The effect of flipped classroom audiovisual content on students’ talking time and speaking skills in an adult EFL class. El efecto del contenido audiovisual del aula invertida en el tiempo de conversación y las habilidades orales de los estudiantes en una clase de inglés como lengua extranjera para adultos. Javier Rojas1 Centro Colombo Americano - Bogotá, Colombia 1 jrojas@colombobogota.edu.co Gist Education and Learning Research Journal. ISSN 1692-5777. No. 28 (January - June, 2024). pp. 59-78. 59 No. 28 60 No. 28 Abstract This action research report explores the effect of a flipped learning strategy on adult EFL students’ speaking skills. Flipped learning, or inverted learning, reverses the traditional educational model where students learn in class and practice out of it; flipped learning promotes the students’ learning of concepts and theories out of the classroom that is later practiced and applied in class under the teacher’s guidance. The primary hypothesis was that by flipping grammar explanations, students would be more prepared and have more time to interact in English and use the structures in class. This research revealed that flipped learning helped to increase student talking time in class and accuracy in grammar use. Furthermore, it shows evidence that using flipped audiovisual materials poses advantages and challenges that can potentially boost learning inside and outside the classroom. Keywords: Flipped learning, class preparation, student talking time, CALL, Action Research, communicative skills. Resumen Este reporte de proyecto de investigación-acción explora el efecto de una estrategia de aprendizaje invertido en la habilidad oral de adultos en clase de inglés como lengua extranjera. El aprendizaje invertido desafía el modelo tradicional de educación donde los estudiantes aprenden en clase y practican fuera del aula; el aprendizaje invertido promueve el aprendizaje de conceptos y teorías fuera del salón de clase para luego practicarlos y aplicarlos en el aula con la guía del profesor. La hipótesis original es que a través de invertir las explicaciones de gramática (hacer que los estudiantes las estudien en casa), ellos podrían estar más preparados y tendrían más tiempo de interactuar en inglés y practicar las estructuras gramaticales en clase. Este estudio reveló que el aprendizaje invertido ayudó a incrementar el tiempo de interacción oral de los estudiantes en clase, así como la precisión en el uso de las estructuras gramaticales estudiadas. Adicionalmente, hay evidencia de que el uso del material audiovisual que se usó para la estrategia de aprendizaje invertido plantea ventajas y desafíos que pueden impulsar el aprendizaje dentro y fuera de la clase. Palabras clave: Aprendizaje invertido, preparación de clase, tiempo de interacción oral del estudiante, CALL, investigación-acción, habilidades comunicativas. The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 61 No. 28 Resumo Este relatório de projeto de pesquisa-ação explora o efeito de uma estratégia de aprendizagem invertida na habilidade oral de adultos em aulas de inglês como língua estrangeira. A aprendizagem invertida desafia o modelo tradicional de educação, onde os alunos aprendem em sala de aula e praticam fora dela; a aprendizagem invertida promove o aprendizado de conceitos e teorias fora da sala de aula para depois praticá-los e aplicá-los em sala, com a orientação do professor. A hipótese original é que, ao inverter as explicações de gramática (fazendo com que os alunos as estudem em casa), eles poderiam estar mais preparados e teriam mais tempo para interagir em inglês e praticar as estruturas gramaticais em sala de aula. Este estudo revelou que a aprendizagem invertida ajudou a aumentar o tempo de interação oral dos alunos em sala de aula, bem como a precisão no uso das estruturas gramaticais estudadas. Além disso, há evidências de que o uso do material audiovisual utilizado para a estratégia de aprendizagem invertida apresenta vantagens e desafios que podem impulsionar o aprendizado dentro e fora da sala de aula. Palavras-chave: Aprendizagem invertida, preparação de aula, tempo de interação oral do aluno, CALL, pesquisa-ação, habilidades comunicativas. Javier Rojas Serrano 62 No. 28 Times have changed. People can work from home; kids prefer being in front of a screen to going out and playing in the park. Teenagers can get richer than their parents, among many other things that people over 40 might find eccentric or even outrageous. Many of us have assimilated these changes easily, but others have had to challenge their old habits, traditions, and beliefs to keep up with them. This is also true in education. Flipped learning has recently come to the ELT stage to innovate education and turn it around, literally. The idea of asking students to learn concepts and theory at home and then use that knowledge under the teacher’s guidance to practice in class might have been unthinkable a few years ago. Flipped learning is a logical consequence of the changes mentioned above. It is not unusual for learners to study concepts and theories at home. Technology and the Internet allow them to access this knowledge at home and later apply it in class. The class is not a place to learn but to practice; it is a laboratory for applying concepts and theories. Statement of the problem The educational context and challenges in the program in which this research is framed in