship”. Apart from the fun, the follow-up activities are very inspiring and
helpful to assimilate many details that the movie exposes, implicitly or explicitly.
The instructor should motivate students to prepare, write down, and send in their
questions. The instructor can pick some of the best and share them later with the
students who lack enough “imagination”. Sample questions help break the ice and
stimulate discussion.

Extension and Creativity—In-class Workshops

After working outside of class to deepen their understanding and to further their
language development, the students are ready to apply and extend their viewing
experience by engaging in creative, dynamic activities, designed as in-class
workshops. The instruction is project-based, and the in-class activities are rooted in
two approaches: (1) SHAC and (2) Creative Activities in Public or CAP. They
occur in a two-day sequence.

SHAC

The SHAC (Fethi, 2015) methodology provides structure for the in-class activities,
as the students negotiate each of the four stages: share, help, ask, and comment.
Table 1 shows the progress of students through these stages and includes the
description and rationale for each stage. The instructor’s role during the SHAC
portion of the project is to provide just-in-time feedback by listening and guiding
students, making notes on their language use and their understanding of the film,
and providing redirection as needed. The lessons are learner-centered because the
194 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

students have a structure, SHAC, which sets up their interactions so that they
co-construct meaningful uses of language following the patterns of the
methodology.
As they have all viewed the same film, they have the material in common as a
basis for their work. They complete visual intelligence tasks, including analyzing
posters, such as the official movie poster for Victory; comparing characters, as in
Alex versus Carlos in Finding a Family; and critical thinking activities, such as a
discussion of whether or not money buys happiness, as in Slumdog Millionaire. In
each case, students must cite relevant scenes from the film to support their posi-
tions. In teams, the students collaborate for one week to create their own videos that
introduce common societal attitudes or their own views. They use different tools for
screencasting and video editing, such as Camtasia. Flipping Movies paves the way
for educators to work on more skills, resulting in fully integrated instruction.
Creativity is encouraged in class through role-playing and problem-solving, again
taking scenes and themes from the film and engaging the students in rethinking
them.

Creativity Activities in Public (CAP)

After each unit, the students are required to become engaged in sociocultural
activities relevant to the moral of the movie, as shown in Table 2.
This is the best way to assess the students’ mastery of the lesson objectives,
which balance language learning with leadership skills building. The students start

Table 2 Creative activities in public (CAP)

Day 2 The students start drawing up the blueprint of their project, using available
technology tools
Stage Rationale
Creativity This is the outcome of the lesson, or the
students’ “know how”. Creativity
should be supported with a wide range
of options including:
• Designing projects to solve problems,
emulating professionals, using
technology tools, such as
screencasting
• Producing documentaries
• Organizing activities
• Preparing and launching campaigns
• Acting and role-playing
Examples
This stage promotes the students’
leadership skills as they design projects
related to the films.
Examples:
Akeelah and the Bee: a spelling contest
The Great Debaters: a public speaking
contest
Blood Diamond: projects focused on
how to fix Africa’s problems
Slumdog Millionaire: a documentary on
money and happiness
Gifted Hands: a culture day with a
video on Carson’s quotes, reports on the
main issues, interviews with doctors,
scene portrayals
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 195

drawing up the blueprint of their project, using different technologies available. As

they implement CAP, the instructor’s role is limited to monitoring and providing
the students with guidance and support. This role of supporting students in the
application of their learning and encouraging them to engage creatively plays a
major part in the development of their ownership of the material and development
of leadership skills (Callahan et al., 2007).
These activities are designed as a means of introducing higher-order thinking
skills to develop a greater ability to think critically and to apply the movie’s themes
and concepts to new contexts. As such, these constitute what is generally referred to
as expansion activities or extended learning, which instructors rarely have time for
in a classroom without the incorporation of flipped methodologies.

Technologies

At the beginning of the school year, the instructors participate professional

development, which includes sessions on incorporating technology into their
teaching. During these sessions, they explore up-to-date technologies required to
flip their lessons (see “Appendix 1: Weblinks for the Flipping Movies Project” for
links to samples of student activities). In recent years, the focus has been on the
following tools:
Google Drive (https://www.google.com/drive)
This is used to create tasks, assess, conduct surveys, and share answers for peer
feedback. Its ease of use and efficiency, as well as the students’ familiarity with its
features, lead to the adoption of this tool.
Camtasia (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html)
This is the preferred video editing tool, and it allows for adding captions and
comments. Moreover, with respect to creativity, the students use it in imaginative
ways to develop their own videos.
Microsoft PowerPoint (https://products.office.com/en/powerpoint)
Instructors as well as students find it indispensable for their presentations. One of its
strengths is that the presentations can be recorded in Camtasia.
Snagit (www.techsmith.com/snagit.html)
The instructors use it to create handout graphics from a video capture.

Evaluation

Unlike the conventional methodology of teaching a language through movies, in

which the students thought of it more as a break from “real” class, had more fun,
and engaged in superficial discussion or debate, sometimes followed by writing
196 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

essays, flipping offers the means and the time to work on more deeply engaging and
challenging activities.

Assessment of Overall Goals and Objectives for Learning

There are three areas in which the benefits of teaching with the flipped approach
becomes readily apparent.
Listening comprehension and pronunciation As students set their own pace to
answer the different tasks, instructors have noticed an evolutionary change: The
post-listening activities are more successful as most of the students confidently try
to share their answers and enthusiastically comment on their classmates. Equally
important, the students’ interest in bettering their pronunciation has been promi-
nently displayed and evidently affected positively their public speaking activities
and involvement in various communication situations.
Critical thinking After accomplishing successfully the comprehension activities,
the students build and present their own attitudes about the movie themes. Now,
they are more motivated to take part in debates, sometimes extended, write long
essays and conduct research. Moreover, both parents and instructors have noticed
that OKE students discuss issues more confidently and with deeper insights.
Creativity As the school administration is conscious of the importance and
complexity of leadership skills and aware of how their development may improve a
student’s future career opportunities, they design learning opportunities that display
the student’s individual talents for organizing sociocultural activities. Flipping
Movies offers an innovative means, lacking in the traditional educational system, to
teach leadership (Callahan et al., 2007). Apart from the IT tools and bright ideas,
Flipping Movies has offered precious time to think about how to turn the in-class
words into meaningful actions in the larger society. It provides time to prepare and
carry out worthwhile projects that can contribute in a concrete way to society.

Student Mastery

With regard to assessing students’ work, there are three stages:

Testing, Teaching, Testing (TTT) To ensure the students’ assimilation of the
suggested language input, class generally begins with series of activities or games.
For example, after dealing with environment vocabulary, the students can take a
matching activity which covers the main words taught in the preceding class. The
students complete the task in a limited time. If they have not mastered the material,
the instructor intervenes by re-teaching in a different way. Then, a second testing
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 197

takes place. TTT is used only for language input, including grammar, pronuncia-
tion, and vocabulary, both before and after watching the movie.
In-class oral communication and out-of-class writing When the students have
acquired enough vocabulary and explored a variety of relevant arguments, which
include quotes, facts, and statistics, they are asked to write essays and communicate
their ideas. They work in small teams or in pairs in order to encourage peer
interaction and to support them more effectively after watching the movie.
Project-based learning (PBL) PBL is the overall assessment. The students work
on projects which reflect their learning outcome and skill progress, knowing that
building leadership skills is implicitly worked on simultaneously. The most suc-
cessful students are those who, for a period of two to three weeks, have demon-
strated assimilation of the material, interacted using the language in meaningful
ways, and actively participated in their group work.

Lesson Effectiveness

There are three ways the effectiveness of the lessons is evaluated:

Students’ reactions The instructor conducts informal assessments to gauge the
level of participation and the nature of student interactions during the in-class
activities. This qualitative data is retained in the form of notes to inform future
decisions regarding student groupings, length of a given activity, and instructor
interventions.
The CAP evaluation The CAP assessment instrument consists of a required report
on the activity process itself, as well as the outcomes achieved, the challenges
faced, the public’s reaction, and a list of suggestions for future iterations. This
evaluation also looks at how the students interact with the public during the project.
The students’ direct feedback on the instruction Students provide continuous
oral and written feedback during every phase of the lessons. This informal, anec-
dotal data provides the instructor with insights into the affective domain, including
motivation and engagement.

