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Литонина Н.В. Совершенствование произносительной стороны английской речи студентами вечернего отделения в условиях развития учебной автономии методом перевернутого образования // Интернет-журнал «Мир науки» 2016, Том 4, номер 6 http://mir-nauki.com/PDF/10PDangMN616.pdf (доступ свободный). Загл. с экрана. Яз. рус., англ.
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Litonina N.V. [A pedagogical flip in improving english pronunciation by part-time students and developing their learner's autonomy] On-line Journal «Mir nauki», 2016, Vol. 4, no. 6. Available at: http://mir-nauki.com/PDF/10PDangMN616.pdf (In Russ.)
Litonina Nadezhda Vladimirovna
Nizhny Novgorod state linguistics university named after N.A. Dobrolubov, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod
E-mail: [email protected]
A pedagogical flip in improving english pronunciation by part-time students and developing their learner's autonomy
Abstract. Traditional design of English Phonetics Course has lost its effectiveness due to lack of time and heterogeneity of language learners. As education is currently developing in the learner-centered paradigm, the shift of academic goals has also taken place. What teaching methods can restore the course effectiveness and satisfy the learners' needs? Research in teaching methodology has highlighted the benefits of the flipped classroom method and the use of computer technologies in learning. What has remained unexplored, however, is the impact of "flipped classroom" of the effectiveness of English Phonetics Course for part-time students in a country where English is a foreign language. This research showed that a pedagogical flip supported by the use of computer technologies is more effective in achieving learning objectives. Such a design is especially effective for highly motivated learners while weak students benefit, too, as they receive basic knowledge and acquire major skills. Besides, carefully guided independent language practice proves wide opportunities for the development of learner's autonomy. The research also shed light on those sides of 'flipped classroom' that should be minimized by future experiments.
Keywords: computer-assisted language learning (call); flipped classroom; learner's autonomy; english pronunciation
Introduction
The task under investigation is the improvement of an English Phonetics Course in a country where English is a foreign language and contact with native speakers is quite rare. The problem is also affected by specific studying conditions and types of learners. According to the recent changes in higher linguistic education, the number of hours devoted to different academic subjects has been cut, but the learning goals have remained ambitious. The students under investigation have to combine work in the morning and studies in the evening for different reasons: full-time education is not affordable for them, so they study part-time; or they already have their major and are getting their minor, mostly in English. It means that the English Phonetics Course is very important to them and
should be designed in such a way as to meet the needs of these learners in the described studying environment.
Traditionally, the English Phonetics Course had two learning goals: students needed to understand general phonetic processes (e.g. assimilation, accommodation, elision, etc.) and describe them in English. The latter was the only application as a result of limited class time. The course had the following design: an instructor explained the theoretical material during class; students learnt it at home, and, finally, the instructor and his students discussed the most difficult points in class again. Students were asked to learn everything by heart to be able to answer, for example, such questions as: "Into what groups are the English consonants divided according to the place of obstruction?", "What are central vowels?", "What features of intonation define a sense-group?", "What is the influence of rhythm upon the rate of speech and the length of sounds?", etc. That way of teaching left no time for guided pronunciation practice and students finished the course only with some theoretical knowledge in the subject.
In interviews, students expressed dissatisfaction with the traditional course. That unfortunate learning experience led to the creation of the questionnaire which aimed at understanding students' real needs and demands. Table 1 shows that the students need theoretical knowledge in English Phonetics basically to improve their pronunciation and increase their language proficiency. The other learning needs, which require profound theoretical knowledge, such as communication with professionals about English Phonetics, reading articles and books about this topic, participation in conferences, and understanding reports are rather important, but not essential. Thus, the survey showed that mainly the students were interested in getting a near-native competence in English pronunciation (American or British accent), and only some of them - in understanding the general Phonetic processes for the purposes of learning other foreign languages, reading authentic literature about this topic, or participating in conferences. The findings led to the course redesign which helped to make time for guided pronunciation practice. The technology taken was the technology-rich flipped classroom.
