Effects of a Blended-Flipped English program on the learning of Academic and Administrative Staff in a Higher Education Institution

Abstract

This article presents the results of an exploratory study about the contributions of a blended English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning program, with a flipped classroom instructional model, to the development of the listening and reading skills of academic and administrative staff of a higher education institution. The research followed a mixed method approach framed on variables such as the development of oral (listening) and written (reading) comprehension activities. The results present some contributions of the blended-flipped instructional model to the EFL teaching and learning processes, as well as to development of professors’ and administrative staff’s communicative competences in English. This study highlights how the combination of blended learning with a flipped classroom approach to proficiency program design opens new possibilities in the language learning instructional design field, and demonstrates the blended-flipped model’s positive effects on language learning. It is also novel in its proof of the effectiveness of creating a program based on the professional development needs of the University’s community of professors and administrative staff from various disciplines.