The Impact of Globalization and the Internet
on English Language Teaching and Learning
By Professor Wu, Li and Professor Ben-Canaan, Dan
Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies, Harbin, May 2006
Abstract
The spread of English as an international language and the emergence of the Internet as a fast communication channel that has no boundaries, are mutually enforcing trends in an age of globalization. Since its conception, the Internet has, so it seems, revolutionize the ways of human communication as well as English language learning in a global context. Learners of English language today need a new set of critical and interpretive skills. Teachers of ESOL therefore, need to understand how the Internet is revolutionizing English language learning. This paper attempts to discuss the impact of the Internet on English language learning as well as the need for new frameworks for teaching English language in computer mediated contexts.
Key Words: globalization; the Internet; English language learning and teaching
I. Introduction
Giddens (2000) defined globalization as a separation of space and time, emphasizing that with instantaneous communications, knowledge, and culture could be shared around the world simultaneously. Globalization has been viewed primarily as an economic phenomenon, involving the increasing interaction, or integration of national economic systems through the growth in international trade, investment, and capital flow. However, the definition has expended to include also cross-border social, cultural, political, and technological exchanges between nations and in particular, between people.
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is one of the features of globalization and as a result, the Internet has become an important linguistic medium. It has been added to every aspect of human life, including the learning of languages. McLuhan (1962) even coined the term ‘global village’ in the 1960s of the last century to express his belief that electronic communication would unite the world because "the medium is the message". Warschauer and Healey (1998:63) also stated that:
It is the rise of computer-mediated communication and the Internet, more than anything else, which has reshaped the uses of computers for language learning at the end of the 20th century. With the advent of the Internet, the computer—both in society and in the classroom—has been transformed from a tool for information processing and display to a tool for information processing and communication. For the first time, learners of a language can now communicate inexpensively and quickly with other learners of speakers of the target language all over the world.
The Internet has also an ever growing impact on the lexical, phonetic, syntactic standards of language, and the great importance that most teachers place, or should put, on the use of ‘correct’ language. For example, this global technology has led to the evolution of an abbreviated English language that emerged in chat groups and in what is referred to as the virtual world. Examples for this feature include, 2day (today), cu (see you), b4 (before), RUOK? (Are you OK?), c%l (cool), to mention but a few. Capital letters are also given syllabic values, as in thN (then), nEd (need) in Internet communications. In one creation such as ru2cnmel8r? (Are you two seeing me later?), less than half the characters used in the traditional sentence formation are used. It seems that sentence length will tend to be short, and that certain types of complex structures (relative clauses, for instance) will be avoided in Internet communication. In everyday conversation, terms from the computer technology are given a new application among people who want their talk to have a "cool" tone (In slang - great, terrific). Such examples include:
It's my turn to download now (I’ve heard all your gossip, now hear mine)
She's multitasking (She is doing two things at once)
E you later (farewell—see you later)
The Internet seems to have important implications for linguistics or language learning. In this context, this paper explores the impact of the Internet on today's teaching and learning of the English language.
II. The Internet: Prescriptive/Descriptive Approaches to Learning
Globalization is a relatively recent term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that result from dramatically increased international trade and cultural exchange. It was first used in economics to describe the increase of trade and investing due to the falling of barriers and the interdependence of countries. In specifically economic contexts, it is often understood to refer almost exclusively to the effects of trade, particularly trade liberalization or "free trade". However, this term as a concept is being use now in a wider way to describe all aspects of global human existence – social, cultural, educational and political. It is a process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world.
Today's definition of the term comprise of factors that have contributed to globalization including increasingly sophisticated communications (in all levels), transportation technologies and services, mass migration and the movement of peoples and languages. It comes to define a level of economic, social and cultural activities that have outgrown national borders and markets through either industrial combinations and commercial groupings that cross national frontiers, international agreements that reduce the cost of doing business in foreign countries, or cultural influences of certain societies on others. Globalization offers huge potential profits to companies and nations but has been complicated by widely differing expectations, standards of living, cultures and values, and legal systems as well as unexpected global cause-and-effect linkages.