terms of syllabus pace, the evaluation type of the program (formative assessment and qualitative evaluation), and the number of students make timing a common concern for teachers. Having these time constraints in the program sometimes means sacrificing speaking moments and interaction to give feedback and to explain grammar and vocabulary points that students need to learn to improve their level. In a program that has adopted a communicative approach and formative assessment as part of its principles and curriculum, it is not ideal that long grammar explanations take away the time devoted to having students speak freely in the target language. Despite the importance of making students focus on specific language in class, practice can boost students’ mastery of the structure. Kareema (2014) indicates that a teacher explaining a new grammar topic can spend between 60% to 80% of the class talking, and this is something that may affect our students’ opportunities to talk and communicate, especially in a kind of program that is proud of its curriculum based on a communicative approach. The situation pointed out above related to freeing up time and maximizing students’ speaking is fundamental because “in communicative language classes, students need ample opportunity to practice the target language so that the teacher should reduce the amount of their talk.” (Kareema, 2014, p. 1) The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 63 No. 28 Research question What effect does flipped classroom audiovisual content have on adult students’ talking time and speaking skills? Literature review Flipped learning, according to Karlsson and Janson (2016), “reverses the traditional order of instruction where lectures precede students’ activities: students are instead given homework as preparation for class, and classroom time is then spent on active learning under the guidance of the teacher.” (p. 128) The present project was about creating instructional videos with explanations and examples of the course grammar for students to watch before the class. This could allow teachers to avoid long grammar explanations in class and use this time to boost students’ communicative skills, which is the research problem to be overcome in this project. Neaupane (2017) encapsulates our thesis when he says that with flipped learning, also called inverted classroom, “teachers and students have more time in class to discuss and try out the things to be learned rather than just sitting and listening to the lectures from the teachers.” (p. 1) Flipped learning takes a step towards a new way to experience teaching and learning that deserves to be studied and shared (Neaupane, 2017). It takes advantage of technology and strengthens students’ autonomy, making them more active and responsible for their own learning; it makes time in class for hands-on activities and student interaction; it fosters the practical application of knowledge under teacher’s supervision that will, eventually, build the know-how and can-do skills that the new century demands from new generations. Ozdamli and Asiksoy (2016) compiled some other principles from different authors: • Flipped learning fosters student-centeredness through a set of interactive activities in the classroom and individual teaching through activities out of the class through a computer (Bishop & Verleger, 2013, in Ozdamli & Asiksoy, 2016) • It encourages students to prepare themselves for class through reading and audiovisual materials (Mull, 2012, in Ozdamli & Asiksoy, 2016) • It increases active learning activities and gives students the opportunity to use their knowledge in class under the teacher’s guidance (Toto & Nguyen, 2009, in Ozdamli & Asiksoy, 2016) All in all, by encouraging students to learn by themselves at home through audio, video, and reading material, flipped learning makes students more autonomous, more responsible for their own learning, and more prepared to reflect upon language items Javier Rojas Serrano 64 No. 28 (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.) and upon language learning in general (how they like to learn, how they learn better, and what strengths and challenges they experience while learning). On the side of the teachers, it helps them to devote more time to interactive activities and communication in class, to avoid squeezing too many activities in only one lesson, and to give more responsibilities to students that are totally capable of taking on. Flipped learning also features surprising results in terms of class time savings. The following table shared by Ozdamli & Asiksoy (2016) sets the differences between how traditional class time is spent and the time used in the flipped classroom. Table 1. Differences in time use between the traditional and the flipped class Traditional class activities Time Flipped classroom activities Time Warm up Homework checking Teaching of new subject Exercise of laboratory and application 5 min 20 min 30-45 min 20-35 min Warm up Answering lecture and video questions Exercise of lab applications 5 min 10 min 75 min Note: From Flipped Classroom Approach. World Journal on Educational Technology. Current Issues, 8 (2), 98-105 by Ozdamli, F., & Asiksoy , G. (2016). A case study with similar research aims as the one reported on this article was conducted by Bueno-Alastuey & Galar (2017) in Pamplona, Spain. Their research also wanted to report on the difference