Blended Learning in English Language Teaching - TeachingEnglish

258 Pages·2013·3.36 MB·English

Blended Learning in English
Language Teaching: Course
Design and Implementation
Edited by Brian Tomlinson and Claire Whittaker
Blended Learning in English
Language Teaching: Course
Design and Implementation
Edited by Brian Tomlinson and Claire Whittaker
ISBN 978-0-86355-706-4
© British Council 2013 Brand and Design/D057
10 Spring Gardens
London SW1A 2BN, UK
www.britishcouncil.org
Contents | 1
Contents
Foreword
John Knagg obe ..............................................................................................................................................................3
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................5
Preface
Claire Whittaker ..............................................................................................................................................................7
Introduction
Claire Whittaker ..............................................................................................................................................................9
Part 1 – English for Academic Purposes. ...........................................................................................25
1 A collaborative online reading and research project
Jody Gilbert ..........................................................................................................................................................27
2 Blended learning in English for Academic Purposes courses:
A Nigerian case study
Peter A Aborisade. ............................................................................................................................................35
3 A blended English as a Foreign Language academic writing course
Natalya Eydelman .............................................................................................................................................43
4 Incorporating blended learning in an undergraduate English
course in Colombia
Juanita Pardo-Gonzalez. ................................................................................................................................51
Comments on Part 1
Brian Tomlinson ..................................................................................................................................................61
Part 2: Teacher development .....................................................................................................................63
5 A blended learning teacher development course for the development
of blended learning in English Language Teaching
Nik Peachey ..........................................................................................................................................................65
6 Reversing the blend: From online to blended
Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly ...........................................................................................................75
7 A case study of blended learning: The ‘Communicative
Assessment – Development of Testing Skills’ project
Keith O’Hare and Xu Bo .................................................................................................................................83
8 Blended learning: The IDLTM experience
Ron White, Andy Hockley, Stephen Heap and George Pickering ........................................91
9 Creating a blended Delta Module One
Sally Hirst and Tom Godfrey ....................................................................................................................101
10 The Cambridge CELTA course online
Jacqueline Douglas and Colin Paton ..................................................................................................111
Comments on Part 2
Brian Tomlinson ...............................................................................................................................................125
Contents | 1
Part 3 – English for Specific Purposes ..............................................................................................129
11 Blended learning: Podcasts for taxi drivers
Nergiz Kern .........................................................................................................................................................131
12 A blended learning course for the aviation industry: A case study
Lynda Beagle and Graeme Davies ......................................................................................................141
13 Blended learning for English for Occupational Purposes:
No frills, soft skills, gaps filled
Andy Keedwell ..................................................................................................................................................147
14 A longitudinal case study of the ‘blends’ used on courses between the
British Council in Bulgaria and Siemens Enterprise Communications Bulgaria
Edward Russell .................................................................................................................................................155
15 Using a wiki to enhance the learning experience
on a business English course
Louise Ingham ..................................................................................................................................................163
16 A military blend
Claire Whittaker ...............................................................................................................................................175
Comments on Part 3
Brian Tomlinson ...............................................................................................................................................185
Part 4 – English as a Foreign Language/General English .................................................187
17 A thinking-based blended learning course in an
upper-secondary school in Latvia
Alexander Sokol, Edgar Lasevich, Renata Jonina and
Marija Dobrovolska-Stoian ........................................................................................................................189
18 A blended learning approach to soft skill training
at Al Azhar University, Cairo
Liz Fleet ................................................................................................................................................................201
19 Students’ CALLing: Blended language learning for students
Hatice Bilgin .......................................................................................................................................................207
20 Lessons in blended learning: Implementing an online learning platform in the
adult education sector
Astrid Krake .......................................................................................................................................................213
Comments on Part 4
Brian Tomlinson ...............................................................................................................................................221
Conclusion
Claire Whittaker .......................................................................................................................................................223
Appendix 1 – Questions for blended learning course designers...........................................243
Contributors ...........................................................................................................................................................245
2 | Contents
Foreword
John Knagg obe
In recent years it has become the norm for publishers to include technology-
mediated elements alongside traditional printed materials in their publications.
