ESCALATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ENGLISH TEACHING PROGRAM THROUGH BLENDED LEARNING: A CASE STUDY AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

Since first mentioned in the EPIC learning workshop in 1999, Blended learning (BL) has become increasingly popular in the education industry, especially during Covid 2019. BL researchers how that when combining in-person classroom instruction with online and virtual components, the method can maximize the benefits of both and result in an enhancement of personalized teaching with the ease, flexibility, and accessibility of technology in many language teaching programs across the world (Adas & Bakir, 2013; Grgurovic, 2011; Ghazizadeh & Fatemipour, 2017). This research was carried out with 20 ESL teachers and 1000 students at a secondary school where there has been a solid shift to BL in the last two years. This paper introduces and discusses the process of building blended ELT courses at the school and how blended learning has benefitted the quality of the English teaching program. It points out that a blended learning ELT program was proved effective when: (i)The LMS lelessons; accordingly, ocused; (ii)Teachers were thoroughly trained about the BL model and knew how to plan the lessons accordingly; (iii) Teachers and program managers made use of LMS Quiz for formative and summative assessment, based on which teaching decisions were made and (iv) Teachers and students utilized coaching and tutoring practice and offered opportunities for feedback and reflection. The research will be of interest to schools and ELT departments looking for a measure to apply BL to improve the effectiveness of their programs and teachers wishing to better their teaching experience.