On the Role of the Internet in English StudyⅠ. IntroductionSince the 60s, computers have been on the application in language teaching. After several years’ development, making full use of the Internet helps to improve the level of second languages.As we all know that computers are very good at storing, manipulating and retrieving large amounts of information, making them particularly useful in the area of “data –driven learning.”With the widely use of computers and the increasing development of Internet technology, the network has gone deep into people’s work, study and life in all aspects. It breaks through the traditional limitations of time and space. So that learning and exchanging are more convenient and efficient. The widely use of network give a strong technical support to foreign language teaching. People use the information resources of the Internet to go into language teaching and research. There are many commonly-used electronic tools assisting our English learners to study English well today, such as using e-mail, chat rooms, instant messenger like MSN, long-distant education, e-dictionary, online newspaper, etc. All the tools mentioned above are respectively helping us to improve English listening comprehension, spoken English, English reading skills and written skills.We also know that most of the Internet contents are in English, so teachers and students can gain enormous variety of materials relating to all spheres of life. Especially in non-English speaking countries, such as China, websites are the invaluable sources of information, both for teachers to create classroom materials and for their classes to explore the whole world just by clicking the mouse. The number of rich resources will not only increase information, but also broaden our horizons, promoting teaching philosophy, teaching practice and other aspects of comprehensive updating.It is the question that teachers must think about how to take advantages of network resources and mobilize students’interests in language learning. What’s more, they should explore effective new ways to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching.Ⅱ. Necessity of the application of the InternetIn the information age, network resources plays more and more important role on people’s lives, and network technology is changing people’s way of life completely,especially in learning. As Mr He Kekang, the well known scholar pointed out: “The learning environment, like traditional library and data center can not meet the rapid changes in the information age. There is an urgent need for new information services and a more open environment for learning.However, the development of network technology provides an opportunity to change this situation, and also provides the material basis for the sharing of resources and the exploration of learning in information age. ”With the use of Internet into the class, a large number of international information can be used in teaching, creating a direct, effective, fast and convenient way to contact with the outside world. It could bring in the latest experience, information and materials into the classroom expand exchanges with the outside world, offer an excellent tool for teaching reform to the high, deep-level development.English is the dominant language online, information-based community puts forward a new and higher requirement for English language learning.It is an extension of classroom teaching, as well as the communication without cultural and national boundaries. These show the advantages of science and technology on the human role in promoting the society.How to make full use of network resources to enhance learning efficiency is what the teachers must think about.Ⅲ. The advantages of Internet-based teaching and learningAs the use of the Internet is widespread in many fields and domains, not only have educators realized recently that, it also carries great potential for educational use, especially second and foreign language education. The advantages of Internet-based English Teaching and Learning will be discussed from the following aspects.3.1 Arousing students’ interest s and enhancing their motivationThe traditional English teaching is very boring and inefficient, especially in reading and writing, violating the natural process of language learning. The traditional English teaching is a type of spoon-feeding teaching method, teachers are seen as the providers of English knowledge and skills, students only passively assimilate and imitate the teachers' words, working their way boringly through the English textbook, reading the articles word by word. Not only the teachers but also the students think there is too much focusing on detail information and structural analysis. So many students are tired of this type of traditional English classes. Once they no longer have enthusiasm or motivation for study English, they often lost in their English Test.Internet is very popular among students. Either because they are associated with intersting or because those young students are considered to be fashionable．By sending E-mail or message and joining BBS, or joining new groups, students can interact with their own classmates and they can also comunicate with people they have never met．Sostudent motivation is increased by the way, and it make them feel more independent．3.2Extending the time and place of English learningSome researchers note that the Internet extends more time than what one can do in the classroom. The traditional interaction of the foreign language provides FL learners with more input than they would be able to expect from class，which typically amounts for not more than four hours per week in most high school or college settings. Students can study English in a public library, staying in their comfort students' hostel, or a peaceful cyber-cafe. The mode increases large amount of time to learn English.3.3 Distance EducationInternet brings a new form of distance education for English language learning. It is an education goes through the space; teachers and students don't need to be in the same classroom, the same area, even the same country. Students scattered in various parts not only can listen to the teachers in different places, but also can simultaneously receive texts, images, graphics and