in the performance of teenage students in a control group and an experimental group as well as on students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model. The study concluded that students who were exposed to flipped audiovisual materials during the course had a better performance than the ones who were not. Bueno-Alastuey and Gala’s (2017) study is similar to the one depicted in this paper in the sense that both intended to explore students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom experience, but their research differs from this one because, whereas Bueno- Alastuey & Galar (2017) wanted to analyze students’ performance with and without flipped audiovisual materials, the present study intended to find out the impact of flipped learning on class time and a subsequent increase in communicative activities and communication in class. The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 65 No. 28 On the other hand, Cabi (2018) reported on a flipped learning research project in Turkey, this time with university students majoring in English and Turkish language teaching. Her main objective was to study the impact of the flipped classroom on students’ academic achievement. By analyzing the results obtained from a control group and an experimental group, Professor Cabi established that, in her case study, there were no significant differences between the students in the control group and the ones in the experimental group in terms of their academic achievement. These results, according to the researcher, were surprising in the sense that most similar research projects, such as the one conducted by Bueno-Alastuey and Galar (2017), had reported considerable differences between control and experimental groups. She found a possible explanation in one of her data-gathering tools results. In the focus-group interviews, it was noticed that there were many variables that affected the results, being the most important the lack of time students had for reflecting and analyzing the materials they were supposed to study at home, the students’ preference to be explained the topics in class, and the lack of concentration and training that autonomous learning endeavors demand. The other two concepts that contributed to the understanding of this research were autonomy and the use of technology for learning. Student autonomy started to be discussed long before the arrival of computers as an educational tool (Godwin- Jones, 2011), but, as with most areas of life, the concept of autonomy has also taken a new breath with technology. In this study, CALL, MALL, CMC, and audio and visual material had an important role because that is going to be the way the flipped content will be presented and through which students will get ready for class speaking practice. However, no matter how important technology is in language learning, the effective use of it “has to do with the role and content of audio and visual material and how these interact with each student’s language learning experience.” (Price, 1987, p. 168) Research Design and Methodology Action research does not only want to understand social phenomena, but it also leads to changes in practice. Following Carr and Kemmis’ ideas (1986), the best research should unite theory and practice. Taking into consideration that the intention of this project is to solve a problem that has been observed in class, action research was the best research path for this study. As a matter of fact, this research project holds many of the characteristics of action research highlighted by Burns (1999): It is contextual, small-scale, and localized, it is evaluative and reflective, and it proposes changes in practice based on collected information and data (Burns, 1999, p. 30) Given the action research nature of this study, instructional videos were created for students to get familiar with the grammar explanations and examples that they would watch before class. This way, the present study aimed to bring about change in the classroom because more student talking time could be allotted in the lesson. Javier Rojas Serrano 66 No. 28 For the creation of videos, Karlsson and Janson’ (2016) suggestions, as well as Neaupane’s (2017) ideas, were followed: 1) Create videos that are no more than 6 minutes long: In their study, Karlsson and Janson (2016) found that shorter videos are more engaging. 2) Create videos in which students can see the information (through slides, for instance) but also where they can see their teacher’s face: Videos with a personal feel can be more engaging. 3) Create videos where you speak fast and enthusiastically: They help maintain students’ interest. 4) Use your own voice: It is different when students hear your voice than when they hear a stranger’s voice. (Neaupane, 2017) The participants in this study were taking English classes at Centro Colombo Americano-Bogotá. They belonged to a B1+ level course in English, aiming at a B2 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). The course was made up of seven students who took their classes Monday through Friday from 6 am to 8 am. Five students were professionals working in fields as varied as engineering, digital technologies, international commerce, and real estate. Two students were teenagers who just finished high school and were studying English before enrolling in a university program. