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【Abstract】Multimedia， as an instructional technology， has been used more and more widely in the EFL classroom. However， though multimedia technology is very beneficial to students’ learning and teachers’ teaching， it also has many limitations. This paper investigates multimedia’s advantages and disadvantages and makes some suggestions as to how to make full use of its advantages and avoid its disadvantages.
【Key words】multimedia； advantages； disadvantages； English learning/teaching
【中图分类号】G64 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）06-0066-03
Outline
Thesis statement： Awareness of the advantages and especially disadvantages of
Multimedia will contribute to both the teacher and the learner.
Ⅰ.Introduction
The trend to use multimedia in the EFL classroom
Ⅱ.Advantages of multimedia English teaching
A.For students
1.stimulating students’ enthusiasm
2.developing students’ oral ability
3.enhancing self？鄄study
B.For the teachers
1.Increasing effectiveness and efficiencies
2.Serving as a rich treasure？鄄house of educational resources
Ⅲ.Limitations of multimedia and ways to overcome them
A.For the students
1.Difficulty in adapting to this mode of teaching as a result of the increased amount of content taught in each period
2.Difficulty in note？鄄taking
B.For the teachers
1.Possible lowering of English proficiency due to too much use of multimedia.
2.An annoyance for some English teachers who are not technologically and psychologically ready
Ⅳ. Conclusion.
Multimedia is double？鄄edged sword. It can enhance learning in the EFL classroom， but if used inappropriately or used by in？鄄experienced teachers， it will affect the learning process in a negative way. Therefore， we should adhere to the principle that multimedia should be used wisely and with restraint.
Multimedia， as an instructional technology， has found its way into the EFL classroom. As Lamb （1996， p. 386） puts it， multi？鄄media is “access to text （words & numbers）， aural （sound effects， music， & speech）， and visual elements （still images， movies， & animation） as part of the teaching/learning process.” Multimedia does not simply present information in multiple formats such as videos， audios， motion pictures， etc.， it integrates these formats into a structured program where the elements work together and complement each other， thus becoming more effective than the sum total of its parts （Heinich， 2002）. The goal of the use of multimedia in English teaching is to immerse the learner in a multisensory experience to enhance learning. Multimedia can bring learning alive for students of all ages. It is changing our approach to the design， development， and implementation of instructional materials. No longer is an instructor faced with just chalk and a blackboard. The EFL classroom today may contain an interactive presentation station， in addition to a wide area of network that can convey audio， video， and data to students’ on？鄄and off？鄄site. However， for all its advantages， multimedia has some limitations. Ⅰ.Advantages of multimedia English Teaching
A.For students
The most important advantage of multimedia is its ability to stimulate students’ enthusiasm by arousing their interest and creating a stimulating atmosphere. As multimedia requires the learner to use all his or her sense， according to psychologists （张厚粲，2002）， the use of it results in much higher teaching/learning efficiency. Compared with traditional teaching methods， which centered on the teacher， Multimedia is very effective in stimulating the learner’s interest in the study English. In the first place， many students are tired of the traditional teaching method and would like to see a change in the style of teaching/learning. When their teacher uses computer to teach them， they become more confident about their ability to learn. They will be more motivated. In the second place， students feel the materials displayed by computer are more attractive， and their attention span will be extended. In the third place， because multimedia can present pictures， sound， movies and other elements at the same time， students will marvel at the power of multimedia. They will better enjoy the learning process， as they can not only hear but also see or read the material.
When a class is studying unit13 of Senior English for China Student’s Book 1B， they can see many pictures of different foods in the course？鄄book. In the past， many teachers may introduce this unit with many questions for lack of teaching equipment. For example， teachers may ask “What do you like to eat”？ The first student called on to answer the question may be interested in the question. But if several students are asked this same question one by one， they will feel bored. However， things will be quite different if multimedia is used. Teachers can present pictures of different foods on the computer screen， accompanied by pleasant music. And students may feel relaxed and they may imagine the tastes of each food. When the atmosphere is relaxed， students will feel more like talking about the foods among themselves. The more they talk， the better their oral ability.