Research and Discussion

To learn more about the students’ perspectives on the instructional approach, an

online survey was conducted in two sections of the General English class in the
spring semester of 2014, eliciting both quantitative and qualitative data on their
experience with Flipping Movies (Fethi, 2014). A total of 110 students participated.
The choice to show the movie in class was selected by the majority of the students,
198 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

with 66% of the students favoring watching the movies in class over doing so in
their homes, and only 15% believing that viewing them out of class would be more
effective and the remainder having no preference. This supports the in-class
application of the flipped approach. Regarding the length of the film, students
uniformly preferred full-length movies to short ones. This response indicates that
students appreciate the opportunity for a complete and meaningful viewing expe-
rience. Of those students preferring the full-length showings, students were nearly
equally divided on the matter of edited vs. unedited versions of the films (44% vs.
52%, respectively). Comments revealed that the edited versions were preferred by
those who wanted objectionable scenes excised.
With respect to the three types of activities used to accompany the movie:
out-of-class exercises, critical thinking activities, and the CAP for creativity, stu-
dents valued all of them, but not equally. Most popular were the critical thinking
activities, 65%, followed closely by the creativity-based activities, 59%, and finally,
the out-of-class activities, 30%. Multiple selections were permitted for this ques-
tion, and in fact, 11% of the students checked all three responses. This question
demonstrates that the more challenging activities engaged them more than the
language-focused activities they had to complete on their own at home. Finally,
asked about the overall approach, Flipping Movies as opposed to a traditional class
structure, the students overwhelmingly chose the innovative, flipped approach, 73%
of the total.
Selected responses from the qualitative data show the students’ reflections on
their learning. An open-ended question focused on the benefits of the flipped
approach and gave the students an opportunity to share why they preferred this new
way of learning English. A total of 28 students chose to comment. Some noted that
they understood the movie on a deeper level because of the activities surrounding
the viewing, “the best way to know more about the movie.” Others mentioned the
ability to attend to detail more purposefully “when you flip a movie, you’ll miss
nothing;” “I focus on every single detail.” One student mentioned the positive
impact of the movie on English pronunciation, “we finally get to hear American
pronunciation and work on bettering ours.” Another noted the interactive nature of
the activities and the ability to learn from peers, “if you have any trouble with
something, you can ask your classmates using Gmail.” This comment sums up the
entire approach in a way that indicates the instructor has succeeded in implemented
flipped learning effectively:
As far as I am concerned, flipping movies is a big advantage for the following reasons:
while they are doing the out-of-class activity, students learn a lot of interesting details and
enrich their vocabulary; in the class, an atmosphere of altruism and solidarity reign among
the students, which is really beneficial; and learning creativity and changing the way of
thinking is ensured. (Fethi, 2014).

From the students’ comments on the optional question, it is clear that those who
responded were aware of the shift in instruction and found it to be enriching,
engaging, and also empowering. This sampling of student perspectives echos the
three benefits of flipping relating to language acquisition: increasing
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 199

comprehensibility, increasing interaction, and increasing critical thinking skills

(Marshall, 2014).
In addition to the survey data, the instructor’s informal ongoing assessments
provided insight into the progress of students in their English language proficiency.
Regarding language skills, there was considerable progress in the targeted areas of
listening, speaking, and writing. Much of this progress can be attributed to the
students becoming more invested and thereby more willing to take risks and use
their developing language skills. There was also attention paid to learning styles
and personality factors in the instruction and activities provided for the class to
reach out to all students.

Listening Skills

Flipping Movies helps the student move from being a passive listener to an active
one. As a result of the out-of-class activities that are intentionally planned according
to the learners’ needs and abilities, they have more time to work at their own pace
and develop a fundamental skill, active listening, which is one of the greatest
challenges in a traditional language class. The objectives become more ambitious,
and the time devoted to practice is manageable. Hence, learners not only consider
the words uttered but also the tone and the pace, as well as the nonverbal messages
through nodding, smiling, eye contact, and the like. The mastery of these elements
help the students become more assertive in class, and more relaxed and enthusiastic
in the group work.

Speaking Skills

The class moves from speaking for the sake of practicing language and sometimes
producing mechanical conversations to a new dimension in communication,
expressing ideas and attitudes, and discussing their projects. They work on skills
such as breaking the ice, conducting meetings, building rapport with team mem-
bers, and interpersonal communication. The instructor monitors and implicitly
guides students, conducts informal assessments, and provides constructive
feedback.

Writing Skills

The class goes further than producing individual essays to working on group
writing projects. Each movie exposes a problem that the students should think of
viable solutions to handle. For instance, after flipping Blood Diamond, the students,
200 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

in groups called G8s, tried to figure out how Africa might solve its problems,
including civil wars and poverty. After flipping Slumdog Millionaire, the students
worked on a project entitled: Does money buy happiness? In teams, the students
collaborated to create videos that introduced common societal attitudes and/or their
own.

Learning Styles

Aside from the fun, the students form a micro-society and identify each other’s
learning styles, boosting their competence and validating their presence in the
group. Using movies in a traditional classroom, lessons primarily target the aural
and visual modes, but other modes, especially the kinesthetic, should be included.
When implementing the Flipping Movies approach, the time frames for in-class
activities allow for a diversity of planned tasks that take the different students’
styles into account.
The students with kinesthetic tendencies learn more when they move and touch.
They are more active when asked to take part in project making or movie follow-up
activities. Traditional movie viewing lessons exclude these students. This unin-
tentional exclusion triggers a host of ancillary problems, such as discipline issues,
truancy, or simply reluctance to engage in class. However, when the instructor
mentions kinesthetic relevant activities such as acting, directing, and designing,
their involvement is very positive and their engagement is notable. This diversity
gives a high energy level to the class and a dynamism to the students. When
instructors give opportunities to such students, they often exceed expectations.

Personality Factors

Equally important, one of the main challenges of traditional language teaching

methodologies is dealing with introverted, passive, hesitant, and even reluctant
students. Instead of putting the blame on them or inventing pretexts and finding
excuses, it is essential to face the reality of their individual personalities and
character traits. Integrating them into the learning community and providing them
with effective tools to become influential actors is a must. Flipping Movies gives the
instructor the opportunity to discover students’ strengths and learning needs.
A significant number of students who were initially quite shy and lacked the
necessary confidence to participate gained confidence after participating in the
flipped instruction, and more than 95% became very active learners. They devel-
oped more interest in public speaking, community service, and art shows. As a
result, instead of one annual conference, it became necessary to hold at least three,
with different participants and different issues, in order to meet student demand.
Flipping Movies for Dynamic Engagement 201

Movies play an essential role in teaching languages, inspiring the students, and
promoting their leadership skills. When asked about the benefits of watching
movies, the students listed a number of qualities that can be summarized in the
following statement:
With fun, we build our receptive and productive skills. When we add the flipped learning
approach and adhere to its core principles, we move from words and facts to influential acts
that can impact the real world outside the classroom. We feel what we learn, live what we
learn, and involve people in what we learn. (Fethi, 2014)

Future Directions

Much of the focus on flipped learning has centered on what it is and whether or not
it is effective. Flipping Movies attempts to reframe the conversation about flipped
learning to focus on what it makes possible: creating fertile spaces for learning.
Once the intense language-focused activities are moved to the out-of-class indi-
vidual learning space, in-class group learning space expands beyond language
lessons to a wider arena of deeper learning through project-based teamwork. Both
the in-class and out-of-class spaces should be dynamic and engaging, so the
out-of-class activities before viewing the film include previewing material related to
the film and those after viewing the film include interaction with the public.
Furthermore, while the most obvious use of film in flipped learning environments
might have been to have students view the film outside of class, in Flipping Movies,
the viewing itself becomes an in-class activity. The instructor has, in effect, flipped
the flip and included related activities in the out-of-class learning segments, saving
the film for a collaborative, social experience in the group learning space. In this
way, fertile spaces are created for the students to become engaged, enriched and
empowered, both in and out of the classroom.
Future research could focus on other contexts in which the in-class flip model
has been implemented and how it has affected student learning and mastery.
Another avenue to explore based on this course’s focus on leadership and com-
munity involvement is how flipped learning, in general, can lead to such results,
given the shift to learner autonomy and learner engagement over instructor-centered
instructional approaches. A final possibility is to expand this project to include
schools in English-speaking learning environments and establish an “international
film club” to foster intercultural communication and authentic use of English
among students in online instruction.
202 K. Fethi and H. W. Marshall

Appendix 1: Weblinks for the Flipping Movies Project

Student survey results: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GyyE084ysvq4DKe460

U9z5-GiHKqi0Zd9ICUaQUTOio/edit?uiv=1#responses
Excerpts with use of conditional from Gifted Hands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdldcMoJisw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYBJ22qoJes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlgZas_F1jw
SHAC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRgPgkAHASk
Critical thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6edejkGYw0s
Creativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbCUidoQoz8
Post-flipped learning activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NeKPXXYY
DY
Does money buy happiness project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CP4Nhr
Ech4
School website: www.okecenter.com

