An Empirical Study On The Application Of Flipped Classroom In College English Teaching

The 21st century has witnessed a rapid development in the information technology and the Internet is through the whole society,providing brand new learning environment for us.In the 10-year Development Plan of Education Information(2011-2020)issued by the Ministry of Education,it clearly points out that a deep integration of information technology and tertiary education is an effective way to improve the overall quality of higher education.The College English Teaching Guide(2007)also claims that teachers should make full use of multi-media and network technology to apply new teaching models,so as to improve the traditional teaching model based mainly on teachers'lectures.Under the background of information technology,flipped classroom becomes popular.According to constructivism,learning is the process to construct knowledge,not to accept knowledge.The aim of flipped classroom is to develop students' autonomous learning ability to construct knowledge and really master it.For a long time,although researchers have studied flipped classroom on a quantity of aspects,nevertheless,there is a paucity of exploration into how to apply it better.Aiming at reforming the defects in traditional college English teaching,this study attaches importance to arouse teachers'and students'positivity,especially change teacher-centered into student-centered in class to fully develop students' autonomous learning ability and cooperative learning ability on the basis of the principles of practicality,culturalness and interestingness of college English teaching.In addition,FlippedClass Model also absorbs the good aspects from traditional teaching model,while at the same time make full use of information technology.Taking students in Guangxi Arts University as an example,the author selects 100 students from two parallel classes to conduct an experiment.After analyzing textbook and curriculum,the author adopts FlippedClass Model and traditional teaching model respectively in the two classes.To better compare effects of the two teaching models in college English teaching,both quantitative research method and qualitative research method are employed.Findings are as follows:(1)FlippedClass Model is more effective in improving students'English proficiency than traditional teaching model.(2)FlippedClass Model especially benefits students'listening and writing,followed by reading and translation.In addition,in terms of speaking,according to the results of questionnaire,semi-structured interview as well as students' self-introduction in English in the first class and the last class,it has been found that most students'speaking ability is improved in flipped classroom.(3)The students with high English proficiency are more likely to adapt to and accept FlippedClass Model,while it's difficult for the students with relatively low English proficiency.Even though,teachers and most students demonstrate a positive attitude to FlippedClass Model and provide a multitude of valuable suggestions,which can better guide the application of flipped classroom in future.This study makes an effort to reform traditional classroom,with the aim of providing implications for the employment and development of flipped classroom in the future.