Another important advantage of multimedia lies in its effectiveness in developing students’ oral ability. At present， the biggest handicap for Chinese students of English is the absence of an environment where they can learn English naturally from native speakers. Besides， many teachers pay more attention to vocabulary and grammar without much effort to train their students’ to speak the language. Consequently， students taught this way may do well in examinations， but they cannot understand English spoken by native speakers， nor can they express themselves in the language. Now this problem can be solved by using multimedia in the classroom. Teachers can use existing multimedia software or design their own multimedia programs for use in the classroom. Such software， which provides authentic situations where authentic English is spoken， will give a lot of practice to the students. It can not only bring real life and real English close to the students but also make the learning process more enjoyable. For instance， Experiencing English， a new innovative course？鄄book for college students recommended by the Ministry of Education， is accompanied by CD？鄄ROMs for self？鄄study. These CDs offer plenty of exercises designed to train students’ listening and speaking in virtual reality. One type of such exercises requires students to watch and listen to an animated dialogue， and then repeat after each speaker， or role？鄄play each speaker alternatively. Compared with the traditional classroom where around 50 students under just one teacher can spend very little time practicing speaking， multimedia classroom is a much better environment for training oral ability.
The last but not most unimportant advantage of multimedia， especially CD？鄄ROM is convenient for students’ self？鄄study. Firstly， the strength of CD？鄄ROM material is their ability to create a situation in which students can interact with the learning materials and reference materials. This control allows students as individual to approach the material with their own agendas and their own actions. Students using CD？鄄ROM materials are not passive， they need to think about the language， engage with it and respond to it. The active and involved learning is thought to be a better one. Secondly， all students are very different in terms of their needs， interests， strengths and weakness， motivations， learning styles and so on. The ability of the CD？鄄ROM to be used as a flexible self？鄄study resource may be useful in accommodating these students’ differences. Students can focus on language areas that they decide they need help in and ignore others. They take as much time as they like and exploit which ever of the variety of media on offer that they prefer to learn from. They can work at whatever pace they choose and use or not use any off？鄄line media that they so wish. Thirdly， as with all self？鄄study resources the responsibility for many of the learning decisions during the use of CD？鄄ROM is passed over to the student. The decisions about what to study， when to study， how to study， how long to study for are all passed over to the learner who ideally should control them. CD？鄄ROM with its wealth of materials in different media and its in？鄄built feedback makes it suitable for students’ autonomous learning. Fourthly， work completed in the computer environment is essentially a private affair. Any errors are usually known to the students， there is no public loss of face at errors on what teachers and classmates may presume to be elementary language or skills， and assumed as already having been mastered. The non public domain of this form of learning may free students to explore areas that they may not like to admit to not having understood and thus in a class situation taking up the time or teachers and other students. B.For the teacher
Firstly， teachers can use computer to make their lessons more effective and efficient. Computer？鄄based multimedia can present pictures， moving videos， and written text with or without sound simultaneously. Multimedia often presents materials in various ways， and different colors， typefaces and font sizes. As a result， the material will be stimulating and often the result is enhanced understanding and memory. On the other hand， the use of multimedia is both time？鄄saving and energy saving. Traditionally it would take a teacher too much time to present lots of information on the board， and often his or her arm will feel painful when he or she finishes writing on the board. But with multimedia， as switching between texts on the screen takes just a few clicks， a teacher can just get all the texts typed before class. Also lessons prepared on and stored in the computer can be used at different times and in different classrooms. This saves much labor on the part of the teacher.
Secondly， multimedia is a rich treasure？鄄house of educational resources for the teacher. The traditional English teacher has very little access to educational resources. Typically all he or she has to help plan lessons is a dictionary， a teacher’s book and a small library. On the contrary， multimedia makes teaching resources readily available to English teachers. The Internet， for instance， is a vast library of information. Hooked up to it， an English teacher can find whatever information he or she needs for tomorrow’s English. English teachers from the same school or from all parts of the world can conveniently share whatever useful material they possess or have created themselves through the Internet. There are also many software programs to accompany course？鄄books.