References

Callahan, J. L., Whitener, J. K., & Sandlin, J. A. (2007). The art of creating leaders: Popular
culture artifacts as pathways for development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9
(2), 146–165.
Fethi, K. (2014). Flipping movies: Why and how survey. [Google form responses]. Retrieved
from: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GyyE084ysvq4DKe460U9z5-GiHKqi0Zd9ICUaQUT
Oio/edit?uiv=1#responses.
Fethi, K. (2015, March). Flipping movies: Why and how? Paper presented at the 8th Annual
Flipped Learning Network Conference, East Lansing, MI.
Gonzalez, J. (2014). Modifying the flipped classroom: The “in-class” version, Edutopia, March
Issue. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-in-class-version-
jennifer-gonzalez.
Haigh, A. (2008). The art of teaching. New York, NY, USA: Pearson Longman.
Marshall, H. W. (2014). Three reasons to flip your classroom. TESOL Connections, February
Issue. Retrieved from: http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/print/2014-02-01/2.html.
Truong, L. B., & Tran, L. T. (2014). Students’ intercultural development through language
learning in Vietnamese tertiary education: A case study on the use of film as an innovative
approach. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(2), 207–225.
Xhemaili, M. (2013). The advantages of using films to enhance student’s reading skills in the EFL
classroom. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(13), 62–66.
Yaseen, B. H., & Shakir, H. (2015). Movie effects on EFL learners at Iraqi school in Kuala
Lumpur. International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, 3(3), 31–36.
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based
EAP Courses with Online Content

Yu Jung Han

Abstract Emerging technology is now providing tremendous learning content

online, which allows more diverse and interactive content-based EAP instructions
at universities. In the article (Han 2015), I demonstrate that Strayer’s (2007)
tech-advanced theoretical framework of flipped learning is an ideal platform where
Nation’s (2007) four strands approach can be effectively implemented in ESL
settings. As a “platform for successful language learning,” the course resulted in
“the significant development of learner autonomy” (Han 2015, p. 98). Based on this
experience, I attempted to flip my content-based EAP course at an American liberal
arts college in Spring 2014 by using high-quality online content. I observed positive
student learning outcomes which resulted in the significant development of content
and language mastery among the students, as well as learner autonomy. By sharing
the course structure, content, and its implementation, this chapter aims to provide
practical suggestions that can be implemented immediately to current content-based
EAP programs in higher education settings.

Introduction

This chapter is based on my experience at a liberal arts college on the east coast of
the US where I taught English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. The college
offered three levels of EAP courses (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) that
introduced international students to American culture and aimed to develop their
academic skills in reading, listening, writing and speaking. Although they are

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the KOTESOL-KAFLE 2014 International
Conference, Seoul, Korea (with a focus on the course structure of ESL 1XX) and at the 45th
Annual NYS TESOL 2015 Conference, White Plains, NY (with a focus on collaborative
curriculum development).

Y. J. Han (&)
The University of Rochester, New York, USA
e-mail: yujunghan@rochester.edu

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 203

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_14
204 Y. J. Han

pre-sessional courses for academic English preparation of international students, all

the EAP courses offered are credit-bearing. ESL 1XX Conversation and Discussion
is a 3-credit, intermediate course, and was originally designed by Professor Dennis
Johnson, an EAP instructor who had previously taught the course. When I taught
this class in the spring of 2014, I combined Professor Johnson’s original
face-to-face course structure with a flipped learning model to transform it into a
tech-enhanced course in which I observed positive student learning outcomes.
The intention of this chapter is to describe the processes involved in designing a
flipped classroom experience. This chapter first presents the course ESL 1XX, its
flipped course structure, followed by the detailed descriptions of out-of-class/
in-class sessions, and then formative/summative assessments for evaluation. The
course number has been obscured for the purpose of confidentiality.

Introduction to ESL 1XX

ESL 1XX is a 100-level college course. All international freshmen with a TOEFL
score below 80 took the Accuplacer Placement Test and were placed into EAP
courses according to their test results upon arrival. The college maintained small
class sizes that there were no more than 15 people in one class; most of the students
had no prior experience studying in the US or abroad.
The initial goal of ESL 1XX was to help students become “comfortable and
confident when conversing with others in English in various situations” that they
may face in the U.S. (D. Johnson, personal communication, Spring 2014). Many
international students find it challenging to understand the different communication
styles in the U.S. Therefore, ESL 1XX aimed to introduce critical conversation
skills for academic settings as well as the daily lives. In my edited curriculum, I
added cultural references by introducing more authentic examples of the target
conversation skills from the mass media, such as the well-known American TV
show The Big Bang Theory (Lorre & Prady, 2007).

Why Flipped Learning?

Nation (2007) claims that the ideal language classroom should consist of four
equally balanced strands: meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output,
language-focused learning, and fluency development. Unfortunately, it can be
arduous to maintain a balance between all four strands due to the time constraints
and pressure to conform to the curriculum’s learning outcomes. This usually results
in neglecting fluency development, which Diepenbroek and Derwing (2014)
observe to be lacking in many ESL integrated skills textbooks. In addition, teachers
sometimes confuse students’ fluency and their speaking ability (Tavakoli & Hunter,
2017), which may result in teachers focusing only on meaning-focused output.
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 205

Drawing from Strayer’s (2007) tech-advanced theoretical framework of flipped

learning and Nation’s (2007) four strands approach, I implemented a flipped
learning model in an ESL setting in order to facilitate language learning as well as
learner autonomy (Han 2015). The positive learning outcomes I had witnessed in
my previous experience encouraged me to implement the flipped learning model to
ESL 1XX. Flipping the course allowed me to maximize (1) students’ exposure to
the target content (language and content input) in the out-of-class sessions and
(2) opportunities for students’ reproduction and application (language and content
output) of what they learned during in-class sessions. In the next section, I will
explain how I did so by describing the course structure in detail.

Course Structure

Figure 1 illustrates the course structure in two parts: out-of-class sessions and
in-class sessions. The following section will describe the course structure more in
detail.

Technology-enhanced Out-of-Class Sessions

In ESL 1XX, students spent a significant amount of time undertaking course work
outside of class. They watched the videos at home and worked on the activities by
using supportive materials for self-study on the learning management system
(LMS).

Lecture Videos: Obtaining High-quality Online Content

One of the most important factors for successful content-based instruction is to

obtain content that fits the target students’ goals, needs, and English proficiency
levels. A noteworthy challenge that content-based EAP instructors are likely to
encounter is finding appropriate content from a reliable source. In my skill-based
flipped ESL course (Han 2015), I curated and contextualized online content in
different formats. Though this was received well by the students, there were
practical implementation issues. The lack of consistency of the online content, the
validity of the content, and increased time spent on modifying materials to fit within
curriculum objectives became problematic in the instructional design process.
Curating and contextualizing content requires a content evaluation process, which
may result in an excessive workload for instructors. The instructor needs to evaluate
the quality of content to ensure the content is on target and does not contain any
inappropriate or inaccurate information. It is also highly likely that content from
206 Y. J. Han

Fig. 1 Overall course structure of ESL 1XX

different sources contains linguistic items, which are unfit for specific levels of
English proficiency. It is also challenging to secure useful content that can meet
various wants and needs of international students with different majors.
Scarino and Liddicoat (2009) state how meaning-making process of a language
is done within its cultural context: therefore, a language classroom should create an
environment where students can “engage with the ways in which context affects
what is communicated and how” (p. 18). While focusing on developing students’
academic English skills and conversation strategies, the curriculum also needed to
embrace sociocultural contexts. In his original course design, Professor Johnson
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 207

found a useful online content source for his ESL 1XX course to address this issue.
He used a pre-recorded course titled How Conversation Works: 6 Lessons for Better
Communication taught by Dr. Anne Curzan from the University of Michigan on
The Great Courses (Curzan, 2012). The course is available in four different for-
mats: video download, audio download, DVD, and CD. Students can choose
whichever format they prefer. The course contains six, 30-min lectures that contain
real-life situations and examples. Each lecture covers critical conversation skills and
strategies that international students would do well to understand before joining
post-EAP classes (e.g., How to Read between the Lines & How to Navigate
Face-Threatening Acts). Though the course does not specifically target interna-
tional students, the communicative skills covered in the course seem to include a
broader range of authentic materials that are often left out of many ELT course
books. The skills can be directly and immediately applied to international students’
daily and academic lives. As such, the course’s practicality and usefulness foster a
classroom atmosphere of strong student engagement.

Workshop on Note-taking: Preparing Students for Effective

Video Watching

Preparing students to maximize their comprehension level is as critical as securing

qualified online content. When teaching ESL 1XX, I did not wish to simply have
students sit in front of a screen and passively watch the video lectures. Rather, to
better facilitate student learning, the focus lied on how students viewed the videos.
Whether the class is flipped or traditional, online or offline, recording data from the
lectures and taking notes is a critical skill for students. According to Bligh (2000),
note-taking skills facilitate better learning because students’ notes are their own
personalized selections of key points from the target lecture. In addition, Kiewra
et al. (1991) stated that when repetitive exposure to the target lecture and review of
the notes are combined, it greatly facilitates learning. Professor Johnson was aware
of the importance of note-taking in his original course design. Following his method,
I also held a workshop on note-taking skills at the beginning of the semester.
Throughout the semester, I assigned students open-note unit tests so that they could
realize the importance of note-taking. It was intended to help students see the value
in note-taking in post-EAP courses where there is no safety net. Occasionally,
I collected notes to monitor students’ comprehension of the target lectures.

