Investigating Arabic to Speakers of Other Languages (ASOL) Lecturers’ Attitudes towards Utilizing Flipped Classroom Instruction (FCI): A Qualitative Study at Jordanian Public Universities

Abstract

Although Flipped Classroom Instruction (FCI) is not a new concept, the practice is relatively new in the Arab region, especially, in Jordan, where the face-to face approach is still widely used. This qualitative study examined the attitudes of Arabic language lecturers at three Jordanian public universities towards utilizing FCI in their instruction. With the help of convenience sampling, eight lecturers were selected to participate in the study. To reach a clear understanding of this issue, the study utilized a qualitative design and semi-structured interviews were used as a tool to collect the data. The findings revealed that the attitudes of ASOL lecturers about using FCI in their instruction were generally positive. Through the analysis of the data, three main themes emerged from the interviews. The themes were: 1) increasing interaction and collaborative learning, 2) encouraging learning autonomy and independence, and 3) peer instruction and feedback. A key recommendation of the study is that further research needs to be conducted into the reasons why some teachers had negative attitudes towards FCI.