On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Multimedia in Assisting English Teaching

饒麗萍

Abstract：Nowadays，applying multimedia has become a popular new trend in English teaching.This paper is based on combining teaching examples which use multimedia in English teaching to study the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia teaching.

Key words：multimedia；advantages and disadvantages；English teaching

1 Introduction

Along with the development of science and technology，the gradual universality of the computer，the multimedia is playing a more and more important role in assisting English teaching.Undoubtedly，the advantages of multimedia are evident，however，it also has its disadvantages which should not be ignored，otherwise it can affect English teaching quality.

2 The Advantages of Multimedia in English teaching

2.1 Being Beneficial to Students Listening and speaking

It is evident that when one begins to learn a new language，the first thing one will contact is listening，such as the sound of each element which consists of one word，the sound of a single word，even the sound of one sentence or one paragraph，etc.And it is very important in language learning because listening is the basis of communication with other people in one language.So in English teaching，teachers and students both take it into account.

In fact，the multimedia arent refined by time and space，therefore it can offer the vivid original listening materials，making students feel they are in authentic English speaking countries.And the multimedia can help students to tour different countries in the world，so students can hear foreign people speak English who are from different English speaking countries，even communicate with them （Yang Lianrui & Xiao Jianfang，2003）.Therefore，the multimedia can be also beneficial to students speaking.

2.2 Being Beneficial to Students Comprehending

About this，there is a case in point.In my class，I once introduced the trait of Britains physiognomy and topography combing with the video.Through it，my students could understand the knowledge point much better than just learning it by heart.This kind of new teaching method which applies modern teaching devices such as multimedia can help students comprehend some abstract knowledge better.As a result，students will fully exert their own subjective initiative，making their learning efficiency and quality be improved greatly （Shi Jian，2004）.

2.3 Being Beneficial to Enhancing Students Interests of Learning English

Multimedia has the feature of combining simultaneous use of data in different media forms such as voice，video，text，animations，etc as for education or entertainment（Chen Jianxia，2006）.For instance，in English audiovisual class，after finishing the listening exercises of the textbook and some news，teachers can let students listen to American Voice，some famous figure speeches or European music.Through this，students can relax themselves.Meanwhile，they will prefer English since the additional materials offered to students are so interesting.

3 The Disadvantages of Multimedia in English teaching

3.1 Being Disadvantageous to Students Thinking

Firstly，multimedia combines different media forms such as texts，voice，videos，and animations.Therefore it can easily attract students study attention.Secondly，teachers who want to apply multimedia in their teaching often type their main teaching contents beforehand，so they can show them on the screen when giving lessons.At the same time，students could effortlessly find part of the contents of this period，even the whole contents.Naturally，it would be disadvantageous to students thinking.

3.2 Adding more Burden to Teachers

In the first place，the making of multimedia courseware often takes teachers a large amount of time，especially when they want to make a wonderful multimedia courseware.Besides，teachers should learn to grasp basic computer knowledge and operational technology so as to make wonderful multimedia courseware.Finally，in order to reach a good teaching effect，teachers have to overcome some obstacles when applying multimedia in their teaching such as they should not rely on multimedia heavily to make multimedia replace their leading place in class and they should not ignore emotive communication between themselves and students.

4 Conclusion

Multimedia is actually a “double-edged sword” in English teaching.English teachers should try their best to develop the strong points and avoid the weak points while making use of multimedia in English teaching.In addition，English teachers should always bear in mind that multimedia exists just as a teaching tool but not the replacement of teachers.Whats more，when multimedia is applied in teaching，various questions will occur.Therefore teachers should make good preparations ahead if they are to use multimedia in teaching.Overall，only if multimedia teaching is applied appropriately by teachers can it serves teaching much better.

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