LMS: Online Platform Where Out-of-class Learning Happens

While I kept the content (the lecture videos) from the original syllabus, one of the
biggest changes I made in my flipped course was the use of a learning management
208 Y. J. Han

Fig. 2 The screenshot of the course website in Canvas

system (LMS). The LMS played a critical role in my course design since it was
where the out-of-class learning occurred. The college already used a different LMS
for the school, but I wanted to use a more interactive platform. I chose Canvas by
Instructure since I had used it for my previous ESL conversation classes and was
highly familiar with the system. All the in-class materials and supportive materials
provided for self-study, which will be described in the following section, were
uploaded along with online activities to facilitate comprehension of the lecture
videos (Fig. 2). Students sometimes used Canvas’s built-in collaboration tools to
work on group projects during out-of-class sessions. Just like other major LMSs,
Canvas also offers built-in analytic features that allow students and teachers to keep
track of student progress.

Autonomous Learning with Supportive Materials

Professor Johnson prepared a variety of learning materials for ESL 1XX. These
include glossaries with brief cultural references, comprehension quizzes, and
real-life scenarios that require an application of the target conversation skills.
Students were asked to study the materials in advance as active agents in the
learning process. The comprehension questions were carefully designed to facilitate
student learning so that completing homework assignments could ensure a certain
amount of content mastery.
In addition to Professor Johnson’s supportive materials, I added multimodal aids
in Canvas. I found relevant pop culture examples to provide more authentic
examples of the target content. For example, when the target content was about
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 209

reading between the lines and sarcasm, I used scenes from the TV show The Big
Bang Theory, of the famous character Sheldon Cooper, who has a hard time
understanding sarcastic comments from the others.

Student-centered In-Class Sessions

Cooperative Activities for Language & Content Fluency

Development

The importance of in-class activities cannot be over-emphasized. Instructors must

create activities that encourage students to study at home. If not, students cannot see
the value of out-of-class sessions and will quickly become disengaged; eventually,
your flipped classroom will lose its whole point.
Research has shown how cooperative activities facilitate positive learning out-
comes by creating student-centered and peer-supported learning environments
(Cavanagh, 2011; Foldnes, 2016; Herrmann, 2013; Li & Lam, 2013). Kagan and
Kagan (2009) suggest four principles of cooperative activities: Positive
Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Equal Participation, and Simultaneous
Interaction. These principles can help students take on responsibilities in their
learning (Sachs, Candlin, & Rose, 2003). By carefully designing cooperative
activities, I created a student-centered learning environment that provided ample
opportunities for peer education. The in-class sessions were full of learn by
explaining activities that required active engagement, interaction and contribution
of knowledge (See Schwartz & Hartman, 2007; Zahn, Krauskopf, Hesse, & Pea,
2012). The environment required significant amount of self-study in out-of-class
sessions so that each student could get ready for the cooperative activities in class
(Individual Accountability). That means that if one student does not achieve a
certain level of comprehension for a target lecture, the student will not have any-
thing to contribute to his/her team, and thus, will eventually affect the entire team
performance. At first, cooperative activities were designed to create forced learning
by imposing mutual responsibilities on students (Positive Interdependence).
However, it soon shifted from forced learning to autonomous learning as soon as
the students realized (1) the importance of self-study in out-of-class sessions, which
was directly related to their own and their teammates’ performance and possibly
their final grades, and (2) the utility of content that can be applied and used in their
real lives.
As for Equal Participation and Simultaneous Interaction, the cooperative
activities I routinized for ESL 1XX (see Appendix A) required repetitive and
simultaneous reproduction and reconstruction of what students had learned at home
that elicited “simultaneous—and accurate—replication of words, phrases, and
expressions from the … videos through repetition with different partners” (Han
2015, p. 104). As semester proceeded, the students witnessed their increased
210 Y. J. Han

fluency in language and content, and this became another driving force for
autonomous learning and active engagement. The students began to focus on the
quality of the output they produced. The students were inspired by the fact that they
were able to teach key concepts, such as illocutionary force, to their American
classmates in fluent English. It was gratifying to observe the students demonstrate
their knowledge, not only by replicating the expressions from the lectures but also
by creating the relevant real-life situations and examples to describe the concepts.
If you are interested in the cooperative activities that I implement for my class,
see the following link for tutorial videos that I created for ESL/EFL teacher edu-
cation on cooperative activities. This link shows the four main cooperative activities
I routinize for my classes.
Link: http://cooperativeactivitiesforfl.weebly.com/

Evaluation

Formative Assessment: Self-reflection Videos

In addition to Professor Johnson’s supportive materials and assignments, I added an

additional assignment that required students to recall and reproduce what they had
learned from the lecture videos. However, the reproduction assignment was not a
writing assignment. Instead, I asked my students to record a 2–3 min video of
themselves after each unit explaining the newly learned concepts and upload it on
Canvas. One requirement was that students needed to speak directly to the camera
without looking down or up. This was intended to (1) prevent plagiarism issues, and
(2) provide students a rehearsal opportunity for upcoming in-class activities in
which active participation and content knowledge contribution were necessary.
Although it was not mandatory for students to re-watch their videos after the first
submission, some students stated later that they voluntarily watched each other’s
videos from time to time in order to have a better understanding of the target
content. The videos that students created explained the key points and takeaways
from a learner’s perspective that could easily appeal to their peers. The videos also
provided me with up-to-date feedback on what students found difficult, challenging,
and/or interesting so that I could prepare in-class sessions incorporating the
feedback.
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 211

Formative Assessment: Unit Tests

I conducted a total of six unit tests. At the end of each unit of the lecture videos, I
assigned a unit test so that students could check on their comprehension and pro-
gress. Unit tests, originally created by Professor Johnson were scenario-based.
I conducted the unit tests as open-note tests that required students to collaborate. At
first, I distributed questions without telling the students it would be an open-note
test. After giving them enough time to work on the questions individually (e.g., 40
min), I asked them to put down their pens and stand up with their exam papers.
Next, I revealed the fact it was going to be an open-note test that would require
collaboration, and that they were now allowed to talk to their classmates and to go
back to their notes; the only rule was that they could not write anything on their
exam papers, so no pen was allowed. I gave them a time limit to maximize their
level of attention (e.g., 10 min). The students used this time to confirm unclear parts
of their responses or to refresh their memories on certain topics. This also provided
the students an opportunity to prioritize key points to review. The collaboration
time was too short for students who did not study to take advantage of it. It was
surprising to see the level of attention students paid to the collaboration time and
how much knowledge they were able to share. When the time expired, students had
to return to their seats. They were able to work individually again on their answers
and revise their responses for a short amount of time (e.g., 10 min).
I hoped that the unit tests could become another major learning opportunity. At
the end of the semester, students expressed that the unit tests had helped them build
a sense of camaraderie and they still clearly remembered what they discussed
during the collaboration time.

Summative Assessment: Group Projects

Following the original course design, I conducted a summative assessment of two

parts of the group projects: Project One and Project Two (see Appendix B). The
projects both followed the same process except in the coverage of content and
grade: Project One covered the first three lecture videos (15% of the final grade),
and Project Two covered all six lecture videos (20% of the final grade). Project One
was designed to offer students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the
project and experience the entire process to get them ready for Project Two.
Students formed groups of 2–4 people to create 15-minute-long talk show
interviews for a television show. One team member was the talk-show host and the
others were guests on the show; the talk show discussed topics, ideas, and concepts
in the lecture videos that the students found intriguing and helpful for both
212 Y. J. Han

