Research On College English Teachers’ Effective Teaching Behaviors In Blended Learning

In the information era,teachers are no longer taken as the only source of information,and the traditional lecturing model tends to result in low effective teaching.With the credits of College English course for the non-English majors getting compressed these years,simple classroom teaching model fails to guarantee teaching effectiveness.The decline of MOOC boom indicates simple online learning model also turns out to be problematic.In response,blended learning,which combines face-to-face classroom teaching and online learning,has been developing by leaps and bounds.As the executors of teaching,teachers play a crucial role in blended learning.This dissertation aims to first establish a framework of College English teachers’effective teaching behaviors in blended learning context and then investigate the status quo of some universities based on the framework.It also explores the factors which influence the teachers’ effective teaching behaviors and the mechanism of these factors.The research questions are:what is the status quo of the College English blended learning?How do College English teachers conduct the effective teaching behaviors in blended learning?What factors influence these effective behaviors?How do these factors influence the behaviors?Based on the above research questions,this dissertation adopts mixed research methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative methods.Firstly,based on pilot study(open-ended interview)and literature review,a framework of College English teachers’ effective teaching behaviors and affecting factors in blended learning context is established.And then by referring to the literature and the pilot study interview the constructs in the framework are operationalized to develop the questionnaire and the outlines of interviews.Next,35 universities are chosen to carry out data collection.Concerning the sample,two variables are taken into account,i.e.,the levels and types of the universities.379 valid questionnaire sample data are collected from the College English teachers who apply blended learning model.Meanwhile,interviews are carried out from some teachers and non-English major students of these universities to provide triangulation and explanation for the questionnaire.And three teachers are chosen as the ease study subjects to further explore the status quo,affecting factors and mechanism.SPSS23.0 is used to process the questionnaire data and NVivo11.0 the interview data.The results show that blended learning is practiced mainly in EGP(English for General Purposes)courses.An average of 2 online platforms are used by each teacher.Most teachers take online learning as assistance and supplement of the face-to-face classroom teaching.Students carry out online learning mainly by their own electronic devices.Online learning is characterized as multi-tasking,with listening and writing practice being the most frequent tasks.Teachers adopt a combination of formative and summative assessment forms,with classroom activities participation,written assignment and final exam as the most frequently used forms.Self or peer assessment is seldom adopted.As indicated in both data and theoretical analysis,College English teachers’effective teaching behaviors in blended learning context include 5 aspects:online learning management,teacher support,face-to-face classroom teaching,diversified assessment and individualized teaching.Teachers do well in teacher support and classroom teaching.A not so good job is done in online learning management and individualized teaching.Major factors affecting College English teachers’ effective teaching behaviors in blended learning context are identified,which fall into two categories,internal factors and external factors of the teachers.The former refers to teaching beliefs,teaching abilities and motivation and the latter the situation of the online platforms,institution environment and the students.There are correlations among the three internal factors,three external factors and among external and internal factors,which jointly affect College English teachers’effective teaching behaviors.Based on the findings,some implications and suggestions are proposed on online resources building and teachers’ development in blended learning context.