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NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January201598BriefReportSUCCESSFULLYFLIPPINGTHEESLCLASSROOMFORLEARNERAUTONOMY1YuJungHan*Oneofthemostsignificantcurrentdiscussionsineducationisthatoftheflippedclassroom.
AccordingtoBergmannandSams(2012)andStrayer(2007),aparadigmshiftfromthetraditionaleducationalmodeltoapedagogy-‐centeredapproachhasreceivedconsiderableattention,andextensiveresearchandpracticehavebeencarriedoutinthefieldofclassroomflipping(Fulton,2012;Moravec,Williams,Aguilar-‐Roca,&O'Dowd,2010;Pierce&Fox,2012).
Researchonclassroomflipping,however,hasmostlyfocusedongeneralsubjectareas,suchasbiology(Moravecetal.
,2010),mathematics(Fulton,2012),andpharmacotherapy(Pierce&Fox,2012),ratherthanlanguagelearning.
Therefore,itseffectivenessintheEnglishlanguageteaching(ELT)settingstillremainsuntapped.
ThispaperintroducesaflippedclassroommodelforanadultcommunityEnglishlanguageprogramintheUnitedStatesin2013.
AnewcoursestructurewasdesignedbycombiningNation's(2007)"fourstrands"approachandStrayer's(2007)theoreticalframeworkofflippedlearning.
Asthesemestercametoanend,apositiveimpactonlearnerautonomyamongtheESLstudentswaswitnessed.
Basedonthisexperience,thispaperaimstopresentatheoreticalmodelofflippedlearninginsecondlanguageacquisitionbyexploringhowthemodelprovidesaplatformforsuccessfullanguageleaningandresultsinthesignificantdevelopmentoflearnerautonomy.
Keywords:cooperativeactivities,educationaltechnology,flippedclassroom,learnerautonomyThispaperisbasedonafive-‐weeksummerintensiveEnglishasasecondlanguage(ESL)coursethattheauthortaughtin2013inanadultcommunityEnglishlanguageprogramataprivategraduateinstitutionontheEastCoast.
TheprogramprovidedESLcoursestoadultinternationallearnerswithdiversebackgroundsandvaryingEnglishproficiencylevels.
Likewise,theAdvancedLevel5(A5)studentsintheprogramshowedsignificantlevelsofdiversity,withatotalof14studentsfromninedifferentcountries.
Duethelimitedtimeframe,thestudentswantedsomethingbeyondwhatpeopleusuallyexpectfromESLcourses,andtheyaimedatmakingthebestoftheirsummercourse.
Tomeetherstudents'expectations,theinstructorhadtodevisewaystosatisfystudents'needsandwantswithinthetimeconstraints.
Thispaperseekstoexplainhowtheinstructorattemptedtosolvethisproblembyexploringthefollowingquestions:1.
Istheclassflippingmodelapplicabletosecondlanguageacquisition2.
WhatdoesanA5classstructurelooklike3.
DidtheclassflippingmodelfosterA5learnerautonomyTheoreticalModelNation(2007)suggestsanideallanguagecoursewouldconsistoffourequallybalancedstrands:Meaning-‐focusedlisteningandreading;language-‐focusedinstruction;meaning-‐focusedspeakingandwriting;andfluencydevelopmentactivities.
Unfortunately,mostEnglishteachersfaceobstacles,suchaslimitedclasstime(Gandara,Maxwell-‐Jolly,&Driscoll,2005);therefore,theyendupfocusingononeor1AnearlierversionofthispaperwaspresentedattheNewYorkStateTESOLAnnualAppliedLinguisticsWinterConferenceinNewYorkinMarch2014.
NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January201599twostrands.
NationandNewton(2008)pointoutintheirbook,TeachingESL/EFLListeningandSpeaking,thatfluencydevelopmenthasremainedthemostneglectedcomponentamongthefourstrands.
Englishinstructors,however,shouldnotmakelightofthedevelopmentoffluency,sincethefundamentalpurposeoflanguageiscommunication.
Intheircomprehensiveusage-‐basedtheory,Tomasello(2009)putastrongemphasisontheactualusageconventionsofatargetlanguage.
NationandNewton(2008)claimthat"Iftheitemsthathavebeenlearnedarenotreadilyavailableforfluentuse,thenthelearninghasbeenforlittlepurpose"(p.
153).
Nation(2007)alsostates:[G]ivingequaltimetoeachstrandisanarbitrarydecision.
Ithasbeensuggestedthatthetimegiventothestrandscouldchangeaslearners'proficiencydevelops.
.
.
