Before taking this class, I had never heard of a "flipped lesson." As I have become familiar with this pedagogical technique over the past few weeks, I understand it as an innovative way of incorporating the technology that many students use for personal enjoyment as a means of assigning introductory material to be previewed and completed at home, thus, lengthening the amount of instructional class time. Moreover, I now realize that some of the teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) techniques designed to build background knowledge can be successfully implemented through flipping the classroom.
In many English as a second language (ESL) classes, teachers begin their lessons with a presentation piece during which the content is being front-loaded through engaging material which often includes the use of videos, pictures, flashcards, realia, and other visuals. When English language learners (ELLs) can preview and practice with these material beforehand, precious class time can be devoted to approaching content material through meaningful activities. Essentially, technology allows the presentation stage to be brought home. Moreover, certain apps allow a virtual presence of the teacher in the home acting as a guide through tutorials and informational videos. Of course, ESL teachers must be prepared to scaffold their flipped lessons with ESL techniques so that students of varying language abilities and cultural backgrounds can feel comfortable approaching tasks where a teacher is not available to provide immediate input and feedback.
ESL Methods & Tools that Support Flipping the Classroom
Flipped lessons can be incorporated in ESL pedagogy in order to accomplish a number of goals for ELLs. Academic language can be bolstered by front-loading vocabulary, necessary background knowledge can be built, and even more mundane tasks of speech and pronunciation can be assigned for home practice rather than in-class speak-and-repeat sessions.
Flipping the classroom has the direct effect of empowering students in their own learning process, which is a common goal of TESOL practice. According to Cummins (1999), there is a distinction between basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) of ELLs. BICS refers to everyday speech commonly heard in the hallways and on the playground while CALP is the highly contextualized academic language found in specific subject areas like English language arts, social studies, mathematics, and the sciences. ELLs can be empowered in their learning when language is taught in conjunction with content. Through flipped lessons, students can be supported through this process of bridging BICS and CALP by using technology in their own time.
"Building Background" is an essential component of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Method (Echevarría, Vogt, and Short, 2013, pp. 63-94). The SIOP Method was in integral part of my TESOL graduate course and the inclusion of technology in an ESL curriculum was stressed during these classes. For example, I had to design a Digital Jump-start based on techniques proposed by Rance-Roney (2010). According to Rance-Roney (2013), Digital Jump-starts are designed by ESL teachers with applications like iMovie, Photo Story, and Movie Maker in order "to address the preteaching of vocabulary, develop the schema needed for reading comprehension, and explicitly provide background information that would help ELLs contextualize the upcoming reading" (p. 390). Therefore, academic vocabulary is being supported while the necessary schema is being provided. According to Carrell and Eisterhold's (1983) Schema Theory, ELLs might have a different framework, or schema, based on their own cultural experience and knowledge of the world. Digital Jump-starts serve to build appropriate background by drawing connections to what students might already know through visual and interactive means. If a teacher were to upload a Digital Jump-start to a home-accessible site like Schoology and assign students the task of previewing it as homework, this would accomplish the necessary background building component of the SIOP Method while freeing up class time for more engaging instructional time. Of course, logistics of online access for immigrant children and sufficient help from parents to gain this access remains problematic for this population.
(Watch this video on the "building background" component of the SIOP Model. How can tools for flipping the classroom enhance a SIOP Lesson?)
Lastly, I would like to mention the recursive nature of the flipped lesson. The speak-and-repeat technique of audiolingual methods from the early days of ESL pedagogy can now be effectively removed from the classroom. Students are free to rewind flipped lessons and listen again as much as time allows. This is an invaluable feature for language learners; moreover, it's probably one of the reasons technology (in the form of tapes, CDs and CD-ROMs) has had a long history in language education. With the advent of video recording apps like Screencast-O-Matic, teachers can now post video lessons and tutorials where students can watch and re-watch for their own benefit. In addition, speech recording apps like Vocaroo allow students to record their own speech and even practice drilling without the presence of a teacher. The days when a slight mispronunciation from a student caused a wave of speak-and-repeat redundancy from an out-dated, teacher-centered, audiolingual approach are finally over.