sounds. The teachers also can see and hear the reaction of the students through the Internet, then answer their questions in time. Thus, it overcomes the limitation of time and space. Primary and secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, vocational training institutions and government departments all adopt network teaching method step by step, to meet the needs of lifelong education and provide a useful supplement for traditional teaching methods. So, the learning mode is no longer limited to traditional classroom teaching. So far, 37 institutions of higher learning have been approved by the Ministry of Education to have the qualification of online education. For example: Junior College of Beijing University of Foreign Languages. In addition, there are also some international websites of English teaching, such as: , known as the world's largest online English school.3.4 Applying individualized teachingIn the past few years, most universities have enlarged their enrollment of undergraduate students, which has given rise to large-size group teaching. In many universities of China, the teachers have 60 or more students to deal with in a large-size classroom, students have fewer opportunities to practice English in the class, even out of class, say nothing of interacting with their teachers on the one-to-one basis. But network-based language teaching has enabled to realize individualized teaching. It provides students with one-to-one learning situation. Students especially those with lower English levels can own the time they need to think of their ideas, ask questions and give answers through Internet in private, and without the fear of ridicule from other students. What’s more, the immediate fee dback from teachers is also available.3.5 Sharing of resourcesThere are two prominent characteristics of the network: resources sharing and information exchanging. Users can visit the pages whenever they want. The resources are extremely rich there, students can gain a large number of learning resources from the Internet, which is very conducive to learning. For example, some websites provide a great deal of reading materials, and after each article, a variety of learning activities are designed, including the completion of the blank filling, reading comprehension, etc. In addition, students in non-English speaking countries do not know much about the customs and the life in Britain, United States and other countries, but Internet opens the broad channels for everyone. Students can get a large number of relevant information through the Internet, as well as arouse students’interests in English learning. For example, the origins and other information of Christmas and Thanksgiving Day, not only expand the students' knowledge, but also improve the understanding of culture andreading capacity.3.6 Improving comprehensive language skills3.6.1 Internet enriches English listening materialsThere are many online authentic English listening materials, such as VOA, BBC, etc. Moreover, a great deal free sound English textbook can be provided in many English learning website. When using High Definition record and computer multimedia players, English listening materials sound more clearly than traditional tape recorders. Some of them are composed voice, images, text, all in one, those real scenes can arouse the learning interests, help to understand the language environment and develop the students’thinking ability. Many media players have function to move forward and backward again and again, if a sentence or a certain period did not understand, students can quickly and conveniently replay the part to listen again.3.6.2 Internet develops relatively ability of speakingSpeaking is very important in any language. In our country, traditional English teaching doesn’t provide good environment to improve students’oral English, it is basically dumb English, even in teaching Chinese, our mother tongue. So Chinese students’ oral English is very poor, and it has brought tremendous obstacles to communicate with other people. Today’s modern information technology is highly developed, we can access to a variety of languages, the speaking training environment to improve students’ ability of speaking.First, enable students to read the spoken materials loudly. Transmitting through a microphone, and then through Internet, tearchers can hear the voice clearly and then help to correct students’ mispronounce. They can also talk with students by the pure authentic English tone and at the same time make full use of evaluation software to record thestudents’voices, then mark students’scores according to the voices. Students can also record their voices in order to have a clear understanding of their own speaking levels, trying to improve themselves.Second, students can communicate with people all over the world through the Internet. In this way, they can gain more experience of speaking English from others, so as to achieve a real language environment to improve the oral language.3.6.3 Internet develops relatively ability of readingThe widely use of Internet enables students to choose a large number of interesting reading materials. Generally speaking, it has three advantages to select reading materials from Internet, just as follows:First, timeliness, materials on the Internet are updated in a quick speed, especially the best materials of today’s social hot spots, entertainment hot spots, knowledge hot line.Second, there are many interesting materials on the Internet. Or else it will deal a blow to the enthusiasm of the students. Therefore, interesting reading materials are the key to attract students.3.6.4 Network Environment training the ability of writingMultimedia and Internet provide a very large platform to allow everyone to write in English. Teachers can use the BBS and other tools to enable students to improve their writing ability to express in English. Students can search the Internet with their own themes and writing materials. When they finish writing, they can send their homework to teachers by e-mail. On the contrary, teachers can correct their homework and send the feedback.