Flipping an IELTS writing class: Vietnamese learners’ perception

The paradox between limited class time and colossal course demand is common in short courses of IELTS writing component compared to other skills. That sometimes leads to the failure of teachers to accomplish their lesson objectives. Additionally, the fact that few studies about teaching IELTS writing have been conducted in language centers reveals a shortage of research about solutions to this paradox in language centers. To address this problem, this paper will introduce the flipped classroom in an Academic Module IELTS writing class of 20 learners at a language center in Vietnam to investigate their perceptions of the flipped IELTS writing classroom, the relationship between students’ learning before class with their lesson objective completion as well as their lesson understanding, and problems in the transition from a traditional class to a flipped one. The research instruments comprised a post-course questionnaire, weekly meeting surveys, and a post-course interview. The results indicated that most learners felt optimistic about this teaching approach and advocated its efficiency in inverted time allotment for lectures and homework. However, they did not have much independence and active learning. Additionally, their exposure to lecture-like learning materials at different levels before class improved their rates of lesson objective completion and understanding of the day's content. However, introducing different perspectives in approaching the same writing question seemed counterproductive when it confused learners. Furthermore, nine learners’ problems were identified, and pedagogical suggestions were made for the flipped IELTS writing class.