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 35. In this study, there was a control group that was not asked to see the instructional videos before class and an experimental group that was invited to see them; this way, the real effect of flipped classroom videos in the experimental group could be unveiled. Students in the experimental group watched five explanatory videos with grammar information that reviewed and elaborated on the grammar boxes that students have in their textbooks. The textbook with which students were working is Summit 1 by Pearson, and the units and grammar that were considered are Repeated and Double Comparatives (Unit 8), Transforming parts of Speech (Unit 8), Perfect Modals in Active and Passive Voice (Unit 9), Be Supposed to (Unit 10), and Structures to describe habitual actions in the past (Unit 10) Our data collection methods were: Surveys Students filled out the surveys after watching each video and experiencing the lesson to identify if they noticed a benefit in watching the video before the class regarding their speaking time during the lesson and an evaluation of technical aspects of the videos, such as their audio and video quality. The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 67 No. 28 Final Questionnaire Students filled out a final questionnaire with their general impressions about the research project, the use of flipped audiovisual materials, and their effect on their learning at the end of the course. Field Notes The teacher-researcher jotted down his impressions on the development of the lessons that correspond to the flipped grammar explanations. He also took notes about students’ participation and attitudes, the researcher’s perceptions of the lesson’s positive and negative points, class and project outcomes, etc. Time Control Formats A format was designed to track the students’ talking time. The teacher-researcher compared the information from the two groups and contrasted it to see differences in the control and experimental group students’ talking time. The implementation stage lasted less than a month. During the course, the videos were sent to the students via WhatsApp so that they could easily access these audiovisual materials from anywhere. In the class that followed a video watching, students had to demonstrate their understanding of the topics and structures in the videos by explaining them briefly to another partner, carrying out checking and review activities, and incorporating the new language into the communicative event for that day. The time control format in the lessons featuring a grammar topic in both the control and the experimental group was also filled out. This quantitative method format focused on taking the time of the class activities, particularly the activities where students talked. This format specified if the interaction was transactional (controlled practice, comparing homework, answering teachers’ questions, etc.) or communicative (free speaking practice, topic discussions, and reporting on communicative outcomes). Even though communicative activities are the main aims of this study, transactional language is the first step in preparing for that. Transactional language is also communication and can help learners use language for real transactions inside the classroom (Kramsh, 1985) Javier Rojas Serrano 68 No. 28 Table 2. Heading of the class time control format and example. Activity/class moment Time spent (minutes) Student talking time and type of talk (transactional or communicative) Activity description and analysis Objectives presentation/ Warm-Up/ Homework checking 6:10-6:20 am (10 minutes) 8 min (Transactional) Students compare their homework and check the meaning of the expressions in Ex. A Data Analysis and Findings After completing the class time control formats, the teacher-researcher compared the timing information from the control and the experimental groups. This way, the changes in patterns of increasing or decreasing student talking time between the control and experimental groups could be seen. Some bar graphs depicting the student talking time were designed to have a more graphic identification of the information obtained. Here is an example of the formats: Table 3. Students taking time in the control and experimental groups for Unit 8, Lesson 1. Note: Student talking time in Unit 8, Lesson 1: The control group is 55 minutes. Experimental group: 70 minutes. Student talking time increase: 27% The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 69 No. 28 The graphs and data collected through the other data collection tools recurrently suggest that speaking opportunities and options have increased using flipped audiovisual materials. As grammar explanations were flipped and students had the chance to learn the lesson grammar in advance, the time not devoted to grammar explanations in class was used to make students speak more. In all the surveys collected after the lessons where a grammar point was studied, students mentioned that they had spoken more than in the usual classes where grammar was explained in class. In survey #5, for instance, everybody felt they had spoken ‘a lot’ in class. Their perception was correct if we consider the graph that shows the comparison between the regular class with grammar explanation included that was carried out in the control group and the experimental group where the grammar explanation had been flipped. The graph representing the grammar topic in