Restructuring a Beginner Language Program: A Quantitative Analysis of Face-To-Face versus Flipped-Blended Spanish Instruction

The present study provides empirical data measuring the effects of a flipped and blended course design for beginning-level Spanish on the four skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, compared to a control group following a traditional present-practice-produce instructional format. The study provides a template for the successful restructuring of language programs through the incorporation of a cognitive model of learning processes, controls for depth of language processing, and a reconceptualization of instructional context. Results of a pre/post-test design show that two experimental groups, which met three days per week in the classroom along with flipped-blended course work, developed at the same pace in receptive skills, and more so in productive skills, than a control group that met four days per week only in the classroom.