Ⅱ.Limitations of multimedia and ways to overcome them
A. For the student
For some students， it is difficult to adapt to this mode of teaching as a result of increased amount of content taught in each period. According to a report（吴明化，2003） on the research of multimedia English teaching， what is covered in a 45？鄄munite period via multimedia would take 60 to 65 minutes in a conventional classroom. For some students who are not yet used to multimedia， it would be difficult to follow the teacher. However， if not much is to be taught， instruction will become loose and disjointed， and students may direct their attention elsewhere. In turn this may lead to worsened teaching quality. Therefore， the teacher must make a wise decision in the course of planning each lesson. Sometimes students’ attention may be drawn away from the content itself if a software program is designed too aesthetically. In recent years there have been many technological advances which have made it possible for people to incorporate much artistic taste into courseware. However， the subject matter， i.e. what to be taught maybe overshadowed by art in inappropriately designed courseware. Students may be too absorbed in the beautiful scenery on the computer screen or the pleasant music from the loud？鄄speakers to keep concentrated on learning. For example， when teaching the text The Olympic Games， a teacher may mistakenly present too many pictures of Olympic games in order to introduce wrestling， horse？鄄riding， sailing， relay？鄄race and shooting. Immediate？鄄ly too much interest may be aroused in the students in the exciting events themselves rather than the language to be learned. They may engage themselves in a disorderly conversation—unfortunately in Chinese since lack the vocabulary to talk about sports. What is discussed is likely to be who is the famous athlete in this event， and who is good at that. The classroom soon becomes a mess. The teacher may have to take minutes to call their attention back to the lesson. As a matter of course， teaching quality suffers.
Another disadvantage is that in a multimedia class note？鄄taking becomes difficult. In a conventional classroom， students feel com？鄄fortable copying down what the teacher writes on the board as he analyzes a text. In a multimedia class， however， the computer screen changes very quickly and nothing stays there for long. This makes it very difficult for the students to jot down what is important. If they do get some notes written down in a notebook， they normally do not understand them because when trying to follow the ever？鄄changing screen， their attention is not on the content but on the words on the screen. To remedy this， the teacher may have to display the content again and again at the request of students. And much time will be wasted.
B.For the teacher
Too much use of multimedia may cause a deterioration of the teacher’s English proficiency. A high level of proficiency in English is the most important thing for a teacher of English. If a teacher depends too much on multimedia in the teaching process， naturally he or she will speak much less English. As times goes on， he or she will find that he or she speaks poorer English. This is indeed a danger for all English teachers to guard against. The principle is that multimedia should be used with restraint. Multimedia may be an annoyance for some English teachers who are not technologically and psychologically ready. Although the use of multimedia is very common at present， there are still many English teachers who cannot manipulate efficiently. According to statistics （Willis， 2005）， during the period of 2000 to 2002， 30% of multimedia teaching failed to reach the intended goals. The reason was that many teachers were inexperienced users of multimedia. In fact， some English teachers feel anxious when they use multimedia. Others have more experience in this respect， but since they cannot design their own courseware they are forced to use courseware designed by others，which more often than not do not work well on their own students. To improve teaching quality， it is suggested that teachers be given adequate training in the use of multimedia， particularly in designing courseware and searching the Internet.
Ⅲ.Conclusion
Multimedia is double？鄄edged sword. It is capable of enhancing learning in the EFL classroom， but， if used inappropriately or used by inexperienced teachers， it will affect the learning process in a negative way. To improve teaching quality， an English teacher should bear in mind all the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia. It is advisable to adhere to the principle that multi？鄄media should be used wisely and with restraint. References：
[1]Heinich， R. and others. （2002）. Instructional media and tech？鄄nologies for learning （7th ed.）. Shanghai： The Higher Education Press.
[2]Lamb， A. （1996）. Technology in today’s classrooms. （2nd ed.）. Emporia， KA： Vision to Action.
[3]Willis， B. （2005） Guide#8： Strategies for learning at a distance， engineering outreach. College of Engineering， University of Idaho.
