Lee Boram

Hong Sora

The Effects of Flipped Learning on KFL Learners' Speaking -Case Study in a French University

Keywords: France, Undergraduate students, Korean foreign language, Speaking, Teaching Method, Flipped learning

Flipped learning is a methodology that helps teachers to prioritize active learning during class time by providing students with lecture materials and presentations to watch at home or outside of class. One of the most exciting advancements in the modern classroom is flipped learning. This approach has been actively applied to Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL), starting with Park J.W (2014). In the same year, flipped learning was introduced in France. It has been mainly adopted in secondary education, but is gradually expanding to French as a foreign language and university education.

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively and qualitatively examine the impact of flipped learning on KFL French learners' speaking. This study was carried out in "Korean Speaking" classes for second and third year undergraduate students over one semester at a French university. For quantitative analysis, the students' speaking exams were collected to compare. For qualitative analysis, the students' attitudes towards flipped learning were further explored by the questionnaire survey.

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For quantitative analysis, the mean score was analyzed by a paired t-test to compare two groups (flipped classroom vs. non-flipped classroom). As a result, the students in the flipped classroom over one semester achieved higher average scores as compared to the traditional learning model, but only the second-year students' average scores showed statistical significance. The lack of statistical significance for the third year students is due to their proficiency. The third year students learned Korean over 3 years and they developed their own language learning ability, so the teacher's teaching method does not significantly affect the academic ability of the students. This result suggests that the instructor should consider the proficiency of the student in the class when adopting flipped learning.

From the survey as a qualitative analysis, most learners evaluated the flipped class to be satisfactory in learning. This is mainly due to flipped learning allowing students to more various speaking activities and to be more engaged with content, classmates, and the instructor during class time. Notably, flipped learning was also effective for students to be more interested in the class. Accordingly, even flipped class is a new pedagogical approach for them, most learners have adapted to it relatively easily.

A flipped learning model can improve student achievement, and can encourage student interest. These findings can be an impetus for KFL instructors to adopt flipped learning in a Korean speaking course.

Introduction

Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach that began in the early 2000s in the United States. The key is to "flip" the traditional teaching methods so that students acquire new information through lecture material at home or outside of class and learn it in class. This approach has been actively applied to Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL), starting with Park J.W (2014). Many researchers have generally focused on three types of studies: i) development of flipped learning approach in KFL contexts (Hong. Y. S, 2015;Kim. E. J, 2016;Lee. J. Y, 2016;Kim. J. Y & Kim. S. J 2017;Lee. G. A, 2017;Han. Y. J, 2017;Kim. S. N, 2019), ii) a case study on flipped learning in KFL (Lee. S. H, 2015;Han. H. M & Kim. S. A, 2016;Park. S. H & Shin. M. N, 2017;Sung. Y. H, 2017;Lee. K & Yoon. Y, 2017, 2018;Yim. E. H, 2018), and iii) effects of flipped learning in KFL (Woo. Y. H, 2017;Lee. J. Y, 2018;Han. H. M, 2018;Zhang & Kim. J. S, 2019). In the beginning, educators substantially investigated the first and/or second type of study, and recently more studies have explored the effectiveness of flipped learning in KFL. In the following section, we turn our attention to the existing literature on flipped learning KFL contexts.

Through the literature review, two studies drew our attention. The first one is Woo's study (2017). In order to examine the effects of flipped learning, she designed a course 'Beginning Korean grammar' applying flipped learning approach and conducted classes by dividing them into a control group and experimental group for four weeks. The study revealed that the students in the flipped group improved their ability to use grammar compared to the control group. However, the study seems to have methodological concern. The researcher compared the effects of flipped learning among the two groups only after a 4-week period, which may not be a suitable amount of time to accurately assess the usefulness of flipped learning.

