The Contribution of Blended Teaching Approach to the Promotion of Learner Autonomy

TIAN Zhong-shan,ZHANG Hong

Compared with traditional face-to-face teaching and traditional e-learning model， blended teaching， an innovative teaching method， has drawn teachers and researchers attention. In terms of teachers， especially language teachers at the tertiary level are encouraged to use this method for different learning experiences it offers. And much literature research has proved that blended teaching approach can improve students learning efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore， there is a trend that blended teaching as an alternative approach to traditional classroom teaching should be adopted and popularized. However， on the basis of the authors personal teaching experiences， the following research questions are put forward： First， in the course of College English， are students in blended teaching approach more engaged in their learning than those in the traditional formats？ Second， what are the perceptions of blended teaching approach among both language teachers and language learners？ Third， can blended teaching approach really promote learners autonomy？ Bearing these questions in mind， the authors conducted a survey among language teachers and students in Inner Mongolia University of Technology （IMUT）， and it comes to a conclusion that the blended teaching approach can help to improve learners autonomy； however， not in a very positive and motivated way. The underlying reasons for this finding are need investigating further.

Keywords： blended teaching approach， learners autonomy， face-to-face teaching

Introduction

The current survey implemented by the teachers from College of Foreign Languages of IMUT aims to explore the effectiveness of blended teaching mode in promoting students learning autonomy in college English teaching and to determine the suitable college English teaching mode for College of Foreign Languagesof IMUT. After the reform of credit system， teaching hours for non-English majors have been shortened， which results in the shrink of the teaching content， lack of classroom interaction and single teaching way （that is usually taught inform of reading， listening， etc separately）. On the basis of the previous teaching pattern of “reading and writing in large class （full scale of the students） + speaking in small class（half scale of the students） + online listening”，the blended teaching mode of College English has beenpracticed in the college English class for the students recruited in 2018 in the second term1. The specific curriculum framework is as follows.

The College English in Blended Teaching Approach

Inner Mongolia University of Technology （IMUT） in China launched such a programme in the spring of 2019. The curriculum designates that the teaching should be given based on the blended teaching approach. In the programme， blended teaching environment was constructed by combining face-to-face teaching （traditional teaching in classroom） and teaching in practice with technology-mediated2 learning （online learning）.

The Hierarchical College English Language Teaching Framework in Blended Teaching Approach

The framework is mainly designed in the following two aspects： The English curriculum continues the hierarchical teaching model. After entering the university， the freshmen take the hierarchical examination， which mainly focuses on four basic skills of listening， reading， writing and translation. According to scores results， the students are divided into three levels： A， B and C （see Table 1）. During the basic stage， the students are required to study EGP with the textbooks， in which Level A begins with Book 3， B begins with Book 2 and C with Book 1. While in the advanced stage， Level A students are supposed to learn the extended courses on culture & language3 in the third term and EAP4 in the fourth term； Level B to learn culture & language in the fourth term； and there is no extended courses for Level C students.

The college English curriculum system （see Table 2） includes the knowledge teaching and ability training with the ratio of 2：1. It is divided into visual-listening， speaking （VLS hereafter） and reading， writing， translation（RWT hereafter）. The knowledge teaching or the theoretical instruction is given by the means of face-to-face teaching mode， supplemented by self-regulated online learning. The ability training is carried out in the forms of： self-study online， exchange & demonstration in-class， and collaboration learning after-class. The knowledge teaching focuses on the input of the texts given and the analysis of the key and difficult points， whereas the ability training cooperates with theory course， but it is not limited to the content of the knowledge teaching， students are given the chance to output what they have learned in the theoretical course in the form of presentation， role play and other various forms.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of the blended teaching approach and the Learners Autonomy. More specifically， this survey aims to address the following three questions： （1） In the course of College English， are students in blended teaching approach more engaged in their learning than those in the traditional formats？ （2） What are the perceptions of Blended Teaching Approach among both language teachers and language learners？ （3） Can blended teaching approach really promote learner autonomy？

Literature Review

Blended Teaching Approach

The latest technologies， especially Virtual-Reality （VR hereafter） technology， are widely used in most educational institutions in the world. Besides traditional face-to-face teaching mode， various high-tech teaching modes， such as blended teaching＼learning and online teaching＼learning are universally utilized in universities. Horton （2000） pointed out that among these alternatives， blended learning is the most prevalent since it possesses the advantages of both traditional instruction and e-learning.Sharma & Barrett （2007） defined Blended Learning as a combination of different learning methods， techniques and resources and applying them in an interactively meaningful learning environment. According to Picciano （2009）， “blended learning is defined as a combination of traditional face-to-face learning with online content or other activities supported by information and communication technology” （p. 96）.

