Technology provides rich resources for learners

Technology-assisted education has enabled English learners in China across all age groups to access unprecedentedly rich resources, especially opportunities to talk with language teachers who are native speakers "face to face" across screens, according to experts.

The new opportunities in English-language education mainly come from technical sources and the fact that people not only learn English from teachers in the traditional way, but also through technical approaches, such as mobile phones and various internet programs, the experts said at the 2019 Global English Education China Assembly held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, from Friday through Sunday.

Founded more than two decades ago, iTutorGroup is a major player in online English education.

The platform has signed up more than 20,000 teachers around the world to conduct one-to-one or one-to-few English teaching by video to more than 200,000 paying users in China.

While most of the students live in large cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the number from Chengdu in Sichuan province, and other smaller cities has risen by leaps and bounds, according to teaching platforms.

Du Wenjia, an English teacher from Shanghai Yuxiu Primary School, said a large number of students in her class are turning to online platforms for opportunities to practice speaking English with native speakers.

Rod Ellis, an internationally renowned English-education expert and a research professor at the School of Education at Curtin University in Australia, said he is working with a company in Beijing to develop an entirely online English-language program for children as young as 3 because many youngsters are making an early start at learning English.

Lawrence Jun Zhang, professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said such widespread English study is also a result of higher incomes and standards of living among families in China.

Li Xuechao, vice-president of Tencent's smart platform product department, said artificial intelligence has already been applied in the company's products to help users throughout the learning process.

"For example, when a user learns a new English word or phrase, the AI system will help him or her practice and correct their pronunciation," Li said.

He noted that AI will play a bigger role in the future because Chinese people have a growing desire to learn about the world and communicate with people overseas.

Some experts suggested that teachers of foreign languages in the smart age should focus more than ever on helping learners exploit the advantages of being human.

"They include emotions, attitudes, the ability to construct and deconstruct as well as to adapt and transfer knowledge. English educators should always bear those things in mind when promoting reforms in both elementary and higher education," said Mei Deming, a professor of English and linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University.

Gong Yafu, president of the National Association of Foreign Language Education at the Chinese Society of Education, echoed Mei's view.

Gong said he felt increasingly that communication between people speaking nonnative languages is not only about basic language skills, but also about feeling comfortable with each other.

"That can only be generated by proper mentalities and behaviors, and people's empathy and inclusiveness," he said.

Zhi Yuan contributed to this story.