The second study that drew our attention is Han's (2018) recent investigation of the effects and student perception of flipped learning on KFL at a university in Hong Kong. After having applied the flipped model to Intermediate Korean class and Media Korean class, she found that the approach helped not only students' achievement but also students' selfefficacy toward learning Korean. Although numerous studies have lately shown the positive effects of flipped learning, there is little empirical evidence of how this approach has actually promoted language skills, especially in KFL classrooms. To fill these gaps, this study examines the efficacy of the flipped model approach in KFL courses at a French university. In the following section, we focus on flipped learning in France and the tendency of language education in France.

Flipped learning was introduced in France around 2014. It has been mainly adopted in primary and secondary education. According to the 2019 Flipped Classroom Conference (CL!C, CLasse Inversée : le Congrès), it is gradually expanding to vocational training and university education. In universities, it primarily applies to French as a foreign language and engineering college3 .

Communicative language teaching (CLT), which was born in the early 1970s out of the need to develop communication skills, has been one of the most commonly employed teaching methodologies in second language. Meanwhile, in France, a structural approach focusing on grammar is widely used as an L1 (native language) and L2 (second language) teaching method. According to [START_REF] Fougerouse | L'enseignement de la grammaire en classe de français langue étrangère[END_REF], only one third of French instructors recognize the importance of communicative skills in classes. As a result of this, French learners are good at grammar and vocabulary, leading to a good achievement in reading comprehension compared to speaking and listening skills. Moreover, Rojas (2016)4 argued that one of the reasons that French learners have difficulty improving speaking skill in L2 is owing to a psychological mechanism and social disposition. In other words, French students are familiar with traditional lecture style and preferably focus on instructors' lectures in a quiet and neat manner in class. On that account, they usually learn a second language by repeating and practicing instructors' utterances. This method is effective in conveying knowledge to a large number of learners but not in developing language skills, especially speaking. For this reason, when learning a foreign language, French learners often perceive failure as shameful and stop speaking immediately rather than expressing what they want to say when they encounter some difficulties. The teaching method of KFL in French universities is not much different from the teaching environment in France which we mentioned above. We discovered that French Korean learners struggle to improve their speaking skills. Furthermore, many language instructors consider that class time is insufficient to offer personalized feedback on students' work. Consequently, since 2018 we have applied the flipped learning approach to Korean speaking classes to provide students more language input and feedback. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively and qualitatively examine the impact of flipped learning on KFL French Korean learners' speaking.

Description of Setting and Flipped Learning Courses

To explore the impacts of flipped learning in KFL, only the data from the 2018-2019 academic year was collected for second and third year undergraduate students5 over two semesters. The reasons for not including the later periods in this study are as follows: in the first semester of the 2019-2020 academic year (September 2019 -December 2020), a large number of classes were canceled or did not take place due to the public transport general strike in the Paris region. Additionally, in the second semester (January -May 2020), due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the classes were shifted to online, and there was a sudden change in the learners' circumstances (personal situation, psychological state, etc.). Therefore, we decided to exclude those data to analyze for the study. As part of the supplementation of quantitative research, the students' attitudes towards flipped learning were further explored by the questionnaire survey.

Participants

During the academic year 2018-2019, this study was conducted in Korean speaking classes applying the flipped learning approach at a French university. The courses were taught by the second author of this study. A total of 43 students with a major in Korea Studies took part in this study. Because, with the exception of grammar classes, all Korean language classes in the Department of Korean Studies are taught in groups, flipped learning could not be implemented for all students in the second and third years. However, all instructors used the same curriculum and evaluated learning achievement for all groups in the same way in order to reduce the gap between the groups and balance the level of Korean language acquisition. Students who did not get an exam score due to insufficient attendance or personal reasons were excluded from the study. The experimental (flipped learning class) and the control (non-flipped learning class) groups are detailed in Table 2.

