Abstract
Blended design of teaching/learning foreign languages, in this case English grammar, has become widely spread within the higher education. The main objective of the article is to discover whether blended approach enhances the process of acquiring new knowledge in the field. The research was conducted at two institutions: faculty of informatics and management, University of Hradec Kralove (technical students) and faculty of education, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Usti nad Labem (foreign language students), Czech Republic. Totally, the research sample included 123 bachelor students. Data were collected in three phases: (1) face-to-face pre-testing to monitor entrance knowledge before the process of blended learning starts, (2) post-testing 1 applied after the blended learning approach and (3) final face-to-face post-testing 2 administered at the end of semester. Phase 1 was followed by autonomous learning from the online course; teacher´s feedback was provided to the students after phase 2 so that they could correct their mistakes, and improve the knowledge in phase 3. Eight hypotheses were tested to discover whether there exist statistically significant differences in test scores between the technical and foreign language students. The results differ according to the students´ level of English knowledge. However, they entitle the described blended learning approach to be applied for acquiring English grammar for B2 and C1 levels of CEFR.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amaral, K., & Shank, J. (2010). Enhancing student learning and retention with blended learning class guides. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2010/12/enhancing-student-learning-and-retention-with-blended-learning-class-guides. 2018, February 18.
Bertrand, Y. (1998). Soudobe teorie vzdelavani [Current educational theories]. Praha: Portal.
Blown, E. J., & Bryce, T. G. K. (2006). Knowledge restructuring in the development of children’s cosmologies. International Journal of Science Education, 28(12), 1411–1426.
Boekaerts, M. (2004). Motivation to learn. Paris: International bureau of education. UNESCO.
Carey, M., Christie, M., & Grainger, P. (2015). What benefits can be derived from teaching knowledge about language to preservice teachers? The Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(9), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n9.2.
CEFR. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching and assessment (CEFR). Cambrdige: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://rm.coe.int/1680459f97. 2019, March, 14.
Comenius, J. A. (1930). Didactica magna. Praha: Dedictvi Komenskeho.
Comenius, J. A. (1947). Analyticka didaktika. [Analytical didactics]. Praha: State Pedagogical Publishing.
Craver, C. F. (2003). The making of a memory mechanism. Journal of the History of Biology, 36(1), 153–195.
Djiwandono, P. (2017). The learning styles of millennial generation in university: A study in Indonesian context. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319468187_The_Learning_Styles_of_Millennial_Generation_in_University_a_Study_in_Indonesian_Context. 2019, March, 08.
Doulik, P. (2005). Geneze dětských pojetí vybraných fenoménů. [Genesis of learners´concepts of selected phenomena]. Acta Universitatis Purkynianae 107. Studia paedagogica. Usti nad Labem: UJEP.
Elhoseny, H., Elhoseny, M., Abdelrazek, S., & Riad, A. M. (2018). Evaluating learners’ progress in smart learning environment. Advances in intelligent systems and computing, 639, 734–744.
Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34(3), 169–189.
Gais, S., & Born, J. (2004). Declarative memory consolidation: Mechanisms acting during human sleeps. Learning and Memory, 11, 679–685.
Hangen, E., Elliot, A. J., & Jamieson, J. P. (2018). Highlighting the difference between approach and avoidance motivation enhances the predictive validity of performance-avoidance goal reports. Motivation and Emotion 42. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9744-9. 2019, March, 08.
Hawkins, D. (1994). Constructivism: Some history. In S. Fensham, R. Gunstone, & R. White (Eds.), The content of science: A constructivist approach to its teaching and learning (pp. 9–14). London: Falmer Press.
Huber, R., Ghilardi, M. F., Massimini, M., & Tonomi, G. (2004). Local sleep and learning. Nature, 430, 78–81.
Kayaoglu, M. N., Akbas, R. D., & Erbay, S. (2015). The role of web-based grammar instruction in tertiary level of EFL students’ academic achievement. Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 3(3), 499–507.
Kim, C. (2012). The role of affective and motivational factors in designing personalized learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(4), 563–584.
Liu, T., Chen, Z., Lesgold, A. M., Feng, X., & Wang, C. (2017). Novelty blended learning pattern and its application in English language teaching. In ICDTE 2017: International conference on digital technology in education, ACM international conference proceedings series volume, Part F, (vol. 131203, pp. 7–12).
Mansouri, A. (2018). The importance of teaching english grammar in foreign language situations. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-teaching-english-grammar-foreign-language-ali-mansouri. 2018, February, 22.
Mitru, G., Millrood, D. L., & Mateika, J. H. (2002). The impact of sleep on learning and behavior in adolescents. Teachers College Record, 104, 704–726.
