The effects of flipped learning integrated with role-play on oral communication performance of Thai EFL business English students

English oral communication becomes essential especially for Business English students who study English as a second or foreign language since their future careers often require a good command of English. Therefore, in order to enhance their oral communication performance, the integration of flipped learning and role-play using the ‘Explore-Flip-Apply-Feedback’ model was utilized to examine the effects that the approach had on enhancing oral communication performance and to investigate the students’ perceptions towards the approach. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design using two-group pretest-posttest was employed with 68 fourth year Business English undergraduates who enrolled in English for Airline Business course at a public university in Thailand. They were divided into the control group (n=38) and the experimental group (n=30). The data were collected using oral communication performance pre-test and post-test, a 4-point Likert rating scale perception questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview. The data collected from the pre-test and the post-test were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test, and Cohen’s d. Furthermore, the data from the close-ended section of the questionnaire were analyzed by using mean, and standard deviation. Then, the data from the open-ended section of the questionnaire and the semi-structure interview were analyzed using content analysis and thematic coding analysis. The findings illustrated that the gain scores of the oral communication performance tests between the experimental group and the control group were significantly different at statistical level of 0.05. Furthermore, the experimental group had a significantly higher post-test mean score than the pre-test mean score at statistically significant level of 0.05 (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, Cohen’s d result revealed that the overall effect size of the means’ difference was large. Therefore, this indicated that after learning with the integration of flipped learning and role-play using the ‘Explore-Flip-Apply-Feedback’ model, the oral communication performance of the participants was significantly improved. Moreover, the quantitative findings from the perception questionnaire revealed that the participants had a very positive perception towards the use of flipped learning integrated with role-play using the ‘Explore-Flip-Apply-Feedback’ model in enhancing the oral communication performance in overall (x̅ = 3.61, SD = 0.48) and each aspect. Likewise, the qualitative findings from the open-ended section and the semi-structured interview revealed that the participants perceived the usefulness of all four stages (Explore-Flip-Apply-Feedback) of flipped learning integrated with role-play to enhance their oral communication performance. Finally, the positive effects and the shortcomings of the approach were addressed and discussed. In addition, theoretical and pedagogical implications from the findings as well as limitations, and recommendations for future studies were presented.