Description of the flipped learning Korean speaking class

The class used Kyung Hee University's Korean Speaking Textbook, and class time lasted for a total of 13 weeks, 1 hour and 30 minutes at a time. One week out of 13 was the midterm exam period, and the final exam was conducted separately after all classes had been completed. In the 2018-2019 academic year, second-year students used textbook 3 and third-year students textbook 4. On average, each class progressed by half a chapter. The learning objective level for each year is B1 (TOPIK level 3) for the second year and B2 (TOPIK level 4) for the third year according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In the first class, the orientation of the teaching method and evaluation of students' Korean level were carried out. In the last class, activities of revising and putting into practice the learning contents of the semester were conducted.

1) Pre-learning through videos Three to five days before the day of each class, a pre-learning video was uploaded to video sharing websites (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Students were invited to watch the video before 8 p.m. on the day before class. It was confirmed through their online comments on the video whether they watched the video before coming to class. The video was created using PowerPoint and computer screen recording programs, and the total length of the video was 10 to 15 minutes. Most of the videos were in Korean, and only in special circumstances, French was used to help learners understand.

The video first introduced the learning goals of the class, and then proceeded to the pre-learning. First, the video briefly explained the basic phrase type as an example. If it was a little complicated grammatically or students lacked grammatical knowledge of the sentence, the video spent a little more time explaining the sentence. Then, the vocabulary from the textbook was presented to prepare students for their next class activities. Next, an exercise using the basic phrase type was performed. In Kyung Hee University Speaking Textbook, four simple drills and four slightly deepened drills were usually presented for each chapter's sub-topic. The video showed examples of simple drills and predicted that these exercises would continue during class. At the end of the textbook chapter, more diverse expressions such as proverbs and idioms arranged were presented under the heading "useful expressions." These expressions were explained using various materials such as cartoons in the video. Since one chapter was learned in two sessions, in the second session, instead of "useful expressions," the standard pronunciation rules presented in the textbook were taught with examples so that students could practice. At the end of the video, the subject of the speaking activity which would be done in class was briefly presented so that the learner could prepare.

2) Class activities

The Korean Language class of INALCO's Department of Korean Studies lasts 1.5 hours per session. As the learner-centered interaction is the most important element of flipped learning in the classroom, the class was conducted with an emphasis on speaking activities. First, the class began by reminding the learning objective once again. Students already knew what their learning goals were from the videos they had watched in advance. Still, by emphasizing this point just before class activities, students could proceed with the activity with the direction of the class in mind. During the first 30 minutes, students' understanding of prior learning was checked. This process was carried out through mutual inquiries between the professor and the students. Since French students often do not actively ask questions on their own, it was necessary for instructors to prepare various questions and prompt learners to ask questions. After that, the learner's understanding was grasped through various drills presented in the textbook. Drills were usually carried out in pairs less than 30 minutes. However, when practicing grammar elements that French-speaking learners found particularly difficult, such as honorifics and indirect speech, the need for explanation increased, which took additional time at this point. Rather than giving all the explanations directly by the instructor, it was important to encourage participation by giving other learners the opportunity to explain.

For the next 30 minutes, students practiced speaking using sentences learned through group or individual activities. Several topics were presented, and the topics of each speech activity were designed to become more and more complex. Each topic was similar to or correlated with each other, and the later it was presented, the higher the difficulty. Thus, students could gradually develop their initial speech content. In this way, students completed their dialogue. The range of activities was also widening, starting with a pair activity at first, then gradually changing pairs and communicating about the same content in slightly different ways according to the speech situation with different partners. Next, they did group activities. For example, students could convey their partner's discourse and add their thoughts to it. In this process, students could take advantage of the learned sentence type and vocabulary, receive feedback from the instructor, and practice it multiple times as soon as they receive corrections.

During the last 30 minutes, group activities and feedback were performed. Group activities included preparing and implementing presentations for each group based on what had been said so far. During the presentation to the class of students, it was recorded with their consent so that they could share it after class and check their own presentation. However, most of the students complained about great psychological pressure for presenting in front of the class. Therefore, most of the learners presented to other groups in their seats. Feedback was provided after all presentations because feedback was also conducted throughout the class. Unless it was a special case, there was no homework. This is because when given a speaking assignment, students usually write their speaking note in advance and then read it. Since writing is a required subject, it does not seem appropriate to encourage such activities in speaking class.

