Schedule: 2009-09-11 (15:45 - 16:30)
Parallel Session 4 (Room A-19)
Title: Teacher perception and use of a tutorial-based EFL blended course.
Authors: Sylvia Maciaszczyk
Abstract: In higher education, foreign language courses are increasignly enriched with an online tutorial component mainly providing students with grammar and vocabulary learning as well as listening and reading comprehension tasks. These online components are in most cases developed by langauge teachers with an interest in CALL. However, as decision-makers are aiming at a better integration of interactive tutors in ELT, tutorial components are becoming an obligatory part of language courses taught by teachers without any prior interest in CALL. It is, therefore, necessary to investigate the following: how teachers perceive such blended courses, how they see their teacher role change and how the tutorial component influences teaching techniques used in the classroom. The present paper is based on research concerning teachers’ perception of a blended tutorial-based course in a tertiary institution. The paper briefly outlines the course itself, with its syllabus design and coursebook adaptation principles. In its main part, the article reports on the inteviews with teachers who have been required to use the blended syllabus. The aim of the interviews was to see how the teachers reacted to the change, how they redefined their role as teachers, how they see the potential of blended courses in ELT, and, finally, how they would like blended teaching, based on tutors and CMC tools, to develop. Finally, on the basis of the research, the paper presents a list of recommendations concerning the syllabus design, coursebook adaptation and classroom teaching in a blended course. The recommendations may be of help for both teachers in blended courses as well as blended course authors and developers.
Keywords: blended, tutorial, teacher perception, integration, coursebook adaptation for CALL.
Main topic: Pedagogical change in technology integration
Biodata: Sylvia Maciaszczyk, M.A., is a Phd student in English Teaching Methodology at the Institute of English,Warsaw University (research on blended EFL courses, syllabi, and e-learning material development) and a lecturer at the English Studies Dept., Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, where she teaches courses in ELT Methodology and CALL.
Type of presentation Paper presentation
Paper category Reflective Practice
Target educational sector Higher education
Language of delivery English
EU-funded project No