Poster by: Han Dongjing
Session: B | Time: 9:45AM – 10:00AM | Location: Room 203
Inquiry as a method of Foreign Language teaching in China Vocational Education
Carrying on traditional lecture-based format teaching method, blended learning was introduced and developed in the foreign language online and offline education. Inquiry-based learning emphasizes active learning that starts by posing problems instead of direct teaching. Inquiry-based learning includes problem-based learning, which is generally investigated in a small scale.
This research investigated the problem-based learning conducted in the business English class of higher vocational schools and attempted to explore the better effective use of educational technological resources to support EFL learning in PBL settings. In this research project, Business English major students ranging from grade one to three were invited to join the PBL program.
A wide range of positive effects of PBL in students’ general competencies is reflected. Most of them are reflected on professional skills such as interpersonal and professional competencies and lifelong learning skills. However, due to variability of educational technological tools, small effects of e-learning on students’ learning were revealed, which was aligned with previously pertinent research findings (Schmidt, 2010). Not all technological devices employed in PBL programs fit the directing principles of PBL. It was inevitable for some E-learning modules to guide students with the same material in the same way, which is in contrast with individualized self-directed learning principles of PBL (Barrow, 2002). Thus, with the aim of better facilitation of educational technology in PBL settings, e-learning tools should help learners to construct new knowledge based on prior knowledge in a self-directed way instead of hindering the learning progress.
This research project enhanced the justified status of PBL in higher education, enlarged its employment areas to language education field and enriched the technological facilitating knowledge in EFL teaching practice. PBL is an innovative approach in teaching methodology. Furthermore, the current empirical research provided further evidence of the role of PBL in EFL education in natural university classroom and recommendations on appropriate use of technological resources to better facilitate students’ academic learning and professional development for their promising future career.
Abstract: 583