From theory to practice : a 3 year longitudinal study of students' representations of a task-based blended learning programme
Résumé
This paper is based on a large-scale research project concerning a task-based blended language learning programme for Business English undergraduate students in a university in France. The programme combines two hours of face-to-face teaching with 2-3 hours of autonomous group work and asynchronous computer-mediated communication. The design of the programme was grounded in a socio-constructivist and cognitivist approach to language learning and based on a number of guiding TBLT principles. Accordingly, the programme proposes complex social tasks which foster student interaction and collaboration and a shift from traditional teacher-directed instruction to autonomous student-centred learning.
After briefly outlining the theoretical underpinnings of the programme, this paper presents and discusses the results of a three year evaluation examining how these principles translated into practice for the students. User acceptance and adoption of the programme were deemed critical to its successful implementation. Our study, therefore, investigated students' representations relating to the underlying principles and assumptions of the blended language learning programme including the role of the teacher, second language acquisition, the role of technology in language learning, autonomy and group work. It is held that these representations will greatly impact students' actions and behaviour, and consequently their use of the blended learning system. Since representations can evolve over time, we conducted a longitudinal study following students from their first year of study and engagement in the programme in 2010 to their third and final year in the programme in 2012 in order to understand how attitudes to these factors evolved.