Analysis, Design and Development of a Hybrid English Program for Tertiary Education

This article describes the extensive development of a hybrid English program for specific and professional purposes at a public university in Chile. Beginning with the bottom-up creation and reformulation of the program curriculum, based on a collaborative analysis of teachers' and students' needs and interests, led to the creation of a platform that will hybridize the courses. Data for this study was collected through focus groups and surveys and analyzed using a mixed method analysis based on curriculum design procedure with an exploratory perspective. Results indicate that bottom-up course design is essential to meet students' and teachers' needs and interests. Moreover, hybrid language courses, which address specific language aspects and communicative tasks in a complementary manner, seem to be an excellent alternative to leverage students' interests and skills with technology for a sustained, meaningful, and effective language learning process.