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① Some topics (e.g. learning English in Unit 1) in this book closely .... Only 12.28% have achieved decent scores in IELTS and TOEFL ..... Oxford: Heinemann.
Exploring Chinese university students’ uses and perceptions of traditional paperbased English textbooks and multimedia English learning resources

① Introduction ② Literature Review ③ Methodology ④ Findings ⑤ Conclusions and limitations ⑥ References

Contents

INTRODUCTION ‣ The importance of English in China: English is not only a modern language associated with political, economic and social values but also a key factor in attaining better education opportunities, jobs and lifestyles (Pan, 2011).

‣ Chinese students: receiving English teaching and learning materials in increasing numbers (Lam, 2002).

‣ The foremost type of English teaching and learning materials: traditional textbook with texts and a few images suggesting ‘transmission’ model of teaching and learning teaching grasp basic, abstract knowledge and learn linguistics ‘itself’ contributing to students’ high scores on examinations and their adaptation to the Chinese examoriented education system leading to student’s difficulties in communication living and studying overseas

‣ The development and proliferation of new media and technologies: the increasingly use of multimedia English teaching and learning resources Some multimedia resources: various learning content and colourful designs

INTRODUCTION ‣ The affordance theory: the “affordances” of the language learning products both involve “the properties of the material” and “the characteristics of a learner, and many other factors in the learning context (Kennewell, as cited in Day & Lloyd, 2007).”

‣ Thus, understanding how Chinese language learner use and perceive the two types of English learning materials is necessarily required.

① Review of two kinds of English teaching and learning materials in China ② Review of students’ uses and perceptions of English teaching and learning

materials, especially multimedia resources

LITERATURE REVIEW

① Review of two kinds of English teaching and learning materials in China ‣ Traditional paper-based English textbooks

‣ History of the development of College English textbooks in China 1978 - 1985: grammar served as the epicentre of English education; 1986 - 20th century: reading skills and communicative abilities were predominantly emphasised; At the turn of the 21st century: English textbooks started to take on a more ‘individual’ feel with the aim of meeting students’ diverse requirements.

‣ Taking Intensive Reading as an example published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press; emphasises the importance of vocabulary, translation and grammar; still focus on improving students’ reading and writing abilities; widely used among non-English majors in Chinese universities.

▸Intensive Reading Content ① Some topics (e.g. learning English in Unit 1) in this book closely complement students’ daily studies; ② Some do not have much relevance to Chinese university students’ daily life. For example, in the Warm-up part of Unit 8, students are asked to name the gifts their parents may buy for them for Christmas. Structure - relatively easy to read and understand Design and layout - generally suitable Some limitations: A. There is a large number of new words for students to acquire; some may be too difficult to be used in daily communications. Some texts are not relevant to from students’ lives or are out of date. B.Because the teaching and exercises in listening and speaking are limited, students’ listening and oral skills remain under-developed (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996). C.Teacher-based activities place students in a passive role (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996), offering them few opportunities to express their ideas and practice in class.

‣ Multimedia English learning resources Multimedia English learning resources: increasingly widespread with the growth and development of globalisation and new technologies. Definition: Multimedia offers multi-sensory experiences through multiple modes such as text, graphics, pictures, audio and video (Gilakjani, 2012). It appears that multimedia resources could promote people to receive, internalise and integrate a large amount of information, being a useful and innovative language leaning tool (Brett, 1996; Gilakjani, 2012). Advantages: 1. can provide a relatively authentic learning environment for students - helpful for improving students’ listening and speaking capabilities (Yang, 2007; Zhu, 2007) 2. have the opportunity to learn western culture and customs (Yang, 2007; Zhu, 2007). 3. can motivate students to learn English (Yang, 2007; Zhu, 2007) 4. allowing students to learn English no matter where they are based (Fan, 2004) 5. offering personalised teaching by using multimedia resources (Zheng, 2015) Limitations A. various in quality B. distractions(Cheong et al., 2012; Merrill, 2012) C. stereotypes (Cheong et al., 2012; Merrill, 2012)

‣ ② Review of students’ uses and perceptions of English teaching and learning materials, especially multimedia resources Research

Focus

Main conclusions

Brett (1996)

Multimedia tools

Students have strongly favourable attitudes towards multimedia. multimedia is an effective and enjoyable learning tool for motivating them to learn languages, and may enhance their listening skills, and new language learning and self-study capabilities.

