The Effect of Teaching by Flipped Learning on Reading Comprehension of Iranian High School Grade-۱۲ Students

Many researchers in the field of education have discussed the rewarding effect of flipped learning worldwide; however, there is sketchy empirical evidence regarding whether this approach to learning can comparatively result in better learning. To this end, the present study was launched aiming at investigating the effect of flipped learning on reading comprehension of Iranian grade-۱۲ high school students. The design of the study was Quasi experimental. To assess the effect of flipped learning on reading comprehension ability of the students, grade-۱۲ students of two schools, each consisting of ۵۰ students, were selected. In the virtual classes (experimental classes), the students, having watched the files previously at home, were exposed to a blend of reading strategy techniques and reading comprehension questions. In the controlled school, the students were taught reading comprehension traditionally. This happened for ۱۲ sporadic sessions during the academic year ۱۳۹۹/۱۴۰۰, ۶ sessions for Student Book readings and ۶ sessions for Workbook readings, each reading ۲ sessions for both control and experimental school. Data collection was through ۴ reading comprehension questions each consisting of ۵ questions taken from University Entrance Exam questions of the previous years for both pretest and posttest. The results of independent samples t-test indicated that the flipped school significantly outperformed the traditional school in their reading performance. The results can be worthy for English in-service teachers, TTC holders, syllabus designers and material developers. Further research conducted either through a mixed-method or qualitative methods in the EFL context of Iran, or may be worldwide, can add to the issue more. Also, replicating the study regarding such factors as gender, age, and English proficiency level as well as for mal versus context of education is worth being regarded.