Tools that Support Flipping the Classroom in an ESL Setting
Screencast-O-Matic: This application allows teachers the ability to record whatever is on their monitor screens. For example, a teacher can create Web site tutorials or record commentary over videos on Youtube. Video tutorials are beneficial for ELLs in that they can be watched and re-watched if some language is not comprehensible at first. Video commentaries all ESL teachers to apply techniques like Stauffer's (1980) Directed Thinking-Listening Activity. For instance, a teacher can pause the video at intervals to ask questions, help students make predictions, and check comprehension. Another feature of this app that is helpful for ELLs is the fact the teacher can be recorded in a video window as they are explaining or making comments. As ELLs are constantly making use of extralinguistic cues like intonation, facial features and gestures, the virtual presence of a speaker can greatly aid their listening comprehension.
Google Forms:Google Forms make flipped lessons interactive by allowing students the ability to provide feedback to the teacher. This information can be used for checking comprehension after completing an assignment providing the teacher with a diagnostic assessment that will help prepare for in-class instruction. Surveys asking students to evaluate the effectiveness of a tutorial or a self-assessment of understanding can also inform a teacher of the progress of individual students. As Google Forms allows a number of question types including long answers, multiple choice, grading scales, etc. there are numerous ways for teacher to embed informal assessments into their flipped lessons.
Vocaroo: This simple recording application has benefits for both ESL teachers and ELLs. Teachers can record the directions for some kind of activity to be done at home and send the sound file in an email or embed it into a Web site accessible to students. Students have the opportunity to listen and re-listen for better comprehension. ELLs can also use Vocaroo for pronunciation practice. For example, they can record themselves reading vocabulary lists and then send them to the teacher for assessment. Students can use this recording function for speech drills in the privacy of their own home rather than taking time in class for speak-and-repeat exercises that might not be beneficial to all students.
Supplemental Links
Technology for the ESL Classroom - This site includes an index of applications and tools for various uses in an ESL classroom setting.
Dr. James Cummins' home page - For more information about Dr. Jim Cummins, view his profile on the University of Toronto Web site.
Echevarría, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2013). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model. A. M. Ramos (Ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Rance-Roney, J. (2010). Jump-starting language and schema for English-language learners: Teacher-composed digital jumpstarts for academic reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5), 386-395.
Stauffer, R. (1980). The language experience approach to the teaching of reading. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
Overview
Before taking this class, I had never heard of a "flipped lesson." As I have become familiar with this pedagogical technique over the past few weeks, I understand it as an innovative way of incorporating the technology that many students use for personal enjoyment as a means of assigning introductory material to be previewed and completed at home, thus, lengthening the amount of instructional class time. Moreover, I now realize that some of the teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) techniques designed to build background knowledge can be successfully implemented through flipping the classroom.
In many English as a second language (ESL) classes, teachers begin their lessons with a presentation piece during which the content is being front-loaded through engaging material which often includes the use of videos, pictures, flashcards, realia, and other visuals. When English language learners (ELLs) can preview and practice with these material beforehand, precious class time can be devoted to approaching content material through meaningful activities. Essentially, technology allows the presentation stage to be brought home. Moreover, certain apps allow a virtual presence of the teacher in the home acting as a guide through tutorials and informational videos. Of course, ESL teachers must be prepared to scaffold their flipped lessons with ESL techniques so that students of varying language abilities and cultural backgrounds can feel comfortable approaching tasks where a teacher is not available to provide immediate input and feedback.
ESL Methods & Tools that Support Flipping the Classroom
Flipped lessons can be incorporated in ESL pedagogy in order to accomplish a number of goals for ELLs. Academic language can be bolstered by front-loading vocabulary, necessary background knowledge can be built, and even more mundane tasks of speech and pronunciation can be assigned for home practice rather than in-class speak-and-repeat sessions.
Flipping the classroom has the direct effect of empowering students in their own learning process, which is a common goal of TESOL practice. According to Cummins (1999), there is a distinction between basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) of ELLs. BICS refers to everyday speech commonly heard in the hallways and on the playground while CALP is the highly contextualized academic language found in specific subject areas like English language arts, social studies, mathematics, and the sciences. ELLs can be empowered in their learning when language is taught in conjunction with content. Through flipped lessons, students can be supported through this process of bridging BICS and CALP by using technology in their own time.
