Language Teaching in Blended Contexts - Book Review

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Language teaching in blended contextsTrisha Poole

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aCharles Sturt University, Australia

Available online: 30 Apr 2012

To cite this article: Trisha Poole (2012): Language teaching in blended contexts, Distance

Education, 33:1, 125-129

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BOOK REVIEW

Language teaching in blended contexts, edited by M. Nicolson, L. Murphy, and

M. Southgate, Edinburgh, Dunedin Academic Press, 2011, xx + 279 pp., 18.95

(paperback), ISBN 978-1-906716-20-2

More than meets the blended eye

Blended learning is of significant interest in education and particularly in distance

education because it further enables flexible learning, which is at the heart of dis-

tance education. Blended learning remains a constantly evolving concept as rapid

developments in technologies continue to generate conceptualizations of how

blended learning can look in different learning environments and how it can enablegreater affordances in distance education.

In the context of this book, however, blended learning is considered to be learn-

ing that is enhanced and facilitated by synchronous and asynchronous technologies

including Web 2.0 applications, telephony, and other means of connecting learners

and teachers remotely. Although technology in education is not new in itself and

some institutions have been practicing blended learning for more than 15 years

(Nicolson, Murphy, & Southgate, 2011), the advancement and proliferation of social

technologies have created new platforms through which these blended learning

environments can be implemented.

The book Language Teaching in Blended Contexts attempts to bring a rationaltwenty-first century focus to blended learning while not being too enamoured by

the shiny new online tools that are becoming available. Instead, it remains true to

educational theory: it looks behind the brand and identifies the underlying capacities

and functions of technologies in order to provide a solid foundation for creating

blended learning environments. The primary focus of the book is not to be all

things to all people (Nicolson et al., 2011, p. xx) but rather a starting point from

which educators can then delve more deeply into areas of blended learning that are

of more specific interest. It also provides a clear view of how blended learning

environments enable greater opportunities for distance learners to access learning

contexts in a more connected manner.

The primary content of the book focuses on broadly investigating areas and

methods of blended learning and teaching while providing considerations and exam-

ples from language teaching courses across various institutions and contexts. Thus,

the book does achieve its aim of providing a resource that collates teaching ideas

for blended contexts, including methods of evaluating learning activities and tools

for educational design, learning, and teaching.

The book is divided into five sections beginning with the basics of educational

design and working through a simple learning and teaching cycle with examples:

understanding the learning context, designing teaching and assessment in blended

contexts, building reflective practice, and cultivating professional development.

While Language Teaching in Blended Contexts has been written to be read as acohesive text, it also maintains flexibility because each chapter, and consequently

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section, is autonomous. Thus, the book offers opportunities to be creative and flexi-

ble in its consumption, which is a core message and theme that is propagated

throughout the text.

The content of each of these sections is aimed at providing foundationalknowledge, clear descriptions and explanations of blended learning concepts, and

examples of blended learning in action. Each section also provides reflective anal-

ysis tools that can be used to assist in the design of learning and teaching

environments. The primary content of each section provides a great explanation

of basic blended learning and teaching concepts with examples of it in action in

language teaching. Thus, this text can be beneficial not only to language teachers,

but also to educators in general. At times, the text appears elementary, but it

provides a solid foundation for educators and educational designers who are

investigating blended learning contexts and concepts for the first time, or who are

beginning to consider blended contexts for language teaching. In this way,

Language Teaching in Blended Contexts has positioned itself as a text that is

foundational for blended learning, with a particular focus on language learningand teaching environments.