Globalization is believed by some to lead to an end of a cultural diversity as it imposes sameness in the countries of the world; where everyone in the world is likely to drink Coca-Cola, eat American junk food, and watch American movies. Similarly, te know that t its impact on the use of English language will be analyzed/discussed.economic or cultural globalization. 11111111here has been a widespread belief that the Internet is bad for the future of many languages and enables rich (or technology able) countries to take monopoly over the content generated on the Internet and that it becomes a form of cultural and linguistic imperialism in which western values dominate. In this scenario, it was also argued that the Internet must evolve its own principles and standards in order to grow and maintain as a newly emerging linguistic medium (Crystal, 2001).
Traditionally, the approaches used to study languages have been prescriptive and descriptive (Fromkin et. al., 2004). Prescriptivism represents the view that one variety of language has an inherently higher value than others, and that this variety of language ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. It usually prefers a version of the standard written language, which most closely reflects the literary style of great classics in a language. Those who speak or write in a standardized variety are termed to be using the language ‘correctly’; those who do not are termed to be using it ‘incorrectly’. An example for correct usage of grammar in English is ‘Never begin a sentence with an and’. An example for spelling is that ‘There must always be an ae in encyclopaedia’, etc. The prescriptive approach ignores the realities of everyday usages of language, where most people do begin sentences with an and, and do not put the a in the spelling of encyclopedia.
The descriptive approach, by contrast, does not condemn usages that do not follow the standardized rules of language set by linguistics. Rather, it describes the variations in usage found within a language, and explains the reasons for variations in usages. The American usage favors the spelling ‘encyclopedia’, whereas, traditional British usage favors the spelling ‘encyclopaedia’. Due to the dominant influence of the USA on the UK during the twentieth century, the American spelling was increasingly accepted and found in British publications. Descriptivists do not like the narrow-minded intolerance and misinformed purism of prescriptivists.
Correspondingly, prescriptivists, do not like the all-inclusiveness and egalitarian philosophy of descriptivists, which they interpret as a lack of responsibility towards what is best in a language (Crystal, 2001). Even after 250 years, the controversy over these linguistic approaches remains with the arguments being passed on by each generation, and refueled by the new (technological) developments within societies, such as broadcasting and the Internet. What should be of interest to either teachers or learners, in the fast-developing Internet literature, is to see the way writers are struggling to maintain a bent which is naturally descriptive and egalitarian in character while recognizing a prescriptive argument to impose regularity and consistency on a world which otherwise might spiral out of control (Crystal, 2001).
For example, according to our anecdotal evidence, short or instant messages such as good nite (good night), so wot (so what), @home (at home), etc. were commonly-used daily expressions in England in 2003. In China, there also appeared some new expressions from a popular TV program Super Girls in 2005, such as PK (play kill), fensi (fans), or cuall (see you all), gud4u (good for you), etc.
How can anyone say that such short or instant messages are not acceptable or correct in at least colloquial English and Chinese?
From the above discussion, it appears that in the 21st century, speakers of English may increasingly diverge from what they have been taught is correct usage of language, in order to make themselves understood by people from around the world. Thus, the Internet is likely to alter the standardized usage of English in a worldwide context.
III. The Internet and English Literacy
According to a study conducted by the American Management Association International (AMAI) in 1998, e-mail was taking over the place of face-to-face and telephone communication as a means of business communication. It has also been found to be popular among students with more than 95% of university students in the United States using the Web to conduct research and stay in touch with friends (Diederich, 1998).
The U.S. has been a world leader in Internet use, and other industrialized countries are also reported to be using it widely, with the fastest growth on the Internet occurring in emerging economies of Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. According to one estimate, China will have more Internet users than the U.S. by the year 2010 (NUA Internet Surveys, 1999).