Table 1
Pre-course questionnaire on students' learning needs and goals
Learning Goals and Needs (on the scale from 0 to 10) Very important (9-10) Somewhat important (2-8) Unimportant (0-1)
1. To be able to communicate with professionals about English Phonetics in the English language 77% 23% 0%
2. To be able to read articles and books about English Phonetics in the English language 38.5% 41.1% 2,6%
3. To be able to participate in conferences on the topic of English Phonetics 12.9% 76.8% 10.3%
4.To be able to understand an oral report on English Phonetics in the English language 56.4% 61.6% 5.2%
5. To be able to understand general phonetic processes to better understand other foreign languages 56.4% 41% 2.6%
6. To be able to read English texts with a near-native pronunciation 87.2% 12.8% 0%
7. To be able to pronounce English words nearly as well as a native speaker 87.2% 12.8% 0%
8. To be able to use near-native intonation patterns in simple and complex sentences in English 79.5% 20.5% 0%
9. To be able to understand emotions and attitudes conveyed by English intonation 79.5% 20.5% 0%
Literature review
The so-called "flipped classroom" inverts traditional teaching methods. This concept is not new. Dr. Eric Mazur of Harvard University has been investigating this type of learning since the early 90's, and many other instructors have been using this learning method even longer. The terminology "flipped classroom" was introduced in 2007. The flipped classroom model is considered to have been first developed by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams, who began to use technology to record Power Point presentations (Bergmann & Sams, 2012). This approach proved to give learners the opportunity to read or watch lessons at their own pace depending on their abilities and educational background, thus differentiating to better meet student needs. Further, one of the drawbacks of traditional homework is that students do not receive meaningful feedback while doing it. With a teacher present to address concepts and misconceptions, this "feedback cycle has greater potential to boost student learning" (Horn, 2013).
Literature review in flipped teaching shows that this method is often simplified to content learning (reading of the material, watching videos or listening to audio files) which takes place at home, and its discussion, analysis and/or creation based on learned material takes place during class. Brame points out that "flipping the classroom means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates" (Brame, 2013). But its key feature is that it increases the amount of class time spent on developing high-order thinking skills (Bloom's taxonomy revised by Krathwohl) as activities involving low-order thinking processes are done before the class. Remember, Understand, and Apply are considered lower-order thinking skills while high-order thinking skills include Analyze, Evaluate, and Create (Krathwohl, 2002). Thus, "flipped instruction moves the lower-order thinking skills parts of course to independent study, and the analysis and creative use of language (higher-order thinking skills) to a supported, teacher-guided environment" (Rosen, L.B., Maeda, M., & Roberts, N., in press, [chapter 7]). Moreover, one more benefit is that 'analyze', 'evaluate', and 'create' activities can be supervised in class to insure the student is getting it correctly. The homework environment is generally uncontrolled and learners can develop bad habits.
In Flipped Learning Network, we can find the following definition: "Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter" (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). This idea resonates with Gunyou's opinion of an effective methodology that mostly contains active learning and interactive engagement (Gunyou, 2015). One critical difference between a traditional and flipped class is that time is no longer spent passively taking in "raw content" (Horn, 2013). Instead, students practice problem-solving, discuss issues, or work on different projects. As a result, the classroom becomes an interactive environment that engages learners actively in their education.
The advocates of the flipped method (Bergmann & Sams, 2012; Brame, 2013; Cockrum, 2013; Enfield, 2013; Gunyou, 2015; Horn, 2013; November & Mull, 2012; Millard, 2012; Moran & Young, 2014; Rosen, 2016, etc.) point out its other benefits. They say that flipping allows more individual interaction with every student, significantly reduces negative behaviors, helps to develop better relationships with all learners (Cockrum, 2013), and offers wide opportunities for gaining instructional time and differentiation (Cockrum, 2013; Horn, 2013; Rosen, 2016). All these have great potential to boost student learning and get remarkable academic achievements.
Modern education requires the use of up-to-date tools and technologies. As our students are mostly the representatives of "Generation Z" (people born in the 1990's, also known as Gen Z, the connected generation, digital natives, the net generation), incorporating such trends into education
can not only be satisfying and interesting for instructors, but also motivating and engaging for students. Moreover, flipped learning is completely open for the integration of any computer tools.