Murday, Ushida & Ann Chenoweth (2008)

Online courses

There are increasing levels of satisfaction associated with online courses because of their flexibility, benefits for self-study and collaboration with others. Learners prefer using CALL when they learn languages.

Ayres (2002)

Chou (2014)

Kung & Chuo (2002)

CALL

They believe that CALL should be integrated into the course curriculum but do not suggest that classroom-based learning should be replaced by CALL.

E-books

There are some inevitable advantages of e-books, such as their portability, affordability, accessibility and high quality. Moreover, e-books are usually associated with reading for pleasure, and thus may be beneficial for motivating students and enhancing their confidence in language classrooms. Students often have negative reactions towards e-books Most of the participants have reinforced this finding, reporting that reading e-books is unpleasant.

ESL/EFL learning websites

There are some inevitable advantages of e-books, such as their portability, affordability, accessibility and high quality. Moreover, e-books are usually associated with reading for pleasure, and thus may be beneficial for motivating students and enhancing their confidence in language classrooms. Students often have negative reactions towards e-books Most of the participants have reinforced this finding, reporting that reading e-books is unpleasant.

RESEARCH GAP ‣ Although much emphasis has been placed on students’ attitudes towards using multimedia resources, such as e-books and websites, there are few studies focusing on their attitudes towards traditional English textbooks, and few comparisons have been made. ‣ Few research has been conducted to explore the possible impacting factors of students’ use and their attitudes.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS ①How Chinese university students use traditional paper-based

English textbooks and multimedia English learning resources? ②What are Chinese university students’ perceptions of two types

of English learning materials?

METHODOLOGY

‣ A MIXED METHOD RESEARCH ‣ QUESTIONNAIRE & INTERVIEW

Research methods

▸ Questionnaire Questions written both in Chinese and English (single questions and essay questions) 10-15 minutes Issues: (1) students’ use of traditional textbook and multimedia resources (2) their attitudes toward traditional textbook and multimedia resources (3) their preferences are also included in the questionnaire (4) their favourite English learning materials In order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, principal component analysis and reliability test have been conducted in SPSS. According to the results, the KMO value is 0.808 and the P value in the Bartlett’s Test is 0.00, demonstrating good validity of the questionnaire. The Cronbach’s Alpha value, which is 0.865, also proves the questionnaire is reliable for academic research.

▸ Interview Individual semi-structured interviews 25min - 30min Issues related to students’ uses, perceptions and preference of two kinds of educational materials are asked in more detail.

Research context and participants

Questionnaire 200 participants 171 valid questionnaires 77 are male and 94 are female from 73 universities 56% are from key universities, 38% study at ordinary universities and only 6% are from independent colleges and universities with special educational purposes. 35.09% have passed CET-6 or TEM-8, and 33.92% the CET-4 or TEM-4 but not the CET-6 and TEM-8. Only 12.28% have achieved decent scores in IELTS and TOEFL examinations and 18.61% have not passed CET-4 or TEM-4.

Interview Seven participants Five are from key universities and two are from ordinary universities. Only one student has yet to pass CET 4 or equivalent examinations. The other six have all passed CET-6 or equivalent examinations and four of them have scored highly in tests (e.g. IELTS or TOEFL).

FINDINGS

Questionnaire 1. Use - Overview ① 42.11% of participants use multimedia English learning resources. ② 31.58% use traditional English textbooks. ③ 25.15% marry these two kinds of learning materials in equal measure.

‣ It is evident that multimedia English learning resources are employed more frequently. ‣ However, the percentage of traditional English textbooks in use is still large, so we cannot ignore its significant role.