Netolicka, J., & Simonova, I. (2017). SAMR model and bloom’s digital taxonomy applied in blended learning/teaching of general English and ESP. In Proceedings of 2017 international symposium on educational technology (ISET), Hong Kong, (pp. 277–281).
Payne, J. D., & Nadel, L. (2004). Sleep, dreams, and memory consolidation: The role of the stress hormone cortisol. Learning and Memory, 11, 671–678.
Piaget, J. (1951). Psychology of intelligence. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1999). Psychologie inteligence [Psychology of intelligence]. Praha: Portál.
Pinto-Llorente, A. M., Sanchez-Gomez, M. C., & Garcia-Penalvo, F. J. (2015). Student perception on the use of a blended-learning model to improve grammatical competence. In Alvez, G. R., Felgueiras, M. C. (eds). TEEM’15, Third international conference on technological ecosystems for enhancing multiculturality 2015 (pp. 91–98).
Pinto-Llorente, A. M., Sanchez-Gomez, M. C., Garcia-Penalvo, F. J., & Casillas-Martin, S. (2017). Students’ perceptions and attitudes towards asynchronous technological tools in blended-learning training to improve grammatical competence in English as a second language. Computers in Human Behaviour, 72, 632–643.
Poon, J. (2012). Use of blended learning to enhance the student learning experience and engagement in property education. Property Management, 30(2), 129–156.
Průcha, J., Walterova, E., & Mares, J. (2009). Pedagogicky slovnik [Pedagogical Science Dictionary]. Praha: Portal.
Rican, J. (2016). Metakognice a metakognitivní strategie jako teoretické a výzkumné konstrukty a jejich uplatnění v moderní pedagogické praxi [Metacognition and metacognitive strategies as theoretical and research constructs and their application in moderm pedagogical practice]. Hnevin, Most.
Riding, R. J., & Read, G. (1996). Cognitive style and pupil learning preferences. Educational Psychology, 16, 81–106.
SAMR Model Activities. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.google.cz/search?q=SAMR+model&biw=1280&bih = 675&tbm = isch&tbo = u&source = univ&sa = X&ved = 0ahUKEwjNmsKaofnLAhUF7BQKHTTiDX0QsAQIJQ#imgrc = -gZaHa_9_tzwOM%3A. 2019, March 12.
Shechter, D. A. (2015). Blended language learning using Moodle: analyzing the design of a university Turkish course as a model for other languages. In Chova, L. G., Martinez, A. L., Torres, I. C. (eds) INTED2015: international technology, education and development conference (pp. 1169–1169).
Shors, T. J. (2004). Learning during stressful times. Learning and Memory, 11, 137–144.
Simonova I. (2018) Enhancing learning success through blended approach to learning and practising english grammar: Research results. In Cheung S., Kwok L., Kubota K., Lee, L. K., Tokito, J. (eds.), Blended learning. Enhancing learning success. ICBL 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 10949, pp. 69–80). Cham: Springer.
Simonova, I., & Poulova, P. (2017) Engineering students’ needs in foreign language learning in the Czech Republic. In Auer, M., Guralnick, D., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds.), Interactive collaborative learning. ICL 2016. Advances in intelligent systems and computing (Vol. 545). Cham: Springer.
Skoda, J., & Doulik, P. (2011). Psychodidaktika [Psychodidactics]. Praha: Grada.
Spector, J. M., & Merrill, M. D. (2008). Effective, efficient and engaging (E3) learning in the digital age. Distance Education, Special issue, 29(2), 123–126.
The SAMR Model. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html#. 2019, March, 14.
Trembach, S., & Deng, L. (2018). Understanding millennial learning in academic libraries: Learning styles, emerging technologies, and the efficacy of information literacy instruction. College and Undergraduate Libraries. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327451228_Understanding_millennial_learning_in_academic_libraries_Learning_styles_emerging_technologies_and_the_efficacy_of_information_literacy_instruction. 2019, March, 14.
Uskov, V. L., Bakken, J. P., Penumatsa, A., Heinemann, C., & Rachakonda, R. (2017). Smart pedagogy for smart universities. Smart Innovations, Systems and Technologies, 75, 3–16.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. Boston: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Psychologie myšlení a řeči [Though and language]. Praha: Portál.
Wheatley, G. H. (1991). Constructivist perspectivists on science and mathematics learning. Science Education, 75(1), 9–22.
Wright, B. M. (2017). Blended learnings student perception of face-to-face and online EFL lessons. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 64–71.
Acknowledgements
This paper was supported by IGA 2019 project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simonova, I. Blended approach to learning and practising English grammar with technical and foreign language university students: comparative study. J Comput High Educ 31, 249–272 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-019-09219-w
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-019-09219-w