When the Internet first emerged, the early tendency among the educators of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) was to see how it could be employed as a tool in teaching English (Warschauer, 1995). Computer was then seen as an optional or supplementary tool, among several others, used for teaching English. Today, however, the significance of information technology for teaching or learning is widely acknowledged. To put it simply, information technology has been termed as the medium of a new, and fourth revolution in human communication and cognition, matched in significance only by the prior three revolutions of language, writing, and print (Harnad, 1991). Information technology will impact on how people interact, access information, and share information akin to the Bi Sheng revolution about 900 years ago in ancient China (Song Dynasty). This impact will also occur much more quickly than anticipated.
The development of modern information technology is occurring simultaneously with the development of informationalism and globalization. Thus, it ensures a quicker impact on literacy and communication practices.
The Internet appears to revolutionize the ways of human communication and language learning, as languages are being acquired and communication continues to occur between people. In this context, it appears that learners of English need a new set of literacy skills for English language acquisition. these are discussed in detail under the two broad categories of reading and writing below:
Reading
As a result of the IT (Information Technology) revolution, there is a shift in reading practices from the (paper) page to the screen (Reinking, 1998; Snyder, 1998). This shift is more likely to occur especially among young people who grow up with computers (Tapscott, 1998). It will necessitate different psycholinguistic processes related to decoding information from a screen instead of a page, especially when the screen will be decoding words for the reader at the click of a mouse. It will also change how we as educators teach things like skimming, scanning, and guessing words from a context (Anderson-Inman & Horney, 1998; McKenna, 1998). It will also force educators to think more about how texts combine together with graphics, images, and audio-visual content to communicate a message (Bolter, 1998; Kress, 1999; Lemke, 1998).
Reading is not just a psycholinguistic act of decoding letters and words. Rather, it is a social practice that takes place in particular sociocultural contexts (de Castell & Luke, 1986; Gee, 1996). In this sense the shift of reading from the (paper) page to the screen, and the new socioeconomic circumstances in which it takes place, has an even greater impact on language learning. Reading from the screen is less a passive act of decoding a message from a single authoritative author and more a self-conscious act of accumulating or creating knowledge from a variety of sources (Bolter, 1991; Landow, 1992). Central principals to the ability to read from the screen include the following skills (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000):
-
Finding the information to read in the first place through Internet searches, etc.
-
Rapidly evaluating the source, credibility, and timeliness of information once it has been located;
-
Rapidly making navigational decisions as to whether to read the current page of information, pursue links internal or external to the page, or revert back to further searching;
-
Making on-the-spot decisions about ways to save or catalogue part of the information on the page or the complete page and
-
Organizing and keeping track of electronic information that has been saved.
These may seem like mysterious skills for a class of beginning English learners who are still trying to figure out how to decode simple words. But as English expands in the 21st century as a language of international communication, the number of learners who master basic English skills will grow. An increasing number of learners throughout the world will find themselves in the situation of secondary students in many English-speaking countries today, where the challenge is not so much to achieve basic decoding skills but rather to use English for the types of complex global communication, as well as mastering an ability to find and use ever growing linked resources.
None of these types of skills are completely new of course. The need for critical, active, and interpretive reading has been an important part of print literacy before. Nevertheless, the vast amount of information available on the Internet and its hyper-textual organization have changed the nature of reading occurring in the age of print, making these kinds of critical reading skills all highly essential for English language learning.
Writing
Similar to the changes learners need to make in their reading practices, changes are expected to be made in writing practices as well in pedagogical contexts involving the Internet (Bolter, 1996; Faigley, 1997). In much of the world, writing has been given little emphasis in English language courses, and if emphasized at all, is seen as synonymous with the putting on paper of grammatically correct sentences (Raimes, 1991). And indeed, this was sufficient for most learners’ needs prior to the information revolution of the 1970s. However, the rise of informationalism, and the widespread use of computers and the Internet, dramatically raised the profile of writing and the need for effective written communication (American Management Association International, 1998). The new types of writing skills which are required in the context of the Internet include:
-
Development of shared skills for abstraction of words, sentences and paragraphs so that they may become mind-vivid - critical interpreters, and put in logical context and order (B-CD);
-
Integrating texts, graphics, and audio-visual material into a multimedia presentation;
-
Writing effectively in hypertext genres;
-
Using internal and external links to communicate a message well;
-
Writing for a particular audience when the audience are comprised of unknown readers on the World Wide Web and
-
Using effective pragmatic strategies in various circumstances of computer-mediated communication (including one-to-one and discussion lists e-mail, and various forms of synchronous real-time communication, Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000).
