ASYNCHRONOUS AND SYNCHRONOUS СONTENT OF BLENDED LEARNING FOR PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

Abstract

The architecture of blended learning (BL) in the training of prospective English teachers in higher education establishments was illuminated, particularly emphasizing the synchronous and asynchronous content and learning modes, which are an integral basis for the development of their professionally oriented communicative competence (POCC). A multi-faceted methodological approach – encompassing analysis, synthesis, comparison, and generalization – served as the analytical lens for scrutinizing the extant scientific literature, undertaking categorical evaluations of core concepts, and delineating their interrelations. BL was positioned as a purposeful process of dissemination and assimilation of knowledge, enhancing an array of speech fluency, linguistic understanding, sociocultural awareness, educational and strategic competences, cognitive activities of Master’s degree students. It offers a nuanced hybridization of distance (remote) and traditional (conventional) learning paradigms, effectively enriching the learning process while enabling their independent (self-study) learning. A functional scheme of the content area of BL covers three generic notions and is considered as a multifarious interactive space that serves as a catalyst for educational synergy, fostering holistic interactions between students, teachers, and the curriculum, where two subcategories of asynchronous learning mode are distinguished: collaborative (group-based) and independent (individual-based). The research introduced a pedagogical blueprint encompassing a repertoire of synchronous and asynchronous learning modes that can be configured in the following varieties: synchronous-group, asynchronous-group, synchronous-individual, asynchronousindividual, virtual-synchronous and face-to-face-synchronous.