Information Technology and the Construction of New English Teaching Model in China〔*〕

Zhang Weihong，Lin Lilan

(1.Department of Basic Teaching ＆ Experiment Hefei University，HefeiAnhui230013;2.School of Foreign Studies Anhui Jianzhu University，HefeiAnhui230601)

Ⅰ.Introduction

English being an international language is variously used in all aspect of our life，thus，making it a good master which avails us the opportunity for better participation in international competitions.The ever-increasing relevance of English in international political，economic and cultural life cannot be over-emphasized sequel to the surging debate in China on the issue of English teaching which has continually been calling for more attention from educators，teachers and the society.Regrettably，the English teaching quality is still far from satisfactory because of its rigid and spoon-feeding methodology where teachers still prefer the traditional teaching styles that do not arouse students’interests.Majority of graduates have poor listening and speaking skills making it pretty difficult for them to communicate with other English speakers orally.Therefore，in order to change this ugly trend，this writer is of the opinion that integrating information technology into English teaching is an effective way to arouse the students’interests.

As a novel but auxiliary means of teaching modern English，information technology has a far-reaching positive influence in foreign language teaching technique.The role that information technology plays in foreign language teaching is not only auxiliary in terms of assisting teachers to impart knowledge but also serves as tools that aid autonomous cognitive learning.They act as students’emotion drivers and creator of rich and interesting learning environments when integrated with all the necessary aspects of teaching needed to bring basic reforms to the traditional teaching mode.In order to sustain the new developments in higher education and entrench teaching reforms，The Higher Education Bureau of People’s Republic of China issued“College English Curriculum Requirements”，stating that colleges should redesign the existing teacher-oriented pattern of language teaching by injecting new teaching ideas through the help of multimedia and network technology geared towards information technology.

Ⅱ.Research approach

The research approach adopted in this work is ethnographic research，a qualitative research method conducted in social science research which distinguishes itself with the following advantages:first，it is conducted in natural setting and provides a holistic picture of environment being studied.Second，its detailed interview provides in-depth understanding.Third，because the observer does not start with specific hypotheses，the observer is less likely to overlook phenomena that do not suit one’s expectations.In order to achieve the most possible degree of reliability and validity，both observation and interview are combined in this research.The former enables us to see observers’behavior while the latter deepens our understanding of the motive and meaning of their behavior.

Ⅲ.Results

The observation is a process of learning as well as reflection.I had initially intended to categorize their teaching in terms of“using multimedia computers”or“not using multimedia computers”but soon found this was too inappropriate to serve as a standard to categorize teaching patterns.Instead it should be on the continuum of teacher-student interactivity waving from teacher’s dominance to more interaction with students.Teaching could be very boring with multimedia computers while it could be quite alive in conventional classrooms.Each pattern is further divided by whether using multimedia computer or not.

A Pattern one:teacher-dominated classroom

The low output and time-wasting of English teaching using this technique has been criticized overtime.It is fraught with students’passive listening and teacher’s dominance throughout the entire lesson.During the class session，students are seen maintaining silence and being good listeners rather than participate in the discussion.Students feel dejected and bored during the class.The second type of the pattern conducted in multimedia classroom is as good as giving a facelift to an old building with a flawed foundation whereby teachers use computers for direct grammar translation.This system is completely passive and devoid of any interactions between teacher and students.Thus，teachers merely display their PPT in class with a few pictures and songs as backup.The only difference from the conventional method being that chalkboard was not used as they merely stand beside the computer to operate.Surprisingly，in different colleges observed，there seemed some striking similarities as none of them was seen to have imbibed the use of information technology.

From the interview，both teachers and students are bored about this teaching pattern，but they have to do so.They are more interested in acquiring CET4 with a firm believe that only in this way can they pass the exam.