While the title and inherent intention of the book focus on language teaching in

blended contexts, the real value of the book lies in the solid foundation that it pro-

vides for blended learning environments in general. At times, it is easy to becomelost in the concept of blended learning and to be immersed in the different

approaches, tools, and technologies that are presented while forgetting that the focus

is intended to be on the language teaching in these contexts. Thus, while this may

not be optimal for the authors and editors as it was not their intention, it does allow

the book to be more relevant to a wider audience, paving the way for it to become

a staple text in blended learning in general, albeit with a language teaching focus.A key strength of this book is its focus on the use of different modes of

teaching and different technologies to create blended learning environments. It

provides ample templates and examples of blended learning activities, lessons,

planning, assessment, and reflection for both educators and learners. An aspect

that is consistently reiterated throughout the third section, which considers the

planning, implementing, and reflecting on the blended learning environment, is

the concept of core technologies. For example, in Chapter 8 when discussing

teaching via telephone, the underlying concept of voice conversations and meth-

ods of managing learning via telephone are investigated; the ideas and guidelines

presented are sufficiently broad that they can be extrapolated to other voice-basedcommunication methods such as online teleconferencing (e.g., Skype). While the

authors consider online conferencing tools in a separate chapter, the fundamental

concepts surrounding synchronous voice-based communication teaching methods

are discussed in the one place and then in later sections they are cross-referenced

and expanded on rather than repeating the same information.

A unique feature of Language Teaching in Blended Contexts is the section on

learning and teaching community and indigenous languages, and how these are dis-

tinguished from learning second and foreign languages. While this section has a

considerable focus on the differences in the learners and teaching methods between

these two types of language teaching, it also presents some clear considerations for

the creation of effective blended learning and teaching experiences when teachingindigenous and community languages. This section presents a different view of

language teaching and it becomes quite specialized; however, it appears to be only

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a brief overview of a very complex issue that cannot be adequately addressed in

two chapters. Nevertheless, the authors of these two chapters provide a sound

foundation for community and indigenous language teaching in blended contexts

and provide sufficient sources for further information, so it builds on the overallimage of the book being an introductory guide to considerations of creating blended

contexts for language teaching. An additional positive aspect of this section is that

it provides a comprehensive overview of the factors that are involved in planning

for effective language teaching, starting with a comprehensive contextualization of

the types of learners, learning styles, cultures, learning experiences, teaching meth-

ods, and other influencing factors that will affect the choices of blended learning

tools and approaches. Thus, in many ways, these two chapters bring together the

first three sections of the book into a cohesive design process framework that can

be extrapolated to the learning and teaching of other languages, or other similarly

niche areas.

The final section of the book paints a broad view of teacher professional

development to support blended learning and teaching environments. While thereare some references to language teaching, the majority of this section revolves

around general teacher development and methods to encourage teacher interactions

in blended environments to reflect the environments that they wish to create in their

own classes. Therefore, these final chapters and comments can be used well outsideof language teaching contexts and can provide a basic overview of reflective prac-

tice, professional development, and methods to encourage reflective practitioners

who can then become leaders within their context. There is a strong emphasis on

engaging teachers in their own professional development in terms of deciding

directions, researching further avenues for development, and becoming mentors for

others. As Gallardo, Heiser, and Nicolson (2011) stated:

As the teaching world gets to grips with the age of diversity and increased digitalliteracy, where blends are likely to become more rather than less complex, it is cer-tainly the case that teachers in blended contexts will be required to become resourceful

professionals, with an increasing number of skills needed at their fingertips, both liter-ally and metaphorically. (p. 245)

This closing statement in chapter 16 clearly demonstrates the view that is held

by the contributors and editors of the book: blended learning and teaching contexts

are becoming imperative in modern education and learning systems, and it is essen-tial that teachers learn to become self-sufficient in the methods of blended learning

and teaching. This book provides a first step into blended learning for language

contexts, and a solid accessible resource for teachers in general who are beginning

their own forays into blended learning designs, which can be used extensively in

distance education contexts.

A consistent feature of Language Teaching in Blended Contexts is the

integration of classroom anecdotes and empirical research to support the statements,

theories, concepts, and practices that are presented for effective blended learning

and teaching practices. While the references provide additional support and validity

to the content, the anecdotes emphasize that these methods come from real blended

learning contexts with real learners, real issues, and real teachers. A positive note

about the use and integration of anecdotes and other sources is that it does not

create a heavy theoretical book, but rather provides an accessible way for the

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practice to interact with the theory while allowing greater connections to real-world

scenarios. Furthermore, these anecdotes and references provide avenues for readers

to continue to explore the concepts presented. The ease with which the anecdotes

and references have been embedded within the text and structured around the topicsaffords readers the opportunity to connect on a more personal level with the prac-

tices and simultaneously bridge practice to the theory.

