The Combination of Flipped Classroom and ICTs Towards Effective Instruction in an EFL Environment

Introduction

Since the mid-twentieth century, the world has been experiencing the Third Industrial Revolution, which has involved the widespread development of new technologies worldwide. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have had a significant impact on the way we live, work, and communicate. As pointed out by Hwang and Fu when trying to convey the increasing complexity of our globalized world: “New technologies have produced a new dynamic as the training of individuals and groups, scientific and technical advances and modes of cultural expression have been constantly evolving since the mid-twentieth century, notably in the direction of growing interdependence” (2020, p. 5).

In such a hyperconnected world, languages are an essential asset that will help students thrive in their academic, professional, and personal lives, as bonds between countries, organizations, and individuals seem to be endlessly expanding. English is one of the most frequently used languages on the Internet. The term “English as a lingua franca” is often used to convey the undeniable fact that English is the language most chosen to communicate among speakers with different first languages. According to Landeo et al. (2023), only one out of every four users of English in the world are native speakers of the language.

Consequently, teaching English as a foreign language not only offers the knowledge of a new language and culture to our students, but also gives them a crucial tool to interact with the world and to have access to lifelong learning thanks to a higher degree of autonomy. As a global language, English is indispensable for engaging in a constant personal learning process. It is therefore our responsibility as educators to provide students with the basis for learning to learn and to foster motivation to help them acquire goal-directed behaviour that will be vital for their self-development throughout life.

The purposeful use of new technologies and the acquisition of English seem to be a perfect combination to prepare our students to confront the challenges of an uncertain future. Recently, the great disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to re-evaluate the role of educational centres and teachers, and thereby the different teaching approaches and methodologies related to second language acquisition in specific environments, according to Mendoza and Martos (2021).

Considering the knowledge acquired, we can confirm that innovative educational approaches and methodologies have at their core two fundamental aspects: the integration of ICTs and the acquisition of competences through cooperation. These two key aspects are strongly related to the shift from teacher-centred teaching to the learner-centred teaching, which has its roots in the well- acknowledged and thoroughly researched approach developed by the American psychologist Carl Rogers. When investigating the three fields previously mentioned, ICTs, project-based cooperative learning, and the student-centred approach, two didactic concepts turned out to be recurrent: flipped learning and differentiated instruction (Qader and Arslan, 2019).

The challenge as a 21^st century educator is to reap the benefits that ICTs combined with flipped learning could bring to each of the students in terms of motivation, involvement, flexibility, and, more importantly, individualization. In our opinion, excellence in education is achieved when an educator manages to tailor instruction to meet individual student’s needs. We will then explore how flipping the class using ICTs can allow teachers to respond to the diversity of interests, cultural backgrounds, academic readiness, and learning styles to move away from one-size-fits-all teaching.