"Building Background" is an essential component of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Method (Echevarría, Vogt, and Short, 2013, pp. 63-94). The SIOP Method was in integral part of my TESOL graduate course and the inclusion of technology in an ESL curriculum was stressed during these classes. For example, I had to design a Digital Jump-start based on techniques proposed by Rance-Roney (2010). According to Rance-Roney (2013), Digital Jump-starts are designed by ESL teachers with applications like iMovie, Photo Story, and Movie Maker in order "to address the preteaching of vocabulary, develop the schema needed for reading comprehension, and explicitly provide background information that would help ELLs contextualize the upcoming reading" (p. 390). Therefore, academic vocabulary is being supported while the necessary schema is being provided. According to Carrell and Eisterhold's (1983) Schema Theory, ELLs might have a different framework, or schema, based on their own cultural experience and knowledge of the world. Digital Jump-starts serve to build appropriate background by drawing connections to what students might already know through visual and interactive means. If a teacher were to upload a Digital Jump-start to a home-accessible site like Schoology and assign students the task of previewing it as homework, this would accomplish the necessary background building component of the SIOP Method while freeing up class time for more engaging instructional time. Of course, logistics of online access for immigrant children and sufficient help from parents to gain this access remains problematic for this population.
(Watch this video on the "building background" component of the SIOP Model. How can tools for flipping the classroom enhance a SIOP Lesson?)
Lastly, I would like to mention the recursive nature of the flipped lesson. The speak-and-repeat technique of audiolingual methods from the early days of ESL pedagogy can now be effectively removed from the classroom. Students are free to rewind flipped lessons and listen again as much as time allows. This is an invaluable feature for language learners; moreover, it's probably one of the reasons technology (in the form of tapes, CDs and CD-ROMs) has had a long history in language education. With the advent of video recording apps like Screencast-O-Matic, teachers can now post video lessons and tutorials where students can watch and re-watch for their own benefit. In addition, speech recording apps like Vocaroo allow students to record their own speech and even practice drilling without the presence of a teacher. The days when a slight mispronunciation from a student caused a wave of speak-and-repeat redundancy from an out-dated, teacher-centered, audiolingual approach are finally over.
Tools that Support Flipping the Classroom in an ESL Setting
Screencast-O-Matic: This application allows teachers the ability to record whatever is on their monitor screens. For example, a teacher can create Web site tutorials or record commentary over videos on Youtube. Video tutorials are beneficial for ELLs in that they can be watched and re-watched if some language is not comprehensible at first. Video commentaries all ESL teachers to apply techniques like Stauffer's (1980) Directed Thinking-Listening Activity. For instance, a teacher can pause the video at intervals to ask questions, help students make predictions, and check comprehension. Another feature of this app that is helpful for ELLs is the fact the teacher can be recorded in a video window as they are explaining or making comments. As ELLs are constantly making use of extralinguistic cues like intonation, facial features and gestures, the virtual presence of a speaker can greatly aid their listening comprehension.
Google Forms: Google Forms make flipped lessons interactive by allowing students the ability to provide feedback to the teacher. This information can be used for checking comprehension after completing an assignment providing the teacher with a diagnostic assessment that will help prepare for in-class instruction. Surveys asking students to evaluate the effectiveness of a tutorial or a self-assessment of understanding can also inform a teacher of the progress of individual students. As Google Forms allows a number of question types including long answers, multiple choice, grading scales, etc. there are numerous ways for teacher to embed informal assessments into their flipped lessons.
Vocaroo: This simple recording application has benefits for both ESL teachers and ELLs. Teachers can record the directions for some kind of activity to be done at home and send the sound file in an email or embed it into a Web site accessible to students. Students have the opportunity to listen and re-listen for better comprehension. ELLs can also use Vocaroo for pronunciation practice. For example, they can record themselves reading vocabulary lists and then send them to the teacher for assessment. Students can use this recording function for speech drills in the privacy of their own home rather than taking time in class for speak-and-repeat exercises that might not be beneficial to all students.
Supplemental Links
Technology for the ESL Classroom - This site includes an index of applications and tools for various uses in an ESL classroom setting.
Dr. James Cummins' home page - For more information about Dr. Jim Cummins, view his profile on the University of Toronto Web site.
CAL - Center for Applied Linguistics - The site provides information on linguistic and cultural diversity.
References
Carrell, P. L., & Eisterhold, J. (1983). Schema Theory and ESL reading in pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 17. 553-73.
Cummins, J. (1999). BICS and CALP: Clarifying the distinction. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED438551
Echevarría, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2013). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model. A. M. Ramos (Ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Rance-Roney, J. (2010). Jump-starting language and schema for English-language learners: Teacher-composed digital jumpstarts for academic reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(5), 386-395.
Stauffer, R. (1980). The language experience approach to the teaching of reading. New York, NY: Harper and Row.