| The information era, characterized by the multiplication of the multimedia and Internet technology, has changed people's way of life fundamentally, especially the way of education. The knowledge obtained in school will soon become obsolete due to the rapid development of technology. Hence, only autonomous life-long learner can survive in the new era. In addition, along with the increasing application of the Internet, the information exchanged on-line has surpassed the traditional media. To operate computers skillfully and to search, collect, analyze, synthesize and exchange information efficiently via the Internet has become a new literacy (termed as E-literacy) besides reading and writing, and those who do not have the capacity will certainly be viewed as illiterate in the new digital era. Furthermore, English as an international language, with over 85% information stored and exchanged in it on-line, provides the EFL learners with extensively authentic materials. Meanwhile, it demands an even higher standard of English proficiency. Consequently, the EFL teachers are obliged to implement Web-based computers into their teaching curriculum, and to involve learner autonomy as an end in EFL teaching. Since the traditional "teacher-centered" "classroom-confined" instruction model certainly cannot fit in with such demands, it is necessary to explore a new "learner-centered" computer-assisted teaching and learning model. The present thesis is just an attempt to do that. On the basis of constructivism and second language acquisition theories as well as the previous studies on CALL and SALL, the researcher designed a new model, termed as Multidimensional-Interactive Teaching & Learning Model. Within this model, the learner is put at the center of learning; each learner constructs his own knowledge through exploration on the basis of his previous knowledge and with the collaboration and assistance of the teacher and the peers. The teacher is no longer a unique source of language input. The multidimensional resources consisting of CD-ROMs, magazines, books from the library and a vast amount of information in English on the Websites constitute an optimal authentic environment for the learners to acquire and use English automatically. Class activities are not dominated by the teacher's monotonous lectures but by interactions between the teacher and the learners, or among learners face-to-face within the same classroom. Web-based computers enable the learners to preview the text with CD-ROMs autonomously out of class and communicate with other learners, the teacher, or even native speakers of English on-line. The teacher's role is shifted from an authoritative knowledge transmitter to a more approachable assistant, facilitator, consultant, assessor and manager, whose duty centers on task design, motivating and assisting learners to learn effectively and offering evaluation as well as assessment. The model is theoretically sound from both second language acquisition and constructivist perspectives. The American applied linguist, Stephen Krashen, distinguishes acquisition from learning and puts forward the view that second language acquisition process is similar to the way in which a child acquires his/her first language. Hence, the central role of a learner in constructing his/her own language knowledge should be emphasized, and the role of formal instruction be minimized. Krashen (1982) also postulates that language learning is directly related to the amount of "comprehensible input" a learner receives, which should be a little bit above their understanding but could be understood through inferring. His assertion paves the way for creating multidimensional input environment for the learners to acquire language automatically. Another linguist, Swain (1995) puts forward an Output Hypothesis as a complement of Krashen's Input Hypothesis. According to Swain, the activity of producing the target language pushes the learners to produce more accurate and appropriate language, and the output funct...
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