Questionnaire 1.1 The relationship between year of study and use

①Traditional textbooks play an important role among those participants who are at year of study 1 or 2 (70% and 58.3%, respectively). - CET 4 ②By contrast, only 10% and 16.7%, respectively, of participants across these two groups frequently use multimedia resources for their English studies. ③With regard to senior students, the proportion using multimedia English learning resources rises steadily and represents 39.3% (22 participants), almost the same as the percentage opting for traditional English textbooks (42.9%, 24 participants). - different future plans and goals ④58.3% of postgraduates prefer to use multimedia English learning resources to study English. - released from the pressure of sitting English examinations

Questionnaire 1.2 The relationship between English language proficiency and use

①60% of participants who have not passed CET-4 or TEM-4 opt to use traditional English textbooks more frequently. ②As their English language proficiency improves so the percentage dramatically decreases to, taking three groups as examples, 19%, 32.3% and 23.8%, respectively. Coincidentally, multimedia English learning resources are the most predominant type in these three groups, representing 51.7%, 54.8% and 57.1%, respectively. ③Compared with others, traditional English textbooks appear to be especially important tools for students who have a relatively low level of English language proficiency. However, as students’ English proficiency develops, the importance of traditional English textbooks gradually declines.

Questionnaire 1.3 The relationship between English learning aims and use

① With regard to those participants who study English purely to pass examinations, 44% study with traditional English textbooks, which is more than 1.5 times greater than those participants who prefer to use multimedia resources (27%) or use the two kinds of materials equally (28%). ② By contrast, more than half (61.8%) of those who plan to improve their communicative abilities lean towards multimedia resources rather than traditional English textbooks (16.4%). What is more, three-quarters of participants who study English for their own interest make a greater use of multimedia English learning resources. Surprisingly, none tends to use traditional English textbooks for English learning. ③ The most reasonable explanation for the above results may be that different kinds of English teaching and learning materials place a contrasting emphasis on specific English study aims.

Questionnaire 2. Attitudes Five aspects: 1. Content 2. Portability 3. Effectiveness in English learning 4. Using experience and habit 5. Motivation

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Content ① More than half of them (53.2%) agree or strongly agree that multi-media learning resources are rich, clearly aimed and useful. ② Only 28.7% of them think traditional English textbooks could provide such content. - designed for specific English examinations; suitable for preparing CET-4 and CET-6

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Portability ① 74.3% of the students agree or strongly agree that multi-media resources are portable, praising this type of resources for ‘any time, any place’ convenience. ② The traditional English learning textbooks only got 5.8% agree and strongly agree rates.

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Effectiveness in English language learning ① 45.0% of participants agree or strongly agree with the benefits of traditional English textbooks in their English learning, with 58.5% of multi-media English learning resources. ② The negative rates of two kinds of materials (selecting “strongly disagree” and “disagree”) are also close, with 19.8% and 17.0% respectively.

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Using experience and habit ① 43.8% of participants positively recognised (selecting “agree” or “strongly agree”) the using experience of traditional English textbooks. - less damaging to the eyes and more convenient for taking notes and reviewing texts ② In similar, 46.5% of them had positive attitudes toward multi-media learning resources. - “digital natives”

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Motivation ① 74.8% of the participants agree or strongly agree that multi-media English learning resources this new, interesting and fashionable type of material could motivate them to study English. - The multimodal referents (e.g. textual, aural and pictorial inputs) are attractive, which could stimulate students’ English learning interests. ② By contrast, the traditional English textbook without audio and video stimuli, obtained less “agree” or “strongly agree” percentages (43.8%).

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Preference - Overview ① It is clear that the number of participants who prefer multimedia English learning resources is greater than those who favour traditional English textbooks. 94 participants opt for multimedia English learning resources, which is six times more than those choosing traditional English textbooks. ② Aside from this, we should note that another 60 responders perceive these two types of materials to be virtually identical.

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Favorite English learning resources ① There is only one subset of the traditional English textbook – vocabulary books – which receive 17 votes. ② Moreover, the other options are all multimedia English learning resources. Among them, applications (apps), which include vocabulary, dictionary, listening, etc., are favoured by a large number of participants. ③ In addition, videos and movies are also the English learning resources of choice among a number of students.

Questionnaire 2. Attitude

Favorite English learning resources ① Content - vocabulary is one of the most favoured options (vocabulary apps, vocabulary books and dictionary apps are mentioned 26, 17 and 12 times, respectively). ② Nomination - The most popular English resource is an attractive and enjoyable vocabulary mobile application named Baicizhan, which was referred to 16 times. BBC News, one of the world’s biggest and most influential current affairs websites, is mentioned by 12 participants.

