Flipped Learning in EFL Classrooms Effects on Tertiary Students' Writing Skills and Perceptions

Flipped learning is believed can open valuable class time to higher-level activities. However, the findings of previous studies on the effects of flipped learning on the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) are sometimes mixed. Hence, this study investigates the effect of flipped learning on EFL tertiary students' ability to write opinion essays and their perceptions. It employed a quasi-experimental design that examined the difference in EFL tertiary students' writing ability with flipped learning and those taught without it. Data were taken from the opinion essay writing tests and questionnaires of 58 third-semester Indonesian university students. The students in both classes showed significant improvement (p < 0.01, [eta][superscript 2] = 0.52), but a significant interaction between teaching style and overall improvement was not found (p = 0.12, [eta][superscript 2] = 0.01). However, interaction was found between teaching style and sub-category scores (i.e., sentence structure and mechanics). Students who were taught using flipped learning mostly had positive perceptions of it. However, there was no association between the students' positive feelings and writing improvement. The findings suggest that flipped learning should be used more widely to benefit from its impacts on learning but that more research is required to maximize its benefits in the future.