| New computer technology is now playing a more prominent role in assisting language learning. China is now undergoing a dramatic reform in foreign language teaching. The College English Curriculum states that the new mode of teaching should be computer-based learning, with listening and speaking as the focus. As a measure of the reform, the Higher Education Department has approved four multimedia English Learning systems to improve students'communication abilities and more than 100 universities are selected to be experimental units to try out these multimedia systems. However, none of the empirical study on the effects of these systems has been reported till now. This paper then intends to address this issue by conducting an experimental research on the effects of one of the multimedia systems, the English XP listening and Speaking Learning System, which is integrated into our teaching. The subjects of this research are 334 non-English major freshmen from three levels of Huazhong University Science and Technology. The research was carried out by collecting data through two listening and oral English tests and supplemented by questionnaires. Students'attitudes towards the Learning System were then collected and analyzed. The results of the study show that only the experimental group of level 2 students has made progress in their oral English fluency when compared with the control group. We then checked the three experimental groups'learning progress in English learning system, finding that level 2 and level 3 students finished at least the assigned 10 units, but only 40% of level 1 students finished 10 units. According to the questionnaire, although all the students responded favorably, level 1 and level 2 students showed great interest in this system, while level 3 students held the most conservative attitude towards this system. Besides, all the three level students preferred to use it as a complementary tool for them to practice their listening and oral English.
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