Cambodian EFL university students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom: An action research study

Abstract

A flipped classroom model has been identified as a new classroom instruction in the 21st century. Since its emergence, the flipped classroom has been a subject of empirical studies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in various contexts. This action research study, adopting a qualitative approach, aimed to explore EFL university students’ perceptions of implementing the flipped classroom model in writing classes in Cambodia. An online open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data from three Year 1 classes consisting of 104 students studying an academic writing course called Writing Skills 102 in the second semester of the foundation year of the academic year 2021-2022 at the Department of English of the Institute of Foreign Languages of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The findings revealed students’ positive perceptions of the flipped classroom model despite some challenges. These findings solidify the benefits of the flipped classroom model on students’ learning experiences, making it clear that the flipped classroom holds immense potential to solve writing instructional issues and transform EFL writing classrooms in the post-COVID-19 world.