With blended learning (BL) approach becoming increasingly popular in course delivery of tertiary education in China, it remains a significant research area to investigate learners’ experiences and feelings to improve teaching quality. This study aims to develop an effective BL model for a first-year compulsory ESP (English for Special purpose) course. After investigating 361 cabin service and security majors including 157 males and 204 females, it also examines students’ perceptions and opinions of the application of blended mode in the course. A questionnaire of three parts was developed as the research instrument. The results revealed that most learners had positive perceptions toward the blended learning approach, and variables such as gender and prior experiences with BL were correlated with students’ perceptions. Female students had more favorable feedback of BL than males, and having prior experiences was not a significant factor in students’ perceived learning effectiveness, but learners with BL experiences show better perceptions with respect to perceived usefulness, learning autonomy and overall satisfaction. The study presents pedagogical implications for improving and polishing the course in the BL environment in the future, and in particular provides instructional directions of fine-tuning of teaching when students’ gender and prior BL experiences are taken into consideration.

Blended Learning, learner perceptions, gender differences, prior BL experiences