[4]吴明花（2003）.《疯狂英语 教师版》.江西：江西教育出版社.
[5]张厚粲.（2002）.《心理学》.天津：南开大学出版社.
【Key words】multimedia； advantages； disadvantages； English learning/teaching
【中图分类号】G64 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）06-0066-03
Outline
Thesis statement： Awareness of the advantages and especially disadvantages of
Multimedia will contribute to both the teacher and the learner.
Ⅰ.Introduction
The trend to use multimedia in the EFL classroom
Ⅱ.Advantages of multimedia English teaching
A.For students
1.stimulating students’ enthusiasm
2.developing students’ oral ability
3.enhancing self？鄄study
B.For the teachers
1.Increasing effectiveness and efficiencies
2.Serving as a rich treasure？鄄house of educational resources
Ⅲ.Limitations of multimedia and ways to overcome them
A.For the students
1.Difficulty in adapting to this mode of teaching as a result of the increased amount of content taught in each period
2.Difficulty in note？鄄taking
B.For the teachers
1.Possible lowering of English proficiency due to too much use of multimedia.
2.An annoyance for some English teachers who are not technologically and psychologically ready
Ⅳ. Conclusion.
Multimedia is double？鄄edged sword. It can enhance learning in the EFL classroom， but if used inappropriately or used by in？鄄experienced teachers， it will affect the learning process in a negative way. Therefore， we should adhere to the principle that multimedia should be used wisely and with restraint.
Multimedia， as an instructional technology， has found its way into the EFL classroom. As Lamb （1996， p. 386） puts it， multi？鄄media is “access to text （words & numbers）， aural （sound effects， music， & speech）， and visual elements （still images， movies， & animation） as part of the teaching/learning process.” Multimedia does not simply present information in multiple formats such as videos， audios， motion pictures， etc.， it integrates these formats into a structured program where the elements work together and complement each other， thus becoming more effective than the sum total of its parts （Heinich， 2002）. The goal of the use of multimedia in English teaching is to immerse the learner in a multisensory experience to enhance learning. Multimedia can bring learning alive for students of all ages. It is changing our approach to the design， development， and implementation of instructional materials. No longer is an instructor faced with just chalk and a blackboard. The EFL classroom today may contain an interactive presentation station， in addition to a wide area of network that can convey audio， video， and data to students’ on？鄄and off？鄄site. However， for all its advantages， multimedia has some limitations. Ⅰ.Advantages of multimedia English Teaching
A.For students
The most important advantage of multimedia is its ability to stimulate students’ enthusiasm by arousing their interest and creating a stimulating atmosphere. As multimedia requires the learner to use all his or her sense， according to psychologists （张厚粲，2002）， the use of it results in much higher teaching/learning efficiency. Compared with traditional teaching methods， which centered on the teacher， Multimedia is very effective in stimulating the learner’s interest in the study English. In the first place， many students are tired of the traditional teaching method and would like to see a change in the style of teaching/learning. When their teacher uses computer to teach them， they become more confident about their ability to learn. They will be more motivated. In the second place， students feel the materials displayed by computer are more attractive， and their attention span will be extended. In the third place， because multimedia can present pictures， sound， movies and other elements at the same time， students will marvel at the power of multimedia. They will better enjoy the learning process， as they can not only hear but also see or read the material.
When a class is studying unit13 of Senior English for China Student’s Book 1B， they can see many pictures of different foods in the course？鄄book. In the past， many teachers may introduce this unit with many questions for lack of teaching equipment. For example， teachers may ask “What do you like to eat”？ The first student called on to answer the question may be interested in the question. But if several students are asked this same question one by one， they will feel bored. However， things will be quite different if multimedia is used. Teachers can present pictures of different foods on the computer screen， accompanied by pleasant music. And students may feel relaxed and they may imagine the tastes of each food. When the atmosphere is relaxed， students will feel more like talking about the foods among themselves. The more they talk， the better their oral ability.