“Blended teaching approach， to some degree， alters the traditional teaching modes in that it adopts preview study online before class， discussion and presentation in class and production and reflection after class” （Franks， 2002， p. 1479）. Many surveys have examined the benefits of the blended teaching， such as the teachers can highlight the difference between what knowledge the students should know and what knowledge they should use by means of online learning， the students can have more opportunity to practice what they have learned online and there is an increasing drive to apply the blending teaching with Small Private Online Course （SPOC hereafter） and online course into college education in China. However， there are a few investigations on the application of blended teaching mode in the college English teaching.

Wang and Wu （2017） stated that the innovation of blended teaching mode is emerging and has been applied in College English. Yang， Wei and Zhang （2017） explore the practical use of blended teaching approach in English as a foreign language （EFL hereafter） teaching and suggest that the organic connection of on-line and off-line teaching models ensures the quality of English blended teaching.

Learners Autonomy

“There is evidence that blended learning may promote learners autonomy” （Reynard， 2007， p. 525）.“student-centered learning enables students to develop communicative and collaborative skills through group work， allow students to direct their own learning...” （Aguti， Walters， & Wills， 2014， p. 391）. “autonomy is of general concern in second or foreign language learning” （Koosha， 2016， p. 68）. The previous studies（Pornpimon， 2017） indicate that the application of incorporated teaching mode of e-learning， blended learning， and traditional teaching can promote students autonomous learning， and they are satisfied with e-Learning and blended learning method. Language professionals who have access to an Internet computer classroom are in a position to teach students valuable lifelong learning skills and strategies for becoming autonomous learners（Shetzer & Warschauer， 2000）. Below is an introduction to the relevant literature in China.

Yang， Wei and Zhang （2017） have found out that the basic principle of English blended teaching is to highlight the autonomous role of students in language learning. Zhu （2016） based on one year of college English blended instruction and experiment， and found that students subject position， subjectivity， independent learning skill， problem-solving skill， skill of cooperation， communication and leadership can be improved. Huang and Li（2014） stated that the blended teaching mode of college English can mobilize the initiative of students to stimulate students enthusiasm and interest in learning English. Similar result can also be found in the article of Wei， Pei， Liu and Gao （2014）. They integrated the use of the advantages of classroom teaching， multimedia resources and the high-quality teaching resources of network online platform， built up the blended teaching mode， and successfully applied it and improved students autonomous learning ability.

To sum up， many scholars at home and abroad have carried out empirical researches on the application of blended teaching in many disciplines， but few investigations have been conducted on language teaching， partly because of the complexity of language courses. Take college English course for example. There are many types of college English courses in China： English for general purpose （EGP）， which includes reading， writing and translation courses， viewing， listening and speaking courses， online courses， etc.； English for specific purpose（ESP）， which covers academic English reading， academic English writing， public speech， American history， British history， etc.； English for occupational purpose （EOP）， such as law English， English for teaching， Business English， Truism English. At the same time， English courses have been designed in the following aspects， such as curriculum orientation； curriculum objectives； curriculum content， and evaluation mechanism， etc.. In addition， English courses last for a long time， for 3 to 4 semesters in most universities. Therefore， it is difficult to construct an all-round and effective blended teaching patternforcollege English because of the complicated characteristics of English courses mentioned above.