Atthehigherproficiencylevels,fluencydevelopmentcouldtakeagreaterproportionofthetime.
(p.
8)TheadultcommunityEnglishlanguageprogramdividesitscoursesintofourlevels:beginner,intermediate,andadvanced,witheachlevelfurtherdividedintosixlevels,andadvancedstudiesasthehighestlevel.
AdvancedLevel5(A5)isthethirdhighestlevel.
ConsideringthehighEnglishproficiencylevelofA5students,allocatingslightlymoreproportiontofluencydevelopmentcanbejustified.
Therefore,thefollowingelementswereconsideredindesigningasyllabusforA5students:(a)equalengagementinallfourstrands,withactivitiestoenhancefluencydevelopmentinparticular;(b)creativewaystoovercometimeconstraints;and(c)aneffectiveuseofstudents'intrinsicmotivation.
Oneconditionmeritsemphasishere:AlthoughNation(2007)clearlypointsoutthatfluencydevelopmentincludeslistening,speaking,reading,andwritingskills,theA5inthecoursemainlyfocusedonfluencydevelopmentinspeaking.
Thiswasaninevitablechoicethatresultedfromthelimitedtimeframeandthereflectionoftheneedsanalysis,inwhichallthestudents(100%)indicatedtheywouldliketofocusonspeaking.
Anotheremphasisofthecoursewasautonomouslanguagelearnertrainingratherthanadramaticlanguageimprovement,whichwasconsideredhighlyunlikelygiventheshorttimeframe.
IntheirbookAutonomyandIndependenceinLanguageLearning,acollectionofdifferentperspectivesonlearnerautonomy,BensonandVoller(2014)quotetheCollinsCOBUILDEnglishlanguagedictionarytodefinethetermautonomyas"theabilitytomakeyourowndecisionsaboutwhattodoratherthanbeinginfluencedbysomeoneelseortoldwhattodo"(ascitedinBenson&Voller,2014,p.
4).
ThiswastheexactgoalofA5:TotrainstudentssotheywouldknowhowtolearnEnglisheffectivelyandindependently.
Therefore,therewasaneedforlearnertraining.
Learnertrainingiscriticalforeffectivelanguagelearning(Chamot&Kupper,1989;Wenden,1986)andforlearnerautonomy(McDevitt,1997),becauseitprovidesstudentswiththeguidelinesformoresystemicwaystomastertargetlanguageinput.
Withoutpropertraining,itishighlylikelythatstudents,eventheoneswithhighmotivation,wouldnotknowwheretostartandwouldbecomeeasilylosteveniftheyhaveabundantmaterialstostudy.
Forexample,manyadultEnglishlearnerschoosetheTVnewsforauthenticlanguageinput,butareoftendiscouragedbyanunfamiliaritywiththenewscontentandthelinguisticdifficultyinvolved(Bahrani&Sim,2011).
Byprovidingeffectivewaystousetheauthenticmaterials,sources,andtechniquesforlanguagelearningthatwerealreadyavailableandaccessible,studentswereexpectedtocontinuetheirstudyaftertheyreturnedtotheirhomecountry.
Therefore,A5wasdesignedtointroduceactiveself-‐studystrategiesforlanguagelearnersandestablishaguideposttolocatesupportingmaterials,bothcontextualandlinguistic.
Afterseveralattemptstointegratethetheoryandthepracticeoflanguagelearning,theinstructordecidedthataflippedclassroommodel,anemergingtrendintheeducationalfield,wouldbeimplementedtomaximizeA5students'learningopportunitiesbothqualitativelyandquantitatively.
AccordingtothedefinitionfromtheFlippedLearningNetwork(2014),aflippedclassroomisexplainedas:[A]pedagogicalapproachinwhichdirectinstructionmovesfromthegrouplearningspacetotheindividuallearningspace,andtheresultinggroupspaceistransformedintoadynamic,interactiveNYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015100learningenvironmentwheretheeducatorguidesstudentsastheyapplyconceptsandengagecreativelyinthesubjectmatter.
Basically,studentsareprovidedwithout-‐of-‐classinstructionalmaterialselectronicallyandareexpectedtoread,study,andreviewthemindependently.
Theyspendin-‐classhourspracticingandmasteringthelearningobjectives.
Inthisway,aflippedclassroomcanprovideextensiveandintensivelanguageinputtostudents,whilestudentsstudymaterialsattheirownpace.
Strayer(2007)suggestsaconceptualframeworkofaflippedclassroominthefollowingdiagram(Figure1).
Heclaimsthatthelearningenvironmentintheflippedlearningmodelisinfluencedbythe"extensiveuseofeducationaltechnologyoutsideofclass"and"activelearningduringclasstime"(p.