Another important advantage of multimedia lies in its effectiveness in developing students’ oral ability. At present， the biggest handicap for Chinese students of English is the absence of an environment where they can learn English naturally from native speakers. Besides， many teachers pay more attention to vocabulary and grammar without much effort to train their students’ to speak the language. Consequently， students taught this way may do well in examinations， but they cannot understand English spoken by native speakers， nor can they express themselves in the language. Now this problem can be solved by using multimedia in the classroom. Teachers can use existing multimedia software or design their own multimedia programs for use in the classroom. Such software， which provides authentic situations where authentic English is spoken， will give a lot of practice to the students. It can not only bring real life and real English close to the students but also make the learning process more enjoyable. For instance， Experiencing English， a new innovative course？鄄book for college students recommended by the Ministry of Education， is accompanied by CD？鄄ROMs for self？鄄study. These CDs offer plenty of exercises designed to train students’ listening and speaking in virtual reality. One type of such exercises requires students to watch and listen to an animated dialogue， and then repeat after each speaker， or role？鄄play each speaker alternatively. Compared with the traditional classroom where around 50 students under just one teacher can spend very little time practicing speaking， multimedia classroom is a much better environment for training oral ability.
The last but not most unimportant advantage of multimedia， especially CD？鄄ROM is convenient for students’ self？鄄study. Firstly， the strength of CD？鄄ROM material is their ability to create a situation in which students can interact with the learning materials and reference materials. This control allows students as individual to approach the material with their own agendas and their own actions. Students using CD？鄄ROM materials are not passive， they need to think about the language， engage with it and respond to it. The active and involved learning is thought to be a better one. Secondly， all students are very different in terms of their needs， interests， strengths and weakness， motivations， learning styles and so on. The ability of the CD？鄄ROM to be used as a flexible self？鄄study resource may be useful in accommodating these students’ differences. Students can focus on language areas that they decide they need help in and ignore others. They take as much time as they like and exploit which ever of the variety of media on offer that they prefer to learn from. They can work at whatever pace they choose and use or not use any off？鄄line media that they so wish. Thirdly， as with all self？鄄study resources the responsibility for many of the learning decisions during the use of CD？鄄ROM is passed over to the student. The decisions about what to study， when to study， how to study， how long to study for are all passed over to the learner who ideally should control them. CD？鄄ROM with its wealth of materials in different media and its in？鄄built feedback makes it suitable for students’ autonomous learning. Fourthly， work completed in the computer environment is essentially a private affair. Any errors are usually known to the students， there is no public loss of face at errors on what teachers and classmates may presume to be elementary language or skills， and assumed as already having been mastered. The non public domain of this form of learning may free students to explore areas that they may not like to admit to not having understood and thus in a class situation taking up the time or teachers and other students. B.For the teacher
Firstly， teachers can use computer to make their lessons more effective and efficient. Computer？鄄based multimedia can present pictures， moving videos， and written text with or without sound simultaneously. Multimedia often presents materials in various ways， and different colors， typefaces and font sizes. As a result， the material will be stimulating and often the result is enhanced understanding and memory. On the other hand， the use of multimedia is both time？鄄saving and energy saving. Traditionally it would take a teacher too much time to present lots of information on the board， and often his or her arm will feel painful when he or she finishes writing on the board. But with multimedia， as switching between texts on the screen takes just a few clicks， a teacher can just get all the texts typed before class. Also lessons prepared on and stored in the computer can be used at different times and in different classrooms. This saves much labor on the part of the teacher.
Secondly， multimedia is a rich treasure？鄄house of educational resources for the teacher. The traditional English teacher has very little access to educational resources. Typically all he or she has to help plan lessons is a dictionary， a teacher’s book and a small library. On the contrary， multimedia makes teaching resources readily available to English teachers. The Internet， for instance， is a vast library of information. Hooked up to it， an English teacher can find whatever information he or she needs for tomorrow’s English. English teachers from the same school or from all parts of the world can conveniently share whatever useful material they possess or have created themselves through the Internet. There are also many software programs to accompany course？鄄books.
