Abstract
Based on a conversational analysis (CA) of eight videoed EFL lessons from technology-enhanced primary classrooms in a rural suburb of a major city in China, this study examines the nature of technology-assisted practices and their influence on teacher-student interaction in the target language. The analysis revealed that the technology-assisted practices mainly served as an alternative presentation tool to meet a range of traditional pedagogical goals and facilitated minimal spontaneous language use among the students. The findings call for research to explore better pedagogical use of technology to promote students’ active language production to truly achieve educational equalization for rural students.
Highlights
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been used for the binary purposes of educational modernization and equalization in many countries including China
The findings on technology use and the teacher-student interactions facilitated by such technology use suggested that the use of technology in these suburban/rural primary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms was, restricting the communicative practices in the classroom
Our analysis revealed that technology was used as an alternative presentation tool to chalkboards and served a range of traditional pedagogical goals in teacher-centered classrooms
Summary
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been used for the binary purposes of educational modernization and equalization in many countries including China. The National Curriculum for Nine-Year Compulsory Education for English (Chinese Ministry of Education, 2001) requires that K12 English teachers (in both rural and urban areas) create a near-natural language environment with the aid of technological teaching tools. To facilitate this policy, the Ministry of Education, as well as local educational agencies, has made considerable investments in technology resources—including both software and hardware in K-12 schools—to transform the traditional model of foreign language education in the Chinese context There still exists a great digital divide in technology use and Language and Literacy
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