Discussion-oriented flipped classroom in increasing linguistics students’ motivation in learning English.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reveal the capacity of discussion-oriented flipped classroom based on video educational materials related to developing personal potential to increase linguistics students’ motivation in studying the course “Practice of English”. Method. A mixed methods research approach was exploited in the study, with an intervention design represented by a descriptive cross-sectional quantitative-based (pedagogical experiment; survey) and qualitative-based (observation of the participants in the educational process; analysis and generalization of the problem under research) design. The instruments utilized included questionnaires to assess the students’ motivation before and after the intervention. The quantitative values of the dynamics of the students’ motivation to learn English were determined with the method of mathematical statistics. Findings. The analysis of the data obtained demonstrated positive dynamics in the levels of the students’ motivation to learn English. It can be explained by the fact that we made an effort to provide students with an opportunity not only to actively interact exploiting English as a tool, but also to gain understanding and acquire skills that were not easily assessed. Furthermore, on the one hand, the students brought to the English classroom discussions their understanding of different issues related to the development of personal potential. On the other hand, the students’ willingness to demonstrate their autonomy in working the videos provided assist teachers of the English course in exploring the possibilities of such learning resources in enhancing students’ motivation to learn English. Conclusions. Adiscussion-oriented flipped classroom serves as an effective intrinsic motivator, and our research showed that it has positive impact on the students’ motivation when implemented in the English course. The positive dynamics of the students’ motivation to learn English were experimentally proven. Furthermore, video is a valuable tool which allows teachers to dilute the narrow professional focus of linguistic material in the English course with linguacultural and personality-based psychological concepts.