Zhong and Shen reflect on growing endorsement of multimedia EFL Teaching, and compare typical language lessons at Year 9 level in one selective school and one private school. Despite the (expensive) use of Authorware-built interactive learning packages and one-to-one computer ratios at the private school, the authors discerned an essentially common lesson plan and pattern of transactions. They describe this as a “technologized traditional classroom” (p.46), not suited to the development of communicative strategies and thinking skills. For the institution, “the general goal of foreign language teaching is …. more importantly, to pass different kinds of exams.” (p.48)

Epistemology and pedagogy are rooted in entrenched Confucian doctrine, which esteems time-proven knowledge and an authoritative, sagacious teacher. A student should not correct or contradict a teacher, and redesign of instructional methods to promote communication skills will conflict with that value. The authors hope for technology integration to seed a conceptual understanding of interactive pedagogy, as a small step towards a learner-centred approach.

Evaluation

A leading official translator recently called for elimination of all English words from Chinese conversation (Huang, quoted in Moore 2010). A serious attempt to enforce this would have an incalculable impact on the teaching of English in China.

The authors do not need to spell out that pupil:teacher and child:parent relationship are analogies in Confucian thought for the relationship of citizen and state. A school which erodes pupils’ deference is failing to prepare them for harmonious citizenship.

It is very probable that many of the students in the study are now acquaintances on RenRen, the world’s fastest growing social networking system (Lukoff, 2010), where 180 million people interact directly both in Chinese and English. Teachers contemplating use of public networks for peer feedback must be aware of the possibility of stringent official sanction for inappropriate comment. RenRen was initially (under the name Xiaonei) restricted to college students and alumni. Facebook opened up to public in 2008, and critics lamented the entry of asinine teenagers to a previously select membership. When RenRen did the same in August 2009, the move was criticised as a clandestine government manoeuvre to dilute criticism from college students and expand the sounding of opinion from ‘common people’ (anonymous 2009)!

Technology is sometimes seen as a vehicle of globalisation and loss of cultural independence and character.
Themes of community concern are perhaps better expressed by local products. For example, RenRen notably implemented invitations to contribute to disaster-relief more prominently and more socially than Facebook has (CC, 2010). Different technologies protect different aspects of privacy, reflecting different cultural sensitivities (ibid). Late in 2009, many microblogging and social networking services in China closed or changed their terms of service, in response to new requirements of the China Internet Network Information Centre, that all bloggers use their real names and prove their identity (Xie 2009). The right for USA government agencies to identify anonymous bloggers is still in contention in USA.

I guess an obvious warning for teachers attempting to flatten the classroom hierarchy is that deregulation will permit students to engage foreign nationals in ways that may be illegal, antisocial or discomforting.

References

anonymous (2009) Government tightens campus Internet. The Website Journal, August 5, 2009. http://blog.thewebsitejournal.com/2009/08/government-tightens-campus-internet.html [Accessed April 10, 2010].

CC (2010) Why Renren is better than Facebook. China Hush, April 5th. http://www.chinahush.com/2010/04/05/why-renren-is-better-than-facebook/ [Accessed April 10, 2010].

Lukoff, K. (2010) China’s top four social networks: RenRen, Kaixin001, Qzone, and 51.com. DigitalBeat, April 7.  http://digital.venturebeat.com/2010/04/07/china%E2%80%99s-top-4-social-networks-renren-kaixin001-qzone-and-51-com/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter-publisher-main&utm_campaign=twitter [Accessed April 10, 2010].

Moore, M. (2010) Chinese language ‘damaged by invasion of English words’. Telegraph. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7441934/Chinese-language-damaged-by-invasion-of-English-words.html [Accessed April 10, 2010].

Xie, S. (2009) Microblogs & Nuclear explosions; censorship is harder than you’d think. Littleredbook Blog, 27/08/2009. http://www.littleredbook.cn/2009/08/27/microblogs-censorship/ [Accessed April 10, 2010].

Zhong, Y.X. & Shen, H.Z., (2002). Where is the technology-induced pedagogy? Snapshots from two multimedia EFL classrooms. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33, 39-52.