Blended Learning Course Format on Moodle: A Model for Beginner Level Foreign Language Courses in Higher Education

Abstract

This article presents a pedagogically sound, user-friendly course model for teaching beginner level foreign languages on the Moodle platform, based upon a Turkish course developed and currently being taught by the author. The paper shows that an integrated course layout which combines monthly chronological units with thematic ones facilitates teaching and learning. Guidelines for designing an aesthetically appealing, uniquely tailored course website are given, which make a variety of pertinent and interesting educational materials easy to locate. An engaging and enriching course site of this kind raises the students’ motivation and enhances learning. Foreign language teachers are encouraged to adopt this model in its entirety or with idiosyncratic adjustments to revamp their courses and achieve improved pedagogical outcomes. Likewise, instructors who do not have Moodle can adapt the concept of the integrated course layout to implement it with other learning management systems (LMSs).