Applying Blended Learning Method in Teaching English at the University of Da Nang, Viet Nam

Abstract

Blended learning addresses the way e-learning is combined with traditional teaching method and independent study approach to create a new, hybrid teaching methodology which has been increasingly applied in teaching foreign languages today. However, it requires a fundamental change in the way students approach the learning methods which, in turn, could bring about expecting or unexpecting results. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss advantages and challenges that students, especially non-English major students of the University of Da Nang, often face when they take some blending English courses. The researcher has set up and studied three groups of students with different majors, namely economics, technology, and business English-from different universities belonging to the University of Da Nang, who are taking some blending English courses such as DynEd, Life or other ones designed on Moodle platform by teachers of English. Because of differences in the major,the objectives of studying English, and incoming English proficiency of these three groups of students, their attitudes toward and English learning results could be not simillar, or even extremelly different. However, the factors which have big influence on these students' learning results are their inappropriate application of blended learning approach and their unadequate practice experience on using IT tools as taking blended English courses. Besides, the paper attemps to suggest some solutions to challenges that students often deal with as taking English courses in blended environment under the real pedagogical conditions in Vietnam.