15).
Figure1Theoreticalframeworkoftheflippedclassroom.
FromStrayer,2007,p.
15;usedwithpermission.
BycombiningNation's(2007)fourstrandsandStrayer's(2007)flippedclassroommodel,anewclassstructurewasdesignedforA5,asshowninFigure2.
Fortheeducationaltechnology,A5usedacoursewebsite,GoogleVoice,whereawiderangeofmeaning-‐focusedandlanguage-‐focusedinputwasprovided;inaddition,GoogleVoicewasusedtoofferextraopportunitiesformeaning-‐focusedoutput.
Studentscoulddigestinputattheirownpacewhilespendingin-‐classhoursoncooperativeactivities,whichprovidedmeaning-‐focusedoutputandfluencydevelopment.
Usingthisstructure,theinstructorcouldcreateawell-‐balancedlanguagelearningenvironmentoutsideofclassthatguaranteedintensiveandextensivecontactwiththetargetlanguage.
Inclass,studentshadampleopportunitiestopracticewhattheyknewandwhattheyhadlearned.
ThisMethodologyThissectiondescribestheoperationalizationofthetheoreticalmodeldiscussedintheprevioussection.
AfteranintroductiontothestudentsofA5,adetaileddescriptionofthecoursestructurefollows.
NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015101Figure2A5classstructure.
StudentsofAdvancedLevel5Therewasatotalof14adultstudentsfromninedifferentcountriesinAdvancedLevel5(A5)intheSummerBsemester.
FivestudentswerenativeJapanesespeakers,andthreewerenativeSpanishspeakers.
TwostudentsspokeChinese,andonespokeGermanasanativelanguage.
OnestudentspokePortuguese.
OnestudentwasanativeTurkishspeaker,andonewasanativeVietnamesespeaker.
Duringthefive-‐weekintensivecourse,studentsattendedclassfor2.
5hoursfromMondaytoFriday,coveringmaterialsfromUnits5to8inInCharge2(2nded.
)(Daise,2002),atheme-‐basedtextbookorganizedintofivesections—reading,speaking,listening,grammar,andwriting.
TheinstructortaughtfromMondaystoThursdays;FridayclassesweretaughtbyfourstudentsfromtheTESOLCertificateProgramatthegraduateinstitutionaspartofthecurriculum.
TheFridayinstructorswereusuallyinchargeofthereadingandlisteningsectionsofeachunit,whichmeantthattheinstructorcoveredtherest—speaking,grammar,andwriting,andaunittest—oneeachday.
SinceFridayclassesdidnotimplementtheflippedclassroommodel,thispaperexcludesFridaysessions.
AneedsanalysisconductedonthefirstdayoftheclassdocumentedstrongstudentmotivationtolearnEnglishandahighexpectationforlanguageimprovement.
Ittookmorethan35minutesforallthestudentstocompletethe15-‐itemquestionnaires.
Intwoprevioussemesterstheinstructortaught,studentsspentlessthan20minutesonsimilarquestionnaires.
Whenansweringthemultiple-‐choicequestionsontheirmostproblematicEnglishskills,sixstudents(43%)notonlymarkedtheoptions,butalsoexplainedtheiranxietyandfrustrationindetail.
Studentsalsospentalargeamountoftimeansweringtheshortessayquestion,"Whatotherthingsdoyouwantyourteachertoknow"Sevenstudents(50%)expressedtheirspecificexpectationsandneeds,andthreeofthem(21%)reportedtotheinstructorthattheyhadtoreturntotheirhomecountryinthemiddleofthesemester;thus,theywantedtoreceivetrulyintensivetraining.
Thiswasnotsurprising,though,consideringthefactthatvolunteerNYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015102studentsgenerallyhaveahighlevelofmotivation,andrelativelylowerlevelsofanxietyandmorespecificlearninggoalswereexpected(Black&Deci,2000).
Inaddition,theneedsanalysisshowedthatallthestudentshadhomeInternetaccessontheirownlaptopsormobiledevices,suchassmartphonesandtablets.
Whenaskedabouttheirfamiliaritywithtechnology,six(43%)studentsansweredtheywerenotreallyfamiliar,andfourstudents(29%)indicatedthattheyweremoderatelyfamiliar.
Threestudents(21%)indicatedtheywerequitefamiliar,andtheremainingstudent(7%)claimedtobewasverymuchfamiliar.
Thisinfluencedtheconstructionofoutside-‐classsessions,whicharedescribedinthenextsession.
