Blended Learning Design of English Language Course in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Higher education has been innovated by technological advancement to fulfill the demands of various learning needs. Blended Learning (BL) is increasingly important for education institutions to transform the conventional classroom into a more open and innovative integration of teaching and learning not limited to time and space. There have been literature and systematic review on BL in various subjects, however, BL design of English courses applied in higher education lacks a comprehensive systematic review. This paper conducts a systematic review of BL in English courses to investigate the effect of BL in ETL (English Teaching and Learning) and to identify BL trends, gaps, and future directions for ETL in higher education. Based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, this study conducted a literature search of the following databases: Scopus, ACM, and Web of Science, using the search string of “blended learning”, “English courses”, and “higher education” and several related substrings. The search yielded 469 studies that were identified through further screening and eligibility. 69 articles were selected for inclusion in this review. The current research fields for BL in ETL can be mainly summarized into four categories: blended learning design, participants, technologies, and effects, The obtained findings identify the factors and variables related to BL that influence the effect of ETL in higher education. Additionally, the effectiveness of different BL models and approaches are investigated for ETL in higher education. The result facilitates the design and implementation of a blended or hybrid English course in higher education.