Enhancing Semantic and Pragmatic Instruction in EFL Higher Education through the Flipped Classroom Approach

Enfoque

In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction, semantics and pragmatics play fundamental roles in facilitating effective communication and language proficiency development. Semantics enhances students’ comprehension and recognition of word definitions, connections between sentences, as well as discourse and contextual understanding (Alsayed, 2019). Pragmatics is also essential for EFL learners as it facilitates effective communication in different social and cultural contexts; as Shokouhi and Rezaei (2015) acknowledge, the lack of pragmatic knowledge might result in communication failures. In this context, the present study, aligned with the Flipped Classroom approach, aimed to investigate students’ perceptions of the strategies used in semantic and pragmatic instruction in EFL higher education in southern Ecuador. The Flipped Classroom stands as an innovative pedagogical method prioritizing learner-centered instruction (Gilboy et al., 2015) which fosters critical thinking skills, group or peer interaction, communication, teamwork, time management, and creativity (Ma, 2023; Ng, 2023). During the 16-week study, 25 university students, aged between 21 and 29 years, and with proficiency levels ranging from B1 to B2, were involved. They were enrolled in an onsite Semantics and Pragmatics course, with classes held twice weekly. A mixed-methods approach was utilized, starting with a diagnostic questionnaire aimed at evaluating students’ prior knowledge and experiences related to content and the use of different strategies in previous courses. Following the analysis of students’ responses to the diagnostic questionnaire, the implementation phase was initiated, incorporating activities such as video creation, graphic organizer design, participation in virtual forum discussions, and infographic development. At the end of the intervention, a perception questionnaire was used to know the students’ attitudes toward instructional activities, and interviews were conducted to further explore the participants’ insights into the effectiveness of the strategies implemented in the course.  The results revealed that the design of videos emerged as the most effective strategy for improving students’ understanding of semantics and pragmatics. Participants expressed favorable perceptions towards the video creation process, highlighting its impact on their learning experience. They reported that since they worked in groups to create the videos, they actively engaged with concepts, fostering a deeper understanding of the topics that were assigned to each group. Furthermore, when producing their videos, students were able to apply theoretical knowledge to real-life contexts and create examples that increased their understanding, thus enhancing their comprehension and retention of linguistic principles. The results also demonstrated that virtual forum discussions and infographic design contributed to students’ learning experiences. Virtual forum discussions facilitated active engagement and interaction, fostering a collaborative and respectful learning environment in which all opinions were valued. Infographics enhanced semantics and pragmatics learning by simplifying complex concepts into visually attractive formats. Finally, the design of graphic organizers was partially considered as an effective strategy for promoting critical thinking and organization skills.