ClassDesignDividedintofourparts,thissectionfirstexamineshowtechnologyprovidedaplatformofactivelearningoutsideofclass.
Thesecondsectionreviewsthein-‐classsessionsthatfocusedonlearningoutcomes.
Thethirdsectionprovidesadescriptionofthefinalproject,andthelastsectionreportsthedevelopmentofthelearnerautonomyofA5.
Outside-‐classsession:CoursewebsiteandGoogleVoice.
Outside-‐classsessionsaimtohelpstudentsexploremultiplemethodsandtoolsthatcanexposethemtomeaning-‐focusedinput.
ThedevelopmentoftechnologyandtheInternethasobscuredtheboundarybetweenESLandEFLlearners,asEFLlearnersnowhaveaccesstoauthenticmaterialsfromthetargetculture.
Therefore,theultimategoalofA5wastoempowerstudentstocontinuetheirEnglishlearningbyhelpingthemuseresourcesthatwereavailableontheInternetorinthemedia.
Withoutfullyrecognizingit,studentsfamiliarizedthemselveswithvariousmethodsoflanguagelearningandlearnedstrategiestousethemethods.
Theirprogresswaswitnessedduringthefinalpresentation,whichwillbediscussedinthethirdsection.
Thefirsttaskwastoidentifyaplatformforacoursewebsitethatwouldmeetstudents'needs.
Theinitialplanwastouseacoursewebsiteasadigitalcommunitywherestudentscouldinteractwithoneanotherandstudycollaborativelyduringtheout-‐of-‐classsessions,maximizingbothlanguageinputandoutput.
Therefore,classmanagementtoolswithbuilt-‐ininteractivefeatures,suchasCanvasbyInstructure,wereconsidered.
Practicalproblems,however,broughttheplantoanimpasse.
Asmentionedearlier,althoughmostofthestudentsviewedclassroomflippinginafavorablelight,theywereconcernedabouttheirunfamiliaritywithtechnologyandwantedthecoursewebsitetobeassimpleaspossible.
Thefive-‐weektimeconstraintwasanotherissue:Therewasnotenoughtimeforthestudentstoreceivetechnologytraining.
Ifitisaburdenforthestudentstousetheinteractivefeaturesbecauseoftheirlowtechnologicalfluency,thereisonlyaremotepossibilitythattheywilldeterminethebestwaystousethetechnology.
Asaresult,GoogleSiteswasselectedasacoursewebsite,becausefourstudentsalreadyhadpriorexperienceswiththesitefromtheirprevioussemester,asmanyinstructorsintheprogramalsousedit.
Also,becauseoftheflexibilityGoogleprovidedincustomizingthesitelayout,theinstructorcoulddesignasimplecoursewebsitethatgavestudentsaccesswithoutneedingtologin.
Oncethecoursewebsitewascreated,allcoursematerialswereposted,andsupportingmaterials(suchasaglossaryofmetaphors,idiomaticexpressions,andculturalreferences)werepostedaswell,sothatstudentscouldmasterthecorecontentbeforetheycametoclass.
AsignificantdifferencebetweentheusualflippedclassroomandA5isthatA5usedprevalentmediacontent,suchasYouTubevideosandTEDxTalks,tomeetthreecriteria;contextualization,authenticity,andsustainability.
Thefirstcriterionwascontextualization.
Toachievethis,theinstructorincludedcarefullychosenmaterialswithinatargetthemefromthetextbooktoproviderepeateduseofcontextualizedvocabulary.
Severalresearchershavealsopointedouttheeffectivenessofrepetitiveandcontextualizedlinguisticitems(Brinton&Gaskill,1978;Washburn,2001).
TheseitemsenablestudentstoexperiencenewNYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015103vocabularyrepeatedlyandidentifytheirusagesinrichcontexts.
Contextualizedmaterialsalsofosterstudents'contentknowledge,whichfacilitateslinguisticcomprehension.
Thesecondcriterionwastoenhancetheauthenticityofthetargetlanguage.
Nikula(2002)statesthatinputfromacademiccontextsusuallyfailstoprovidesufficientpragmaticknowledge,duetoalackofauthenticity.
AuthenticmultimediaallowsEnglishlearnerstoaccessawiderangeoflinguisticresourcesandgenresthattextbookscannotprovide,whichcan"stretchtheboundariesoftheclassroom"(Sherman,2003,p.
2).
Inaddition,researchershavesuggestedthatauthenticinputnotonlyenhanceslinguisticcompetence,butalsoteachesEnglishlearnersaboutsocialpractices(Gerbner,Gross,Morgan,&Signorielli,1986;Norton&Toohey,2001).
