BLENDED LEARNING IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME AT THE POSTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: AN ANALYSIS OF COURSE DESIGN AND CONDITIONS FOR EFFECTIVENESS

This study examines the blended learning model that underpins the general English programme at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), Vietnam. In this programme, each course combines a substantial block of self-paced online study on a commercial platform (English Discoveries or the TOEIC Official Learning and Preparation Course) with classroom sessions led by a teacher, and the whole sequence is oriented towards TOEIC benchmarks and the B1 exit level of the Common European Framework of Reference (Level 3 of Vietnam’s Six-Level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework). Adopting a qualitative document-analysis design (Bowen, 2009), the study analyses three official course syllabi — Course 2, Course 3 and Course 3 Plus — through Neumeier’s (2005) six parameters for blended language learning environments, supplemented by Moore’s (1989) typology of interaction and the principle of constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996). The analysis identifies five features of the current design: a balanced-to-online-weighted distribution of study time; a sequential “online input – classroom reinforcement” model of integration that moves towards parallel, theme-matched integration in Course 3 Plus; a strong orientation of content towards receptive skills and test formats; an assessment regime in which online completion and online test scores act as gatekeeping conditions for the final examination; and a redistribution of roles in which learners carry more responsibility for input and teachers act increasingly as reviewers and coaches. These features constitute clear strengths in terms of exposure time, flexibility, standardisation and alignment with institutional outcomes. At the same time, they create risks: compliance-driven online work, weak integration of productive skills, limited learner–learner interaction, and positive or negative washback from the TOEIC orientation. The paper concludes with recommendations for strengthening integration, assessment and learner support, and outlines an agenda for empirical evaluation of the model.