The Impacts of the Flipped Classroom Model on Teaching IELTS Writing Skills

Abstract

This paper is based on a small-scale qualitative research project in a private educational context in Vietnam which aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the flipped classroom model as an innovative approach to preparing students for the IELTS Writing test. Previously, the lion’s share of the teaching time was used to deliver the content of the lesson, and only a small amount of time was dedicated to practice and discussion. The learners had low level of engagement, and their performance progressed negligibly. This innovation was intended to combat the problems of time constraints and students’ disengagement in teaching IELTS writing by flipping part of the class home for the students to self-study. This approach freed up more class-time for practice and interaction, and thus allow the teacher to tackle knowledge at a much deeper level and increase the students’ engagement significantly.