themselves and other international students. The conversation between the host and
their guests had to be natural and smooth, which meant that students could not read
from scripts.
Initially, students carefully chose two or three topics to discuss; some topics
were common across groups, but most did not overlap. Students used their cre-
ativity to create their setting and brought different personas to more effectively
illustrate the topics they were discussing such as professors, experts, and people
who had issues communicating with others. Throughout the conversation between
the host and guests, students presented their academic English proficiency, com-
prehension of the topics, and ability to relate them to real-life examples and
experiences. That meant that, in addition to explaining key concepts and ideas
throughout their conversations, students had to insert a scene or situation that
showed their ability to apply the conversation skills that they had learned in the
course. For instance, a team could have a persona of a college professor who
explained strategies on how to keep the conversational work, which was one of the
themes from the lecture videos; meanwhile, they would also create a scene in which
the host was trying earnestly to keep the conversation going with the guest whose
persona kept killing the conversation by providing short answers.
Other requirements were equally-balanced communication among team mem-
bers and the use of newly-learned vocabulary in the conversation. First, I empha-
sized with the notion that each team member should speak for almost an equal
amount of time during the show. In particular, this required for the host to do more
than simply ask questions; the host needed to actively participate in the conver-
sation by (1) recasting and summarizing comments/questions, (2) sharing their
examples on the topic that was being discussed, and (3) asking questions for
additional information that would facilitate the audience’s understanding. Second,
students had to use new vocabulary that they had learned; I expected students to
replicate and use words, idioms, and expressions from the lecture videos. I assigned
20 minutes at the end of each class so that students could work together to develop
the scripts for their talk shows. The students submitted a list of new vocabulary
items that they had used in their talk show; when the first scripts for Project One
were ready, I took the students to the school’s digital media studio where people
could record professional videos. I used a green screen background in the studio to
record each team’s talk show and later synced the recordings with the virtual
background of a talk show. The quality of the videos seemed to impress the stu-
dents, since they gave significant attention to the quality of their talk shows while
working on Project Two.
I also provided additional support to better facilitate the project development.
Each team had a one-on-one preliminary meeting with me during the third planning
session to discuss the topic selections and setting upon which they had decided.
After the meeting, I asked each team to fill out a planning guide and submit it to me
(see Appendix C). After the students created the video of their talk show, they
submitted a self-reflection journal that asked them to “evaluate not only their
learning, but also the success of their social interactions” (Bell, 2010, p. 40).
Collaborating as a team in the project became an authentic learning stage in which
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 213

they were able to apply, practice, and enhance the conversation skills they had
learned through the course.

Future Directions: Teachers’ Collaborative Curriculum

Development

As noted previously, English teachers who would like to flip their content-based
EAP courses can choose from a broad range of options for online content. Though
this choice is appealing, some may find it challenging to create a syllabus, lesson
plans, activities, and supportive materials within a limited time frame. Therefore, it
would be helpful to have an archive in which teachers create forums for specific
online content (with the content generator’s permission and collaboration) and
share their lesson plans, activities, and materials. This archive could be linked to the
content platforms and come as a set, or it could have separate spaces to create a
teachers’ community.

Conclusions

When I taught a content-based English as Academic Purposes (EAP) course at an

American college in Spring 2014, I implemented the flipped learning model in my
course. My tech-enhanced flipped model proved to be an ideal platform for effective
content-based second language instruction, resulting in learner autonomy and the
significant development of content and language mastery among the students.
I hope this chapter will provide practical suggestions that can be implemented
immediately in content-based EAP programs.

Acknowledgements I gratefully thank Mr. Dennis Johnson for his original course design that has
become the basis of this article and his permission to share his work.
214 Y. J. Han

Appendix

Appendix A: Sample In-class Cooperative Activity

[Note] I created this activity to use it as a main cooperative activity for ESL 1XX. The following
YouTube video also shows how this activity works. https://youtu.be/Elc_myD4Wvo

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes / Students: 4 to 16

[Preparation]
1. First, the teacher divides the class into four
groups. Students sit with their team. Each
team chooses one of the scenarios on page 3.
This plan will present an activity with 16
people.

*If there are more than 16 students:

The teacher can have two separate sections.
This way, this activity can be used for up to
32 students. (While it is a doable option,
please note that it may be loud and crowded.)
2. Each team studies their scenario and
prepare their response by applying what they
learned from the lecture video. Students can
use their notes. (20 min)
3. Each team prepares a 5-minute
presentation. It should include (1) a summary
of the scenario, (2) their solution to handle the
situation, and (3) reason why their solution is
effective. Students need to use key concepts
and terms from the lectures to explain their
response. They also need to make sure each
one of them can make a presentation. The
teacher encourages students to use their
creativity; they can use a whiteboard, easel
pads, Post-It notes, and/or hand-written
handout. (15 min)
4. Each team decides a presenter(s) and a
listener(s). If there are two students in one
team, there will be one presenter and one
listener. If there are three students, students
will decide two presenters and one listener (or
vice versa). If there are four people in the
team, two will be presenters and the other two
will be listeners.
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 215

[Presentation: Round 1]
5. Presenter(s) stay in their station. Listener(s)
move to the next station in a clockwise
direction. Presenter(s) start their presentation.
Listener(s) actively interact with the
presenter(s) by asking questions and sharing
their own ideas. (5 min)

[Presentation: Round 2]
6. Again, listener(s) move to the next station
in a clockwise direction. Now presenter(s)
have new listener(s). Repeat their
presentation. (5 min)

[Presentation: Round 3]
7. Again, listener(s) move to the next station
in a clockwise direction. Now presenter(s)
have new listener(s). Repeat their
presentation. (5 min)
216 Y. J. Han

[Switching Roles: Sharing Wisdom]

8. Listener(s) move to the next station in a
clockwise direction and come back to their
station. Now presenter(s) have presented three
times, and listener(s) listened to three
different presentations. Now, they switch their
roles: presenter(s) become listeners and
listener(s) become presenter(s). Former
presenter(s) can share their experience and
tips for an effective presentation. Students can
also go back to their notes and supportive
materials. This time can also work as a break-
time. (10 min)
[Presentation: Round 4-6]
9. New presenter(s) stay in their station. New
listener(s) move to the next station in a
clockwise direction. Repeat Step 5-7. (15 min
+ 5 extra min to move around)

[Reflection]
10. As a whole group, the teacher and
students share their reflection. (5 min)

Scenarios for Lecture Four: “How to Navigate Face-Threatening Acts”

[Note] The scenarios were originally designed by Professor Johnson (used with permission).
Minor changes (e.g., the name of school) have made for the publication.

Scenario A
Thomas is a freshman at XX College, and he shares a dorm room with James, another freshman.
Before Thomas made his huge mistake, James often talked to his girlfriend, Emily, on his cell
phone while Thomas was in the room. James always trusted his roommate and expected him to
respect James’ privacy. He never thought that Thomas would repeat anything that James said to
or about Emily.
In a recent conversation with Emily, Emily was talking about her spring break, things that were
very personal that Emily would not have wanted other students to know about.
Later that day, while Thomas was gossiping with some friends, he told them about what Emily
had said to Thomas. When Emily heard what Thomas had said, she felt humiliated and was very
Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 217

angry with both James and Thomas. James was extremely embarrassed and incredibly angry.
He is not speaking to Thomas, and Emily is not speaking to him.
Thomas knows that he must apologize to both James and Emily, and he wants to make an
apology that they will accept. What should he do? In other words, what specific acts will make
his apology successful? What must he avoid doing?

Scenario B
The spring semester has ended, and Natalia, a freshman at XX College, has gotten her grade for
PY 101 (Introduction to Psychology). During the semester, Natalia recorded every grade that
Professor Han gave her—for quizzes, assignments, and exams—and she thought that she was
going to get an A-. When she received her final grade, it was a B+. Natalia is certain that
Professor Han made a mistake, and she believes that she knows exactly what the mistake was.
She believes that she deserves an A-.
When she goes to Professor Han’s office to discuss the problem with him, what should she do?
How can she successfully navigate this face-threatening act?

Scenario C
Yuan is one of the students in Andrew’s English literature class. She is a very beautiful young
woman, and men—young and old—are always hitting on her. As a result, whenever a male
student approaches her, she is very suspicious and extremely defensive.
Andrew is well aware of Yuan’s beauty, but he also thinks that she is a very intelligent person.
He listens to what she says during in-class discussions, and he always finds her ideas novel and
interesting. He feels that they share many beliefs, and he would like to meet her and discuss
some of these ideas with her.
One of his friends says that he can get her attention by paying her a nice compliment; another
friend says that paying compliments can be very tricky and that they sometimes backfire,
especially when a man is giving a woman a compliment and she doesn’t know him.
How can Andrew pay Yuan a compliment that is successful in getting her attention? What
should Andrew be very careful not to do?

