APPLYING BLENDED LEARNING INTO TEACHING ENGLISH FOR

STUDENTS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY

Thanh Minh Nguyen

Abstract
English teaching and learning in the era of ICT development are changing in positive ways. It is
undeniable that many methods and approaches integrated with ICT advance have been introduced.
Among them, blended learning brings a great balance between the traditional classroom and the
utilization of technological advantages. This paper aims to examine blended learning and its benefits.
Then, the author makes some suggestions on the implication of blended learning in the context of
teaching English at Van Lang University.
Keywords: blended learning, English teaching
1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the study
Blended learning has received huge concerns from society due to its benefits and a
wide range of application. Lungu (2012) and Misan (2013) states the rise of blended
learning, especially in the field of language learning and teaching. Also, Torrisi-Steelea
and Drew (2013) say that blended learning is “undeniably useful” (p. 380) and essential
in higher education. In the Vietnamese context, Le (2013), and Huynh and Le (2014)
confirm that the advance of technology has made a significant transformation to the
traditional classroom.
At Van Lang University, blended learning has been applied since 2012 at Faculty of
Foreign Languages. However, there were few studies examining or the implementation
of it.
1.2. The aim of the study and the research question
This research aimed at evaluating the three blended courses in term of online
integration through students’ experiences. The main research question was:
How was online part of blended learning implemented at Faculty of Foreign
Languages at Van Lang university through students’ experiences?
2. Literature review
2.1. What is blended learning?
There are many different definitions of what blended learning is. Particularly, Thorne
(2003) defines blended learning as the integration of “innovative and technological
advances by online learning with the interaction and participation offered in the best of
traditional learning” (p. 2). Also, Bailey et al. (2013) give their definition of blended
learning as a formal program in which students learn at least a part of a course through
online contents and instructions. Khan (2005), and Saliba, Rankine and Cortez (2013)
indicate blended strategies as the mixture of the event-based activities, consisting
“face-to-face classroom,” “e-learning,” and “self-paced learning” (p. 202). In conclusion,
these authors confirm that blended learning combines traditional face-to-face
classroom with online teaching.
2.2. The framework of blended learning

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Khan (2005) proposes the Framework of blended learning as a "pentagon" including
eight different dimensions:

Figure 1: Blended learning model (Khan, 2005)

He also gives brief explanations on each dimension as listed below:

• Institutional dimension: dealing with the administrative, academic, and students
learning support issues
• Pedagogical dimension: dealing with the teaching and learning process
• Technological dimension: dealing with the issues of technology such as
software, hardware affecting teaching and learning process
• Interface design: dealing with the design and presentation of online contents
• Evaluation dimension: dealing with the assessment of learners’ performance
and the evaluation of the course/program
• Management dimension: dealing with maintaining the learning environment
• Resource support: concerning with the examination of useful online resources
which make the learning meaningful
• Ethical dimension: concerning the social and political influences, cultural
diversity, learners and other related areas
In this research, this framework was employed to explore the implementation of
blended learning at Van Lang University.

2.3. Benefits of blended learning in foreign language teaching

There are many studies involving the benefits of blended learning in language teaching.
These include leaving space for students to study in their own comfort zones
(Hubackova, Semradova , & Klimova, 2011; Pardo-Gonzalez, 2013), increasing the
flexible level for both academic staff and students (Irvine, Code, & Richards, 2013),
improving the attainment of learning outcomes (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, &
Jones, 2010; Dziuban, Hartman, Cavanagh, & Moskal, 2011), promoting student
autonomy (De George-Walker and Keeffe, 2010; Snodin, 2013), and developing ICT
skills (Misan, 2013). In the Vietnamese context, the same benefits have been
confirmed by Nguyen (2016) and Tran (2016).
2.4. Problems in implementing blended learning into classrooms
With certain benefits, the implementation of blended learning is essential. However,
there are several problems in the implementing process. In the Saudi university,
Alebaikan and Troudi (2010) find that cultures, suitable design and times are possible
problems. Saggara and Zapata (2008), Cartner (2009), Hong and Samimy (2010), and
Lopes & Soares (2018) argue that blended learning is implemented effectively when
students have positive attitudes and technological experiences. In another study, Du,
Wang and Du (2016) list out some challenges of applying blended learning, including
learner ability, content and presentation of the online flat form, teaching materials, and
teachers’ familiarity to online teaching. In Vietnamese context, Nguyen Huu Anh Vuong,

