Flipping the Foreign Language Classroom

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 Foreign language faculty looking for ways to move beyond traditional approaches to teaching will find this article from the November 2013 issue of The Language Educator, a publication from The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) quite thought-provoking.

The article entitled A New Approach to Language Instruction — Flipping the Classroom shares the strategies and experiences of teachers at both university and high school level, who are using technology to improve the teaching of foreign languages, at the same time developing self-regulated learning skills of students.  Their model is the Flipped Classroom on which we have blogged before (see Would Flipping the Classroom Work for Your Course? ).

“Keep in mind that flipping the classroom

is not the delivery of a lecture on video.

A video of a boring lecture is a boring

video that doesn’t enhance the learning experience."

The article explains the flipped classroom approach, its growing popularity in high school and university classrooms and pros and cons of adoption in foreign language teaching.  Sharing the results of research and anecdotal reports from faculty,  it highlights issues and strategies such as "how to flip", "does flipping work", technical and pedagogical considerations, the importance of preparing students, and strategies for getting students involved.

Take a look and let know what you think.  Or share your own "flipping" experience!