For the same reason, students were warned not to write down what they were going to say in advance during class. This was repeatedly emphasized throughout the semester. Nevertheless, when learners' speech was prolonged or they wished to use difficult vocabularies, it was allowed to take notes of keywords or unfamiliar expressions and use them for activities. To reduce the fear of errors and mistakes, the instructor repeatedly highlighted that these are an essential step in learning. Moreover, by making students think together about mistakes common to many learners, they were encouraged to engage in speaking activities more comfortably.

3) Evaluation

In the Korean studies Department of INALCO, the Korean speaking subject evaluation is conducted differently in the midterm and final exams. As mentioned above, there are several instructors in charge of Korean speaking subjects, and each instructor is responsible for one or several groups. The midterm exam is conducted at the discretion of each instructor, but the final exam is conducted together by all instructors in charge of the class. Thus, in the midterm exam, each instructor evaluated the group in charge while in the final exam, the group in charge of other instructors was evaluated. The process of exam was as follows: two people (A and B) took the test together. First, there would be a talk about the topic they randomly selected for one to two minutes without preparation time. The instructor evaluated this speech according to criteria such as subject relevance and discourse composition, accuracy of grammar use, vocabulary, fluency, and pronunciation. After that, B asked questions about A's discourse and proceeded with the conversation. During the conversation, the instructor evaluated B's understanding of the speech and A's appropriateness of answering B's question. After that, B's turn proceeded in the same way.

In principle, all instructors in the final exam were required to use the same evaluation method and scoring table. The scoreboard for the final exam of the speaking class in the 2018-2019 academic year consisted of the topic relevance of discourse (1 point), grammar accuracy (4 points), vocabulary (3 points), fluency and conversation composition (6 points), and pronunciation (2 points). The same scoreboard was applied only to speaking classes in the second year. Students who were in the third year at the time were evaluated for their academic achievement in the final exam according to the standards of each instructor.

Procedure and Results for Quantitative Analysis 1. Data collection and statistical analysis

Students in the control group only took flipped learning in the first semester, whereas students in the experimental group did flipped learning in both the first and second semesters. Since this study investigated how flipped learning affects students' improvement, it was important to make sure that the flipped and non-flipped groups for the second and third years were the same. The mean scores from the first semester were used as a pre-test, and the mean scores from the second semester were used as a post-test.

For data analysis, to compare the students' learning outcomes of the flipped and non-flipped groups, we used the SPSS version 18 with a confidence level of 95% (p < .05). The comparison of the means between the two groups was verified using a paired t-test. Levene's test was used to verify equal variances across the samples. The next section describes the students' achievement in the flipped and non-flipped groups by academic year.

Results

1) Second year

As a pre-test, Table 3 shows the average exam grades of the second-year students in the first semester. The average score of students in the control group was 10.02, and the standard deviation was 2.72; the average score of students in the experimental group was 11.33, and the standard deviation was 2.32. As shown in Table 4 The pre-test above confirmed that the control group and the experimental group were identified as the same group. In order to examine the effects of flipped learning, the average exam grades in the second semester of the control group which did not take flipped learning class in the second semester and the experimental group which continuously took flipped learning class were analyzed.

As a post-test, Table 5 shows the average exam grades of the second-year students in the second semester. The average score of students in the control group was 10.42, and the standard deviation was 1.41; the average score of students in the experimental group was 13, and the standard deviation was 2.2. As shown in Table 6, a paired t-test revealed that this result was statistically significant (t = 3.187, p = .005). The experimental group that had flipped learning in the second semester had a higher average score than the control group, which supports the hypothesis that flipped learning has a positive effect on students' achievement.

