Developing Adult Learners’ Language Competence in Culture-Based Blended-Learning Course

Abstract

During the last two decades, due to technological possibilities and the spread of the Internet, new forms of learning have originated as an alternative to traditional face-to-face learning – e-learning, online learning, hybrid learning, blended learning, ubiquitous learning, etc. They have become even more popular due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the only solution to implement learning at universities and adult education institutions. This paper will focus on a blended-learning language course designed for adult learners. The aim of the current research is to evaluate the course created and the development of adult learners’ English language competence during the course implementation in six EU countries – Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic. 227 adult learners and ten English-language teachers were involved in the course piloting. Research methods applied: learners’ survey after the course completion, unstructured observation of learners done by teachers during the course, and structured interviews with the teachers after the course implementation. In this paper, the observation results and the findings from teachers’ interviews will be analysed. The findings highlight both positive aspects and challenges of the course created. Learners have gained cultural knowledge, increased their vocabulary, and developed reading skills, while at the same time improvements in developing learners’ listening and writing skills are also required.1

Implementation of a blended learning course for adult learners during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…It has to be added that a course trial was conducted, as suggested in the course framework, among 227 learners from these six countries in 2019, where the face-to-face stage was implemented in class. The results obtained indicate a higher skills' development and greater student satisfaction (Luka, 2021a(Luka, , 2021b, thus emphasizing the necessity of live interaction.…”

“…Luka, 2019a) and delivered to adult learners in six countries (cf. Luka, 2019bLuka, , 2021a2021b). During the second stage, a culture-based BL multilingual course in ten languages was created and delivered to target groups of adult learners from March 2020 to January 2021.…”

Blended Learning for Improving English Writing Skills among University Students: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Four studies were from China (Wang & Huang, 2020;Chen, 2021;Sun & Asmawi, 2023;Meng, 2023), two studies were from the Philippines (Ebron & Mabuan, 2021;Hajan & Padagas, 2021) and one study was from South Korea So & Lee (2013); Thailand Dawilai et al (2017), Japan Dawilai et al ( 2021), Malaysia Leduning & Wah (2013), the United States (Geithner & Pollastro, 2015), Canada (Stouck, 2019), Saudi Arabia Chatta & Haque (2020) and the United Kingdom (Russo et al, 2022). A further study focused on curriculum implementation in six European Union countries -Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic (Luka, 2021). Four studies used quantitative research designs (Dawilai et al, 2017;Stouck, 2019;Dawilai et al, 2021;Meng, 2023] and one study used a qualitative research design (Ebron & Mabuan, 2021).…”