The shifts in reading and writing practices necessitate the need for new curriculum frameworks/approaches for teaching of English in Internet medium. The following section briefly explores the significance of multiliteracies (multi-literacy) as a framework for the teaching of English in an era of fast growing, fast changing information technology dominance.
IV. The Internet and English Pedagogy: New Curriculum Approaches and Practices
The spread of the English language and the emergence of new technological literacy are mutually enforcing new trends of the global informational economy. In response, it is believed that some common approaches should be adopted.
A key pedagogical concept that answers, replies, or react to them (trends of…) is ‘multiliteracies’. It has been put forth by a group of specialists in education, critical literacy, and discourse analysis (New London Group, 1996; Cope & Kalantzis, 2000).
The multiliteracies concept recognizes the inadequacy of educational approaches, which limit themselves to ‘page-bound, official, standard forms of the national language’ (New London Group, 1996, p. 61), instead, it suggests that students should learn to negotiate a multiplicity of media and discourses. Any pedagogical approach that can meet this challenge (multiplicity of…) should include the following such elements, which are discussed in more depth by the New London Group (1996). Among them are:
-
Immersion in situated practice: Practice in authentic communicative situations is required for students to learn how to collaborate with partners, negotiate complex points, and critically evaluate information as it applies to particular meaningful contexts. At the same time, such authentic situations can give students the opportunity to develop new technological literacies in meaningful contexts;
-
Overt instruction: The kinds of sophisticated communication skills required in the 21st century will seldom develop through practice alone. Students need the opportunity to step back under the guidance of a teacher to critically analyze the content, coherence, organization, pragmatics, syntax, and lexis of communication (which is necessary, for example, in the analysis and critique of texts, and other media forms. [B-CD]);
-
Critical framing: Effective cross-cultural communication and collaboration, including making effective use of information found in online networks, necessitates a high degree of critical interpretation. The instructor’s overt role thus should extend beyond narrow language items to also help students learn to critically interpret information and communication in a given social context and
-
Transformed practice: Transformed practice allows students to improve their communication skills by raising their practice to new levels based on prior practice, instruction, and critical framing. This involves working toward higher-quality outcomes within particular contexts and also to transfer what has been learned for application in new social and cultural contexts.
Such a framework goes far beyond the (traditional) linguistic syllabi that are most common today, based on collections of syntactic or functional items. It also goes far beyond the notion of task-based learning, at least when task-based learning is interpreted as consisting of a progression of narrow tasks designed principally to assist learners in grasping particular grammatical forms. Akin to the multiliteracies framework, project-based learning is a new pedagogical tool that would be useful in English teaching/learning contexts (Stoller, 1997). Projects themselves may include many individual tasks, but the umbrella of the project allows opportunities to criticize and transform their practice in ways that individual tasks do not.
Projects can take many forms and should be based mostly on students’ backgrounds, needs, and interests. When possible, they may involve electronic communication and collaboration to increase students’ online literacy skills. They may also provide students with opportunities to deal with cultural and identity issues emerging in the new global era. These might include long-distance exchange projects in which students debate and discuss issues related to cultural identity (Kern, 1996), service learning projects in which students use their knowledge of English and technology to assist their local communities (Warschauer & Cook, 1999), or the creation and publishing of multimedia projects in which students collaboratively experiment with new genres (Sokolik, 1999).
Project-based work of this type of course will not be suitable in all educational contexts. Holliday (1992; 1994) has written expressively about the mismatch between the pedagogical values of ‘BANA’ educators (from British, Australasian, or North American settings, often working with highly motivated adult learners in small classes) and the actual contexts of ‘TESEP’ (in tertiary, secondary, and primary) English teaching in the rest of the world, which frequently feature poorly motivated students in large classes. Most BANA TESOL programs favor student-centered group work and ‘learning festivals’ (p. 36), whereas most TESEP institutions value educators with strong disciplinary knowledge (e.g., of linguistics or literature), firm control of the classroom, and the ability to deliver captivating lectures (‘teaching spectacles’, p. 36).