Theyalsostressthatbothlinguisticknowledgeacquisitionandsocialpracticesareindispensablefactorsforsuccessfullanguagelearning,andshouldbeintroducedforthisreason.
Consequently,multimediacontentprovideswhatSmith(1997)called"virtualrealia"—digitalizedsimulationsofthetargetlanguageculture.
Thelastcriterionformaterialsselectionwassustainability.
Asdiscussedatthebeginningofthissection,themaingoalofA5wastohelpstudentscontinuetheirstudyingafterthefiveweekcoursewasover.
Therefore,itwascriticalthatstudentshadcontinuousaccesstothetargetinput.
Thequestionsconsideredwere:CanstudentsstillaccessthequalitativeandauthenticsourcesafterthesemesterisoverIsthecontentreliableanddoesitpresentup-‐to-‐dateculturalandlinguisticfeaturesItwasexpectedthatiftheinstructorintroducedthesourcefortheinput,alongwitheffectivelearningstrategiestomasterit,itislikelythatstudentswouldautonomouslypursuetheirownlearning.
Inadditiontomeaning-‐focusedinput,studentsspentaconsiderableamountofout-‐of-‐classtimeonmeaning-‐focusedoutputbyusingGoogleVoicetocompensateforthelossofinteractionfromtheclassplatform.
Attheendofeachunit,acomprehensivetopicwasassignedtothestudents,andthestudentswererequiredtoproduceanoralpresentationonthattopicusingGoogleVoice.
GoogleVoicewasthemainmethodofmeaning-‐focusedoutputthatrespondedtostudents'lowfamiliaritywithtechnology.
Usinganyconfiguredphone,studentscouldcalltheinstructor'sGoogleforwardingnumberandleaveavoicemessage.
Then,mp3-‐downloadablevoicemailmessagesweredeliveredtotheinstructor'sgmailaccount,andtheinstructoruploadedthemontothecoursewebsite.
GoogleVoiceproducedanunexpectedphenomenonamongstudents.
Theybegantouseitasabarometeroftheirpronunciationdevelopment.
Itisnoteworthythattherewasnodirectinstructiongivenforpronunciationfromtheinstructorbecauseofthetimeconstraints.
Thestudents,however,werealreadyawareoftheaccuratepronunciationofnewlylearnedwordsand/orexpressionsfromconstantexposuretothegivenmediacontentontheweb.
Studentslistenedtotheiroralpresentations,identifiedtheirownmistakeswithpronunciation,andsubmittednewdraftsthatattemptedtofixtheirproblematicareas.
Theuploadedvoicefilesplayedanothercriticalrolebyincreasingmotivation.
TheexampleofStudentAdemonstratesthis.
Within48hours,shehadproducedatotalofthreedraftsrespondingtothetopic"Shouldweallowteenagerstouseasmartphone"Whenherfirstandlastdraftswerecompared,nodramaticchangeinherpronunciationwasfound,andasignificantimprovementinherspeechratewasnoticed.
Ithadtakenoneminute,sixsecondsforStudentAtocompletethefirstdraft;she,completedherthirddraftin50seconds.
Ofcourse,fluencydevelopmentshouldnotbemisinterpretedassimplyproducingfastertargetlanguageitems(Schmidt,1992)orrepetitivedrillsoftargetlanguagestructures(Duff,2000).
StudentA'sshortenedspeechratewascausedbysmootherlinkingsoundsandintonation,whilestillmaintainingclarityandanaturalrateofspeech.
StudentAwasalsoabletoclearlyperceivetheimprovementherself.
Asshedid,everythingchanged.
Shewasexcitedbyherownprogress,whichbecameahugemotivatingfactorforherandincreasedherenthusiasminsubmittingoralpresentations.
Cooperativeactivitiesforin-‐classsessions.
Thesecondemphasiswasonin-‐classactivitiesthataugmentedmeaning-‐focusedoutputandfluencydevelopment.
Assumingthatstudentsstudiedanadequateamountofinput,activitiesfortheautomatizationofnewlylearneditemswererequired—thatis,NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015104itwasvitaltoprovidestudentswithplentifulopportunitiestoreproducewhattheyhadlearned.
Forthisreason,in-‐classsessionsmainlyconsistedofcooperativeactivities,whichcanbeperformedbyonekeyplayer,ratherthangroupactivities.
AccordingtoKagan(1994),cooperativelearninghasfiveprinciples:positiveinterdependence,individualaccountability,equalparticipation,simultaneousinteraction,andgroupprocessing.
Alltheseprinciplesarealsofundamentalforautonomouslearning,becausecooperativelearningincreasesstudents'responsibilitiestomaximizetheirownandeachother'slearning(Sachs,Candlin,Rose,&Shum,2003).
