Steps towards flipping classes in Higher Education (ESP)

Abstract

The paper investigates the gradual transition from traditional methods of language instruction to delivering teaching material in a blended format and reports on some of the findings of a research grant dedicated to measuring the impact of flipped learning on students' development of productive skills. This transition reconsiders the learning/teaching stages and aims at both reducing teachers' lecturing time in class and increasing students' speaking time, so that more emphasis is given to productive oral activities and to fostering fluency. The process of reversing the learning and teaching stages prompts changes in the curriculum planning, in restructuring part of the materials available and reconsidering the role of both language instructor and student. These aspects are submitted under the concept of flipped learning and pinpoint the first steps involved in creating video materials for students in Cultural Tourism. The author reflects on choice of material (units, topics), curriculum changes (task-based and competence-based syllabi), comparing different learning environments and also on the advantages and challenges of implementing flipped methods. The benefits of transitioning from traditional to blended-learning methods stem from several aspects regarding the educational spectrum and its stakeholders. At the institutional level, it serves the language policy of the university and its long-term strategy of developing more blended teaching corpus and of encouraging multicultural and intercultural awareness through foreign language learning and teaching. At the European level, the focus on the proliferation of blended strategies, on Open Educational Resources and on facilitating the development of transversal and cross-sector skills are proof of the changes that need to be adopted by all European universities. At the local level, students' needs and their preparation for a mobile, ever-changing labor market acknowledge the role of language instruction in formal and informal interaction, inside and outside the classroom.