E-mail, for instance, is a convenient medium which gives students the experience of authentic writing tasks, in relation to fellow students, teachers, and native speaker contacts (Kelm 1995, Tella 1992). It is now widely incorporated into English language teaching—in those parts of the world where Internet access is routine—for a broad range of purposes. Additional textual and graphic material can be sent through the use of attachments. This is a useful and feasible tool that can be included in teaching English in Chinese universities where many of the college students enrolled may have an access to the Internet. It also enables students who know some English to make a pen-friend (a native English speaker), and to exchange emails on a regular basis. The usage of 'smileys' is also very common among—and popular with the Chinese youth and this could be used, with as many variations as needed, as a pedagogical tool in teaching English in Chinese universities.
Chat groups are other means to teaching English to ESOL. Crystal (2001) identified two types of chat group interaction—asynchronous (delayed-time) situation and synchronous (real-time) situation, both of which can be used in English language teaching.
Asynchronous situation, such as mailing lists and newsgroups, have facilitated discussion of issues, student-student contact, and teacher-student interaction which soon takes on the characteristics of a virtual classroom. But synchronous interaction is also being used, both as a straightforward chat group and as a virtual world.
The Web can put learners in contact with up-to-date information about the English language, especially through the use of online dictionaries, usage guide, etc. though at present these are in limited supply due to access fees and copyright. Websites can provide a great variety of materials attractively packaged, such as newspaper articles, exercises, quizzes, and self-assessments, etc.
The use of the Internet in English-language teaching may be in its early stages, but it is going to grow continuously. In this regard, Eastment (1999) suggests, that teachers need to learn search-engine skills, ways of evaluating Web pages, techniques for manipulating and creating their own Web materials, and methods of integrating Web activities with the rest of their language teaching. We suggest that this should be a basic package among tools given to teachers in all universities.
VI. Conclusions
With the rapid changes brought about by globalization and technological development, teachers of ESOL need to understand that they are entering, or have already entered the biggest language/linguistic revolution ever. Many people have learned to meet the demands of the new Internet conditions, such as e-mails, chat groups, Web pages, etc. The e-prefix must have been used in hundreds of expressions of people on a daily basis. The Oxford Dictionary of New Words (Knowles, 1997) had already noted e-text, e-cash, e-books, e-conferences, e-voting, e-loan, e-newsletters, e-cards, e-shop, etc.
However, it is impossible to know how many of these e-expressions which originated with the Internet will remain in long-term use in the English language. We can only recognize and describe language change once it has occurred.
Linguists have begun to investigate the linguistic properties of the so-called ‘electronic revolution’. Whether the way in which the English language is being used on the Internet is so different from previous linguistic behavior, and should it be described as revolutionary.
As Paolillo (1999: 1) puts it, in his introduction to a paper on the virtual speech community: ‘If we are to understand truly how the Internet might shape our language, then it is essential that we seek to understand how different varieties of language are used on the Internet.’
Eastment (1999) estimated that there were 1,000 ELT (English Language Teaching) sites devoted to language learning activities, resources, and materials (on the Internet). From his survey on English-language teaching (ELT) in relation to the Internet, Eastment (1999:1) notes that ‘no doubt that the Internet…will eventually transform the way that the teaching and learning of English, and the business of ELT is conducted’ (In the seven years that have passed since then, the number of ELT sites has grown dramatically).
The continuing changes in the spread, reception, interaction, sharing, and understanding of global information have altered the process of human and technological communication. It has created a necessity for linguists, especially language teachers, to fully understand the factors and their Internet influence on the way the English language should now be taught.
Therefore, there is an immediate need to clarify whether or not the Internet is a communication and a linguistic revolution that alter linguistic behavior. And, would the Internet transform the way in which teaching and learning of English, and the business of ELT should be conducted.