Ⅱ.Limitations of multimedia and ways to overcome them
A. For the student
For some students， it is difficult to adapt to this mode of teaching as a result of increased amount of content taught in each period. According to a report（吴明化，2003） on the research of multimedia English teaching， what is covered in a 45？鄄munite period via multimedia would take 60 to 65 minutes in a conventional classroom. For some students who are not yet used to multimedia， it would be difficult to follow the teacher. However， if not much is to be taught， instruction will become loose and disjointed， and students may direct their attention elsewhere. In turn this may lead to worsened teaching quality. Therefore， the teacher must make a wise decision in the course of planning each lesson. Sometimes students’ attention may be drawn away from the content itself if a software program is designed too aesthetically. In recent years there have been many technological advances which have made it possible for people to incorporate much artistic taste into courseware. However， the subject matter， i.e. what to be taught maybe overshadowed by art in inappropriately designed courseware. Students may be too absorbed in the beautiful scenery on the computer screen or the pleasant music from the loud？鄄speakers to keep concentrated on learning. For example， when teaching the text The Olympic Games， a teacher may mistakenly present too many pictures of Olympic games in order to introduce wrestling， horse？鄄riding， sailing， relay？鄄race and shooting. Immediate？鄄ly too much interest may be aroused in the students in the exciting events themselves rather than the language to be learned. They may engage themselves in a disorderly conversation—unfortunately in Chinese since lack the vocabulary to talk about sports. What is discussed is likely to be who is the famous athlete in this event， and who is good at that. The classroom soon becomes a mess. The teacher may have to take minutes to call their attention back to the lesson. As a matter of course， teaching quality suffers.
Another disadvantage is that in a multimedia class note？鄄taking becomes difficult. In a conventional classroom， students feel com？鄄fortable copying down what the teacher writes on the board as he analyzes a text. In a multimedia class， however， the computer screen changes very quickly and nothing stays there for long. This makes it very difficult for the students to jot down what is important. If they do get some notes written down in a notebook， they normally do not understand them because when trying to follow the ever？鄄changing screen， their attention is not on the content but on the words on the screen. To remedy this， the teacher may have to display the content again and again at the request of students. And much time will be wasted.
B.For the teacher
Too much use of multimedia may cause a deterioration of the teacher’s English proficiency. A high level of proficiency in English is the most important thing for a teacher of English. If a teacher depends too much on multimedia in the teaching process， naturally he or she will speak much less English. As times goes on， he or she will find that he or she speaks poorer English. This is indeed a danger for all English teachers to guard against. The principle is that multimedia should be used with restraint. Multimedia may be an annoyance for some English teachers who are not technologically and psychologically ready. Although the use of multimedia is very common at present， there are still many English teachers who cannot manipulate efficiently. According to statistics （Willis， 2005）， during the period of 2000 to 2002， 30% of multimedia teaching failed to reach the intended goals. The reason was that many teachers were inexperienced users of multimedia. In fact， some English teachers feel anxious when they use multimedia. Others have more experience in this respect， but since they cannot design their own courseware they are forced to use courseware designed by others，which more often than not do not work well on their own students. To improve teaching quality， it is suggested that teachers be given adequate training in the use of multimedia， particularly in designing courseware and searching the Internet.
Ⅲ.Conclusion
Multimedia is double？鄄edged sword. It is capable of enhancing learning in the EFL classroom， but， if used inappropriately or used by inexperienced teachers， it will affect the learning process in a negative way. To improve teaching quality， an English teacher should bear in mind all the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia. It is advisable to adhere to the principle that multi？鄄media should be used wisely and with restraint. References：
[1]Heinich， R. and others. （2002）. Instructional media and tech？鄄nologies for learning （7th ed.）. Shanghai： The Higher Education Press.
[2]Lamb， A. （1996）. Technology in today’s classrooms. （2nd ed.）. Emporia， KA： Vision to Action.
[3]Willis， B. （2005） Guide#8： Strategies for learning at a distance， engineering outreach. College of Engineering， University of Idaho.
[4]吴明花（2003）.《疯狂英语 教师版》.江西：江西教育出版社.
[5]张厚粲.（2002）.《心理学》.天津：南开大学出版社.