Group

2) Third-year

As a pre-test, Table 7 shows the average exam grades of the third-year students in the first semester. The average score of students in the control group was 10.04, and the standard deviation was 5.1 ; the average score of students in the experimental group was 10.32, and the standard deviation was 4.92. As shown in Table 8, a paired t-test revealed that this result was statistically insignificant (t = 1.125, p = .902). The pre-test above confirmed that the control group and the experimental group were identified as the same group. In order to examine the effects of flipped learning, the average exam grades in the second semester of the control group which did not take flipped learning class in the second semester and the experimental group which continuously took flipped learning class were analyzed.

Group

As a post-test, Table 9 shows the average exam grades of the third-year students in the second semester. The average score of students in the control group was 12.59, and the standard deviation was 3.54; the average score of students in the experimental group was 11.5, and the standard deviation was 7.13. As shown in Table 10, a paired t-test revealed that this result was statistically insignificant (t = -.437, p = .669). The students in both flipped and non-flipped groups did not reveal much difference in their average score, which means that third-year students' academic progress is unaffected by flipped learning approach. The lack of statistical significance for the third-year students is due to their proficiency. They learned Korean over 3 years and developed their own language learning ability, so the teacher's teaching method does not significantly affect the academic ability of the students.

On another note, French universities apply the repeat-years system, which means if a student does not receive an average of 10 or more out of 20, he/she will not be allowed to advance to the next grade. For the 2018-2019 academic year, there were 11 first-year groups, 6 second-year groups, and 4 third-year groups at this university. Every year, the number of groups by grade does not fluctuate much. To put it another way, only about 50% of first-year students may pass to second-year students, and only about 60% of second-year students tend to be promoted to third-year students. That being so, the thirdyear students got through two years of intense competition, had a high level of Korean, and had a clear motivation for learning. It can be interpreted that flipped learning did not have a significant impact on the students' achievement due to these various factors.

Procedure and Results for Qualitative Analysis 1. Procedure

A qualitative study was conducted as another way to verify the effectiveness of flipped learning. A survey was conducted with the aim of analyzing the learning experiences in various ways and in depth for students who took classes through flipped learning. We carried out a survey to fortythree students who took speaking classes applied with flipped learning in the 2018-2019 academic year. The test was conducted for 20 days from August 9 to 29, 2020 using Google Survey. The questionnaire was translated into French and consisted of 35 questions in 5 categories.

The first category was a basic survey of learners (gender, age, duration of learning Korean, etc.), and the second consisted of several questions about the foreign language teaching method that students previously followed. Then, questions were arranged to find out how students adapted to the flipped learning teaching method (adaptation time, difficult points, etc.). In the fourth section, questions about class activities (watching previous learning videos, group activities, etc.) and questions about their effectiveness were arranged. Finally, satisfaction with flipped learning Korean speaking classes was investigated. The survey of satisfaction was composed of a 5-point scale, and multiple responses were set to be possible in the case of questions to understand the overall matters. After that, the respondents' opinions were more accurately grasped by organizing questions asking which played the most important role.

Results

A total of 32 people participated in the survey, of which 90.6% (29 people) were women, 6.3% (2) were men, and one refused to reveal their gender. In the age group, 56.3% (18) were 21-23 years old, 31.3% (10) were 18-20 years old, and the remaining 12.3% (4) were 24-26 years old. Seventy-five percent of them spent less than one hour a week in Korean speaking activities outside of class (see Figure 2), suggesting that learners need to spend more time in class to develop their speaking skills.

* The ratio shown in the figure is the value with rounding applied.

Figure 2. The time spent on Korean speaking activities outside of class in a week

According to the learners' answers, the foreign language classes which they experienced in the French compulsory education and higher education spent a large amount of time explaining grammar and vocabulary (87.5%, 28, multiple responses) and focused on problem solving (50%, 16, multiple responses). What learners felt most lacking in this type of class was speaking activities (43.8% and 14) and feedback (31.3% and 10). It seems that the dissatisfaction with these two points could be resolved in the speaking class applying flipped learning: 87.5% (28) of learners who responded to the survey answered that they had enough time to do speaking activities during class, and no one responded negatively to this question. Additionally, 34.4% (11) of respondents cited group activities and pair activities as the biggest advantage of flipped learning classes. Not only that, 87.5% (28) of the respondents said they were able to fully interact with other students in class.

