Teachers' Roles In Computer Assisted Language Learning In China

With the fast-paced changes brought about by globalization and technological development, TESOL professionals need to understand current socio-economic factors and their influence on English language teaching. The industrial societies of the past are giving way to a new post-industrial economic order based on globalized manufacturing and distribution; flexible, customized production; the application of science, technology, and information management as the key elements of productivity and economy growth; and increased inequality between those who control technological and media resources and those who lack technological access and know-how (Carnoy, Castells, Cohen & Cardoso, 1993). This new global economic order, termed informationalism by Castells (1996), first emerged in the 1970s following advances in computing technology and telecommunications.Informationalism has presented new stimulus to economic, social, and cultural dynamics, which are very different from those of the industrial area and which are shaped by an overriding contradiction between the power of global networks and the struggle for local identity (Barber, 1995; Castells, 1996; Friedman, 1999). Simply put, people's lives are increasingly affected by international networks operating via financial markets, transnational corporations, and the Internet starts to impinge on traditional seats of authority and meaning, such as family, patriarchy, and nation. In response to the increasing power of global networks, people --- as individuals and in collectives --- struggle to assert control over their identity and defend what they see as essential of their own self.While the rise of informationalism is still in its infancy, it has already had an important impact on the field of TESOL. One of its consequences is the dominance of the communicative approach within the field of English language teaching (at least in...