References
American Management Association International. (1998). E-Mail tops telephone, say HR execs at 69th annual human resources conference. http://www.amanet.org/survey/hrc98.html
Anderson-Inman, L., & Horney, M. A. (1998). Transforming text for at-risk readers. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, L. D. Labbo, & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world (pp. 15-43). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bolter, J. D. (1991). Writing space: The computer, hypertext, and the history of writing. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bolter, J. D. (1996). Ekphrasis, virtual reality, and the future of writing. In G. Nunberg (Ed.), The future of the book (pp. 253-272). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bolter, J. D. (1998). Hypertext and the question of visual literacy. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. London: Routledge.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
de Castell, S., & Luke, A. (1986). Models of literacy in North American schools: Social and historical conditions and consequences. In S. de Castell, A. Luke, & K. Egan (Eds.), Literacy, society, and schooling (pp. 87-109). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Diederich, T. (1998). Web use among students continues to rise. http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/31/opstud.idg/index.html
Eastment, David. (1999). The Internet and ELT. Oxford: Summertown Publishing.
Faigley, L. (1997). Literacy after the revolution. College Composition and Communication, 48(1), 30-43.
Fromkin, V. et. al. (2004). An Introduction to Language (7th Edition.). Beijing: Peking University Press.
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies. London: Taylor & Francis.
Giddens, Anthony. (2000). Runaway World: How Globalization Is Reshaping Our Lives. New York: Routledge.
Harnad, S. (1991). Post-Gutenberg galaxy: The fourth revolution in the means of production and knowledge. Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 2(1), 39-53.
Holliday, A. (1992). Tissue rejection and informal orders in ELT projects: Collecting the right information. Applied Linguistics, 13(4), 404-424.
Holliday, A. (1994). Appropriate methodology in social context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kelm, O. (1995). E-mail discussion groups in foreign language education: grammar follow-up. In Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.
Kern, R. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Using e-mail exchanges to explore personal histories in two cultures. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 105-119). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.
Knowles, Elizabeth. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of New Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kress, G. (1999). ‘English’ at the crossroads: Rethinking curricula of communication in the context of the turn to the visual. In G. E. Hawisher & C. Selfe (Eds.), Passions, pedagogies, and 21st century technologies (pp. 66-88). Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.
Landow, G. P. (1992). Hypertext: The convergence of contemporary critical theory and technology. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Lemke, J. L. (1998). Metamedia literacy: Transforming meanings and media. In D. Reinking, M. McKenna, L. Labbo, & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world (pp. 283-301). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
McKenna, M. C. (1998). Electronic texts and the transformation of beginning reading. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, L. D. Labbo, & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typorgraphic world (pp. 45-59). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
McLuhan, Marshall. (1962). The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.
NUA Internet Surveys. (1999). Chinese users to outnumber US users by 2010. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905355392&rel=true
Paolillo, John. (1999). The virtual speech community: social network and language variation on IRC. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 4(4). http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol4/issue4/paolillo.html
P.H. Matthews. (2000). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 209.
Raimes, A. (1991). Out of the woods: Emerging traditions in the teaching of writing. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), 407-430.
Reinking, D. (Ed.). (1998). Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shetzer, H., & Warschauer, M. (2000). An electronic literacy approach to network-based
language teaching. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 171-185). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Snyder, I. (Ed.). (1998). From page to screen. London: Routledge.
Sokolik, M. (1999). Digital storytelling, memory, and second language learning. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Stoller, F. L. (1997). Project work: A means to promote language content. English Teaching Forum, 35(4), 2.
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tella, Seppo. (1992). Boys, girls and e-mail: a case study in Finnish senior secondary schools. Research Report 110. University of Helsinki: Department of Teacher Education.
Warschauer, M. (1995). E-Mail for English teaching. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications.
Warschauer, M., & Cook, J. (1999). Service learning and technology in TESOL. Prospect, 14(3), 32-39.
Warschauer, M., & Deborah Healey. (1998). Computers and language learning: an overview. Language Teaching 31(2), 57-71.
