The Application Of Flipped Classroom Model In College English Reading Setting-An Empirical Study Of Non-English Majors In Xinjiang University

In recent years,since the flipped classroom model was introduced from abroad into China by many scholars,further conducted and modified based on Chinese unique teaching environment,this new teaching approach has gradually popularized in higher education(Yu,2016).However,up to now,most empirical studies of flipped classroom model in China have often concentrated on the high school,and its application in college has placed more emphasis on the field of science and engineering instruction,such as medicine,mathematics and so on.While a few of them has explored the validity and feasibility of flipped classroom model in college English reading setting(Jia,Zhang & Shi,2016).It is known that English reading plays a crucial role in college English curriculum(Li,2017),the improvement of English reading ability will not only help students grasp the reading skills but also promote their English thinking skills as well as English proficiency.As there are still many downsides in the traditional English reading class,such as some instructors can not clarify the teaching training objectives of reading skills,so their teaching of reading is short of pertinence and availability(Zhu,2016).Meanwhile,the reading teaching method in traditional classroom is always unitary and has been obsolete,due to the teaching time constraint,some of the reading materials mainly focus on the textbook and the reading content is narrow to some degree and has been out-dated.Moreover,in the traditional English language education,English reading class has been hobbled by an overemphasis on vocabulary and grammar study,over-reliance on translation,and a reliance on the teacher-centered classroom rather than make some meaningful teaching adjustment based on students' individual difference(Huang,2016).Under such guidance of traditional teaching model,students with low learning interest and reading ability can not get the deeper understanding of reading text(Zhang,2013).The flipped classroom is the reversal of the traditional classroom,which applies the advanced educational technologies to make short teaching videos for students to learn the content knowledge at their own pace before class;consolidate and assimilate knowledge by involving themselves in various activities through small groups,accept the immediate feedback from peers and instructors in class;get more relevant information after class.In the flipped classroom,instructors merely act as the guider and facilitator to create an interactive and communicative learning environment in order to make students take part in the learning activities actively,further acquire knowledge and improve their own reading abilities.The present study is on the basis of social constructivism,offering a new perspective and presenting an action research aimed to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of the flipped classroom model implemented in college English reading setting.Thanks to the teaching internship in Xinjiang university,the author has the opportunity to conduct this experiment and design a new teaching approach of flipped classroom model which is applicable in college English reading class by combining the previous teaching experience and relevant theoretical model of flipped classroom.Under the guidance of this new teaching approach of flipped classroom model,students can improve their English reading proficiency by involving themselves in task-based and problem-based activities through student-student interaction and teacher-student interaction in pre-,in-and after class.The main scope of this action research conducted over three months in Xinjiang university,85 freshmen four parallel classes of non-English majors were selected as the study subjects,42 participants from two classes formed the experimental group that followed the flipped classroom model while the rest of students from the other two classes formed the control group following the traditional lecture based approach.By comparing and analyzing the dada collected from students' achievements in pre-test and post-test,their responses to the interviews,pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire through SPSS software,combining the instructor's notes on the students' engagement in the process of their English learning,it can be found that students in the flipped classroom achieved higher scores in their final experimental reading test than those in the traditional classroom,but not only the final examination mean score indicated statistical significance,surveys indicated that most students in this study seemed to enjoy learning English in a flipped learning environment.Moreover,students in the flipped classroom to be more engaged in the learning process than those in the traditional classroom.In addition,it is also noted that,due to the inadequate multimedia teaching technologies,small sample size,incomplete evaluation system,immature process tracing system and so on,this study inevitably has some limitations.Such as,considering the individual difference,students with weak self-directed learning ability will not benefit from the flipped classroom model.Moreover,the flipped classroom model needs the instructors with high teaching comprehensive qualities and professional competency: the adequate teaching preparedness before class,the well-ordered teaching arrangement in class,the great attention on students' individual difference,the monitoring frequency towards students' self-learning and so on.These all above presented factors play important roles in the implementation of flipped classroom model in college English reading setting.Therefore,the future study of flipped classroom model should focus on cultivating instructors' teaching comprehensive qualities,enlarging the sample size and diversity in order to explore its validity and feasibility in a wider range.