What English Language Teachers from the Peoples’ Republic of China find Surprising about Information Technology: Thoughts on How to Address the Need for Change

Abstract

Recent educational reforms in China are placing increasing emphasis on the integration of new technologies in the English language curriculum. At the same time, a debate has begun concerning the effectiveness of Information Technology (IT) usage in transforming language pedagogy in the Chinese context. In response to points made in the discussions published to date, this paper describes an attempt to instill new ways of viewing the potential of IT with a group of practicing teachers studying for a Post‐graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching in Singapore. End‐of‐course survey data were used to identify what the trainees found surprising about the course. This method uncovered some of their hopes and fears about using IT in their future classes and provided clues as to how to bring about positive learning outcomes with IT. Discussion of the results shows that Chinese teachers share similar challenges as their counterparts in the West when it comes to using IT for the first time. The paper ends with a string of suggestions about how to begin the process of innovation with IT, both in and beyond China.