The future of English teaching in the digital age 网络时代英语教学.doc

The future of English teaching in the digital ageIn this article, Edward draws on his experience of English teaching and Internet consulting to discuss the future of English teaching as the world enters an increasingly digital age. This article was written for English teachers who have a growing sense that the Internet is becoming more and more important for their professional careers. It tells them why the Internet is important to their profession, what they can expect in the years to come, and how they can prepare themselves as English teachers in the digital age.On a spring day in 1992 in Philadelphia, I pressed my Enter key and listened to the familar string of tones from my modem as it logged into the Temple University computer. This was nothing new for someone who had grown up with computers. But this day was one I will never forget: it was first day I ever logged into the Internet.As an English teacher, my Internet connection back in 1992 meant that I could send a grammar question out to 500 English teachers around the world and have at least 10 replies in my mailbox the next morning. It meant that I could sit at my desk in Philadelphia chatting with a colleague at Purdue, she typing on the top of the screen and I typing on the bottom, at no cost. It meant contacting the Amerika Haus in Berlin via E-Mail which led to a teaching position at Potsdam University. It meant finding information on almost any topic for the courses I was teaching.Yes, the Internet is good for English teaching. And it is going to get better-exponentially. In this article, I want to tell you why, and make some forcasts on what the digital age holds for English teaching.My forecasts for the future of English teaching are based on three hypotheses:1. That which can be digitized, will be digitized.2. English instruction can be almost fully digitized.3. English instruction is more efficient when teachers use a digitized medium.1. That which can be digitized, will be digitized.Nicholas Negroponte in his book Being Digital draws a distinction between atoms and bits. A book, for instance, is composed of atoms whereas an E-Mail is composed of bits. The difference between atoms and bits is that atoms take a long time to be sent from place to place and are relatively expensive to duplicate. Bits, on the other hand, can be sent around the world in a matter of seconds and cost nothing to duplicate. If you want to send a book from Berlin to New York, it will probably cost you about $10 and will probably take about 7 days. If you want to send a digitized book from Berlin to New York, it will cost you nothing and will get there in 5 seconds. For English teachers, the benefits are enormous. For the business world, the profit margins are unbelievable. This is why everything that can be digitized, will be digitized.2. English instruction can be almost fully digitized.What can be digitized and what can not? Text, pictures, voice, and video can all be digitized. Text can be typed in, pictures can be scanned in, and voice and video can be recorded digitally. But this is not all. Interactive conversations can be digitized. Interactive environments, for instance, a classroom, a train station, or a business meeting can be digitized. Since English instruction consists primarily of text, pictures, voice, video, conversation, and interactive environments, English instruction can be almost fully digitized.3. English instruction is more efficient when teachers use a digitized medium.Digitalization increases student-centeredness. If a student writes a digitized document and gives it to you to correct, you can add notes to the document just as you can to a regular paper document. The difference is that the student can then click on your digitized notes, e.g. "use present perfect here" which takes him to an interactive, multi-media lesson teaching him about the present perfect tense and when to use it. Connected to this is a grammar chat room with students and tutors who discuss and answer questions about grammar. The student learns what he needs to know when he needs to know it.Digitalization increases accessiblity. Particularly in English for Specific Purposes, and more particularly in non-English speaking countries, specific material in English is fairly hard to come by. For instance, let us say you are teaching English at a company here in Berlin which produces flags. They need to learn vocabulary which has to do with flag production. You simply need to log into the Internet and type in the key words "flag production." You will get a number of web sites of English-speaking flag production companies with information on their products. Print these out and use them in your class. Write an E-Mail to the company and ask them to send you a catalog. Ask them what else is available on the Internet regarding flag production. Also, send an E-Mail to the 13,000 teachers in the English teachers news group and ask if anyone has experience teaching English at companies involved in flag production.Digitalization removes geographical barriers and saves time.For those of you who teach business English here in Berlin, how long does it take you to commute to work? How long does it take your students to travel to class? If both you and your students could switch on your PCs and conduct your English lessons via video conference from your homes and offices, how much total time would it save all of you? And if you could do this, why not add students in Japan and Singapore as well? Digitized English teaching removes the geographical barrier which frees up time for both the teacher and the students.Digitalization brings like minds together.Back in the 17th century, Leibniz and Newton developed Calculus independently of one another. If they had lived today, they would have met by now in a newsgroup and would already be exchanging ideas via E-Mail. The ease which the Internet provides to meet people with similar interests, professions, backgrounds, and experiences is unparalleled in human history. There are people in the world who are teaching the same kinds of classes you teach, have similar students, and are working on similar projects. The Internet makes it possible for you to meet, communicate, and work on projects together with them.So what is the function of an English teacher in the digital age?The function of a English teacher in general is to communicate to students the concepts and skills necessary to function well in situations which involve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and social skills. Anyone who has seen virtual reality interactive-CD language programs such as Who is Oscar Lake can imagine that as these products improve, they will soon be able to convey the basics of language instruction quite efficiently to any student who is privileged enough to have access to a well-equipped computer. And with the exponentially increasing speed at which bits can be pumped through the rapidly multiplying fiber optic cables and satellites of the Internet, more and more English students world-wide will be able to interact with language teaching videos and virtual worlds which will bring them to a relatively high level of proficiency, especially since other people will be running around through these virtual worlds as well, talking to each other, getting help from each other, and practicing language functions in contextual situations. These services will be paid for through advertising-students will learn the phrase "I would like a Coke, please" because Coca Cola sponsors the program. This means that high quality computer language instruction will be free for anyone who has a fast enough Internet connection.When I mention these visions to English teachers, some of them are afraid that computers will someday replace English teachers. This will not be the case. There will always be a human on one side of English teaching and another human on the other, it is just that the computer between us is getting more and more effective, which improves our teaching and improves the students' learning abilities. Humans are powerful and computers are powerful, and together, they are are extremely powerful.My point in this article is that if you are an English teacher, you need to get more and more involved with computers in order to continue to improve your teaching skills. The following are my suggestions for English teachers in order to prepare themselves for the digital age (ranked in order of importance):1. Get access to a computer with an Internet connection.2. Learn how to search for information on the World Wide Web.3. Learn how to send and receive E-Mail.4. Learn how to join and participate in news groups, and find colleagues with similar interests.5. Learn how to attach documents and other files to E-Mail.6. Learn how to create, publish, and update a home page.7. Learn how to type with both hands without looking at the keyboard