The Project-Based Flipped Learning Model in Business English Translation Course: Learning, Teaching and Assessment

Lijun Deng

doi:10.5539/elt.v11n9p118

Abstract

This study designs a project-based flipped learning model for Business English Translation course and tests its efficacy by an empirical study on 65 third-year English major students divided into the experimental class and control class. This study incorporates the learning, teaching and assessment activities of both the students and teachers into a project-based flipped learning model by setting translation projects and dividing the students of the experimental class into a client group and three translator groups in each business translation unit. After one 16-week semester of experiment, this study conducts a post-test, questionnaires and interviews on both the experimental class and control class to test the efficacy of this new flipped learning model. The statistics and facts collected from the above-mentioned research methods suggest that the project-based flipped learning model can significantly enhance the students’ motivation to learn out of class, stimulate their participation in class and raise their self-evaluation on translation competence. Additionally, this study finds that the traditional product-oriented summative assessment model is ineffective for Business English Translation course in a flipped-learning context. Therefore, this study tentatively proposes a process-oriented assessment model that is compatible to the flipped learning methodology so as to build integrated flipped classroom pedagogy with teaching, learning and assessment in a virtuous circle of mutual reinforcing.

Highlights

Flipped learning or flipped classroom has recently become one of the most popularly discussed and employed teaching methodology all over the world
Based on the process-oriented nature of translation, this study explores the feasibility of project-based translation tasks in the flipped learning model for Business English Translation course at Guangdong University of Foreign studies, and at the same time, tests the efficacy of this new teaching methodology by a post-test, questionnaires and interviews
Afterwards, this study examined the efficacy of the projected-oriented flipped learning model by statistics generated from a post-test (English translation competence test), questionnaires and interviews on both the experimental class and control class

Summary

Introduction

Flipped learning or flipped classroom has recently become one of the most popularly discussed and employed teaching methodology all over the world. Not a new pedagogical approach, flipped learning is currently often referenced in information and communications technology (ICT)-supported learning to describe an inversion of the traditional in-class and out-of-class components of the learning and teaching process (Jenkins et al, 2017). As for flipped learning, a more recent definition proposed by the Flipped Learning Network (2015) is “a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter”. Flipped learning methodology places students, rather than teachers as in the traditional teaching methodology, in the center of study and learning activities. Further research and investigation into this approach and the impact it may have on learning are urgently needed and called for (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015; O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015)

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