The Effects of Blended Learning on Foreign Language Learners’ Oral English Competence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1202.09Keywords:
blended learning, oral competence, Chinese EFL learnersAbstract
Attainment of oral competence is an important goal for English teaching and learning in middle schools in China. However, the level of Chinese middle school students’ oral proficiency is in general less than satisfactory. To find a possible solution to this issue, this study empirically investigated the effect of blended learning on the development of foreign language learners’ oral English competence. Following the blended model and the four-step pedagogical method for teaching speaking (Wang, 2014), the experimental class, consisting of 46 junior middle school students, participated in this study and took a pretest, an immediate post-test, a delayed post-test, and an interview. Their test scores were compared with the control class which involved 45 junior middle school students receiving the traditional teaching method and following the same procedure. The results showed that the blended learning method had remarkable effect on the improvement of oral accuracy and fluency, but not complexity. In addition, the blended environment facilitates the encoding process of the input and the actualization of the transition from object- and other-regulation to self-regulation.
References
Ayesha, A. (2020). Learner autonomy in a blended learning English language course: a case study of a Pakistani university. Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow.
Bahanshal, D. A. (2013). The effect of large classes on English teaching and learning in Saudi secondary schools. English Language Teaching, 6(11), 49-59.
Barnum, C., & Paarmann, W. (2002). Bringing induction to the teacher: A blended learning model. THE Journal, 30(2), 56-60.
Borglum, R. N. (2016). The effects of blended learning on critical thinking in a high school Earth Science class. Master thesis, University of Northern Iowa.
Ceylan, V. K., & Kesici, A. E. (2017). Effect of blended learning to academic achievement. Journal of Human Sciences, 14(1), 308-320.
Chambers, F. (1997). What do we mean by fluency? System, 25(4), 535-544.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R., & Barkhuizen, G. (2005). Analysing learner language. Oxford University Press.
Evans, J. C., Yip, H., Chan, K., Armatas, C., & Tse, A. (2020). Blended learning in higher education: professional development in a Hong Kong university. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(4), 643-656.
Foster, P., & Skehan, P. (1996). The influence of planning on performance in task-based learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(3), 299-324.
Freed, B. F. (2000). Is fluency, like beauty, in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder? In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on fluency (pp. 243-265). University of Michigan Press.
Gao, Yang. (2019). The Applied Research of Blended Learning Model in English Speaking and Listening Teaching of Primary School. M.A. thesis, Tianjing University.
Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. The internet and higher education, 7(2), 95-105.
Goh, C. C. M. (2007). Teaching speaking in the language classroom. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
Gong, Wen. (2008). A study of blended learning theory applied to college spoken English teaching. M.A. thesis, Chongqing University.
Graham, C. R. (2006). Blended learning systems: definition, current trends, and future directions. In C. J. Bonk, & C. R. Graham (Eds.), The handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs (pp. 3-21). Pfeiffer Publishing.
Hesse, L. (2017). The effects of blended learning on K-12th-grade students. Graduate Research Papers, 116.
Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2011). The rise of K-12 blended learning. Innosight institute, 5, 1-17.
Housen, A., & Kuiken, F. (2009). Complexity, accuracy, and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied linguistics, 30(4), 461-473.
Koponen, M., & Riggenbach, H. (2000). Overview: Varying perspectives on fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on fluency (pp. 5-24). Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language learning, 40(3), 387-417.
Liu, Hui. (2020). A teaching research on improving junior high school students’ oral English based on Ekwing platform hierarchical assignments. M.A. Thesis. Southwest University.
Lopez-Perez, M. V., Perez-Lopez, M. C., & Rodriguez-Ariza, L. (2011). Blended learning in higher education: Students’ perceptions and their relation to outcomes. Computers & education, 56(3), 818-826.
Ma, Zhilian. (2018). Effect of oral presentation on students’ English speaking ability in junior middle school. M.A. Thesis. Northwest Normal University.
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2003). Defining and measuring SLA. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.). Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 717-761). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
Ong, J., & Zhang, L. J. (2010). Effects of task complexity on the fluency and lexical complexity in EFL students’ argumentative writing. Journal of second language writing, 19(4), 218-233.
Osgerby, J. (2013). Students’ perceptions of the introduction of a blended learning environment: An exploratory case study. Accounting Education, 22(1), 85-99.
Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory: Retrospect and current status. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 45(3), 255.
Saunders, W. M., & O’Brien. (2006). Oral language. In F. Genesee, K. Lindholm-Leary, W. M. Saunders, & D. Christian (Eds.), Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence (pp. 14-45). Cambridge University Press.
Senturk, C. (2021). Effects of the blended learning model on preservice teachers’ academic achievements and twenty-first century skills. Education and Information Technologies, 26(1), 35-48.
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford University Press.
Skehan, P. (2003). Task-based instruction. Language Teaching, 36(1), 1-14.
Skehan, P. (2009). Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied linguistics, 30(4), 510-532.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the Development of Children, 23(3), 34-41.
Wang, Yuxi. (2021). An action research on multidimensional interactive teaching in oral English teaching in a junior middle school. M.A. Thesis. Changchun Normal University.
Wang, Z. (2014). Developing accuracy and fluency in spoken English of Chinese EFL learners. English Language Teaching, 7(2), 110-118.
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H. Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy, & complexity. University of Hawaii Press.
Zhang, Yanju. (2020). The applied research of mobile terminal APP to oral English teaching of junior middle school－Taking “speak English fluently” as an example. M.A. Thesis. Hebei Normal University Of Science and Technology.
Zou, Yan. (2016). Washback of the English oral test of the senior high school entrance examination on junior high school English classroom teaching and learning: An empirical study. M.A thesis, Hunan Normal University.