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Choon Keong Tan, Kean Wah Lee (2018) and Pham (2018) list out learner autonomy,
stressful amount of assignment, lacking technical support and resources as challenges.
Nevertheless, more concerns should be paid on the implementation of blended
learning in the Vietnamese context.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research design
In this study, the researcher employed qualitative case study. In general, this study
aimed to evaluate the implementation of blended learning in Faculty of Foreign
Languages at Van Lang University in light of students' experiences; therefore, this
design would fit the best. Moreover, Skate (2010) and Creswell (2012) believe that
qualitative study is conducted when the researcher refers to the phenomenon itself
rather than the result because this method could provide a thick and rich description.
Furthermore, the case study, according to Merriam (1998), Yin (2009) and Creswell
(2011), is an in-depth exploration and analysis in a bounded system, real-life context
via the rich and extensive data collection. Therefore, it would be suitable for the
researcher to use a qualitative case study.
3.2. Context and participants
3.2.1. Context
As mentioned above, Faculty of Foreign Languages has employed blended learning
for a long time. The courses using this method were Phonetics, Listening 1, Listening
2, and Writing 5. Additionally, two online flat forms used by the teachers in designing
the courses were Moodle and Schoology.

Table 1: Interface of Moodle and Schoology in Phonetics and Writing 5 courses

Particularly, Moodle is one of the most popular online flatforms. It was designed by
Martin Dougiama with the purpose to help educators in creating online courses. It
offers a free and fee-charge version (Cole and Foster, 2005). Turning to Schoology, it
is free, and similar to Moodle, offering free features with an interface for presenting
online materials and tools to interact with the learners (Hardin & Koppenhaver, 2016).
Furthermore, three courses in the study were designed following the same framework
from Khan (2005), especially for online parts. What is more, in the course outline, the
face-to-face parts, online parts as well as the outcomes and assessment scheme were
stated clearly. Additionally, all the teachers of three courses shared the same course
design. Therefore, besides the differences in the content of each subject, the
classroom procedures between the online and offline part were nearly the same.
3.2.2. The participants
The participants in this research were three students taking these courses, including
one male and two females. Also, they were in different years (second, third and last
year) and were selected randomly with the criterion of having taken three courses.
3.3. Instruments

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 3.3.1. Observation
Hatch (2002) considers observation as a tool for collecting qualitative data; observation
could provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Additionally, the researcher
could observe what participants act in the real environment.
In this study, the researcher adopted the observation checklist from the
Commonwealth of Qualitative Checklist and Standards (QM Higher Education Rubric
5th Edition). Overall, there were seven sections in the checklist, including General
Course Information (15 items), Course Goals and Learning Outcomes (6 items),
Assessment (9 items), Course Materials (8 items), Learner Engagement (5 items),
Course Technology (8 items) and Learner Support (6 items). The checklist listed three
options for each item: Yes, No and Not Applicable (N/A). Then some notes were taken
to clarify some important points.
3.3.2. Semi-structured interview
Spradley (1979) and Hatch (2002) state that interviews could provide the information
on the experience, perspectives and more in-depth understanding of participants.
Furthermore, Denscombe (2007) refers to the semi-structured interview as flexible in
the way the researcher could explore more information when conducting the interview.
In this research, the semi-structured interview was employed. The items in the
interview were based on the questions suggested by Khan (2005), aligning with eight
dimensions in the framework.
3.4. Data collection and data analysis
The data collection was conducted in two phases. The first one – doing observations
– was conducted during the first semester. The researcher observed three sessions of
three courses (Phonetics, Listening 1 and Writing 5). Then, phase two occurred after
the students finished their semester. Within two weeks, three students from three
courses were invited to take an individual interview.
Data from the instruments were analyzed under the thematic and comparative
approach. Dawson (2009) considers the first approach as highly inductive, and any
information would appear without any intention from the researcher; meanwhile, the
second helps to compare the data from many resources until nothing new arises.
3.5. The validity of the study
To ensure the validity of the study, the researcher made use of two primary methods
listed by Creswell (2012): Triangulation of the data and member checking.
Triangulation of the data was employed by the way the researcher compared the data
coming from different instruments including interviews and observations. What is more,
the transcription and interpretation of the data were given back to the participants in
order to let them check and give feedback if something was not correct.
4. Findings and discussion
4.1. Findings
The data from the interviews were collected and analyzed into different themes. The
global theme was the application of blended learning at Van Lang University. Then
the sub-themes were seven dimensions, including (1) institutional, (2) management,
(3) technological, (4) pedagogical, (5) ethical, (6) interface design, (7) resource, and
(8) evaluation.