French university students answered that they had never experienced flipped learning but adapted relatively easily to this teaching method (40.6% strongly agreed, 40.6% agreed). As for adaptation time, 71.9% (23) needed one to two weeks, and 21.9% (7) three to four weeks. Six point two percent (2) of respondents did not need time to adapt because they were already relieved by the chance to watch prior learning videos. At first, they were most worried that they had to learn on their own through prior learning videos (40.6%, 13). However, they answered that it was nothing more than an unfounded worry (53%). Besides, 21.7% (7) of respondents said they expected the effect of the flipped learning method from the beginning and were not worried. Other concerns were: "I was afraid to participate in too many speaking activities" (12.5%, 4); "I didn't think the professor would explain grammar and vocabulary sufficiently" (12.5%, 4); and "I didn't think I would have time to watch the pre-learning video" (9.4%, 3).

* The ratio shown in the figure is the value with rounding applied. According to respondents, it turned out that these concerns were largely resolved as the class progressed or were nothing more than baseless anxiety (see Figure 5). In particular, most of the concerns regarding prior learning videos disappeared. The fact that they had to participate more actively in speaking activities within class hours also served as a burden at first, but it can be understood that this was quickly resolved as the class progressed. However, concerns about students having to learn on their own while watching the previous learning video remained, and 50% responded that concerns about the lack of grammar and vocabulary explanations during class had not been resolved. Considering that the absolute majority of grammar in speaking classes had already been dealt with in other Korean classes (grammar, writing, reading, listening, etc.), students were still afraid of making grammar and vocabulary mistakes.

* The ratio shown in the figure is the value with rounding applied.

Figure 5. Concerns turned out to be nothing more than baseless anxiety as the class progressed

Satisfaction with flipped learning Korean speaking classes was quite high. There were no negative responses in the satisfaction survey, and 90.7% (29) replied that they were "very satisfied" (56.3%, 18) or "satisfied" (34.4%, 11). In detail, 81.2% (26) answered that watching pre-learning videos helped class activities, and 75% ( 24 Most of the students who responded to the survey answered that flipped learning Korean speaking classes were "very effective" (59.4%, 19) or "effective" (21.9%, 7) compared to traditional classes. In particular, according to the learners, they "had plenty of time to speak Korean during class time" (90.6%, 29), and "it was easy to understand the subject of class thanks to the pre-learning" (87.5%, 28). Furthermore, they "gained confidence in performing tasks through pre-learning" (78.1%, 25). More than half of the respondents cited "feedback was provided immediately and effectively" (53.1%, 17), "interaction with other learners was active" (50%, 16), and "revising just got easier" (50%, 16) (See Figure 6). The biggest advantage of flipped learning Korean speaking classes selected by learners was that they were able to perform the speaking activities without any burden (18.8%, 6) by increasing speaking activities in class (31.3%, 10) and by learning the class topic in advance via pre-learning videos (28.1%, 9) (see Figure 7). * The ratio shown in the figure is the value with rounding applied.

Figure 7. The Biggest Advantages of the Flipped Learning Korean Speaking Class

Discussion and Conclusion

This study set out to explore the effects of the flipped learning approach quantitatively and qualitatively on French Korean learners' achievements over the course of one semester.

First of all, the results indicate that the flipped learning group achieved higher average scores than the non-flipped group, but only the second-year students' average scores showed statistical significance. The present finding is consistent with previous studies that flipped learning promotes students' learning. We assume that students who took flipped learning classes were exposed to various speaking activity environments and received immediate feedback, enhancing the effectiveness of flipped learning and having a positive impact on improving their speaking skills.