Therefore,cooperativeactivitiescomprisedalargeproportionofin-‐classsessions.
Eachday,studentswererequiredtousewhattheyhadlearnedfromthematerialsuploadedonthecoursewebsiteviavariouscooperativeactivities(seeAppendixAforasampleactivity).
Sometimes,studentswereassignedapiecethatformeda"jigsaw"withtheotherstudentpieces,sothattheycouldpresenttheirsegmenttothegrouptosynthesizetheinformation.
Onotheroccasions,studentsstudiedtargetgrammarrulesbywatchingYouTubetutorialsandgavelessonstoeachotherthroughcooperativeactivities.
Inthisway,studentsreplacedthetraditionalroleoftheteacherbybecomingactivepresentersofcontent,whichplacedtheprimaryresponsibilitiesforlearningonthestudentsthemselves.
Inaddition,especiallywhenstudyinggrammaritems,eachstudentreproducedwhatheorshehadmasteredathomeintheirownway,creatingvariousinterpretationsofthegiveninput.
Whentheclassstudiedconditionalsentences(suchasthoseincludingtheconditionalif,2theinstructordeliberatelyselectedtwoYouTubevideosthatexplainedthetargetgrammarstructuredifferently.
Onevideodividedconditionalsintothreecategories:firstconditionals,secondconditionals,andthirdconditionals;theothervideoaddedzeroconditionalsforatotaloffourcategories.
Studentswereaskedtoselectonlyonevideoandstudythegrammarrulesitfeatured.
Whenstudentscametotheclassnextday,theinstructorhadthemteachthesegrammarrulestotheirpartners,usinginner-‐circleandouter-‐circleactivities.
Thisresultedinaheateddiscussionamongstudentswhohadwatcheddifferentvideosastheytriedtoexplainwhattheyhadlearned.
Thedebateendedwhenthestudentsrealizedthattheywerediscussingthesamegrammarrules,butwithdifferentlabels.
Duringthediscussion,theinstructornoticedstudents'simultaneous—andaccurate—replicationofwords,phrases,andexpressionsfromtheYouTubevideos.
Throughrepetitionwithdifferentpartners,studentsreproducedthegrammarlessonsbyusingthetermsandexamplesentencesfromthetutorialvideos.
Thequalityoftheirreproductionsimproved,alongwiththeiroralfluency,Thestudentsexpressedgreatsatisfactionwithcooperativelearning,becauseofthelevelofoutputtheyproducedandtheirincreasedfluency.
Finalprojectforlearnertraining.
Inaccordancewithprogrampolicy,theinstructoradministeredunittestsasatoolforformativeassessment(constituting45%ofthestudents'finalgrade)andafinalexam(30%)forasummativeassessment.
3ThetestsneededtobesynchronizedwiththeeveningA5class,sotheyweredesignedtoevaluatetargetlanguageitemsfromthetextbook.
Theinstructor,however,feltimpelledtoprovideanopportunityforstudentstowitnesshowwellpreparedtheyweretostudyEnglishindependentlyintheformofafinalproject,sincetheultimategoalofA5wastrainingstudentstobecomeautonomouslearnersofEnglish.
Althoughitwasanungradedproject,allthestudentsagreedwiththeidea,anditwasdecidedthatitwouldtakeplaceonthelastdayofthesemester.
Thetopicofthefinalprojectwasrelatedtothefirstdayofthesemester,duringwhichstudentstalkedabouttheirstudyplanandwaysoftakingfulladvantageofbeingESLstudents.
Studentswereexpectedtomakeapresentationwithpracticalsuggestionsonthetopic,whichwas"HowshouldESLstudentslearnEnglishinAmerica,"byintroducingauthenticandpracticalmaterialswithself-‐studystrategiestotheirclassmates.
Studentshadtwoweekstopreparetheir20-‐minutepresentation,usingout-‐of-‐classsessionsbyinteractingwiththeirpartnersonlineandoffline.
Supportingmaterialsformakinganeffectivepresentationwereprovidedonthecoursewebsiteduringapreliminarysession.
2Theconditionalifwasnotoneoffourgrammaritemsfromthetextbook,butwascoveredtosatisfystudents'requests.
3Othercriteriaforgradingwereclassparticipationandattendance(10%)andhomeworkassignments(10%)andGoogleVoice(5%).
NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015105Thefinalpresentationwasintendedtoplayaroleasasummativeassessmenttool—notforlanguageproficiencybutlearnertraining.