The use of computer technologies in English as a Second Language (ESL) is also not new as back in the 1960's teachers started to combine e-learning and traditional classes. Since the early 1980's, scientists have referred to using computers in language teaching as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). In his research paper, Kalamarz (Kalamarz, 2014) described several stages of development of CALL. One stage was associated with computer stimulating automatic responses learners gave to such tasks as text reconstruction, paragraph ordering, multiple choice questions or drills. Another phase featured the communicative approach "allowing for increased creativity and inventiveness in students' answers" (Kalamarz, 2014). Then came the tendency to use multi-media and the Internet as a learning environment which helped to develop language skills through interaction with other learners. Nowadays, more user-friendly tools and software are being invented. As Kalamarz concludes, "as a result of development of information and communication technology e-learning has all the qualities of an essential constituent of an educational process" (Kalamarz, 2011).
In the 21st century, many practitioners (Bates & Poole, 2003; Collis & Moonen, 2002; Garrison & Anderson, 2003; Neumeier, 2005; Millard, 2012; Pacansky-Brock, 2012; Cockrum, 2013; Moran & Young, 2014, etc.) speak for the use of modern technologies in education. They highlight such positive aspects as automatic responses, interactivity, multi-sensory experience, a good influence on motivation, etc. (Cechova & Rees, 2013; Krajka, 2012). A lot of researchers in language learning (Brinckwirth, 2012; Guillen, 2015; Kalamarz, 2014; Kern, 1995; Lindaman & Nolan; 2015; So & Lee, 2012; Strobl, 2014) have analyzed the influence of appropriate e-learning techniques on the development of language skills and came to the conclusion that "they favor the development of the key competences of communicating in foreign languages" (Kalamarz, 2014), in particular listening, reading, and writing. Burston (2014) claims that mobile devices can support learning and teaching only if integrated appropriately, and this idea can be expanded to any technology used in educational process and "the flipped model is open to the integration of any tool that helps instructors provide content to their students and help students learn the content they need to become more proficient, both in and out of the classroom setting" (Rosen, L.B. et al., in press, [chapter, p. 4]). It is also important to remember that for blended learning environments to be successful, it is essential to carefully align the online and face-to-face portions of learning experience (Ginns & Ellis, 2007) and to combine "the best of both worlds" (Graham, 2003).
What has remained unexplored, however, is the impact of flipped method on English Phonetics course for part-time university students of different learning abilities and language levels in a country where English is not a native language. This paper describes a study of the impact as well as demonstrating the use o computer technologies to increase the effectiveness of an English Phonetics Course in an environment of limited class time and diverse language learners.
Method
Relevant data was collected from two groups (control and experimental). The total number of participants was 40: 20 & 20. In both groups, female students prevailed: 18 female over 2 male students. Their language level varied from Novice High to Advanced Low based on ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. The age range was 18-36 years. All the participants were pursuing an academic degree as part-time students at the linguistic university. The results of the pre-course questionnaire showed that the majority of students could be labeled as digital natives (Prensky, 2001). Most of them were completely comfortable with the use of computer technologies in the course. The questionnaire aimed at identifying any previous experience in blended learning and
technical skills possessed by the students. The results showed that half of the participants had been enrolled in a blended course and used an online course management system such as Blackboard, Moodle, or Desire2Learn before. It was also evident that the students had necessary basic computer skills: searching the Internet (75%), receiving and sending emails (100%), attaching files to send in an email and opening the attachments received (100%), saving files (100%), formatting, organizing, downloading, uploading, compressing and uncompressing files (100%), working with file sizes (75%), and changing image sizes (32%). From the collected data, researchers ensured that the participants were fully prepared for a blended course in English Phonetics and needed no additional technical skills. It was also important for the research findings that no participant had ever taken part in a flipped course.
One week before the beginning of the course, the students of the experimental group received a course syllabus with its description, goals, materials, additional resources, assessments, evaluation criteria, classroom policy, and class schedule (with all the topics and assignments for every class). The syllabus was accompanied by an introductory video with the main course information and the explanations of the first homework assignment. The learners were also asked to answer pre-course questionnaires.