Scenario D
Stephanie works for a major international corporation. She loves her work and always tries to do
a great job on every project her superiors give her. One of her supervisors admires her work and
often compliments her in the office, in front of her colleagues.
Stephanie likes these compliments, but she always feels somewhat embarrassed—she doesn’t
want the people she works with to think that she is self-centered, arrogant, or unappreciative of
their contributions. How can she accept these compliments without offending her colleagues?
218 Y. J. Han

Appendix B: Excerpts from the Instructions of Project One & Two

[Note] The instructions were originally designed by Professor Johnson (used with permission).
Minor changes (e.g., the name of school) have made for the publication.
A. An excerpt from the instructions of Project One: Preliminary Meetings

B. An excerpt from the instructions of Project Two: The Schedule

Flipping Tech-Enhanced, Content-Based EAP Courses … 219
220 Y. J. Han

References

Bell, S. (2010). Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future. The Clearing
House, 83(2), 39–43.
Bligh, D. A. (2000). What’s the use of lectures?. San Francisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass.
Cavanagh, M. (2011). Students’ experiences of active engagement through cooperative learning
activities in lectures. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(1), 23–33.
Curzan, A. (2012). How Conversation Works: 6 Lessons for Better Communication. Lecture. The
Great Courses, 2012. DVD. Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company.
Diepenbroek, L. G., & Derwing, T. M. (2014). To what extent do popular ESL textbooks
incorporate oral fluency and pragmatic development. TESL Canada Journal, 30(7), 1–20.
Foldnes, N. (2016). The flipped classroom and cooperative learning: Evidence from a randomised
experiment. Active Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 39–49.
Han, Y. (2015). Successfully flipping the ESL classroom for learner autonomy, NYS TESOL
Journal 2(1), 98–109. Retrieved from http://journal.nystesol.org/jan2015/Han_98-109_
NYSTJ_Vol2Iss1_Jan2015.pdf.
Herrmann, K. J. (2013). The impact of cooperative learning on student engagement: Results from
an intervention. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14(3), 175–187.
Kagan, S., & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan cooperative learning (1st ed.). San Clemente, CA: Kagan
Publishing.
Kiewra, K. A., DuBois, N. F., Christian, D., McShane, A., Meyerhoffer, M., & Roskelley, D.
(1991). Note-taking functions and techniques. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(2), 240.
Li, M. P., & Lam, B. H. (2013). Cooperative learning. The active classroom, the Hong Kong
Institute of Education. Retrieved from https://www.csuchico.edu/ourdemocracy/_assets/
documents/pedagogy/li,-m.-p.-_-lam,-b.-h.-2013-cooperative-learning.pdf
Lorre, C. & Prady, B. (2007). The big bang theory [Television series]. New York, NY: CBS.
Nation, P. (2007). The four strands. International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning
and Teaching, 1(1), 2–13.
Sachs, G. T., Candlin, C. N., & Rose, K. R. (2003). Developing cooperative learning in the EFL/
ESL secondary classroom. RELC Journal, 34(3), 338–369.
Scarino, A., & Liddicoat, A. (2009). Teaching and learning languages: A guide. Melbourne:
Curriculum Corporation.
Schwartz, D., & Hartman, K. (2007). It is not television anymore. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, B.
Barron, & S. J. Derry (Eds.), Video research in the learning sciences. Mahwah: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Strayer, J. F. (2007). The effects of the classroom flip on the learning environment: A comparison
of learning activity in a traditional classroom and a flip classroom that used an intelligent
tutoring system (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University). Retrieved from https://etd.
ohiolink.edu/ap:0:0:APPLICATION_PROCESS=DOWNLOAD_ETD_SUB_DOC_
ACCNUM:::F1501_ID:osu1189523914,attachment, http://iteslj.org/Articles/Davies-CBI.html.
Tavakoli, P., & Hunter, A. M. (2017). Is fluency being ‘neglected’’ in the classroom? Teacher
understanding of fluency and related classroom practices. Language Teaching Research.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168817708462.
Zahn, C., Krauskopf, K., Hesse, F. W., & Pea, R. (2012). How to improve collaborative learning
with video tools in the classroom? Social vs. cognitive guidance for student teams.
International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 7, 259–284. doi:10.
1007/s11412-012-9145-0
Content-Based Language Teaching
and the Flipped Classroom: A Case Study
in the Japanese EFL Environment

Adrian Leis

Abstract In this chapter, the author looks at the use of flipped learning in a
content-based language teaching (CBLT) environment. The author gives a brief
overview of the procedure of creating videos for such a course, which focused on
providing students with opportunities to discuss cultural differences between the
students’ home country (i.e., Japan) and other countries. The author stresses that the
flipped learning method clearly brings benefits for such a course, as students’
understanding and preparation can be assisted through the use of videos that pro-
vide closed captions and previews of discussion topics to be conducted in the class
itself. Based on a quasi-experimental study using the CEFR-J Can-do List
descriptions of proficiency, students’ linguistic self-confidence appeared to increase
significantly (i.e., p < 0.01) in the skills of speaking for communication, listening,
and writing. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for those considering
taking on the flipped learning approach in a CBLT course are also discussed.

Introduction

The use of technology in the classroom is not something new; even the use of the
television in the classroom was considered cutting edge, but also controversial, just
a few decades ago. This use of technology has also brought many benefits to
foreign language (FL) classrooms. Morton (1960), for example, expressed satis-
faction toward the use of technology in the shape of language laboratories in
Spanish as an FL lessons, as they provided opportunities for students to take their
learning beyond classroom time and study when it was convenient for them. In the
early years of the twenty-first century, teachers are still faced with similar chal-
lenges of giving individual instruction and encouraging students to make more
efforts outside of the classroom. One aspect of the use of technology in the FL

A. Leis (&)
Department of English Education, Miyagi University of Education, Sendai, Japan
e-mail: adrian@staff.miyakyo-u.ac.jp

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 221

J. Mehring and A. Leis (eds.), Innovations in Flipping the Language Classroom,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6968-0_15
222 A. Leis

classroom, better known as Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), is

flipped learning.
Throughout the chapters in this volume, it has become clear that flipped learning
can be used in a large variety of approaches to FL teaching. The definition of
modern flipped learning has been touched upon in a great deal throughout this
book, so I will not go further into it here. Like the modern flipped classroom that
makes use of digital materials, some of the earliest studies related to flipped
learning, although not coined that way until later, argued that the idea of giving
students guided preparation for class allowed for more efficient use of time during
the lesson itself (Mazur, 1997). Mazur (1997), and later Crouch and Mazur (2001),
argued that by distributing lecture notes the week before the class, testing the
students at the beginning of the lesson to confirm their understanding of those notes,
then opening the rest of the class time for discussion, teachers would be able to
provide personalized instruction, what Keefe (2007) maintains is one of the main
responsibilities of teachers.
In this chapter, I describe how a foreign cultures class, usually taught in a
traditional way of teacher talking and students listening, was flipped to increase the
number of opportunities for students to speak and share their ideas about various
topics that arose in the lesson.

Course Objectives

A 15-week course was conducted using a content-based language teaching (CBLT)

approach, with the primary focus being for students to gain a deeper understanding
of the way people of other cultures think and approach various issues. The sec-
ondary focus was to improve students’ proficiency in speaking English.

The Textbook

The second edition of Select Readings (Lee & Bernard, 2011) was chosen as the
textbook for this class, as it contained a variety of topics (e.g., creative thinking,
synesthesia, gender equality) that were appropriate for the level of students (see
next section). Furthermore, the textbook had also been designed to develop stu-
dents’ reading skills (e.g., scanning, summarizing, paraphrasing) and build their
understanding of vocabulary (e.g., figures of speech, phrasal verbs, intensifiers).
Therefore, this textbook was viewed as an ideal one to combine discussions related
to cultural understanding as well as improve students’ linguistic proficiency.
Content-Based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom … 223

The Students

A total of 27 students attending a university in an urban city in northeast Japan

participated in this study. Of the entire class, 19 were majoring in English educa-
tion, three in special needs education, three in general education, and one each
majoring in science education and music education. There were 18 females and 9
males in the class. At the beginning of the course, the average English proficiency
according to the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) was
590.37 (SD = 126.38). The subjects self-reported that they studied English an
average of 45.56 min per day (SD = 35.17), suggesting they had intermediate
English proficiency and were relatively motivated to study English.
Japanese students are often described as shy and hesitant to produce language,
especially in the spoken form. Various reasons for this are discussed by researchers,
such as lack of confidence (Anderson, 1986), to save face (Harumi, 2011), and as a
way of protecting their self-worth (Leis & Wilson, 2017). Based on from what I had
learned through classes I had conducted with the students in other courses con-
ducted in previous years, students in the course being described in this chapter were
also generally passive learners. In an attempt to help students be more fully pre-
pared for class and willing to participate actively in discussions, I decided to use the
flipped learning approach.