Ⅳ. Problems of current Internet-based English teaching modeAlthough Internet has many advantages for English teaching, it still attracts both teachers and students to use for some reasons in most universities. The factors hindering from the popularizing of Internet in English classrooms can be classified in the following aspect.4.1 Lack of financial supportLack of finance is the most frequent factors hindering from the Internet-based English teaching. During the last few years, the computer network construction of the universities in our country developed by leaps and bounds, various universities invested the massive funds to complete the campus net and multimedia classroom. In our country, English is a compulsory course. Generally speaking, thousands of students have their English lessons at the same time. So the number of multimedia requirements is very large. Although Internet is very useful and convenient, the cost is so high. The multimediaclassrooms are equipped with Personal Computer, network, high project, stereo and standard desk. More money should be invented in software, maintenance, textbook, hardware and software upgrading. It is a chief difficulty to popularize the Internet-based classroom, even in some western countries, let alone the developing countries.At the same time, other courses, such as Computer Science, information engineering, machine building and design, also need multimedia classrooms urgently. But the Internet-based English teaching mode is only existed in name, just an empty shell.After annlyzing the above current statement, we know that the shortage of finance will be a long-term problem. I think there are two ways to work it out.First, cost reduction. Although many universities build multimedia classrooms by centralized purchasing, but most of them are not long ranges planning. Our Education Department should carry out a series of standard multimedia classroom, including hardware, software, appointing some products to equip a multimedia classroom. The price of those products must be transparent and those products can be upgraded easily. In this way, a great amount of money can be saved.Second, tap the latent potential of multimedia classroom. Nowdays, many regular examinations are in Computer-Based, such as TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, GMAT, LSAT, by undertaking those examinations, the classrooms can get the profit by opening the training courses.4.2 Raising the technical level and theoretical knowledgeInternet is affecting and changing people’s study methods and the working by unprecedented speed. Although most of the English teachers are familiar with computers and Internet, yet few of them have been trained in their English teaching skills. The Internet-based classrooms need such teachers who are not only full of skills in English teaching but also capable of handling PC and Internet. English is the basis of college teaching, there are many students, but less teachers. Typically, one teacher is responsible for more than 100 students’ study. Teachers have so heavy teaching duties that they don’t have time to have regular study and improve the network. In addition, many of them are old teachers, it is a big challenge for them to learn how to use Internet as it will require substantial time and effort. Therefore, reducing teachers’ teaching time and strengthening their training of network skills so that they have more time and effort on the preparation and organization of teaching work.To say further, during the Internet-based English teaching, teachers have to help some students to correct their wrong operations. Usually, they can not achieve the expected result because some incorrect operations will interrupt the process of English lessons. So teachers should be trained to master the lastest computer technology. If theydo not catch up with the trend, they will face more difficulties in English teaching.The Internet-based multimedia teaching has developed for about two-decades, but the theoretical system and knowledge is only at a low level relative to the traditional English teaching. Although there is a great deal of English resources on the Internet, many questions have remained unanswered up to the present. So, English teachers need technology cooperation and experience communion. The network assisted English teaching, one important factor is the communion of the teaching experience and technology cooperation among teachers, including the teaching direction. It is urgent to promote network teaching and improve the quality of teaching, and also the key to College English Teaching reform.4.3 Lack of teaching materials and courseware contentIn current English teaching system, the important thing to achieve the Internet-based English teaching is the teaching materials that we use. It is also essential. The subjects chosen for English study need to have the optimal conditions of learning, adequate time and opportunity to acquire the target language in abundant and high motivation for many years before the study begins. There is no list of Internet materials in our English syllabus，so English teachers must select the title for the lessons themselves.Ⅴ. ImplicationsThrough the above discussion, we can see that Internet technology has played an important role on English teaching and learning, but we should also pay attention to the problems of Internet-based English teaching.5.1 The effectiveness of the InternetIn the 21century, the information community brings more effective ways in our work and life. Sometimes people may think that the computer and Internet can take the place of human beings in English teaching. As the case stands, students can learn how to use specific search engine to get informations, materials and resources from Internet, but it must be under teachers’ directions.5.2 Interaction between teachers and studentsAlthough Internet-based teaching has a lot of advantages, teachers also play important role on English teaching. Therefore, the modern time calls for English teachers to change their own knowledge structure, cognitive level and the teaching mode. They need to constantly study new knowledge and computer technology, establish a new teaching philosophy, accept the challenge of the times, and actively guide students in learning. Otherwise, they need to create a better environment for the students to learn. The ultimate aim of learning a foreign language is to gain information and output。