The Impact of Globalization and the Internet on English Language Teaching and Learning
论全球化与互联网对英语教学的影响
第一作者
姓名：吴莉
工作单位：黑龙江大学西语学院
职称：副教授
联络方式
黑龙江大学西语学院英语系
中国黑龙江省哈尔滨市南岗区学府路74号（150080）
电话：0451－86609398（宅）13936627769（手机）
电子邮件：wuli668@yahoo.com.cn
第二作者
姓名：丹 · 本-卡南
工作单位：黑龙江大学西语学院
职称：教授
联络方式
黑龙江大学西语学院英语系
中国黑龙江省哈尔滨市南岗区学府路74号（150080）
电话：0451－86608652（办公室）13845184401（手机）
电子邮件：canaan@inter.net.il
个人简介
吴莉1988年毕业于黑龙江大学英语系，获英语语言文学学士学位，同年留校任教。1999年从黑龙江大学英语系获英语语言文学硕士学位。2000年晋升为副教授。2003年1月至2004年1月，获教育部留学基金委资助，赴英国诺丁汉大学英文研究学院做访问学者。
至今已出版5本编著，在《外语学刊》、《中国英语教学》、《江苏外语研究》等学术期刊上公开发表论文15篇。获各类教学和科研奖励8项。目前承担3项科研项目（资助机构为黑龙江省教育厅、黑龙江大学）。主要给英语专业本科生讲授《语言学概论》、《英语国家概况》课程。学术研究领域为普通语言学、认知语言学、应用语言学，同时也致力于《英国概况》网络多媒体课件的设计与开发。
First author
Name: Wu, Li
Workplace: Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies
Academic Title: Associate Professor
Contact details
Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies, English Department
No. 74 Xuefu Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, P. R. China 150080
Home Tel: 0451-86609398 Mobile: 13936627769
E-mail: wuli668@yahoo.com.cn
Personal Profile
Wu Li graduated from Heilongjiang University's English Department, receiving her BA degree in July 1988. She stayed on as English teacher at the University. She received her MA degree in July 1999, from Heilongjiang University's English Department.
In 2000, she was promoted to a position of Associate Professor. Prof. Wu obtained a grant from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) of Education Commission, and held a post of Visiting Scholar at the University of Nottingham, UK, School of English Studies from January 2003 to January 2004.
Prof. Wu has edited five books and published fifteen articles in academic journals such as Foreign Languages Research, English Teaching in China, and Jiangsu Foreign Languages Research. She has obtained eight teaching and academic achievements awards.
Currently Prof. Wu is working on three-funded research projects (Funding bodies include the Heilongjiang Education Commission and Heilongjiang University). Her courses and lectures focus mainly on subjects such as An Introduction to Linguistics，and A Survey of English-speaking Countries, both designed for English major students.
Prof. Wu's research interests are in the fields of general linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and applied linguistics. She also contributes to the development and design of a CAI courseware of A Survey of Great Britain.
第二作者
姓名：丹 · 本-卡南
工作单位：黑龙江大学西语学院
职称：教授
联络方式
黑龙江大学西语学院英语系
中国黑龙江省哈尔滨市南岗区学府路74号（150080）
电话：0451－86608652（办公室）13845184401（手机）
电子邮件：canaan@inter.net.il
个人简介
Second Author
Name: Ben-Canaan, Dan
Workplace: Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies, English Department
Academic title: Professor
Contact details
Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies, English Department
No. 74 Xuefu Road, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, P. R. China 150080
Office Telephone: 0451－86608652 * Mobile: 13845184401
Email: canaan@inter.net.il
Personal Profile
Prof. Ben-Canaan, Dan has been with the English Department at Heilongjiang University’s School of Western Studies since 2002, where he serves as Professor of Creative Writing, Text Critique and Analysis, Journalism and Public and Social Media Studies. He holds a position of Hon. Research Fellow at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, and serves as the Senior Editor of the Heilongjiang Television China English News Service, and an institutional advisor.