Unit 10 lesson 1 describes the information obtained from the class time control format filled out in that lesson. The control group spoke for 58 minutes during the class, and the experimental group spoke for 71 minutes, representing an increase of 22% in student talking time. Table 4. Differences in student talking time between the control group and the experimental group in Unit 10, Lesson 1 Note: Student talking time in Unit 10, Lesson 1. Control group: 58 minutes. Experimental group: 71 minutes. Student talking time increase: 22% In some cases, the increase was as high as 46% as it happened in lesson 3 unit 8 (Table 5), where students in the control group spoke for 32 minutes compared to the 47 minutes students said in the experimental group according to the class time control format for this lesson. Javier Rojas Serrano 70 No. 28 Table 5. Differences in student talking time between the control and experimental groups in Unit 8, Lesson 3. Note: Student talking time in Unit 8, Lesson 2. Control group: 32 minutes. Experimental group: 47 minutes. Student talking time increase: 46% In the five lessons in which we tested the flipped learning strategy, there was an average increase of 25%. In a way, we confirmed Neaupane’s (2017) thesis that says that with flipped learning, also called inverted classroom, “teachers and students have more time in class to discuss and try out the things to be learned rather than just sitting and listening to the lectures from the teachers.” (p. 1) The students shared their ideas about why it may have happened. For instance, student B, in the final questionnaire, explained: “When you have already an idea of the topic, you just spent a little time clarifying doubts and you can focus on practice what you already learn” (student B final questionnaire) Students C and D also expressed their ideas: “The time that we don’t use learning the grammar in class we use it in speaking.” (student C’s final questionnaire). “We get more information, and we practice with more people.” (student D’s final questionnaire) Despite the evident increase in student speaking time, the increase was thought to be higher at the beginning of this study. I got that idea after reading the work of Ozdamli & Asiksoy (2016), which reported an increase of over 50% in the laboratory activities for a science class, which would be like the communicative activities for a language class. An explanation for this was found after the analysis of the different lessons, in which it was noticed that the more complex or unfamiliar a grammar topic was, the less student talking time increased. In the field notes, it is written down that: “The expressions that were presented in the textbook for this lesson were already known by students (maybe, it’s possible, etc.), The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 71 No. 28 except for two or three expressions of certainty (most likely, it’s obvious)” (Field notes Unit 9 lesson 1) It is hypothesized that students had already gotten some automaticity using these expressions from previous courses, so they did not need to review their meaning or how and when to use them. Thornbury (2007), who developed the concept of automaticity, claims that a way to keep closing the gap between what students know and what they can use in interaction is achieved by constant practice and repetition of structures and, especially of prefabricated chunks, linking devices, and other ready-made units that are recurrent in social language. As a result, the familiarity of students with these expressions allowed them to speak more extensively, as is evident in the graph that corresponds to this lesson, where students increased their talking time by 26 % in comparison to the student talking time in the control group: Table 6. Differences in student talking time between the control and experimental groups in Unit 9, Lesson 1. Note: Student talking time in Unit 9, Lesson 1. Control group: 45 minutes. Experimental group: 57 minutes. Student talking time increase: 26% On the contrary, when a grammar topic was unfamiliar to students (even though students said in the survey that the explanation was clear), the increase in student talking time halted, as it happened in Unit 9, Lesson 2, in which students studied Perfect Modals to speculate about the past: Javier Rojas Serrano 72 No. 28 Table 7. Differences in student talking time between the control and experimental groups in Unit 9, Lesson 2. Note: Student talking time in Unit 9, Lesson 2. Control group: 50 minutes. Experimental group: 52 minutes. Student talking time increase: 4% Even though there was an increase in speaking in communicative interactions (accessible speaking), the overall student speaking time increased by 4% in this lesson. In terms of the quality of the interaction, on the other hand, students in the experimental group seemed to have used the structure more manageable and more naturally than the students in the control group: “…however, even though they did not speak way more than the control group, students felt more confident when using the new structure in the communicative activity and just a few corrections were made to a couple students.” (Field notes Unit 9 lesson 2) A student in the final questionnaire also shared an idea that depicts this idea accurately: “I feel more confident when I know the topic than when I see the topic for the first time.” (student A final