Integrating extra credit exercises into a university English-language course: how action research provided a framework to identify a practical problem

This article describes an action research (AR) study with multiple cycles undertaken with undergraduates over three years. The university is a trilingual institution in Italy where degree programmes are taught in Italian, German and English. The study’s aim was to improve the syllabus of an advanced English for Specific Purposes course using a blended approach: it would be more learner-centred, but it would also provide more speaking practice during class. This would thus combine elements from process and product approaches to syllabus design. However, students had to attend class to benefit from the speaking skills practice planned, which was not automatic, as the university does not require compulsory attendance. Although optional attendance was a given, its impact on the syllabus was not fully considered and led to an AR cycle that failed to implement the proposed syllabus. However, an advantage of using multiple cycles was that this unexpected problem was identified and addressed in a subsequent cycle when action was taken: the introduction of extra credit exercises (ECE) to motivate students to attend class. The use of ECEs had a startling effect on attendance levels and a positive impact on the study’s central focus, the blended syllabus.