PERCEPTIONS OF ENGLISH METHOD STUDENTS TOWARDS THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH AT A SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT This article reports on findings from a research study that sought to establish the perceptions of pre-service teachers towards the flipped classroom approach. The flipped classroom approach, also known as the inverted classroom, has gained prominence in recent years. However, little has been written about its benefits in language teaching, particularly in the South African context. In contrast to the traditional classroom, where the teacher takes centre stage, imparting new information to students who passively absorb it, the flipped classroom approach focuses on providing students with learning materials in the form of pre-recorded lectures, videos, presentations, tutorials, and other web-based resources before the actual class. The approach requires students to familiarise themselves with new information and prepare for in-class activities with the teacher and peers, ahead of time. Class time in the flipped classroom approach is reserved for revisiting the topic while the teacher actively engages with the students via group discussions, collaborative coursework, and assessments. This paper discusses how the researcher applied the flipped classroom approach in teaching English method modules and conducted the study on which this paper is based. It emphasises why language teachers should consider flipping their classrooms. This study employed a qualitative research design because the researcher intended to collect descriptive data in the form of student teachers’ spoken and written words. Purposeful sampling was used, as it allowed the researcher to select the students to be included in the study intentionally. The researcher selected 20 students out of a class of 52 students. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Before commencing the study, the researcher obtained an ethical clearance certificate from the University Research Ethics Committee, which enabled the study to proceed. The findings indicate that students had a positive attitude toward the flipped classroom approach. Most students appreciated the use of videos and the flexibility provided by the flipped classroom approach. Keywords: the flipped classroom, English method students, perceptions