Methodology

To achieve the research purpose， a mixed methods was adopted as convergent parallel research design： a quantitative research with questionnaires and a qualitative research with three questions designed by Zhou （2016）， Shan （2017） and Chen （2014）， developed by the researchers after taking three experts opinions. This study is conducted by the authors and their colleagues for 12 weeks with a total of 48 hours of class in the spring of 2019. The questionnaires were delivered at the last class and the participants in this study were the 531 freshmen students enrolled in the year of 2018 and 64 teachers who teach College English in IMUT. The qualitative research questions were asked respectively to three students （from Level A， B and C for each） and three teachers（ages range from 30s， 40s and 50s） after their questionnaires investigation.

Results and Discussion

Data were collected through an online survey and open questions administered through www.wjx.cn. All students and teachers were voluntary in joining this questionnaire and the choices provided would not relate their identity information and their participation （or not） would have no influence on their score and performance of College English course.

Hypothesis 1： In the course of College English， are students in blended teaching approach more engaged in their learning than those in the traditional formats？

Question 1. How much time you spent in English learning in this term compared with the one in the last term？（two selections for students ONLY ）

Question 3. How do you think of the online resources provided by your teachers before the class？（for students ONLY）

The data in question 1 reveal that in blended teaching approach， for most of the students， they spent longer time learning English than before no matter in class or after class. “In online and blended learning environments， a key determinant of effectiveness is the ability of the online environment to engage the learner” （Cundell & Sheepy， 2018， p. 87）. As question 2 shows， the most vital element influencing students is interest. No matter what kind of form or teaching design in the blended teaching approach will be， the teachers should always put priority on the students interest； question 3 illustrates the students attitudes towards online resources. Most of the students thought that the teacher provided enough resources.“Computer-based learning is a potentially powerful resource that is not used as much as traditional book-based learning environments.” （Mayer & Moreno， 2002， p. 108）.

To have further understanding about this finding， here are some excerpts from the interview for reference， and the interview question for students is “What do you think about English learning in this term and in the last term？” and “Do you think the students in your class engaged in their learning， and do youthink they like this approach？” for teachers.

Student 1： “I think the time to meet the English teacher is too short， and I want to study more in classroom.”

Student 2： “The English class in this term is very different from the one in last term， and I like to study on the internet.”

Student 3： “I feel very difficult to learn English in this way. I have to study many things by myself before the class and sometimes I am too busy.”

Teacher 1： “I really believe that most of my students are engaged in this approach， because they have no other choice. They have to study in this way to pass the course.”

Teacher 2： “I have no idea whether students like the blended approach or not， because I didnt ask them. For differences between blended and traditional way， I just feel its so big， and I think every student can know that. ”

Teacher 3： “Of course， they do. Because only if they follow the blended way， can they know what I am saying and teaching in class. And the students performances in the class activities are better than it is in the past.”

The interviews show that students really sense the differences between the blended approach and from the traditional way. However， whether they have the strong motivation and interest is still a problem and they showed a little reluctance and unwillingness to study in this way. From the teachers perspective， they are sure about the differences and somewhat feel confident about the engagement of the students in this new approach. However， none of them mentioned whether it is difficult for students to follow the blended teaching mode. When learning in a blended language environment， students are supposed to know when to take actions and when they can hand over responsibility. In order to do so， “they not only have to act as autonomous language learners， but also have to handle different degrees of responsibilities over theprocess and the content of learning” （Neumeier， 2005， p. 175）.

Hypothesis 2： What are the perceptions of Blended Teaching Approach among both language teachers and language learners？

Question 4. Have you ever taught or studied in blended teaching approach before？ （for students and teachers）

Question 5. Do you like studying the college English in blended teaching approach？ （for students ONLY）

Question 6. Whats your idea about the blended teaching approach？ （for teachers ONLY）

Question 7. Would you like to receive the relevant training of the blended teaching approach？ （for teachers ONLY）

The results suggest that students perceptions of the blended approach appear very similar. Although nearly 72% teachers believe the blended approach is the new tendency and they are willing to receive the relevant training， however， as question 4 indicates that almost one third of the students and the teachers know about it just only for a short time， therefore， it still takes time to testify whether it can overcome the challenges from other teaching mode. Furthermore， the direct answer for question 5 is that more than 31% students do not like studying or are not sure whether like studying in a blended teaching approach， which is quite different from the result of Gülbahar & Madran （2009）. According to their investigation on the students perceptions about student equity and autonomy in the blended learning environment， they found that the majority considered themselves to be autonomous and equal in the blended learning environment.

The following interview excerpts can add further understanding about hypothesis 2 and the question “What is your idea about the blended teaching approach？” are given to both the teachers and the students.

Student 1： “Its good and very new to me， but many courses use this way in this term and we learn many things in the library and dormitory， I really want to study more with the teachers.”

Student 2： “I like the videos and the studying materials uploaded by our English teachers， also I like study wherever and whenever I like， but I dont like studying in class， always talking， discussion and I dislike that， I dont know what to say and dont want to say anything.”

Student 3： “I dont like this approach at all. As freshmen， we are not so accustomed to the way of self-learning in college ，and there are too many courses， such as Maths， require us to do many many things before class and after class， sometimes I just feel disappointed because the college study is quite different from what I have expected.”

Teacher 1： “You know， I am not very young， and at the very beginning I really did not want to do it. I have the pressure from the department leaders and then I joined in the group to build-up our course.Actually I have never had the chance to experience so strongly that I belong to this group.”

Teacher 2： “The most impressive feeling about the blended teaching approach is that I have a sense of belonging. Now I am just so accustomed to changing from solo-work into a collaborative one. Also I feel that I become more authoritative and confident in my class.”

Teacher 3： “Its hard to say. I benefit a lot from it. Like keeping pace with the new tech thing and it seems that I have had better improvement than before； however， The preparation work for teaching is much more than that in the past， and I dont know the real and exact deficiency since I just used it for about two months.”

The interviews can be analyzed respectively. From the students perspective， flexibility of time and place are beneficial to their learning； whereas， there is much necessity of becoming self-learners， taking greater responsibility for their own learning are the greatest challenges for them.From teachers perspective， providing technology-enhanced opportunities， increasing cooperation with colleagues can benefit； whereas， the pressure from the school， and new technology skills can be a challenge. “Although in blended types of courses， face-to-face and technology-based learning opportunitiesare combined for effective use， there is no formula for aligning time and technology in a preciseway” （Gülbahar & Madran， 2009， p. 2）.

Hypothesis 3： Can blended teaching approach really promote learners autonomy？

Question 8. In most cases of the study in this term， how do you deal with the difficulties？ （for students ONLY）

Question 9. If you have little or no interest in discussion with teacher or other classmates ， what do you think might be the reason or reasons？ （multiple selection for students ONLY）

Question 10. As far as your performance in English study in this term is concerned ， what do you think might be the reason or reasons？（multiple selection for students ONLY）

Questions 8 and 9 are concerned with a survey on the solutions of dealing with problems and difficulties for the students in a blended approach. The blended approach advocates students expression and communication by means of collaboration in groups and peer interaction. However， the survey data show that most students search the internet for help （69.68%） and the reason lies most in the unwillingness of active discussion in class. Uz & Uzun （2018） state that “the use of blended learning was effective in terms of improving self-regulated and self-directed learning skills of the learners”. But the authors propose that the teachers should pay more attention to group-work， communication and interaction in class in order to let students regain confidence and exchange ideas actively. The result from question 10 shows that there are various reasons contribute to the unsatisfied performances of the students in blended approach， and among which the negative attitude and d-motivation in class ranks the most.

As to the question “Do you think the blended teaching approach can promote your＼learners autonomy， and how？” both the teachers and the students， and the authors interpret “autonomy” to the interviewees as the “study by learners actively， reflectively and extensively”. We may have a better understanding of hypothesis 3.

Student 1： “Yes， I think so.I can do a lot of things by myself， I can read， watch the materials online on my own.But to tell you the truth， I do not like to study more， because Id like to enjoy the college life myself.”

Student 2： “I think so. But I dont think I can study reflectively and extensively， even actively. I dont know. I just finish the assignments given by my teachers before the class， but I usually finish the assignment to the last minute， and sometimes it was done by my friends.”

