Research On The Application Of The Flipped Classroom Teaching Model In College English Teaching

With the development of information technology, the flipped classroom is seen as a novel approach to college English teaching reform. With good teaching results are achieved in the flipped classroom abroad, experts and researchers at home also begin to focus on the flipped classroom. They try to find out whether and how this teaching model can improve college English teaching effects. Thus, it is significant to do the present experimental research. The subjects participating in the present study are from Guangxi Normal University. In the year of 2009, the TPA (Task-checking, Problem-solving, Autonomy-learning) teaching model was applied in college English teaching in Guangxi Normal University. In 2015, a new teaching model, namely the flipped classroom teaching model, was applied in college English teaching in Guangxi Normal University, aiming to further its achievements on effective college English teaching. The present experimental study will be a reference to verify whether it is feasible to apply the flipped classroom in college English teaching by providing scientific data, which will enrich research results in this field.The subjects participating in the present study are Grade 2014 non-English major undergraduates of four intact classes from Guangxi Normal University. Two classes constitute Experimental Group (EG) in which the flipped classroom teaching model is applied, and the other two classes constitute Control Group (CG) in which the TPA teaching model is applied. The four classes in the present study are all from A-level college English classes. Professor Mo Yuxiu, an experienced college English teacher in GXNU, is in charge of both the Experimental Group and the Control Group. The experiment begins from March,2015 and ends in June,2015, involving fourteen 80-minute sessions for a whole semester. Before the experiment, both of the Experimental Group and the Control Group are required to take part in the pre-test examination and complete the English Learner Autonomy Questionnaire. During the experiment, the flipped classroom teaching model is applied to the Experimental Group while the TPA teaching model is applied to the Control Group. After a whole semester’s experiment, both of the Experimental Group and the Control Group are required to participate in the post-test examination and finish the English Learner Autonomy Questionnaire at the end of the semester. Thus, the quantitative data of pre-and-post experiment can be collected. Finally, the collected data are analyzed through independent-samples T test and paired-samples T test in order to find out the differences between the two groups.The two research questions addressed in the present study are:(1) Does the flipped classroom teaching model effectively strengthen students’learner autonomy ability in college English learning? If so, does the flipped classroom teaching model have a greater effect than the TPA teaching model? (2) Does the flipped classroom teaching model play a positive role in improving students’proficiency test score in college English learning? If so, does the flipped classroom teaching model have a greater effect than the TPA teaching model?Through the study, the author has found out the following results:(1) Students do have slight improvement in their learner autonomy ability after the experiment in the flipped classroom teaching model; however, the study result also suggests that there is no significant improvement. Comparatively, the TPA teaching model is more effective in improving students’ learner autonomy. (2) Students in the flipped classroom teaching model have significant improvement in their English proficiency test score. The flipped classroom teaching model is proven to be more effective in improving students" proficiency test score in college English learning.Based on these findings, some suggestions are proposed for college English teaching reform and further application of the flipped classroom teaching model. For college English reform, the suggestions are as follows:developing awareness of college English reform, improving environment of autonomous learning, realizing the change of teachers’ roles, improving teachers’ information literacy, developing learners’ cooperative and critical thinking ability and improving learners’ autonomous ability. For further application of the flipped classroom, the suggestions are as follows: setting up instructional strategies for the flipped classroom teaching model and setting up evaluation mode for the flipped classroom teaching model.