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to the content (see below). Additionally, the course takes place in their social context
– at the taxi association during synchronous sessions and at their workplace through
the mobile component. This ‘blend’ of locations is made possible through the use of
various online and mobile tools.
Flexibility and responsiveness

The above context made it necessary to take a flexible approach and be responsive
to my students’ needs throughout the course. Collis and Moonen (2002) list five
dimensions of flexibility:
1. programme
2. study material
3. location
4. forms of communication
5. types of interaction.
All of these were relevant for my course and I aimed to realise this flexibility through
a blended approach, which I will describe in detail in the next section.

The blend
There are two kinds of blends in my courseware: a) of interaction and b) of tools
(see Figure 1).
Figure 1: A blend of interaction and tools used for the taxi English course

Interaction Tools
BLEND

Face-to-face Mobile Blog

Podcasts

Online

a. Interaction
The face-to-face component
As the learners had a traditional educational background, the face-to-face class met
their expectations. It was also more personal and served to create good rapport
with them. In addition, it was the learners’ work environment, which is important in
the situated learning perspective (see above). In class, the learners could work in

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