A new English Phonetics Course was planned on the basis of backward flipped design. It means that the theoretical material was carefully scaffolded in order to accomplish the three learning goals: (1) learners needed to improve their pronunciation and soften their accent by articulating English sounds correctly and using appropriate intonation patterns (a new learning goal!); (2) students needed to understand the general phonetic terms and use them appropriately; (3) students needed to understand and be able to describe basic phonetic processes, such as accommodation, assimilation, elision, etc. In order to demonstrate these skills, at the end of the course, the students wrote a phonetic test where they matched a definition with its term; did a phonetic analysis of an English text where they described phonetic processes; and, finally, gave an oral presentation to the group. From the very beginning, they chose a topic for their final speech according to their interests and personal strengths so that they could work towards their goal throughout the entire semester.
In the experimental group, the main stress was placed on improving students' pronunciation and softening their accent. In order to make time for meaningful activities during class, the participants were systematically asked to read and understand a small portion of the theoretical material in English before (as their homework) writing out all the new phonetic terms with their translation to the glossary. As Milman (2012) notes that formative and summative assessment should be incorporated in such instruction, after reading the material the students also needed to do a multiple choice test in the LMS Moodle. Its results gave the instructor information about how well the students understood the content. Rosen et. al. points out that "by having this information, instructors were able to better prepare for the types of misconceptions students actually had and were able to address them directly with the whole class" (Rosen, L.B., Maeda, M., & Roberts, N., in press, [chapter, p. 14]). As for the learners, such concept checks helped them realize what they did not know and ask better clarification questions during class. In the End-Of-The-Course Survey, 100% students marked them as very effective and also noted that "the tests on the LMS Moodle made them re-read new material several times to reach a deeper understanding" (May 2016).
Research by many educators (Bates & Galloway, 2012; Bergman & Sams, 2012; Cockrum, 2013; Enfield, 2013; Gunyou, 2015; November & Mull, 2012; Millard, 2012; Moran & Young, 2014; Rosen, 2016) has shown that a pedagogical flip allows a better use of class time as instructors can fill it in with more meaningful activities. In this research, the instructional time was given totally in the target language (with a lot of visuals) and partly focused on the main difficulties that the students could encounter in their homework. The class communication was meaningful and met six goals of foreign language learning (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons,
communities, and collaboration) (Clementi & Terrill, 2013, p. 2). The class was designed in such a way as to clarify the most challenging parts of the theoretical material, concentrate on its practical application, and give learners numerous examples or chances for practice. "When learners are given the opportunity to engage in meaningful activities they are compelled to 'negotiate for meaning', that is, to express and clarify their intensions, thoughts, opinions, etc., in a way which permits them to arrive at a mutual understanding" (Lightbrown & Spada, 1999, p. 122). Such an interaction develops fluency and accuracy in the language (Ellis and Shantini, 2014).
Among the in-class activities on reaching course goals 2 and 3 were the following:
• Discovering syllables through US State Names. Distribute the cards equally among the members of your team. Together, arrange the words into categories according to the number of syllables in each word. For example, "Texas" will go with other words, that have two syllables, including "New York" and "Kansas". As you place a given card into a category, say the word out loud as your team can hear the way you say the word. If you have any difficulty categorizing the word, discuss it with your group. Ask yourself what it is about the word that makes it difficult to categorize. Share your ideas with the class (Barr, 2011).
• Work with your partner and write the function of each speech organ on the reverse side of your flashcards; compare it to the given table.
• Work with your partner and analyze the articulation of the English vowel sound [e] and the English consonant sound [p]. Fill in the table with the findings.
• Draw a sonority scale for each word given, identify the number of syllables and discuss the rules of counting syllables in English words with the partner. Then, do the class sharing.
• Please guess the sound by its characterization.
• What consonant sounds (from the place of obstruction) do these pictures show?
• Find out about Humpty Dumpty and its origin. Read the poem about Humpty Dumpty with your partner helping each other with pronunciation.
• Inside and Outside Circles1: two partners work together and practice pronunciation of the text for the final oral presentation. The partners give each other feedback on their pronunciation and fill in the table. If they have any questions, they need to consult with the teacher. After two minutes, they change their partner and repeat the procedure. Finally, they perform to the whole class.