While this book is not dense with theory, it does provide a substantial list of

sources for the reader to investigate. There are numerous well-known researchers in

educational technology and language acquisition cited, and the book itself adds to

the literature on integrating technology in education, specifically language

education. However, one notable deficiency on the list is the work of Mishra and

Koehler, who are considered eminent theorists in terms of embedding technology

into education (e.g., American Association of Colleges for Teacher EducationCommittee on Technology & Innovation, 2008; Koehler & Mishra, 2009; Koehler,

Mishra, Yahya, & Yadav, 2004; Mishra, Koehler, & Zhao, 2007; Schmidt et al.,

2009).Furthermore, the noticeable omission of the Technological Pedagogical and

Content Knowledge (TPACK) model (Harris, Mishra, & Koehler, 2009; Koehler

and Mishra, 2009) or clear strategies founded in theoretical models for the effec-

tive integration of the pedagogy, content, and technology within learning environ-ments is perhaps the weakest point of the book. The TPACK model provides for

the integration of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge that acknowledges

and balances all three aspects within the learning and teaching design and pro-

cesses. In contemporary educational contexts, the integration of these three aspects

of knowledge for learning and teaching is essential when considering blended sit-

uations and the effective use of technologies to enhance learning experiences.While the omission of these frameworks has lowered the theoretical density of

the text, this lowering means that the book is more accessible to a broader audi-

ence.

The book is not overtly explicit about its readership, other than language teach-

ers, but it is written in a manner and style that encourages language teachers and

educators of all backgrounds to engage with the content. It is written for preservice

teachers and experienced teachers alike, as well as native and non-native speakers

of English. Moreover, as a result of the foundational content of the book, it can be

used as a first point of reference for blended learning by educational designers and

those involved in higher levels of learning design as well as classroom teachers.The forethought to create such an accessible book will ensure its use across differ-

ent contexts, countries, and situations.

Language Teaching in Blended Contexts can be a great core text for understand-

ing blended learning and teaching environments. However, the veneer of language

teaching might cause it to undersell itself to mainstream educators as it has great

value for investigating and developing more generic blended learning contexts as

well. This book can be considered a great text for introducing the concept of

blended learning with a specific emphasis on language teaching.

ReferencesAmerican Association of Colleges for Teacher EducationCommittee on Technology and

Innovation. (2008). Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK)for educators. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Gallardo, M., Heiser, S., & Nicolson, M. (2011). Practical approaches for teacher develop-ment. In M. Nicolson, L. Murphy, & M. Southgate (Eds.), Language teaching in blendedcontexts (pp. 232245). Edinburgh: Dunedin.

Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2009). Teachers technological pedagogical contentknowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integrationreframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41, 393416. Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/learn/publications/journals/jrte.aspx

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9, 6070. Retrieved fromhttp://www.citejournal.org

Koehler, M. J., Mishra, P., Yahya, K., & Yadav, A. (2004). Successful teaching with technol-ogy: The complex interplay of content, pedagogy, and technology. In R. Ferdig et al.(Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education Interna-tional Conference 2004 (pp. 23472354). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved fromhttp://www.editlib.org/p/14799

Mishra, P., Koehler, M. J., & Zhao, Y. (2007). Faculty development by design: Integratingtechnology in higher education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

Nicolson, M., Murphy, L., & Southgate, M. (Eds.). (2011). Language teaching in blended

contexts. Edinburgh: Dunedin.Schmidt, D. A., Baran, E., Thompson, A. D., Mishra, P., Koehler, M. J., & Shin, T. S.

(2009). Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK): The development andvalidation of an assessment instrument for preservice teachers. Journal of Research onTechnology in Education, 42, 123149. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publica-tions/journals/jrte.aspx

Trisha Poole

Charles Sturt University, Australia

[email protected]

2012, Trisha Poole

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Language Teaching in Blended Contexts - Book Review