Figure 2: Thematic network of the study

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Additionally, the data from the interviews were compared with the data from the
observations to form the triangulation.
Firstly, in term of institutional, pedagogical and technological dimensions, student 1
said that on the first day, usually the orientation day, the teacher showed them the
course outline illustrating clearly what they would learn during the course. Also, the
teachers explained the online part carefully in term of how to assess online flat form,
how to register, log in, and submitassignments as well as how online parts would be
integrated during the course. These issues confirmed by the other students and what
the researcher observed. However, also from the data in the instruments, no technical
staff was available on that day. The student 1 added most instructions from the
teachers were easy to understand; nevertheless, some technical issues still confused
some students. Besides, when the researcher asked them where they could seek for
technical problems, they usually turned to their friends or search for information
themselves. In other words, the teachers were considered as not helpful with the
issues related to technology.
Secondly, according to the students, during the course, the information related to any
changes, such as deadlines, course server down, etc., was rarely informed due to the
consistency of the system and teachers. The students also said, if there were a
problem, the teacher would notify them through social networks. In term of ethical
dimension, student 1 and 2 told that the teachers in three courses gave them some
rules on posting assignments, giving comments or how to behave in online discussions
in order not to hurt other feelings. Student 3 proposed that despite having these rules,
he did not use them much because the discussion was held occasionally only. Through
the observations, the researcher also identified these issues.
Concerning interface design and resource supports, all three students agreed that the
presentation of the online parts and the online resources were easy to finds and
accessible. However, after examining how students assessed the online flat form, the
researcher noticed that some students could not find some assignments because the
teachers put too much information and so many sections on one page. The student 3
thought that it could be better if the teachers rearranged contents into groups and hid
unnecessary parts.
The evaluation schema and procedures of assessment, from the students’ view, were
clear and adequately. For instance, in Phonetics course, they would record their voice
following the sample, then the teachers gave grade and comment on it. One more
example was weekly submissions of writing pieces in Writing 5 course. The teacher
tended to increase their writing fluency and give score randomly until everyone in the
class was evaluated at least one. Nevertheless, all of the students considered that the
online part made up a small proportion in their total score (10% only). Finally, the
feedback of the course was collected only by the university after the course finished,
not during the courses by the teachers-in-charge.
4.2. Discussion
From these findings, it is evident that from students’ experiences, the online part of
blended learning was implemented during three courses, following Khan’s model
(2005). Particularly, eight dimensions were established such as technological,
institutional, assessment and pedagogical dimensions were indicated through the
course outline, and teachers’ support and instructions. However, some problems made
the implementation of the model incomplete. The first reason was the lack of
supporting from technical staff; i.e., teachers were considered as the only supporters.
From the students' view, sometimes they found it difficult to handle all the technical

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issues. This opinion confirmed what Saggara and Zapata (2008), Cartner (2009), Hong
and Samimy (2010), and Lopes & Soares (2018) state in their studies.
Regarding interface design, as Yu-Yan Du, Zong-Rong Wang and Pi-Yi Du (2016)
mentioned, it was important in successful application. However, students and
researcher could find the layout of the online flat form was complex and somewhat
contained irrelevant contents to students. Lastly, the current assessment and
evaluation process might demotivate students from accepting blended learning.
Specifically, the assignments in the online part were accounted for small proportions,
comparing to the offline session. Also, the teachers were not responsible for the
feedback of their courses; therefore, some problems arising could not be handled
immediately. Consequently, students could lose their autonomy when studying online
at home.
5. Conclusion and implications
5.1. Conclusion
This study employed small-scale case study method in other to explore the students’
experiences of blended learning at Van Lang University. Three courses, including
Phonetics, Listening 1, and Writing 5, were observed. Also, the semi-structured
interviews with three students participating in those courses were conducted. After
analyzing the data, the researcher found that the implementation could not reach its
highest level due to some problems related to technology support, learner autonomy,
and course design.
Despite having significant findings contributing to the current situation, the studies had
some limitations. Firstly, teachers should also be considered to see what they thought
about blended courses. Moreover, the study focused on the context of teaching English
only. In other words, other fields employing blended learning should be investigated to
have a more general view of the application. Lastly, due to the nature of the case study,
the generatability of the study could not be made.
5.2. Implications for teaching
From the study, it is recommended that further research covering both teachers’ and
students’ experiences should be conducted to explore the issue better. Also, it is
suggested that the teachers and staff at Van Lang university should pay more attention
to the technology and design of the course in order to utilize the effectiveness of
blended learning.

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