A Critical Study of Online English Listening and Speaking Teaching in Chinese Higher Education

Abstract

Driven by economic and political factors, online teaching has seen rapid development in the past 30 years, especially during the epidemic, when online teaching models have been adopted worldwide due to social distance restrictions. This paper firstly analyzes the setting of online teaching from the perspective of neoliberalism and the theoretical framework of Freirean critical pedagogy is explored then. Based on the teaching practice of the English Listening and Speaking course at Baoding University for the academic year 2019-2020, this paper expounds on how the proper use of EdTech can help construct a teaching resource repository, and at the same time, the integration of Production-Oriented Approach into online teaching can help promote students’ autonomy, enhance their self-confidence and empower them to explore their potential in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) study. Although there are different perspectives on online teaching, it is undeniable that the impact of information and technology on the educational sector is irreversible and online teaching shows its great advantage in ensuring the overall continuity of education during COVID-19. This study finds out that Learning Management System (LMS) plays a great role in enhancing teacher-student collaboration and promoting students’ language competence and critical and reflective aware-ness. Making full use of these advantages makes up for the deficiencies of traditional face-to-face teaching and promotes EFL teaching in the long run as well. Thus, educators got the responsibility to make proper use of EdTech and explore the online teaching pedagogy. The results will help in gaining insight into the present online teaching mode and the possible improvements in future situations also.