A Survey Of Multimedia Technology-Assisted College English Teaching

In resent years, with the dramatic development of computer, global networks and information technology, multimedia technology-assisted foreign language teaching has gradually become the trend of College English teaching (CET hereafter). The College English Curriculum Requirements (For Trial Implementation) (hereafter Requirements), issued by State Education Ministry in January 2004, specify that"colleges and universities should remould the existing unitary teacher-centered pattern of CET by introducing new teaching models with the help of multimedia and network technology", which provides the guidance for institutes to explore a computer- and network-based multimedia CET mode.A number of researchers at home have already conducted surveys on the state of multimedia technology-assisted CET ( hereafter MTACET). However, of the respondents, most of the surveys just focus on college students or on College English teachers. In terms of survey region, the researches were confined in universities or colleges outside Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Thus, the research results may not virtually reflect the actual situation of MTACET in the universities or the colleges of Guangxi. Therefore, the thesis is to identify the situation of MTACET in Guilin city of Guangxi, so as to offer some implications for establishing and remoulding MTACET model in this region.The survey is conducted among College English teachers and non-English major students (both freshmen and sophomores) in four institutes of Guilin city with questionnaire and classroom observation. The results indicate that: the institutions of higher learning have already equipped with PC-based multimedia infrastructure for CET and most teachers have already tried to employ it; most teachers and students hold a positive view on MTACET; multimedia and network has played an important role in CET. However, the development of MTACET is still in the early stages, to some extent, some blocks impede the improvement of MTACET and its model establishment.The survey triggers rich insights on the state of MTACET. Some possible pedagogical implications draw from the findings: Education administration and institutes need to reconcile what is possible and what is desirable to optimize a computer- and network-based multimedia environment for College English teaching and learning. They should provide more opportunities for teachers to obtain technology education and professional development. Institutes should make an appropriate CET goal and evaluation system which are consistent with MTACET, and offer some courses that focus on students'awareness and skills of gathering information from the information technology. Teachers should update the knowledge...