questionnaire) The analysis of the data also suggested a set of benefits that flipped videos carry with them different from the purpose they were intended to, that is, the increase in speaking opportunities in class: “I consider that my listening and vocabulary about the topic have been impacted” (student A Final questionnaire) Student C was more straightforward when asked what other skills had been improved: “Listening.” (Student C Final questionnaire) The fact that the videos had no subtitles helped students continue training their ears to listen and increased their vocabulary range in the examples shown in the videos. However, as it is stated in the field notes, the video explanations had a clear impact on writing as well: “Audiovisual materials also boost other kinds of skills, and, in this The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 73 No. 28 case, other language skills. Students were also more prepared to use the new grammar and vocabulary in their project essays.” (Field notes Unit 10 Lesson 1) This commentary was jotted down in the field notes after the teacher checked students’ final versions of their controversial issue essays, which is the project students in this course had to accomplish. Most of them implemented correctly repeated and double comparatives to express trends that are increasing or decreasing (unit 8, lesson 1), perfect modals to speculate about past events (unit 9, lesson 2), and parts of speech to select correct words for the corresponding sentences (unit 8 lesson 3) Flipping the grammar explanation was also an opportunity to help students carry out an activity that students in this institution are encouraged to do: class preparation. As a learning routine, students at the Centro Colombo Americano embrace class preparation to be ready for class. The videos helped them go beyond and prepare vocabulary and grammar points for the following class. In the final questionnaire, all students said using videos was beneficial for familiarizing themselves with grammar before the class. Student A expressed her point of view: “I feel if you watch the videos before the class, you have two opportunities to understand the topic, and you feel more confident.” (Student A Final Questionnaire) Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications This research study could provide an answer to the research question and help to improve a problematic situation that was observed in the classroom. By considering the analysis of the data and the results, it can be concluded that flipped classroom audiovisual content positively impacts adult students’ talking time and speaking skills in terms of the amount of student talking time in the classroom. It was because asking students to study the grammar rules at home frees up time in class that can be used for more communicative activities through control, semi-control, and free oral activities. Additionally, it benefited the quality of interactions because students were able to implement accurately the grammar points studied through flipped learning in their final essays, as it was written down in the field notes taken after grading students’ written work in the experimental group. (Field Notes Unit 10 Lesson 1) On the other hand, the flipped audiovisual materials prepared by the teacher were highly appreciated by students, who are experienced technology users. Rikhye et al. (2009) call them ‘Digital Natives’ because they were born among computers and technological tools for learning, which gives them a natural ability to understand how tech tools work. Conversely, the teacher-researcher is what the same author calls a ‘Digital Immigrant’ born and taught before the Internet era. In this study, students evaluated the videos as part of the end-of-class surveys that they filled out in terms of Javier Rojas Serrano 74 No. 28 audio and video quality, in which an improvement in the production and edition of the videos was evident: Table 8. Progression of students’ opinions about the video quality in the surveys Video 1 survey Video 2 survey Video 3 survey Video 4 survey Video 5 survey Unit 8 lesson 1 Unit 8 lesson Unit 9 lesson 1 Unit 9 lesson 2 Unit 10 lesson 1 (4 students) (7 students) (6 students) (7 students) (5 students) Great quality 3 5 5 6 5 Good quality 1 2 1 1 0 Poor quality 0 0 0 0 0 On the side of the teacher, thus, this research project was also a learning opportunity, and facing technology became a challenge because it meant much extra work, not only recording videos but also planning them and getting self-trained to make these materials more appealing and practical to students. • Apart from the abovementioned ideas, here are some additional conclusions drawn from the study regarding positive aspects as well as challenges when flipping the grammar explanations through videos. • As was highlighted before, other skills different from speaking were also impacted positively. Among them, we find writing, vocabulary, and listening, as was evident in the surveys and field notes. • Students refined their class preparation skills. In addition to reviewing the previous class, they learned the importance of preparing for the next class to gain confidence in speaking and concentrate on practice. • Students found a fun way to deal with typically boring topics such as grammar. Grammar explanations are more interesting when they are prepared online, and it impacts their communication