With regard to the third year, the quantitative results were not statistically significant. It implies the flipped learning approach may be less effective for advanced learners than for intermediate or beginning learners. To investigate this further, a follow-up study is necessary. Meanwhile, we believe that the flipped learning approach could be a more promising teaching methodology before the Korean learners reaches a certain level (in this study, the European common language standard B2, which is Korean level 4). To put it another way, applying the flipped learning approach to speaking classes from the second semester of the first year or the first semester of the second year at the latest is advisable.

Second, the flipped learning method has the effect of increasing satisfaction with Korean speaking classes. This seems to be mainly due to the fact that flipped learning can guarantee the time required for learners' speaking activities and the time to complete speech by receiving feedback from instructors. According to the survey results, only 25% of respondents engaged in Korean speaking activities outside of class for more than an hour a week, indicating that learners lacked significant time to invest in Korean speaking. Since the learners responded that they do not have enough speaking activities in previous foreign language classes, students were also grasping this problem. Outside of the Korean class, KFL environments in France provide few opportunities to use Korean. That is because speaking classes should provide students with the opportunity to practice speaking as much as possible, but traditional lecture style did not meet the needs of learners. Students responded that they could participate in various speaking activities in flipped learning Korean speaking classes.

Learners cited "sufficient speaking activity" as one of the biggest advantages of flipped learning classes. It seems that learners' demands for sufficient feedback were also satisfied with flipped learning classes, unlike traditional teaching classes. As a result, the majority of learners preferred flipped learning classes to traditional classes, and they adapted relatively easily even though it was new for them. It is also notable that this teaching method is effective in enhancing interest in class and improving speaking skills of learners. In addition, flipped learning can encourage the participation of students who were passive in speaking activities in traditional classes. During the flipped learning, learners were able to engage in speaking activities more comfortably. Many students responded that the burden on class activities was reduced by watching pre-learning videos. Students' fear of making mistakes also decreased as feedback was continuously given during class as well as activities to adopt the feedback immediately.

However, this study has several limitations. First, at the design stage of this study, we planned to examine the long-term flipped learning effect (from 2018 to 2020). As public transportation in Paris went on a general strike in the 2019-2020 academic year, students were often unable to get to school, making it difficult to proceed with classes. Additionally, all classes had been converted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the data for that year could not be included in this study. More detailed and diverse research results could have been derived if the study incorporated changes in learning achievement for the next academic year among students who were in the second year in 2018-2019 and who took a flipped learning Korean speaking class.

Second, the quantitative study analyzed only the mean score of the speaking test to verify the effect of flipped learning. Since the speaking skill is made up of pronunciation, grammar accuracy, vocabulary, and fluency, the educational effects of flipped learning could have been studied in more diverse ways by examining these issues in detail. In the 2019-2020 academic year, the same exam criteria were applied to all students of the Department of Korean Studies of INALCO but not to the 2018-2019 academic year, which is the subject of this study. Hence, in this study, only the mean score of the speaking test was analyzed. As a result, it could not be included in this study even though students who took the flipped learning Korean speaking class showed remarkable improvement in terms of participation in activities and fluency in speaking. Despite the limitations mentioned above, the significance of this study can be found in verifying the positive effects of flipped learning Korean speaking classes for French learners in universities. Based on this study, we envision more diverse and in-depth follow-up studies.

Figure 4 .

 4 The most worried point before the start of the flipped learning class

  ) responded that flipped learning helped improve Korean speaking skills. Sixty-eight point eight percent (22) said flipped learning helped them become more interested in speaking classes, and 75% (24) said flipped learning helped them participate in speaking activities in class. Also, 50% (16) of the respondents responded positively to the question on whether the experience helped them adapt to the online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only 21.9% (7) of surveyees said they contributed to more active Korean speaking activities outside of class. Fortythree point eight percent (14) of respondents answered "neutral" to this, indicating the need for out-of-class activities to improve students' Korean speaking skills. * Multiple responses are possible.

Figure 6 .

 6 Advantages of the Flipped Learning Korean Speaking Class

Table 1

 1 shows universities that established Korean studies as a major and/or minor in France. In addition, the number of universities teaching Korean as a liberal arts subject is gradually increasing (Paris 8 University, École normale supérieure, Strasbourg University, etc.).