Student 3： “It depends. Before class， I agree because we have to solve many problems by ourselves.Sometimes I look up for other reference， and I think its kind of autonomy； for the time in class， I really dont think so.The teacher usually asks us to discuss， and to make presentation.And what I mean is that we are learning but not in a very ‘a(chǎn)utonomous way.”

Teacher 1： “Of course it can. We just set aside a quarter time leaving for them to study online by themselves.I definitely believe they studied actively， reflectively and extensively online， if not， they would not dare to come into the class. Also in class， I often let them share their opinion and discuss， and I think it is also the autonomy. ”

Teacher 2： “Critically speaking， I think the students were pushed to learn by us and we were pushed to do in this way by our department. We never think of the efficiency， or whether the students can become autonomous learners， or even independent learners. I dont mean the blended way is unfavorable， perhaps just because we are not good at it， maybe we are immature of using it.”

Teacher 3： “In my opinion， I think I did that. I find more and more students can be involved in my class， and some are willingly to answer questions bravely. But I really feel its a tough job for me， and I have an illusion that through the study during this term I did many things actively， reflectively and extensively.”

Both the interviews with students and teachers give some hints about the key question we are eager to know， that is，can blended teaching approach really promote the learners autonomy？ The interviews prove that， it has some influence towards the learners mostlywith regards to the time， place and the individuals. As Siobhan says，“the approach promotes autonomy in their learning as they were responsible for the amount of time” （Siobhan et al.， 2012， p. 466）. But our students do not achieve that “the promotion of autonomy in language learning has been sustained and nourished by innovative work in the field of self-directed learning and self-access” （Benson & Voller， 1997， p. 5）.

Conclusion and Implications

Through the comprehensive investigation on the application of blended teaching approach in College English courses in minority region in China， this paper conducted a large-scale and faculty-level survey on the influence of blended teaching approach on the improvement of learners autonomy. From the data of questionnaires and the interviews， the authors found that the blended approach offered more alternatives of language teaching for college English teachers in IMUT， and most of the teachers made considerate preparation before the class and cooperated collaboratively， while all the teachers provided rich teaching materials as much as possible， arranged more reasonable teaching activities， and they did make the limited time and space in class to get greater expansion. However， although the blended teaching approach helped improve learners autonomy to some degree， it did not work in a very positive and motivated way. The suggestion for further study is that the comparison of the students interests between the blended approach and the traditional way should be investigated， and the students opinion on the proper application of blended approach should be examined. More importantly， since both the students and teachers concern the efficiency and the effectiveness of studentsautonomy in the blended approach greatly， so how to make blended teaching maximize its most use and function needs to be verified. Last but not the least， it is a crucial to guide learners to study with strong motivation and encourage them to study subconsciously， actively， reflectively and extensively. As Moore and Kearsley （1996） put forward that careful consideration of the issue of learners autonomy is central to the success of a learning environment.

During the process of the implementationof the more effective blended approach， the authors highlight the following three points：

Grasping the essence of blended approach

Two authors agree that the first and foremost thing of carrying out the blended teaching approach is that all the teachers （especially the authorities） should grasp the essence of the approach. Only if we understand it fully and clearly can we adopt it properly and effectively. “Teaching method ineffectiveness can lead to poor performance of the students” （Hameed， Badii & Cullen， 2008， p. 10）.

Being student-centered

It is clear that if universities reduce face-to-face contact hours in foreign language teaching programme. This is likely to have a negative impact on students performance and autonomy. Adhere to the“student-oriented” teaching concept， teachers are supposed to pay attention to the transformation of teaching and learning methods in blended approach， fully mobilize studentsenthusiasm and initiatives in learning， maximize their potentials， and cultivate their autonomy， independent thinking and innovative consciousness. In this process， teachers must consider carefully the needs of students and it is better to have a complete survey and research at the early stage of the course .

Enhancing the ability of teaching design

The key factor for learning is considered to be the teaching method design and its effectiveness. The most important aim of a blended learning design is to findout the most effective and efficient combination of the two modes of learning for the individual learning subjects， contexts and objectives （Neumeier， 2005， p. 164）. Teachers should bear in mind that they should be clear about every step of the whole procedure. Furthermore， teachers had better design the activities flexibly by the combination of the online learning and in-class learning.

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