Integrating ICT into College English: An implementation study of a national reform

Abstract

This paper describes a mixed-methods case study of a national reform of College English teaching in China which called for the integration of ICT (information and communication technology) into English classroom teaching and self-access learning. The study examined ICT implementation of the national reform in a specific tertiary institution from the perspectives of ICT use in language education and ICT-related policies and practices for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers. The findings indicated that the reform had represented a challenge for teachers, who were expected to adapt to technologically-enhanced teaching materials, embrace student-centred classroom teaching and guide students' autonomous learning in ICT settings. Constraints included insufficient ICT facilities, teachers' limited ICT skills and pedagogic expertise; and lack of effective communication networks and inadequate technical support and ICT-related training also hindered the smooth ICT implementation of the reform. Implications for national and institutional policy-making are discussed.

Utilizing Video for Technology Integration Support in Indonesian EFL Classroom: Usages and Obstacles

“…In this study, it is revealed that the major obstacles found by Indonesian EFL teachers are limitation of facilities at school, lack of technical support at school, difficulties in finding suitable video, lack of skill in editing video, and less focus students on learning. The less school support on facilities and technical support have also become a major problem in integrating technology in EFL classroom in other countries, such as in Oman (Tanveer, 2011), China (Hu & Mcgrath, 2012), Malaysia (Raman & Mohamed, 2013), Iran (Hedayati & Marandi, 2014) and Saudi Arabia . Raman and Mohamed (2013) found that the lack of school funding may become one factor which makes the school have not provided the school facilities.…”

“…Moreover, the difficulties in finding learning sources are also categorized as one major problem haunting the integration of technology (Tanveer, 2011), especially for EFL teachers who have limited time in preparing the media itself (Raman & Mohamed, 2013;Tanveer, 2011). Meanwhile, the lack of skill existed is the result of having insufficient training for EFL teachers toward the use of technology in teaching and learning process Hu & Mcgrath, 2012). Therefore, school support is needed to enrich teachers' knowledge and ability in utilizing technology in classroom.…”

“…Another study conducted by Hu and McGrath (2012) in integrating ICT into college English also found several obstacles in implementing technology integration. They carried out that insufficient ICT facilities, teachers' limited ICT skills and pedagogic expertise, lack of effective communication networks, and inadequate technical support and ICT-related training hindered the ICT implementation in China.…”

Exploration of College English Teaching Reform in Application-oriented Universities

“…During the teachers' Education in undergraduate and graduate degree, high degree of PhD are less. Analysis by the research on reasoning problems, teachers of the college is not stable, the talent mobility and senior scholars are less attractive, and the training ability is not enough [6][7][8].…”

A Study of University Teachers’ Enactment of Curriculum Reform in China

“…Although several research studies have attempted to explore the implementation phase and the factors mediating the adoption of the reform (e.g. Hu & McGrath, 2012;Chen, May, Klenowski, & Kettle, 2014), their research mainly focused on the analyses of factors contributing to the changes / non-change or examination of the implementation of a particular strand of College English reform, such as listening or assessment. Thus, the present research is one of the first (in the context of Chinese tertiary level) that attempts to investigate how the frontline teachers perceive and enact the top-down external initiative at classroom level.…”