Flipped Classroom Approach in ESP Courses: Focus on ESP Students’ Critical Thinking and Engagement

The present study investigated the effects of using flipped classroom techniques on Iranian ESP students’ critical thinking and engagement. The flipped classroom model flips the traditional relationship between class time and homework. Students learn at home via online coursework and lectures, and teachers use class time for teacher-guided practice or projects. Participants were 60 ESP students studying at Payam-e Noor University, who were divided into 2 equal groups with 30 students each. Participants’ language proficiency was checked through a language proficiency test. The participants of the experimental group received vocabulary instruction through flipped classroom techniques. A specialist group of EFL/ESP professors who were the researcher's colleagues produced 10 videos, and each video lecture was accompanied by a lecturer's avatar, which used his or her true voice and audiovisual materials representations. The control group received conventional vocabulary instruction. Results of the statistical analyses showed that there was a positive influence of flipped classroom over the participants’ task engagement. Also, it was found that the flipped classroom had a significant effect on the Iranian students' critical thinking in ESP courses. Flipped classrooms enable ESP students to become more independent, which necessitates more critical thinkers. As a result, flipped classrooms can provide a platform for L2 students' potential critical thinking abilities to blossom and develop.