Flipped learning as situated practice: A contrastive narrative inquiry in an EFL classroom

Abstract

The traditional lecture-oriented teaching is still the norm in English as a foreign language education courses, but an innovative teaching model, expedited by recent advances in technology, becomes often popular across non-English-speaking subjects. The new model flips the usual classroom paradigm, in which students learn primary concepts outside classroom and class time is reserved for more active problem-based learning. Discussion of model and its impact are more, on the whole, theory-driven than data-informed to consider qualitative feedback to give context before drawing conclusion. Little research has so far been undertaken to rigorously consider class practitioners’ readings on flipped learning experience in EFL discursive contexts in a contrastive manner. In so doing, this study employed a narrative inquiry, using data from interviews and observational field notes. Findings show that that flipped learning is situated practice. The teacher perceived the class challenging due to workload of developing flipped learning materials, inadequate inside-classroom infrastructure, over reliance on student and old-fashioned classroom layout. Likewise, the students found flipped activities time consuming, blaming inadequate outside-classroom infrastructure and teacher’s unavailability for flipped outside class activities. Rather, the teacher valued this model strengthening routs towards transparency for students’ parents on their educational progress. Students appreciated the ubiquitous, more self-paced and autonomous learning nature of flipped model as it makes them more deeply dive into the content. The findings have ramifications for raising awareness of the flipped learning complexities in learning practice.