• Jigsaw activity: students form a group with a leader. Each student needs to present her or his segment to the group about the phonetic structure of an intonation group. They may draw tonograms if it is necessary. The other students in the group need to ask questions for clarification. Then, they have a quiz.
• Vocabulary Tree: students form a group and get a sheet with a tree on it. Then they write what in an intonation group can be associated with each part.
• Interviewing: form a group and create a list of 10 questions on intonation for the other group. Ask the other group the questions based on the material studied together.
1 One half of the students need to form an inner circle facing out of the circle. The other half of the students need to stand in an outer circle, looking into the circle towards the other students on the inner circle.
Demonstrate your knowledge giving examples. Put a "+" if the other group has answered your question, etc.
As pronunciation can be easily improved independently with the use of computer tools and programs, without any instructor really present, class activities engaged students only into some really fundamental pronunciation practice and help 'strong' students to 'purify' their pronunciation and 'weak' students to acquire at least the basic pronunciation skills that they can reinforce independently if time permits. In the End-Of-The-Course Survey, 100% students found the instructional time very effective and pointed out that "everything was clear even in the foreign language" and "the classes made us achieve our learning goals within a short period of time" (May 2016).
Among the in-class activities on pronunciation were the following:
• Words and phrases Kazoo game: guess the sentence by listening to Kazoo (Barr, 2011).
• Please pronounce the sentence with different intonation every time I throw a ball. Then explain what "intonation" means.
• Listen and put an arrow up (|) over the word if it is spoken on the highest note, or an arrow down (j) if it is spoken on the lowest note (Ashton, H. & Shepherd, S., 2012, p. 100).
• Identify the length of the vowel in the following words and practice its pronunciation using a rubber band.
• Let's explore how much possibility for pitch you have in your voice. First, say the word "me" on a note that feels comfortable for you. Now pick a note that is little higher...say "higher". Then a note that is higher ... still say "highest". And repeat. Now come back to "me". Then pick a note that is a little lower. say "lower". Now pick a note that is lower still. say "lower". Now try a few combinations of these notes (Ashton, H. & Shepherd, S., 2012, p. 101).
• "Are you in a good voice?": Please pronounce the chunks with different voice: flat, resonant, creaky, husky, bright, dark, soft, furry, etc.
• Stand up and clap the rhythm ("Three Blind Mice", "Take it Home", etc.). You need to have one clap at exactly the same amount of time.
• Use an ice-cream stick to work on front, front-retracted, central, back-advanced, and back English vowels.
In the flipped English Phonetics Course, as it can be seen from table 2, class work gives not only the fundamentals of English Phonetics as an academic subject, but also the basics of English pronunciation (British or American accents). Of course, the homework assignments and class activities are interconnected and only by doing them all well can a student achieve the best result.
Table 2
Home vs. class activities in flipped english phonetics course
Course Goals Home Class
(1!) • Students get feedback from the instructor via computer programs. • Students do independent listening and pronunciation practice on English vowels and • Students practice the main aspects in the articulation and intonation in English. • Students demonstrate their final oral presentation to the peers and the instructor.
Мир Науки
Course Goals Home Class
consonants. • Students do independent listening practice on assimilation and intonation in English. • Students do the pronunciation practice of the final oral presentation and record their work for the instructor's feedback.
(2) • Students read the theoretical material about active and passive speech organs; vowels and consonants; assimilation and accommodation; and intonation. • Students do a multiple choice test. • Students do a review activity. • Students discuss the main difficulties; organize the theoretical knowledge in tables, schemas, etc. • Students do a jigsawing activity in groups. • Students do a final phonetic matching test.
(3) • Students do a characterization of English vowels and consonants; describe cases of assimilation, accommodation, and elision. • Students give feedback to their peers on their characterization. • Students do a collaborative review activity. • Students discuss the main principles of characterization of English vowels and consonants, description of cases of assimilation, accommodation, and elision. • Students discuss the main problems in characterization of English vowels and consonants, description of cases of assimilation, accommodation, and elision. • Students do the final written description of the phonetic processes in English.
