Teachers’ Experience of Blended English Language Learning

Abstracts: To address current Emiratization goals for teachers who teach English Medium Subjects, the Abu Dhabi Education Council partnered with a for-profit English language professional development provider to conduct a 6-week trial of a blended English language learning program for Emirati teachers. The current qualitative narrative study was undertaken to learn more about the lived experiences of 11 participants in the program. Participants had access to an online training program and spent 60 to 70% of the training program time in self-paced online learning, and attended face to face sessions with an English trainer for 30-40% percent of the training program time. Overall, most participants generally expressed satisfaction with the program, although some participants expressed concerns about the timing for the training, duration, rigor level, and lack of contextualization. The current research base on the efficacy of such programs in the MENA context is limited. Recommendations include further quantitative program evaluation, using learning outcomes data, and incorporating feedback from participants in the current program into planning for future blended language programs. Keynote: education, language learning, blended learning, professional development, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhab