DELVING INTO FLIPPING EFL CLASSROOM: A MIXED METHOD STUDY

This pre-test post-test quasi-experimental study was grounded in a mixed method embedded design to delve into the quality and efficiency of flipped classroom model in enhancing university prep students’ overall academic performance in EFL and that in its sub-skills in addition to the durability of that performance. The study has also pioneered to reveal the impact of gender on flipped classroom EFL learners’ post-test scores. Quantitative data was gathered through the administration of EFL Achievement Test to 41 EFL students enrolled at Foreign Language School, Gebze Technical University in two different classrooms randomly assigned as experimental (N= 21) and control group (N=20). The intervention lasted during the whole 2016-2017 fall term. On the other hand, qualitative data was collected through follow-up semi-controlled interviews with 9 experiment group students from different achievement groups. All the quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) 21 for Windows and ITEMAN4 while qualitative data was analyzed manually by employing content analysis procedures. The results of the study revealed flipped classroom model as a significant facilitator of EFL performance and long-term retention of this performance at universities in Turkey. More specifically, students in flipped classroom significantly outperformed those in the traditional lecture based classroom in all skill areas except for listening. Furthermore, qualitative results supported this impact of flipped classroom model on EFL performance. As a unique aspect of the study, EFL students’ performance in the flipped classroom was explored to be independent of their gender. To conclude, he present study has promised a bulk of valuable results that set flipping EFL classrooms as an efficient way of dealing with failure in EFL in Turkey.