The Lessons

Each lesson in the course was 90-min long and conducted once a week. Due to this
limited time, students were required to watch a video-recorded explanation of the
reading passage each week. The videos were around 10 minutes long and uploaded
to my YouTube channel before the class, with links being distributed to students
through Google Classroom. Features of the videos will be described in the
Technologies section of this chapter.
At the beginning of each lesson, following the advice of Mazur (1997), I had
students take a short closed-book test to confirm their understanding of the content
and whether they had actually watched the explanation videos or not. The confir-
mation of students watching the videos was done by including items in the test that
were not related to the content of the textbook, rather topics I had brought up,
pictures I had shown, or articles I had provided links to in the videos themselves.
A common criticism of the flipped learning approach is how to check whether
students had actually watched the explanation videos before the lesson. I have
found that including test items about the contents of the videos themselves, even if
it may be simply showing a picture of, for example, a kangaroo during the video
and asking students to choose what animal appeared in that week’s video.
Because tests were conducted over the Internet, once the test was completed, I
quickly checked the results to confirm which aspects of the lesson students had
224 A. Leis

Table 1 Summary of the flow of a typical lesson in this course

Period Time Task
Before class Free* Students watch videos prepared by the teacher
During class 5 Greetings, warm-up conversation
15 Test to check students’ understanding of the chapter
65 Discussions based on topics arising in the chapter and video
5 Reflection on lesson, preview of next chapter
After class Free* Review main points of the chapter and discussions
Note *Although students were given no distinct amount of time to prepare for and review the
lesson, they were encouraged to spend about 80% of their effort on preparation for the next lesson
and 20% on review the previous less

found challenging using the Google Sheets Add-on Flubaroo. The features of this
Add-on will be discussed in Sect. 3.2 of this chapter. The total time for the test and
grading was approximately 10 min.
After the test had been completed, the class was conducted as I spent little to no
time explaining points related to the reading passages that students found easy (i.e.,
got high scores in the test), allowing more time for group discussion. In the case
where students got lower scores on test items, I spent a little more time explaining
the text, causing less time for discussion, but a greater understanding of the content.
The final 5 minutes of each lesson was used as a reflection on discussions held
within the class time, as well as to give students advice for the following chapter in
the textbook. A summary of the flow of the lesson can be seen in Table 1.

Technologies

Explanation videos

Although, as Mehring explained in the introductory chapter of this volume, the use
of videos is not absolutely necessary in a flipped learning environment, they do
bring many benefits. For example, the use of animation and colors within the videos
can make the content and main points easier to understand. Closed captions added
to the video help not only language students to read exactly what is being said in the
video, it also enables students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to participate with
regular students (Leis, 2016). Furthermore, making explanations of the lesson
content available through videos creates opportunities for students to watch anytime
they wish, in addition to having the capability of re-watching content they found
difficult and could not fully understand. In a traditional lecture environment, stu-
dents may hesitate to ask teachers to repeat points explained in the class for fear of
losing face, one of the reasons Harumi (2011) attributes Japanese students’ pas-
siveness in the classroom too.
Content-Based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom … 225

In this course, I began by making a regular slideshow using Keynote software

(similar to Microsoft PowerPoint). On average, each video contained a total of
approximately 10 slides. After creating the slides, I wrote a script and recorded it
onto a computer with separate files for each slide. Animation within each slide was
then timed to match the verbal explanation and each slide converted into individual
Quicktime videos. These videos were then combined into one 10-min video using
iMovie, a pre-installed software on a MacIntosh computer. The final video was then
uploaded to my YouTube page before the script written earlier was added and
editing to match the speech within the video. Finally, the video link was shared with
students through a classroom management system (see Sect. 3.3).

Online Tests and Grading

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the first 15 min of the lesson was used to
confirm how much students had understood and retained from the video explaining
the content of the chapter. In order to get immediate feedback on students’ per-
formances in the tests, I used the free software Google Forms and Google Sheets
Add-on Flubaroo. Google Forms enable teachers to create tests (or survey sheets)
and distribute them digitally to students’ computers or smartphones. The students
completed the tests and their answers were sent to an automatically created Google
Sheet (similar to Microsoft Excel or Numbers on a MacIntosh computer). With the
free Flubaroo Add-on working in conjunction with Google Sheets, marking of all
students’ tests was able to be completed within 30 s, after which students received
their own individual results together with an answer sheet. As the teacher, I
received a report, which highlighted the items in the test that less than 60% of the
class were able to answer correctly. This enabled me to concentrate on topics within
the test that students found difficult while skipping over the items that appeared to
be relatively easy. See Leis (2015) for an overview of how to use an earlier version
of Google Forms with the Flubaroo Add-on being attached to a Google Sheet.

Classroom Management System

Various ways exist for teachers to teachers to distribute links for students to access
videos, in-class tests, homework, and other material used in class. Some examples
of these include Quick Response Codes (i.e., QR Codes), sending the links via
email, setting a link in the teacher’s own website, distributing the materials using
the Google Sheets Add-on Doctopus, Moodle, and Google Classroom. In this
course, I used Google Classroom. Although all classroom management systems
(CMS) have their benefits and weaknesses, Google Classroom was chosen for this
course because of, (1) the ease with which students can set up and access the CMS
from their smartphones or computers and (2) the simplicity of the layout, enabling
226 A. Leis

the teacher to share documents, videos, and further information related to the lesson
content. Other CMSs also include such features, therefore, I suggest you find the
CMS that works best for you in your course and with your students.

Results of Studying in a Flipped Environment

Research Question

As was mentioned in Sect. 2.3 of this chapter, Japanese students are often regarded
as hesitant to produce language. Some of the reasons for this hesitancy to speak
may include lack of self-perceived proficiency, and being afraid of other students’
feedback, leading to lack of confidence. Considering these two points, I decided to
investigate the following research question:
Does studying in a flipped learning environment bring about significant improvements in
linguistic self-confidence?

Research Materials

In order to measure changes in their linguistic self-confidence, the students were

asked to complete questionnaires before and after the course. The questionnaires
included items to obtain basic demographics, TOEIC scores (including the break-
down of listening and reading scores), and self-perceived linguistic proficiency
based upon CEFR-Japan (CEFR-J). CEFR-J is a list of descriptors for foreign
language proficiency (i.e., Listening, Reading, Speaking for communication,
Speaking for presentation, and Writing) based on those provided by the Common
European Framework of Reference (CEFR) developed as measures of proficiency
of Japanese learners of English. CEFR-J, commonly referred to as the CEFR-J
Can-do List, has been used as a base for describing the proficiency of Japanese
learners of English in several studies (e.g., Runnels, 2014). (See Negishi, 2011,
2012; Tono & Negishi, 2012; and Negishi, Takada, & Tono, 2013 for further on
CEFR-J.) Student numbers were obtained in order to track individual students’
responses in these questionnaires thus allowing the researcher to measure differ-
ences according to their linguistic proficiency at the beginning of the course.
In addition to this information, separate to the post-study questionnaire, the
students were asked to anonymously write their opinions about studying under the
flipped learning approach. It was hoped that through such feedback, further insights
could be gained to discuss reasons for significant improvements, or lack thereof, in
both measured and self-perceived English proficiency.
Content-Based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom … 227

Analysis and Discussion

In this study, the question was asked as to whether studying under the flipped
learning approach would result in the students having higher linguistic
self-confidence. Paired-samples tTests were conducted to compare the participants’
average self-perceived English proficiency before and then after studying in a
flipped classroom environment. The results were significant for three of the five
variables in the CEFR-J Can-do List: Listening, t(26) = 2.80, p = 0.009, d = 0.562;
Speaking (Communication), t(26) = 3.26, p = 0.003, d = 0.675; and Writing t
(26) = 3.60, p = 0.001, d = 0.637. Table 2 displays the descriptive statistics for the
CEFR-J Can-do scores of the participants in the present study.
Statistically significant differences observed in the confidence the participants
felt in their own listening ability may be attributed to, as mentioned earlier in this
paper, the increased number of opportunities for the students to listen to English
with and without closed captions using the videos provided to them. This, along
with the experience of participating in discussions and classes conducted entirely in
English may have contributed to this increased linguistic self-confidence.
Another possible reason for the increase in self-perceived listening ability might
be the closed captions made available for students. Because the videos watched by
the students in this study were uploaded to the video-sharing website YouTube, the
teacher was able to easily add closed captions of exactly what was being explained
in the video. The benefits of using closed captions in videos for improving the
listening ability of foreign language students have been well-documented in pre-
vious research (e.g., Winke, Gass, & Sydorenko, 2010), as well as the combined
use of annotations (e.g., the use of colors and other visual effects to highlight
keywords) to improve students’ comprehension skills (Yang & Chang, 2014). It
must be added here, however, that although the task of adding closed captions is
easy, it can be a time burden for the teacher, especially when timing the captions in

