Page 178 - BLENDED LEARNING

16

A military blend

Claire Whittaker

Introduction
This case study will describe a blend used to provide English language training to
military personnel in the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH). It will
consider what the blend is comprised of, the materials and software used, how
the modes complement each other, the timetable arrangement, designing for a
suite of courses (elementary to upper-intermediate), and the teaching and learning
methodology. It will also highlight the rationale for the decisions that were taken in
relation to the design of the blend, detail the main lesson learned during the design
process and offer advice to would-be blended learning course designers. Lastly, it
will critically reflect on the blend and suggest areas in which it could be enhanced.

Course overview
The English courses described in this study were developed and managed by the
British Council’s Military English Support Project (MESP) that formed part of the wider
Peacekeeping English Project. The courses provided English language training to
military personnel (mainly officers) in the AFBiH primarily to enable them to partake
in peace support operations. I was the Training and Systems Manager on the Project
and responsible for overseeing the evolution of the blend over a three-year period.

The courses ranged in level from elementary to upper-intermediate and were taught
in 13 centres across the country to accommodate the geographical spread of the
AFBiH personnel. The low-level courses (elementary and pre-intermediate) were
taught by unqualified officer instructors, who received extensive pre-service and
in-service training from MESP, and the higher level courses (intermediate and upper-
intermediate) by qualified English language teachers employed by MESP. I am unsure
what the rationale for this split was as it was in place when I took up my post, but I
assume it was to do with the differing levels of linguistic competence and pedagogic
ability between the officer instructors and teachers. All the courses were intensive,
23 hours per week, and ran for 12 weeks, totalling 276 hours per level. The number
of learners on each course ranged from 12 to 16, with an annual turnover of 600
learners per annum.

Why the blend was introduced

A version of the blend was in place when I took up post and it is my understanding
that this approach was primarily adopted to support the unqualified officer
instructors with their teaching. The reason for employing a blended approach as
opposed to a purely computer-led course is unknown to me, although I would

174 | Using a wiki to enhance the learning experience on a business English course A military blend | 175