skills. Furthermore, the task of watching the videos and preparing before class encouraged students to continue learning more by themselves and using technology to be more autonomous. As student A put it in the final questionnaire: “After we finish this course, I plan to review those topics I do not remember very good and find videos to review the grammar. I like to watch videos like the ones that the teacher made.” • Students reported changing their schedules and usual routines to watch the videos and, at the same time, continue with their usual study habits (practice topics on a digital platform and carry out project tasks and assignments). This way flipped learning encourages flexibility and open-mindedness, two necessary qualities for modern academic and work environments. The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 75 No. 28 • Teamwork was also fostered because students worked together to discuss what they understood from the videos and clarified their doubts with the teacher’s help. They also worked together to share applications and online resources to practice English outside the classroom and troubleshoot tech-related problems. They started seeing technology to learn and practice English and not only to be entertained or to communicate with others. Student D gave his insight in the final questionnaire: “I think I am going to use technology better, not only to chat with friends and play online games…I think I will see more things about English.” Some of the pedagogical challenges that emerged from the study were: • Some flipped learning activities may diverge from the academic program principles of the institution. In this case, I tried to plan the videos so that they reflected the inductive teaching of grammar that the institution supports. • Teachers must do much extra planning to cope with flipped learning, especially if it involves videos. (Flipped learning may also happen through other means.) It requires teachers to think differently, give students information in advance, and plan practice activities for the class. In addition to planning classes differently, teachers must deal with technology and learn new things constantly to make flipped learning work. • When students are not connected with a project like this and do not do their part at home, the teacher may need to explain things again in class and take time away from practical activities. Even though it did not happen in the class that was part of this project, some students were more prepared than others because they had followed the suggested activities in the video to the letter or because they watched the videos more than once. In this sense, doing the flipping activities planned by the teacher may even be more important than doing homework or other kinds of assignments because if students do not prepare and study the topic at home, the teacher will have to come up with a plan B for these cases in class (with all the extra planning and execution that it entails), which may delay the lesson plan and may end up taking away even more communicative opportunities than a regular session. To conclude, being this an action research project report, this paper does not intend to provide new and innovative information about a widely discussed pedagogical approach as it is flipped learning but to disseminate actionable input and results of a particular case where a single flipped learning strategy was applied. It reported on how an isolated problematic situation in the classroom was addressed and what steps in collecting and analyzing data were carried out by a concerned teacher to bring about positive change and improvement in his classroom. Even though this research study was carried out to solve a problem in a specific situation, and its findings and Javier Rojas Serrano 76 No. 28 results may be generalizable only in relatable scenarios and within specific educational contexts, it is hoped that other teachers experiencing a similar challenge in their pedagogical practice may want to replicate it or develop similar research projects to contrast the results found in this study and continue building knowledge about the application of flipped learning actions to the language class. The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking 77 No. 28 References Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 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Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants: Myth or Reality? International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 6 (2) 3-10. Thornbury, S. (2007). How to teach speaking 4th Edition. Essex, England: Longman. Authors Javier Rojas Serrano holds a B.An in Philology and Foreign Languages from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a Master in TEFL from Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana. He has been an English teacher at Centro Colombo Americano – Bogotá for 17 years and has fulfilled different academic roles as a tutor, assistant supervisor, and teacher supervisor. Throughout his career, he has been interested in different aspects of English teaching, and as a result, he has published academic articles related to topics such as citizenship in the English classroom, technology, teacher collaboration, flipped learning, and formative assessment. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5067-6390 78 No. 28 The Effect of Flipped Learning on Students’ Speaking