The Application Of Multimedia Technology In Assisting English Culture Teaching

Nowadays, developing learner's cross-cultural communicative competence has been the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching. Thus, culture teaching is in vital need in FIX However, there are many problems existing in current culture teaching practice, such as foreign language teachers lack cultural competence; learners lack an authentic cultural context; traditional culture teaching methods also have some limitations. Therefore, enhancing the effectiveness of culture teaching should be an important issue in foreign language teaching practice.Multimedia technology, which is characterized by a combination of graphic, textual, audio and video functions, is superior to any other medium in its devastatingly huge mass of information, abundant resources, and partaking of information, especially after the availability of the Internet. The rapid development and wide application of multimedia computers have offered great challenges and opportunities for education, meanwhile, the wide spread of multimedia technology and the advent of the Internet create new environment for language teaching and learning. Then, the study focused on the effectiveness of multimedia technology in assisting English culture teaching.Based on the analysis of the features and potentials of multimedia technology, and the review of relevant studies on multimedia-assisted culture teaching, the author explored the necessity and feasibility of using multimedia technology in assisting English culture teaching through conducting the experiment, survey, interview and observation in culture teaching practice.In terms of data analysis, the author mainly adopted qualitative method, and quantitative method served as an assistant tool to support the former. The results of data analysis showed that MAECT improved students' achievements; it was helpful for cultivating students' cultural awareness, independence and initiative in culture learning, and establishing students' confidence; it also increased the interactions between the teacher and students. Besides, most of the students in the experimental class showed a positive attitude towards this teaching mode. Thus, it was necessary and feasible to use multimedia technology in assisting English culture teaching. The study is helpful for improving culture teaching modes and enhancing its effectiveness.However, the study also revealed that multimedia-assisted English culture teaching still had some deficiencies, such as the content displayed by the multimedia screen is not systematic; courseware design needs much time and energy, etc. It is suggested that English teachers should integrate MAECT into the traditional culture teaching methods. Besides, they should be aware of their different roles in the multimedia environment, design and share courseware with peers.It should be pointed out that the study itself has its limitations. For example, the number of subjects and the period of experiment were limited. Therefore, more studies should be done in the future to further prove the proposition.