At institutional level teachers increasingly include technology-mediated learning
in their courses. Yet there has been relatively little discussion and writing about
the principles that should be applied in blending elements which use technology
with more traditional face-to-face teaching in the same course. This volume is a
contribution to such a discussion.
While many of the principles will be applicable to wider educational contexts, this
publication is rooted in the world of English Language Teaching (ELT). It is centred
on the description of 20 real case studies from around the world in the areas of
English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), teacher
education and general English as a Foreign Language teaching. These case studies
are prefaced, interspersed, and followed by exploration of the concepts of blending
and interpretation, and discussion of the application of the concepts in the case
studies. We hope that this approach will make the book practically useful as a
self-study guide to the area for educationalists, and also be a source of inspiration
for students on teacher training and academic courses in the areas of education,
language teaching, and applied linguistics.
The genesis of this book was an original idea by Claire Whittaker to build on her
practical and academic work in blended learning in ELT and to generate principles
that would be of real practical help to course designers, which in turn would lead to
more effective learning and satisfied students. Brian Tomlinson has edited the papers
and added his own commentaries to make the final product a true collaboration
between the two editors and the authors of the case studies. The British Council
thanks them all, and hopes that you find the book both useful and enjoyable.
John Knagg obe
Head Research and Consultancy,
English and Examinations, British Council
Foreword | 3
4 | Foreword
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the British Council for inviting us to edit this volume and
in particular Adrian Odell for being informative, patient and supportive throughout
the process of its development. We would also like to thank Melissa Cudmore at
the British Council for encouraging Claire to submit the proposal for this publication
back in April 2011, and John Knagg who drove the process forward. Thanks also go
to John for his advice and support along the way.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the authors of chapters in this volume
for their hard work, their willingness to consider constructive criticism and their
speed in completing revisions.
Brian Tomlinson and Claire Whittaker
Acknowledgements | 5
6 | Acknowledgements
Preface
Claire Whittaker
When I took up the post of Training and Systems Manager with the British Council in
Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003, little did I know that it would result in the proposal
for this publication, or better still that the proposal would be accepted. The rest, as
they say, is history. Prior to this post my experience of using computers in English
Language Teaching (ELT) had been somewhat limited. I had first used them as a
teacher in 1997 when I had access to a computer room with an internet connection
and a limited number of CD-ROMs. I used them for extension activities to complement
my face-to-face sessions by providing the students with additional controlled practice
of the grammar or vocabulary that had just been presented.
This experience piqued my interest in using computers for language teaching and
learning and so I read articles and books on computer-assisted language learning
(CALL) in an attempt to find practical suggestions for their successful integration and
usage. I also attended courses on information and communications technology (ICT)
in ELT, as it was then referred to, in my quest for knowledge. This interest and limited
amount of experience and knowledge did not, however, adequately prepare me for
my role as Training and Systems Manager in which I ‘inherited’ a blended learning
course that was being used to teach English to military personnel in the armed
forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also the first time that I had heard the
term ‘blended learning’ and I have to say, initially, I was sceptical about its longevity;
how wrong I was.
One of my first tasks in the role was to carry out a study into delivery of the English
language in the 13 geographically spread language centres, to become familiar with
their working practices. This highlighted the numerous significant inconsistencies
in the language delivery between them, for example the length of courses, the
timetables and syllabi. I felt that we needed to standardise the language delivery,
not only to be able to manage the system more effectively, but also to provide each
student with comparable learning opportunities. At this stage I was unconcerned
by the fact that these courses employed a blended learning approach rather than a
traditional face-to-face approach. Nor did I realise what it entailed or appreciate its
potential. My outlook was soon to change though, once I began to understand the
complexities of designing, or in my case redesigning, a blended learning course.
Only once the course content and length had been standardised did I begin to
question the blend itself and to consider the design, not only at lesson level but also
at course level, for the first time. Unwittingly this resulted in what was to become
a three-year iterative redesign process. Throughout this time I continued to read
articles and books on what was now largely being termed blended learning, but
was frustrated by the lack of advice on the principles and practicalities of blended
learning course design (above lesson level) and descriptions or studies of blends in
ELT contexts.
Preface | 7