Table 2 Descriptions of can-do variables for pre and posttests

Skill Test Mean Score SD 95%CI
Listening Pre 6.30 1.73 [5.61, 6.98]
Post* 7.19 1.42 [6.63, 7.18]
Reading Pre 7.26 1.63 [6.61, 7.90]
Post 7.11 1.37 [6.57, 7.65]
Speaking (Communication) Pre 5.56 2.01 [4.76, 6.35]
Post* 6.78 1.58 [6.15, 7.40]
Speaking (Presentation) Pre 6.15 2.09 [5.32, 6.97]
Post 6.56 1.55 [5.94, 7.17]
Writing Pre 6.56 1.69 [5.89, 7.23]
Post* 7.41 0.84 [7.07, 7.74]
Note N = 27; * p < 0.01; Max: 12; Min: 1
228 A. Leis

chunks of language (also known as Intonation Phrases), which reflect the rhythm of
spoken English in the most authentic way.
Improvements in self-perceived proficiency were also observed in the skills of
speaking for communication and writing. Like listening, the increased confidence
with which the students approached communicative speaking tasks may be attrib-
uted to the number of discussions held throughout the 15 weeks of the course.
Although discussions can, of course, also be conducted in traditional classrooms,
they become online tasks, requiring students to speak with little preparation,
something that is not easy even in one’s first language. One of the salient benefits
the flipped classroom brings is the guided preparation students have before class.
Because in the videos the majority of discussion topics are given to students, they
are able to take notes to prepare their ideas and opinions to contribute to class
discussions. This idea is supported by comments from students in the anonymous
open-ended survey conducted at the end of the course, in which one student, for
example, wrote, hantenjugyou wa yoshuu ga shiyasui tame kongo mo tuzukete
hoshii [A flipped classroom makes preparing for class very easy, so I want the
teacher to continue using it]. Figure 1 shows an example of one student’s notes
taken while watching the video explaining the chapter related to gender equality
and gender nouns (e.g., actress, actor). The student took notes about vocabulary
items (i.e., -ess, -ienne = joseiyou [use for females]), the student’s own opinion
regarding whether gender nouns should be separate or not, and an explanation of
the Whorf Hypothesis, a topic which had appeared in the chapter video. Because
the video gave the students clear guidance regarding how to prepare for class and
the topics for discussions, the employment of a flipped classroom format appears to
have contributed to the confidence with which they approached the lesson and the
speaking tasks within.
Finally, using the flipped approach enabled me as the teacher to help students
broaden their knowledge of the topics beyond what was written in the textbook. In
the anonymous questionnaire given to the students at the end of the course to gain a
deeper knowledge of their opinions regarding flipped learning, it was commented
by several participants that the articles, videos, and links provided through videos
for flipped learning and the CMS were useful for improving their listening skills.

Fig. 1 An example of one

student’s notes taken during a
video for a flipped classroom
Content-Based Language Teaching and the Flipped Classroom … 229

One participant, for example, commented: Chapter ni kanren shita douga wo

maikai shoukai shitekure, sore ga chishikiteki nimo, risuninngu renshuu nimo hijou
ni yaku ni tachi, mata omoshirokatta [We were introduced to several videos related
to the chapter, which were beneficial for our general knowledge as well as listening
ability, and were very interesting.] Comments such as this suggest that links
introduced through the video explanations of each chapter not only helped improve
the students’ listening proficiency, but also built their schemata, or background
knowledge: a vital area for improving language proficiency (Maghsoudi, 2012).

Conclusion

There are increased calls for English lessons conducted entirely in the target lan-
guage, without providing opportunities for students and teachers to refer to their
first language. At the same time, the popularity of CBLT and Content and Language
Integrated Learning, better known as CLIL, is also increasing. In such classes, the
focus is not purely on teaching the target language, but rather use the target lan-
guage as a tool to teach the content of other subjects. It is expected that language
proficiency will also increase. For this to be successful, the flipped approach to
learning may play a major role in the success of such CBLT and CLIL environ-
ments. In this chapter, I have looked at how flipped learning was used in suc-
cessfully increasing the linguistic self-confidence of Japanese university students,
something that previous research has suggested is often quite low.
Several pedagogical implications can be drawn from the course described in this
chapter. First, the presentation of the videos used to guide students in their
preparation appears to have a large influence on the success of the program. Videos
should include simple animations, colors, and, perhaps most importantly, closed
captions timed with the teacher’s spoken explanation to increase students’ under-
standing of the content. Second, announcing the discussion topics that will be held
during the class within the video appears to help students feel more comfortable
when it comes to class time. Students may also be able to do their own research
based on extra information added by the teacher in videos to help build students’
schemata. Finally, using online testing and grading software, such as Google
Forms, Google Sheets, and Flubaroo as described in this chapter, will enable the
teacher to focus on areas students found most difficult, creating a more efficient use
of class time.
The ideas and methods mentioned within this chapter have also been used in
various other subjects, such as English Composition and English as a Foreign
Language Pedagogy. Regardless of the subject being taught, I have little doubt that
the flipped learning approach will enable both you and your students to use your
precious class time to reap the maximum benefits. The techniques described in this
chapter may, admittedly, initially increase the burden for the teacher. However, I
am positive that the increased confidence with which your students approach your
lessons will be just rewarded for your efforts!
230 A. Leis

References

Anderson, J. (1986). Taking charge: Responsibility for one’s own learning. Unpublished MA
Thesis. The School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT, USA.
Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results.
American Journal of Physics, 69(9), 970–977. doi:10.1119/1.1374249.
Harumi, S. (2011). Classroom silence: Voices from Japanese EFL learners. ETL Journal, 65, 260–
269. doi:10.1093/elt/ccq046.
Keefe, J. W. (2007). What is personalization? Phi Delta Kappan, 89(3), 217–223. doi:10.1177/
003172170708900312.
Lee, L., & Bernard, J. (2011). Select readings: Teacher-approved readings for today’s students
(2nd ed.). New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.
Leis, A. (2015). Paperless tests to cut marking time up to 98%. In 41st Japan Association for
Language Teaching International Conference—Technology in Teaching Workshop.
Presentation at Shizuoka Convention & Arts Center. Handouts retrieved from https:// www.
academia.edu/18650532/Paperless_Tests_to_cut_marking_time_up_to_98_.
Leis, A. (2016). Intonation phrases in the use of closed-captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing
Students in EFL classes. Tohoku TEFL, 6, 23–37. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/
23897552/Intonation_Phrases_in_the_Use_of_Closed_Captions_for_Deaf_and_Hard-of-
Hearing_Students_in_EFL_Classes.
Leis, A., & Wilson, M. (2017). Giving class averages: Is it worth it? Eurasian Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 3(1), 35–47. Retrieved from http://www.ejal.eu/index.php/ejal/article/view/92.
Maghsoudi, N. (2012). The impact of schema activation on reading comprehension of cultural
texts among Iranian EFL learners. Canadian Social Science, 8(5), 196–201. Retrieved from
http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/view/j.css.1923669720120805.3131.
Mazur, E. (1997). Peer instruction: Getting students to think in class. In AIP Conference
Proceedings, 981–988. Retrieved from http://generative.edb.utexas.edu/classes/2007CISpring/
CIreadings/02A/peer%20instruction/Mazur_1997%20Peer%20Instruction.pdf.
Morton, F. (1960). The language laboratory as a teaching machine. International Journal of
American Linguistics, 26, 113–166. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED037130.
Negishi, M. (2011). CEFR-J kaihatsu no keii [The development process of the CEFR-J]. ARCLE
Review, 5(3), 37–52. Retrieved from http://www.arcle.jp/research/books/data/html/data/pdf/
vol5_4-0.pdf.
Negishi, M. (2012). The development of the CEFR-J: Where we are, where we are go-ing.
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Project Report (pp. 105–116). Retrieved from http://www.
tufs.ac.jp/common/fs/ilr/EU_kaken/_userdata//negishi2.pdf.
Negishi, M., Takada, T., & Tono, Y. (2013). A progress report on the development of the CEFR-J.
In E. D. Galaczi & C. J. Weir (Eds.), Exploring language frameworks: Proceedings of the
ALTE Krakow Conference (pp. 135–163). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Runnels, J. (2014). An exploratory reliability and content analysis of the CEFR-Japan’s A-level
Can-do statements. JALT Journal, 36(1), 69–89. Retrieved from http://tevaljalt.org/sites/teval.
jalt.org/files/SRB-17-1-Runnels_0.pdf.
Tono, Y., & Negishi, M. (2012). The CEFR-J: Adapting the CEFR for English language teaching
in Japan. Framework & Language Portfolio Newsletter, 8, 5–12. Retrieved from http://www.
tufs.ac.jp/ts/personal/tonolab/cefr-j/Tono&Negishi2012forJALT_FLPSIG.pdf.
Winke, P., Gass, S., & Sydorenko, T. (2010). The effects of captioning videos used for foreign
language listening activities. Language Learning & Technology, 14(1), 65–86. Retrieved from
http://llt.msu.edu/vol14num1/winkegasssydorenko.pdf.
Yang, J. C., & Chang, P. (2014). Captions and reduced forms instruction: The impact on EFL
students’ listening comprehension. ReCALL, 26(01), 44–61. doi:10.1017/s0958344013000219.