In English Phonetics Course, designed in a flipped way, an important role is given to modern computer technologies which are mainly used here to fulfill some teaching roles, such as control, check, organization, guidance, material presentation, etc. It all saves face-to-face teaching time and, besides, makes it engaging and interesting. The table below presents examples of typical course activities in English Phonetics supported by computer programs or tools.
Table 3
Typical activities in english phonetics supported by computer programs or tools
Typical Course Activities Computer Programs/Tools
In-Class Time "What lip shapes do the photos demonstrate? What are the English rounded, spread, and neutral vowels?" "Match the picture with the name of the speech organ. Draw the missing organ yourself (how you imagine it), then compare it with your partner." "Study the table and find the difference between a vowel and a consonant from the point of view of their articulation. Discuss your findings with the partner." "Using Color Vowel Chart, identify the color of the stressed syllable in the word." "Listen carefully to the statements and answer the questions." Power Point presentations with visuals, videos, and audio. The interactive color vowel chart. Audio and Video
Мир Науки
Typical Course Activities
Computer Programs/Tools
и и
и
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Рч
<u •a s <u a <u -a
<u =
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"Please, characterize one monophthong/diphthongoid and one diphthong according to the given example and post it in the course discussion forum on Moodle. Then, look over how at least three other students have characterized English vowel phonemes and answer the following questions in your initial posting:
1. Is your peer's characterization correct? If not, please leave your comments!
2. Could you give more examples of the words when these vowel phonemes are checked or unchecked. "
"Please, do your guided independent pronunciation and listening practice according to the instructions in "Weekly Planning on English Vowels and Consonants" and the pronunciation tips provided by your instructor." "Read the information about English assimilation, accommodation, and elision and do a multiple choice test in Moodle."
"Record your reading of the text for your final oral presentation (now with proper rhythm!!!), using any electronic device, and send it to your instructor via Moodle. Your instructor will provide you with the individual feedback." "Participate in Online meeting devoted to your Oral and Written Exam."_
Discussion forums in Moodle
Google Drive Narrated Power Point presentation (Camtasia Studio)
Word documents with tables and visuals Email
Moodle (tests) Audacity, Moodle
Video conferencing in Moodle
The table shows that the activities that do not need instructor's presence or direct assistance are left for students' independent work. They are well-guided with the help of computer technologies and contribute a lot to the final result. The course is totally learner-oriented as every student gets more individual attention from the instructor and regular feedback on their pronunciation progress, again with the help of computer programs or tools. In the End-Of-The-Course Survey, no one stated that computer technologies impeded learning; only 25% expressed their irritation caused by technical breakdowns. Everybody liked Power Point presentation and collaborative activities in Discussion Forums, as they made the educational process not only informative, but also interesting and engaging.
Results
During the experiment, qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to collect both numerical and non-numerical data. As the course progressed, the students in the experimental group were asked to fill in the Middle Course Survey which aimed at understanding the learners' satisfaction and opinions about the effectiveness of the course. It showed that the majority of the participants were satisfied with the course design and already noticed some major improvement in their English accents (89%).
Table 4
The results of the middle course survey
Several Questions from the Middle Course Survey Students' Level of Satisfaction (on the Scale of 10 Points)
How well does the course match your learning needs? 9.6
How informative and easy to use is the course syllabus? 9.7
How interesting is the class work? 9.9
How productive and useful is the class work? 10
How productive and useful is the home work? 9
In the Middle Course Survey, the students were asked to leave their comments about what they liked most of all in the course. There they mentioned the following: "teaching methods", "explanations are easy to understand", "pronunciation practice", "the way the information is
presented", "group work", "visuals", "discussion of mistakes", "tongue-twisters and songs", "interesting classes and unusual tasks".
When the course came to its end, the participants wrote three major tests: a Phonetic test which included a matching activity; written classification of English consonant and vowel sounds; written description of cases of assimilation in an English sentence; intoning several English sentences and drawing their tonograms. The major assessment was their final oral presentation (songs, poems, fairy-tales, stories, etc.). The participants could get a total of 30 points (10 - for their Phonetic test; 10 - for their Phonetic analysis; and 10 - for their final oral presentation). As the students of the control group did not have a final oral assessment, only the participants of the experiment were additionally asked to record their reading of the text for their final oral presentation twice: before they started working on it and at the end of the course. Their accuracy was calculated as errors in the set number of difficulties (a total of 50 points) and is presented in the diagram below.