	University	Department	Degree
	Université de Paris	Korean Studies (LLCER Coréen)	BA / MA / PhD
	INALCO	Korean Studies (LLCER Coréen)	BA / MA / PhD
	EHESS	Korean Studies	MA / PhD
		English and Korean
	Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3	Applied Foreign Languages (LEA Anglais-	BA / MA
		Coréen)
		English and Korean
	La Rochelle Université	Applied Foreign Languages (LEA Anglais-	BA / MA
		Coréen)
		English and Korean
	Aix-Marseille Université	Applied Foreign Languages (LEA Anglais-	BA / MA
		Coréen)
		English and 2 Other Asian
		Applied Foreign
	Université Le Havre Normandie	Languages (LEA	BA / MA
		Anglais+2 langues
		Asiatiques)
		English and Korean
	Université Bordeaux-Montaigne	Applied Foreign Languages (LEA Anglais-	BA / MA
		Coréen)

Table 1 .

 1 Korean studies as a major and/or minor in French universities

Table 3 .

 3 , a paired t-test revealed that this result was statistically insignificant (t = 2.172, p = .238). Average exam grades of the second-year students in the first semester

	Group		N	M (/20)	SD	SE
	Control group		10	10.02	2.72 0.67
	Experimental group		12	11.33	2.32 0.86
	Group	N	M	SD	df	t	p
	Control group	10 10.02	2.72
					20 1.216	.238
	Experimental group	12 11.33	2.32

Table 4

 4

. T-test of the second-year students in the first semester

Table 5 .

 5 Average exam grades of the second-year students in the second semester

		N	M (/20)	SD	SE
	Control group	10	10.42	1.41 0.44
	Experimental group	12	13	2.2	0.63

p**<0.01 Table

6

. T-test of the second-year students in the second semester

Table 8 .

 8 T-test of the third-year students in the first semester

	Group	N	M	SD	df	t	p
	Control group	10 10.42	1.41
					20 3.187	0.005 **
	Experimental group	12	13	2.2
			N	M (/20)	SD	SE
	Control group		10	10.04	5.1	1.55
	Experimental group		12	10.32	4.92 1.53
	Table 7. Average exam grades of the third-year students in the first semester

Table 9 .

 9 Average exam grades of the third-year students in the second semester

	Group		N	M (/20)	SD	SE
	Control group		11	12.59	3.54 1.06
	Experimental group		10	11.5	7.13 2.25
	Group	N	M	SD	df	t	p
	Control group	11 12.59	3.54
					12.9	-.437	.669
	Experimental group	10	11.5	7.13

Table 10 .

 10 T-test of the third-year students in the second semester

Lecturer of Korean, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales.

Associate professor, La Rochelle University.

Les actes du CLIC 2019 (source: http://www.laclasseinversee.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/Actes-CLIC-2019.pdf

4 Rojas Daniel Emilio. "Les Français et les langues étrangères". La Revue des Ressources (source : https://www.larevuedesressources.org/les-francais-et-leslangues-etrangeres,2920.html)

The undergraduate courses in France are a total of three years. In the Korean Department where this study was conducted, the traditional lecture approach is applied rather than the flipped learning approach in Korean speaking class for first-year. Since Korean courses consist of language skills such as writing, listening, speaking, reading and grammar, the learning contents of each course are closely linked to each other. The mandatory Korean language courses for first year students are highly interconnected but gradually become less interconnected as students progress in their studies. For instance, first year students could apply and practice what they have already learned in other classes such as grammar to speaking class. Therefore, they will be able to understand the lecture content in advance and start learning, and they could have enough time for speaking practice. On the other hand, since the connection between Korean classes begins to gradually weaken from second year, it seems reasonable to apply flipped learning from second-year courses.

* The ratio shown in the figure is the value with rounding applied. Figure 3. The most satisfactory point in the flipped learning Korean speaking class