B Pattern two:more interactive teaching

Comparatively，this pattern is more interesting than the former as students have proven to have great enthusiasm thereto.In this pattern，although students participated much in classroom learning yet，teachers still dominated learning content，learning procedure，learning pace etc.A typical example of high interaction in multimedia classrooms was observed in Anhui Vocational College.The teacher used multimedia to enrich his teaching，combining it with a soft approach which aroused students’participation.He garnished his lesson with some culture-related facts so as to widen students understanding and as well，focused on students’emotional display in order to encourage them to voice out their feelings.He did not dwell much on lexical and grammatical explanation rather，he focused more on the appreciation of the text and introduction of cultural background.

Although this is a pilot course，it is the only course I observed that is designed as was suggested in new teaching technique:computer-and classroom-based multimedia College English teaching technique built on modern information technology.Students go to autonomous learning center to improve their listening skills.In classroom teaching，teacher attached great importance to the cultivation of students’listening and speaking skills.

Ⅳ.Discussion

Interestingly，we discovered that multimedia classrooms meant for English teaching were installed in the two Vocational Colleges;even though some of the teachers showed some lackluster interest in using computers.This invariably means some of them are quite unwilling to embrace this modern technique intended to replace the traditional method.Conversely，some teachers are addicted to using the computer multimedia which makes teaching in multimedia classroom somewhat dull and boring，with little interaction between teachers and students.

Under this circumstance，the use of computers only made the learning content vivid by audio and visual input.Students are still a passive role，though their participation increased in some classes.In as much as individualization and independent learning cannot be achieved，teachers should make efforts to foster students’autonomous learning competence by putting them at the center of learning under realistic conditions.

Though barely having a clear idea of what constructivism is，the interviewed teachers unanimously expressed their acceptance and support for the key concepts carried by it:student-centeredness and learner autonomy.How they behaved in the class，nonetheless，revealed that their true belief is another story.Most of the teachers’teaching practice showed a strong inclination to behaviorist way of learning.During an interview，a female teacher said that“students should be the center of learning”and that“I normally arrange some activities to give them opportunities to practice oral English.”It turned out that her class focused on language points explanation with no time left for students’participation.Education in the 21st century is whole person education，one important purpose of which is to empower learners to think for themselves.English teaching is not merely to transmit grammar and lexical knowledge;instead，it’s to develop students’ability to use English in all-around way and enhance their ability to study independently and improve their cultural quality.If teachers do not change their traditional teaching philosophy and update relevant theories and methodologies，they surely cannot help achieve the above mentioned goals，even if armed with the most advanced technologies.

Observations from the interview conducted on the teachers are categorized into three sequel to their ideologies towards the use of computer:Group A teachers:This group is reluctant to use computers because they feel it has no advantages except the visual and audio features;or that using computer is somewhat cumbersome to operate with a feeling of“what if it goes bad?”or“my being engrossed onto the computer separates me from students.”Group B teachers:This group seems a bit disposed to the idea of using computer but might be limited by the fact that they lack ideas on how to take advantage of the use of computers thus，resulting in their relapse to the traditional method of teaching.Group C teachers:This group actively devices the means to utilize the best of multimedia computers so as to maximize their teaching.But their efforts are merely based on their individual experience which obviously lacks professional and theoretical guidance.This kind of situation calls for a proactive and urgent approach to institute teacher-training program.Continuous training program are able to ease teachers’anxiety with computers，help transform their teaching phi-losophy，keep them informed of the relevant computer technology and increase their understanding of the role that computers play in learning and teaching.Such training program is a prerequisite for successful implementation of the new teaching technique，which ensures that teachers，at an initial stage，do have a systematic and complete understanding of the new technique instead of just paying lip service to the call to transform teaching methods.

Ⅴ.Conclusion

This research on the implementation of the new technique is aimed at having an insight into what happens in real teaching practice and figures out what the barriers to successful implementation are.The result shows that most teachers don’t have deep understanding of the new technique.Their understanding remains at the first stage of computer assisted language learning.Their focus is more on how to make PPT more appealing to arouse students’interest than speculating on how to make use of information technology to develop students’ability to use English in all-around way.Once computers and internet are used tactfully，they can provide individualized tutoring to students and cultivate their ability t o learn autonomously.

Notes:

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