12
10
n t
s
P 8
o
Course End Course Beginning
cococococococococo
f- 00 OS о <N
cococococococococococo
Students in the Experimental Group
0
Figure 1. Results of the major assignment (oral presentation) in flipped english phonetics course
Though the diagram shows the general improvement of the students' pronunciation skills, the results can be interpreted correctly if the factors of influence are taken into consideration. Thompson points out that "proficiency in a foreign language depends on a person's language learning ability, motivation, learning environment, intensity of instruction, and prior experience in learning foreign languages... Last, but not least, it depends on the level of proficiency the person wishes to attain" (Thompson, 2014). These so-called factors of influence in our research can be attendance, class participation and homework completeness, initial pronunciation skills, and learners' language abilities or age. Thus, the course was especially effective for two groups of students: those with poor (S4, S6, S19, S20) or good initial pronunciation skills (S2, S7, S13, S14, and S18), but both groups needed to work really hard during the entire semester. The other students (S1, S3, S5, S8, S10, S11, S12, S15, S16, and S17) managed to soften their accent, but not significantly, because of their poor attendance, class participation, homework completion or simply age/low language abilities.
In order to detect the impact of the flipped classroom on course goal 1 and course goal 2, the results of the two written tests in the control and experimental groups are presented comparatively in the following figure:
Мир Науки
9 8,8 8,6 8,4 8,2 8 7,8 7,6 7,4 7,2
л / у
л У
А У
А
г
□ Control Group
□ Experimental Group
Phonetic Test
Phonetic Analysis
Figure 2. Written test results in flipped english phonetics course
The diagram shows that the phonetic test results are approximately the same in both groups. It can be explained by the fact that traditional English Phonetics Course was theory-based and students were expected to memorize all the definitions. But simple memorization is not effective in the activities involving higher-order thinking processes. That's why the control group demonstrated a lower score in comparison with the experimental one in the phonetic analysis.
At the end of the course, the information about the level of the students' satisfaction was collected by asking the students to leave their comments in the online survey. It showed that all the students were satisfied with the course content and goals. 83.3% were happy with their final level of theoretical knowledge, but the other students were not sure about it. As for the pronunciation, 75% found their improvement to be significant, while 25% - minor. One of the latter pointed out that the level of her performance depended on her own language abilities, but not the methods of teaching or the instructor.
In the online questionnaire, the students were also asked to express their opinions about the flipped method as they have never experienced it before. Practically all of them (with the exception of only one student) were very positive about it describing it as "effective", "useful", and "convenient". They also highlighted that "they learnt how to work on their own and well-organized independent work helped them achieve better results in pronunciation" (May 2016).
Discussion
The experiment showed that "flipped classroom" supported by computer technologies proved its effectiveness in English Phonetics Course for part-time university students in the country where English is a foreign language. It was designed in such a way so that even weak students could get basic knowledge of Phonetics, acquire the most necessary pronunciation skills and satisfy their learning needs. By the end of the course, excellent and hard-working students with good language abilities were able to improve their accent significantly. Besides, extremely busy students benefitted from it too, as they were offered a free access to all necessary course materials (e.g. examples, instructions, lists of resources, etc.). Moreover, the course was conducted totally in English and contributed to the students' overall language proficiency. Together with the use of computer technologies, it also increased the students' motivation towards English learning as the post-course survey showed. The learners did not experience any difficulty in using digital tools for their studies and even offered some other computer programs that could be successfully used in the course. By
and large, the designed course proved to be successful and flipped method showed its great dependence on the right integration of computer tools.
The post-course survey shed light on the students' perception of strengths and weaknesses of the course. All of the participants emphasized that the individual feedback that they received from the instructor after every audio file submission was extremely helpful as it guided them well on their way to their near-native pronunciation. Furthermore, the fact that they worked on their final goal gradually, step by step, helped them to manage their workload and make regular time for pronunciation practice. They also found the collaborative activities in Moodle discussion forums useful. Though group tasks were more demanding in terms of organization as they required learners to complete them approximately at the same time, the students expressed that they gained a lot from their peers' feedback. Moreover, it was obvious from the students' comments that "flipped classroom" took time to get used to. It required good organizational skills, especially timemanagement and self-discipline. Nevertheless, this fact had a positive effect on the learners' autonomy as the course offered more opportunities for independent learning.