Prof. Ben-Canaan holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in Mass Communication from the City University of New York at Hunter College USA; Advance studies Ph.D. degree in Information and Political Propaganda from the American University in Washington D.C. USA; Professional Diploma from the R.C.A Institutes, New York, USA in Television Directing and Production; And a Journalism Diploma from the Tel Aviv School of Journalism, Israel.
Prof. Ben-Canaan specializes in text criticism and analysis, the applications of creative writing, mass communication, and journalism, as well as in advanced information theories. Before joining the faculty of the English Department at the Heilongjiang University he served, among other things, as a media specialist, lecturer and researcher, and as journalist specializing in East-Asian affairs, human, social, and political agendas. He was the Press secretary and Spokesman of the Council of Local Governments and the municipal lobby of the Israeli Parliament for almost ten years.
Among civic and academic accomplishments awards are The International Lions Organization 1987 Civic Participation Award; The Israel Journalists & Editors Association's 1989 Best Public Campaign Award; 1998 Best Interview Series Award for magazines on the issue of the Labor High Court; 2004 best news programs – HLJTV China, English News, Outstanding Teaching Contribution Award – Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies; Outstanding Teaching Contribution Award – Heilongjiang University, Literature and Communication College.
Some Publications
Nostalgia vs. Historical Reality. Paper for the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, "International Forum on the History and Culture of Harbin Jews". China 2006
The Jewish People as the Classic Diaspora: A Concise Historical and Political View. Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, China 2003
Political Communication - Guide for Political Candidates Strategy Publications 1990, Israel
Changing Media – Changing Times. IAPP Publications 1992, Israel
A Diary of the 20th Century - The Story of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. IFHUJ Publications 2000, Israel
A Man of All Seasons - General Yohai Ben-Nun. IFHUJ Publications 2002, Israel
The Jews in Harbin – A Pictorial History. English & Hebrew versions - HAOSS 2003/2006, China
A New Dawn. Documentary film for HLJTV – Harbin 2003, China
Journalism & writing. 13 one-hour weekly Radio Programs, Harbin 2003, China
The Jews in Harbin. Website. Northeast Network 2004, China
Mama, China, and Me. HLJTV documentary English writing and narration. China 2004
Where Are You Mom. HLJTV documentary. English version. China 2005
Phoenix Mountain. HLJTV documentary. English version
Waitress. Documentary. Script and direction. Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies. Literary Images Seminar. 2006, China
In Progress
Globalizing China's News. A Comprehensive Guide to English News Writing, Editing and Reporting for Chinese students. Heilongjiang University, School of Western Studies. China 2006
China My Darling. Novel
The Impact of Globalization and the Internet on
English Language Teaching and Learning
论全球化与互联网对英语教学的影响
Abstract
The spread of English as an international language and the emergence of the Internet as a fast communication channel that has no boundaries, are mutually enforcing trends in an age of globalization. Since its conception, the Internet has, so it seems, revolutionize the ways of human communication as well as English language learning in a global context. Learners of English language today need a new set of critical and interpretive skills. Teachers of ESOL therefore, need to understand how the Internet is revolutionizing English language learning. This paper attempts to discuss the impact of the Internet on English language learning as well as the need for new frameworks for teaching English language in computer mediated contexts.
Key Words: globalization; the Internet; English language teaching
摘要
在当今全球化时代，英语语言的发展和互联网的兴起是两股相互促进的强劲势头。在全球化环境下，互联网改革了英语的教学方法以及人类的交际模式。今天的英语学习者需要掌握一系列关键性的、阐释性的技能。因此，英语教师需要了解互联网是如何改革英语的学习过程的。本文探讨了互联网对英语教学所产生的影响，以及在以计算机为媒介的环境下，英语教学所需要的全新教学体系。
主题词：全球化；互联网；英语语言教学
at has come to be known as the 'Fugu Plan'1, a secret Japanese plot designed to recruit "world Jewish money" and use it to enhance Japan's war torn economy some sixty-five years ago, has been reconstructed in Harbin once again. Any plan aiming at bringing "Jewish business" to Heilongjiang and to its capital city may very well be seen as a present day scheme to attempt at recruiting world Jewish business investments for a particular local purpose.
