A Study Of College English Teaching Model In The Setting Of Multimedia And Internet Technology

Language instruction is closely related to media. With the rapid development of multimedia technologies and network, multimedia, as an assistant means of teaching, finds a broad use in foreign language instruction.According to College English Curriculum Requirements drawn up by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, network-based multimedia instruction will be a new approach to college English instruction, and at the same time it will be the development orientation of the reform of English teaching and learning in colleges and universities.In this essay, through teaching practice with the aid of multimedia and by making an attempt at a new teaching model based on the multimedia and Internet technology, the author makes a comparison between two different multimedia teaching models to testify whether the new model (the combination of classroom lectures and network-aided autonomous learning) is superior to the old one (classroom lectures and listening and speaking practice in the language lab) in respect of promoting students' English abilities, so as to find out an effective multimedia teaching model conforming to the author's own institute in order to promote the abilities of FLTL (foreign language teaching and learning). Meanwhile the author points out the limitations of the experiment and the reflection on the application of the network multimedia instruction to prepare the ground for further practice of college English teaching based on multimedia and Internet technology.The thesis starts with a brief introduction of the definition of "multimedia" and its function in foreign language instruction; it points out the adoption of the new teaching model built on Internet technology conforms to College English Curriculum Requirements. Propelled by the reform tide and backup of constmctivist learning theory, the author makes an attempt to apply the new model with the combination of classroom lectures and network-aided autonomous learning into the practical teaching.The first chapter of this thesis gives a brief introduction to the history of "multimedia" and its application and study in language teaching and learning. It makes a literature review of the development of media from traditional media like blackboard, pictures and objects to modern media like radio, slide projector, telephone, television, film and video, and later to new technological multimedia such as computer, video projector and network, etc. In the course of these changes, multimedia instruction is transformed from traditional concept to CAI (computer assisted instruction) based on multimedia technology. This chapter emphasizes the influence of computer Internet technology on FLTL.Chapter 2 centers on the description of two kinds of forms of multimedia teaching mentioned in this thesis—multimedia classroom instruction and network-aided autonomous learning. Meanwhile, it introduces the theoretical foundation of foreign language teaching under the multimedia and network environment—constructivist learning theory. Owing to the similarity of multimedia teaching environment and constructivist learning environment, and from the perspectives of linguistics, psychology and technology, it tries to account for the feasibility of FLTL with the aid of multimedia and Internet technology.Chapter 3 gives the background to the new teaching model and some common multimedia models applied in FLTL, and these models are also the patterns from which the experiment profits.Chapter 4 is the main body of this essay—a practical study of multimedia teaching model. From teaching experiences, the author analyzes the influence of the different models on FLTL. By demonstrating the whole process of the experiment, including the conditions, the methods, the hypotheses, the design and the content of the experiment, as well as the analysis of the data collected from it. The author emphasizes the advantages of the new teaching model in promoting students' English abilities especially in their listening and speaking skills, and points out the shortcomings of it at the same time.Chapter 5 accounts for the limitations of this experiment as well as the reflection of multimedia instruction. It provides some suggestions on further study of multimedia instruction in order to help foreign language teachers to promote their teaching.Finally, this essay draws a conclusion from this teaching practice and the analysis of the data, that is, the college English teaching model based on multimedia and Internet technology is an ideal model. It reflects the conformity of traditional and modern teaching method, and is accepted by students. It is undoubtedly an effective way for language instruction.