In general, a systematic use of computer technologies required by specific studying conditions helped to organize instructional time (both online and face-to-face) more effectively. Besides, they helped to make the educational process more individualized, but increased preparation time and the teacher's workload.
Conclusion
The research presented in the article was a short-term study under quasi-experimental conditions. It serves to establish claims about possible benefits of the use of blended learning on the basis of "flipped classroom" in English as a Foreign Language. The gathered data are diverse and sufficient. The answers to the research question are received through a mixed-method analysis.
With regard to the impact of "flipped classroom" on the effectiveness of English Phonetics Course in comparison with the traditional course design, three important findings should be highlighted. First, "flipped classroom" helps to accomplish more learning goals relevant to students within a single course. It happens because low-order-thinking activities are accomplished before class, thus intensifying face-to-face instructional process. Second, this approach is especially effective for motivated and high achieving students of different language levels because they put a lot of effort into their studies. With the right class planning, weak students receive basic knowledge and acquire necessary skills, too. Thirdly, it provides wide opportunities for the development of learner's autonomy as it teaches students to organize time efficiently and work a lot independently. It takes time and effort to get used to such class organization at first, but then, if used systematically, it plays to students' benefits and needs.
With regard to the impact of the use of computer technologies on the effectiveness of English Phonetics Course, the following main observations should be paid specific attention to. Collaborative online tools showed their special effectiveness. The students were engaged in meaningful discussions about different phonetic phenomena that helped them reach a better level of understanding. Such activities did not require much attention from the instructor as learners received constructive feedback from their group mates. The computer tools/programs, which helped to organize well-guided independent pronunciation practice at home or provide students with individual feedback on their course progress, proved to be very efficient for the students, but demanded a lot of time and preparation from the instructor and made the teacher's job more challenging. Further research should explore this aspect and answer the question how to use the flipped classroom model for phonetic courses and reduce, but not increase instructor's workload, especially in organizing well-guided listening and pronunciation practice and proving students with feedback on their progress. Besides,
as the number of participants in the experiment was relatively low, future research should test these findings for language classes of a larger size and more years of data gathering should prove the proposed method.
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УДК 378.147:811:004
Литонина Надежда Владимировна
ФГБОУ ВПО «Нижегородский государственный лингвистический университет им. Н.А. Добролюбова»
Россия, Нижний Новгород Доцент кафедры «Английского языка» Кандидат педагогических наук E-mail: [email protected]
Совершенствование произносительной стороны английской речи студентами вечернего отделения в условиях развития учебной автономии методом перевернутого образования
Аннотация. В связи с сокращением времени, выделяемым на изучение фонетики английского языка в лингвистическом вузе, а также разным уровнем учебной подготовки студентов вечернего отделения, традиционное планирование курса фонетики английского языка потеряло свою былую эффективность. Так как современное образование развивается в русле педагогической парадигмы, которая ставит студента в цент образовательного процесса, учебные цели также претерпевают значительные изменения. Сложившаяся ситуация подтолкнула авторов статьи к поиску новой методики обучения, которая способна увеличить эффективность преподаваемого курса. Современная зарубежная педагогика активно пропагандирует результативность метода перевернутого образования и применение компьютерных технологий в обучении, что привело нас к их использованию для совершенствования произносительной стороны английской речи у студентов вечернего отделения в стране, где английский язык является иностранным. Данное исследование доказывает эффективность предлагаемой методики в вышеописанной образовательной ситуации для разных категорий обучающихся. Кроме того, авторами отмечается то, что данная методика создает благоприятные условия для успешного развития учебной автономии личности. Однако исследование выявило те её стороны, которые нуждаются в более детальном изучении будущими учёными.
Ключевые слова: компьютерные технологии в образовании; метод перевёрнутого образования; учебная автономия личности; фонетика английского языка