Interview 1. Use English learning aims

①According to the interview, even though seven attendants offered various choices, their responses all relate to their current English learning aims. ②Two of the participants use traditional English textbooks more often than multimedia tools. Both study English in order to pass examinations and agree traditional English textbooks are more suitable in helping them achieve their goals. ③Besides, four participants use multimedia English learning resources more frequently than traditional textbooks. All have few examination burdens and study English predominantly for communication and entertainment reasons. ④Moreover, one participant, a master student, asserts that she uses two kinds of resources equally at different times and to meet specific studying aims. - using traditional English textbooks during classes and for IELTS test preparation & using multimedia resources to polish her listening and speaking skills

Interview 2. Attitudes ‣ Content - Traditional English textbooks Positive attitudes: ① have been edited many times by education specialists ② more systematic and clear ③ have a clear and progressive structure helps students to easily learn English step by step ④ particularly targeted towards English tests, which could not only increase their knowledge but also offer valuable exercises Negative attitudes: ① outdated content ② the coverage of traditional textbooks is narrow - mainly focus on reading, vocabulary and grammar rather than listening and speaking

Interview 2. Attitudes ‣ Content - Multimedia learning resources Positive attitudes: ① new and diverse ② more appropriate to teach and learn western culture and customs ③ beneficial in cultivating students’ communicative abilities Negative attitudes: ① varying qualities with some content unsuitable - and even misleading - for learning English - a popular English learning website that includes incorrect grammar points ② some lacking clear and progressive learning structures

Interview 2. Attitudes ‣ Portability ① Participants illustrated that traditional textbooks are inconvenient to carry around. Some are relatively heavy confining students to learn only in the classroom or at home rather than on train, tube, bus and so on. ② In comparison, multimedia resources are flexible and portable, so students can learn wherever where they are. For example, students can easily download English learning applications and use them on their mobile phones or tablets.

‣ Motivation ① Because some paper-based textbooks are out-of-date, some texts are boring or do not properly reflect modern daily life - becoming demotivated. ② By contrast, the multiple modes (e.g. images, sounds, videos, plots etc.) in the multimedia English learning resources can make the resources appear more attractive, thus motivating students to use them. ③ Nevertheless, this recognised advantage is in critique: all participants in the interview explained that they are sometimes easily distracted by the plots, sounds, and images, inherent in multimedia resources. The notifications received from the non-academic applications (e.g. social media and games) could also distract them from their English study.

Interview 2. Attitude ‣ Favourite English learning resources

① It is also noteworthy to point out the likely relationship between participants’ English studying aims and their favourite resources.

② For instance, participants 1 and 2 who both study English mainly to pass CET or IELTS examinations prefer traditional textbooks rather than multimedia resources. ③ On the other hand, participants studying English for communicative and recreational purposes tend to prefer multimedia English learning resources such as TV series and mobile apps. e.g. Participants 3 and 7 indicate that dialogues in the U.S.-based TV programme House of Cards can be readily used in daily communications.

CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS Conclusions ① This research predominantly investigates Chinese university students’ uses and perceptions of traditional English textbooks and multimedia English learning resources via questionnaire and interview. ② Results suggest that multimedia English learning resources are more popular than traditional ones. Many variables, such as year of study, English language proficiency and English learning aims, influence participants’ usage. ③ In terms of attitudes towards traditional English textbooks, many participants point out that these are beneficial for helping pass exams. Multimedia English learning resources, on the other hand, are perceived as new, interesting, diverse and portable by most participants. ④ Furthermore, more participants prefer multimedia English learning resources to traditional textbooks. Specifically, mobile applications, especially vocabulary applications such as Baicizhan, are seen as the most attractive products among students. ⑤ According to the interview, what is noteworthy is that participants’ English learning aims strongly influence the findings in this research. Indeed, extra comments such as “traditional English textbooks are out of date and difficult to carry” and “some multimedia English learning resources (e.g. movies and TV series) easily distract students” were offered.

CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS Limitations ① Sampling - nearly half of the online questionnaire participants major in humanities and

social sciences with fewer in English/English education and science. 56% of participants are from key universities in China. ② Generalisability - only focuses on Chinese university students, cannot properly

represent those at other stages of education.

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