Accordinglyananalyticalrubricforself-‐assessmentandachecklistweredesignedtooffermoredirectguidelines.
Onthedayofthepresentation,thestudentspresentedpracticalandusefullearningstrategieswithstronginformationliteracyskills,demonstratingthattheyknewwhereandhowtolocaterelevanttoolsandmaterialsontheInternet.
Intheirpresentation,titled"LearningLanguage:LanguagebarriersandCulturalbarriers,"forinstance,TeamAtalkedabouttheimportanceoflearningEnglishwithculturalreferences.
TheirsuggestiontoalleviatethisissuewastowatchAmericanTVshowswithHulu,awebsitethatstreamsalargeselectionofTVshowsandmoviesondemand.
TeamAthenencouragedtheirclassmatestoapplythelanguageitemsandculturalreferencestheyconsequentlylearnedfromHuluinreal-‐lifesituationsandsocialpracticesbyusingevent-‐listingwebsitessuchasClubFreeTime.
Directlyafterthefinalpresentation,thestudentsexchangedtheirexperienceswihhowA5hadchangedthemandhowmuchconfidencetheyhadgainedfromit.
Successfuldevelopmentoflearnerautonomy.
Asmentionedearlier,thestudentshadpracticedthemeansofautonomousEnglishlearningwithcarefullyconstructedmaterialsandactivities.
Attheendofthesemester,thesignsofdevelopmentoflearnerautonomywereidentified.
ThefirstindicatoroffosteredlearnerautonomywasderivedfromGoogleVoicesubmissions.
Thiswasalow-‐stakesassignment,constituting5%ofthestudents'finalgrade.
Itwasnottheinstructor'sintentiontooverwhelmthestudentswithanexcessiveworkloadoutsideoftheclassroom;themainpurposeofGoogleVoicewastocreatemoreopportunitiesformeaning-‐focusedoutput.
Sotheinstructorencouragedthestudentstosubmitonedraftforeachtopictoreceivefullpoints.
Topicswereassignedonweeks2,3,and4,andatotalofthreedraftswererequestedattheendofthesemester.
Allstudentssubmittedatleastthreedrafts,andtheaveragenumberofsubmissionsperstudentwas4.
28.
Halfofthestudentssubmittedmorethanfourdrafts,withanaveragenumberof5.
57submissionsforeachofthesestudents;thehighestnumberofsubmissionsfromanindividualstudentwaseightOnestudent,whoreturnedtoherhomecountryinweek3,alsoparticipatedbyreviewingatopicanditssupportingmaterialsontheclasswebsiteandsendingavoicefiletotheinstructor.
Anotherpositiveimpactonlearnerautonomywasobservedduringthefinal,ungradedproject.
Thestudentsactivelyandvoluntarilycontributedtheirtimeandeffort,andsearchedforresourcesandtechnologicaltoolsthatwereauthentic,practical,easilyaccessible,andsustainable;theywereinspiredbytheirprogress,whichreinforcedtheirmotivation.
Thisfinalprojectdemonstratedthesuccessfuldevelopmentofstudents'learnerautonomy,introducedinnovativechangesintostudents'attitudestowardlearning,andenhancedtheirlanguageabilities.
DiscussionThecoursestructureofA5provedthatStrayer's(2007)theoreticalframeworkofclassroomflippingcanbesuccessfullyimplementedintoEnglishlearning.
Byusingbothin-‐classandout-‐of-‐classsessions,theinstructorwasabletocreateexpandedlearningopportunitiestoensureawell-‐balanceddistributionofNation's(2007)fourstrands.
ThestudentsexposedthemselvestoEnglishoutsideoftheclassroomwiththeassistanceoftechnology.
Theclasswebsiteworkedasaplatformforsupportingmaterials,withvariousmodesformeaning-‐focusedandlanguage-‐focusedinput.
GoogleVoicefacilitatedmeaning-‐focusedoutput.
Afterdigestingthetargetitemsattheirownpace,studentsattendedclassestolearnthroughcooperativeactivities.
Severalcooperativeactivitieswereroutinizedasanothermeansofprovidingmeaning-‐focusedoutputaswellasopportunitiesforfluencydevelopment.
Becausetheflippedclassroomstructurerequiresstudentstobeactivelyengagedinlearninginparallelwithleanertraining,thedevelopmentoflearnerautonomycouldbeobserved.
AlthoughtheA5coursestructuredemonstratesthepositiveimplicationsofclassroomflippinginlanguagelearningboththeoreticallyandpractically,someuncertaintiesshouldbeconsideredregardinglearnerautonomy.
First,thesustainabilityoflearnerautonomyisunclear.
AlthoughtheinstructorusedNYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
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1,January2015106twoindicators(GoogleVoicesubmissionsandthefinalpresentation)todeterminetheimpactofclassroomflippingonlearnerautonomy,theseindicatorslosetheirreliabilityinadifferenttimeframe.
Thefive-‐weektimeconstraintwasthebiggestdrawbackforstudents;atthesametime,however,italsostimulatedstudentstomakethemostoftheirtimeinclass.
Thesemesterendedwhenstudents'motivationwasatitspeak,whichexplainstheiractiveparticipation.
Thereisnoguaranteethatstudentswouldhavemaintainedthesamelevelofleanerautonomybytheendofalongersemester.
Anotheruncertaintyisraisedbythecauseoflearnerautonomy.
Thereisapossibilitythattherewerehiddenfactorsbeyondtheflippedclassroomstructureitselfthatinfluencedlearnerautonomy.
Oneaspectthatcanbeconsideredisthestudents'highmotivation.
Asshownintheneedsanalysis,thestudentsinA5presentedahighlevelofpriormotivation,anditisunclearhowtheclasswouldhavedevelopedwithstudentshavingalowerinitialmotivation.
IfthelearnerautonomyofA5canbeattributedtostudents'motivationratherthantheclassdesign,theeffectivenessofclassroomflippingbecomesinconclusive.
Inadditiontolearnerautonomy,anotherpracticallimitationfortheinstructorwastheworkload.
Theinstructordidnotgenerateherowncontent,butittookalmostthesameamountoftimetoprepareclassmaterialsasitotherwisewouldhave.
Approximatelyfourhoursofpreparationtimewasspentdailyonsearching,evaluating,andcontextualizingthecontentonthecoursewebsite.
Teachingthesamecourseeverysemesterrequiresaninitialinvestmentoftimeandeffort,sincethecontentcanberecycledwithslightmodifications,graduallylighteningtheworkload.
Teachingadifferentleveleachsemester,however,presentssignificantchallengefortheinstructor.
ConclusionTheA5summerBsemestersignifiedanimportantturningpointforboththestudentsandtheinstructor.
Strayer's(2007)class-‐flippingmodelwasshowntoeffectivelyfacilitateNation's(2007)fourstrandsintheESLsetting.
Pairingcooperativeactivitiesinclasswithtechnologyoutsideoftheclassroomallowedtheinstructortocoverallfourstrandsasintended.
GoogleVoiceandthefinalprojectindicatedapositiveimpactonlearnertrainingandautonomy.
Althoughtherearestillseveralmajordrawbackstoberesolved,theflippedclassroommodelclearlydemonstratessignificantpotentialforuseinlanguageclasses.
Moreextensiveresearchinthisfieldisimperative.
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NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
2,No.
1,January2015108AppendixADailyActivity1Materials:Theteacherpreparestwonewreadingmaterials(readingsAandB),ensuringthatthereadingscontainvocabularyfromUnit4andsupportingmaterialsonthecoursewebsite.
Highlightthewordsandexpressionsthatstudentsshouldfocuson(theteachercanmakethisa"jigsaw"activity).
1.
Studentsformagroupoffourandsitsothateachstudenthasafacepartner,shoulderpartner,andcrosspartner.
2.
Theteacherdistributesthereadings.
Studentshave2minutestoreadthematerialcarefully.
Theycantalktotheircrosspartnersforbettercomprehension.
3.
StudentswithReadingAhave1minutetoexplainwhattheyhavereadtotheirfacepartners.
Theyneedtodotheirbesttoreconstructthestoryasmuchaspossible,usingthehighlightedvocabularyintheirexplanation.
Thestudentsthenswitchroles.
Thistime,studentswithReadingBhave1minutetoexplainwhattheyhavereadtotheirfacepartners.
NYSTESOLJOURNALVol.
2,No.
1,January20151094.
Theteachergivesstudents30secondstoreadthearticleagaintogainmoreinformationandorganizetheirstory.
5.
StudentswithReadingAhave50secondstoexplainwhattheyhavereadtotheirshoulderpartners.
Theyneedtodotheirbesttoreconstructthestoryasmuchaspossible,usingthehighlightedvocabularyintheirexplanation.
Thestudentsthenswitchroles.
Thistime,studentswithReadingBhave50secondstoexplainwhattheyhavereadtotheirshoulderpartners.
6.
Whenstudentsarefinished,theyexchangereadingswiththeirshoulderpartners.
Havestudentscomparethereadingsandwhattheyhaveheardfromthetwodifferentpartners.
*Correspondingauthor:hanjuniata@gmail.
com