Teaching English Grammar in a Hybrid Academic ESL Course: A Mixed Methods Study

Introduction

International student numbers reached an all-time high in the 2018/19 academic year with 1,095,299 students studying in institutions of higher education (IHE) in the United States, and this number represents an increase of over 60% from the 671,616 students from a decade ago in the 2008/09 academic year (IIE, 2020). The trend is not unique to the United States but is consistent with other BANA countries (i.e., Britain, Australasia, and North America). The presence of an increasing number of second language (L2) users of English has impacted IHE in significant ways. Because most international students are L2 academic English users, IHEs have found it necessary to develop specific courses to assist them in improving their academic English skills. The ability to use English effectively in academic settings demands advanced language proficiency (Hinkel, 2011, 2013; Weigle, 2002), and achieving this level of proficiency requires “focused instruction and concerted effort from both teachers and learners” (Hinkel, 2013, p. 4). The importance of English for academic purposes is supported by research that shows strong positive correlations between students’ abilities to perform well in academic environments and their proficiencies in grammar and writing (Byrd & Reid, 1998; Johns, 1997; Zhou, 2009). Furthermore, Celce-Murcia (1991) states that grammar instruction is essential for academic learners if they are to achieve their educational and professional goals in academic contexts because high frequency of grammatical errors in L2 student writing makes the writing unacceptable to most university faculty. Therefore, it is critical that L2 English users develop effective skills in editing their academic writing.

Most English language teaching programs in IHE include courses in grammar and academic writing to help English learners achieve their professional goals; however, there are a number of different ways in which grammar courses are conceptualized and included in the curriculum. Grammar courses can be conceptualized as stand-alone courses very much like the four skills (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, and listening). In this type of approach to teaching grammar, there is a focus-on-forms or the deliberate teaching of grammar to produce an understanding of grammatical forms with the hope that it will lead L2 learners to use the forms correctly (Doughty, 2003). Another approach to teaching grammar is conceptualized as deriving from specific content, such as chemistry or engineering, as in content-based instruction (CBI) or content and language-integrated learning (CLIL). In such an approach, the focus on grammatical structures is based on their use in written texts that are discipline specific. Yet another approach is called the integrated approach, as grammar is integrated into one of the four skills, such as writing. In the latter, the focus for grammar instruction is on the development of editing skills (i.e., the ability to correct grammatical errors in the context of one’s own academic writing). The integrated approach to teaching grammar is the emphasis of the research reported in this chapter.

The focus for the delivery of academic English courses has been the traditional face-to-face (f2f) model of teaching; however, with the increasing number of individuals worldwide who are interested in studying academic English at the tertiary level, English language teaching programs and other units that oversee academic English requirements in IHE are looking for more effective and efficient course delivery options, such as exploring the uses of computer technology. Computer technology has been used in education for more than two decades in language learning. The overarching term for talking about the use of computer technology to promote language learning is CALL (computer-assisted language learning). The term was defined by Levy (1997) as “the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning” (p. 1). It embraces a wide range of applications and approaches to teaching and learning foreign languages (see Dudeney & Hockly, 2012, for a brief history of CALL). A combination of f2f teaching and CALL is most often referred to as blended learning, and the courses that result from this blending are called hybrid courses. In hybrid courses the f2f teaching time is reduced and replaced by time spent learning online.