Methodological and organizational conditions for the implementation of blended learning foreign language at university

Abstract

The article provides conceptual and terminological apparatus of blended learning,
offers a version of interpreting the term «blended learning», and examines the current state of
this education format, its place, and its role in Kazakh and foreign higher (primarily linguistic)
education. Blended learning is seen to improve educational process efficiency. The authors
consider the issues of development, testing, and stage-by-stage evaluation of the proposed model’s effectiveness. Diagnostic materials and results of monitoring the success of experimental work on implementing blended learning in a language university are presented. During the experiment, a supporting model of blended learning of a foreign language was developed, based on the formulated methodological and organizational principles. As a result of the study, the authors concluded that using blended learning in teaching a foreign language in higher education is pedagogically expedient since blended learning can increase educational process effectiveness. The flexibility of the blended learning model allows applying a student-centered approach, adapting the traditional educational process to students’ individual characteristics. It also contributes to better use of time in the classroom. Blended learning specificity provides for the need to select and structure a course content in accordance with the peculiarities of the used model of blended learning of a foreign language (material organization and distribution of educational activities between full-time and distance components). Methods of organizing the educational process in blended learning involve using modern pedagogical technologies based on the principles of a student-centered approach and student autonomy.