论文总字数：27044字

摘 要

近年来，网络科技迅速发展，大量的信息为学习者提供了无限的选择空间，同时网络的应用也在学习中发挥着越来越重要的作用。一些专门为英语教学服务的网站也为各个层次的英语教学提供了丰富的资源。我们可以收听各广播电台的英语教学节目，也可以下载不同类型的英语学习软件。网络上的无声和有声资源内容形式多样，新闻报道、报纸杂志、原版读物等都可以成为学习英语的材料。利用网络辅助英语教学己经成为学习者和教师所共同关心的热点。

那么，面对如此丰富的学习资源，英语专业大学生利用这些资源辅助英语学习的情况如何？他们是否有效地利用了这些网络资源？

调查结果显示：1）东南大学英语专业学生利用最多的网络资源是在线词典，其次是电影电视剧。2）超过一半的人每周学习英语的时间是21-28小时，大部分人每周利用网络资源学习英语的时间是3-7小时。3）网络资源和教材资料二者中，学生更认同网络资源，因其题材多样，贴近时代，可信度高。4）大部分学生能有效利用网络资源辅助其英语学习，也期待在未来的英语学习中利用更多的网络资源。

关键词：网络资源；有效利用；英语学习；英专学生；

Contents

Acknowledgments i

Abstract ii

摘 要 iii

Contents iv

List of Tables v

Ⅰ. Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Significance of the research 1

1.3 Layout of the thesis 2

Ⅱ. Literature Review 3

2.1 Definition 3

2.2 Benefits of online resources in English language learning 3

2.3 Students’ attitudes towards online resources 4

2.4 Students’ use of online resources in English language learning 4

Ⅲ. Methodology 6

3.1 Research questions 6

3.2 Subjects 6

3.3 Instrumentation 6

3.3.1 Questionnaire design 6

3.3.2 Questionnaire distribution 7

3.4 Data analysis 7

Ⅳ. Results and Discussions 8

4.1 Type and frequency of using online resources 8

4.1.1 The mostly used type of online resources in English language learning 8

4.1.2 The time spent on using online resources in English language learning 9

4. 2 The comparison between Online resources and Textbooks 10

4.2.1 Students' perceptions of online resources 10

4.2.2 Students' perceptions of textbooks 11

4.3 The efficiency of using online resources 12

4.4 The contribution of using the online resources 13

4.5 The future use of online resources 13

Ⅴ. Conclusion and Limitations 14

5.1 Major Findings of this Study 14

5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 14

References 15

Appendix I 16

List of Tables

Table 3.1 Questionnaire Design 9

Table 4.1 Types of online resources 11

Table 4.2 Time spent on English language learning per week 12

Table 4.3 Time spent on online English learning per week 13

Table 4.4 Students' perceptions of online resources 14

Table 4.5 Students' perceptions of textbooks 16

Table 4.6 Suitability of online resources 16

Table 4.7 The usage of online resources 17

Table 4.8 The contribution of using the online resources 18

Table 4.9 The future use of online resources 19

Ⅰ. Introduction

1.1 Background

Recent years has seen the fast-growing development of Internet technologies, which are increasingly making potential contributions to English language learning. As a matter of fact, the use of technologies provides learners with unprecedented opportunities to practice English. The online resources own the features of abundance and wide coverage. Undeniably, Internet is the largest bank of resources where students are able to find adequate materials for their needs. In addition, the variety of its forms and contents may arouse students' interests. Information at every corner of the world can be gained in textual, visual and audio forms without the limit of time and space. Users could search and get the latest information anywhere at any time. In a word, the interaction between the users and the Internet is not only convenient but also flexible. It may not be one-way or unilateral as print publications, but time-free and bilateral.

Currently, there has been a large volume of published studies describing the attitudes of teachers and students towards online resources’ usage in studying English; nevertheless, limited research has been conducted to examine the use of online resources in terms of frequency, favor between textbooks and online resources, effects, and expectations among students.

1.2 Significance of the research

Facing a abundance of available resources, students may appear to be lost and have vague ideas about how to make better use of these resources. Gaining a deep understanding of the situation of the students’ use of online resources may help shed light on how to help them efficiently utilize these online resources. Therefore, this paper aims to reveal the effectiveness of using the online resources in English Language Learning as well as some problems by conducting an exploratory inquiry among English major students in China. The results of the study may draw attention of both teachers and students and motivate them to do adjustments and improvements in the further learning and teaching.

1.3 Layout of the thesis

The organization of the paper is clearly divided into 5 parts. Chapter 1 and 2 are devoted to an introduction and literature review. Chapter 3 introduces the study methodology. The basic elements of a standard empirical study including the participants, instruments, data collection and analysis are contained in this part. Chapter 4 is the main part of this paper. Results and discussion of results are presented in this part. Finally, chapter 5 is the conclusion part, summarizing the major findings and discussing limitations of the paper in hope of shedding some light for future research of similar kind.

Ⅱ. Literature Review

2.1 Definition

According to Merriam-Webster, online resources mean a source of information gained from the Internet. Within the scope of the current study, online resources encompass websites, software, applications and so on in the net-based technologies such as computers, laptops, pads and smart phones. There are a variety of online resources in English learning, for instances, websites: www.yeeyan.org and www.en84.com; online-dictionary: Lingoes and Youdao; radio: VOA and BBC; applications: Weichat and FT; translator: Google and Yi Dian Tong.

2.2 Benefits of online resources in English language learning

A considerable amount of literature has highlighted the benefits of online resources in language learning. The blossoming of multimedia technology including visual aids, sounds, video clips, and so on motivates learners, “attracts their attention and elevates their interests in learning” (Kuo, 2009, p.25). “students are highly motivated by the net; the use of the Internet may promote learners' language skills”. (Cheng, 2007)

According to Song Qirui (2012), online resources offered by English study websites are very colorful and abundant. From comprehensive websites, English learners can have various kinds of English knowledge they want without making effort to look up in books or other paper material by themselves. From specialized websites, English learners can find professional information without consulting professionals.

Sun (2014) confirmed “Internet stores large amount of information, rich in contents and various in forms, which can provide students an ideal platform for language learning and communication. Besides, the knowledge that students learn from Internet will make up to the narrowness of teaching materials in the classroom. In the long run, students' motivation and interests in learning English will be increased”.

2.3 Students’ attitudes towards online resources

In China, Liu’s (2009, p.102) study which investigated Chinese non-English major students’ attitudes towards information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a medium for learning English showed that the participants recognized the advantages of ICT. “cultural perceptions of ICTs” involving “cultural or social norms of a country to technology acceptance among its people”, “computer experience” and “ICT confidence” were the factors leading to differences in their ICT attitudes.

The data collected from Inna Kozlova amp; Marisa Presas(2013) showed that the majority of students (78.95%) declared their preference for knowing some resources well rather than superficially. It also demonstrated a positive attitude towards learning more about already familiar resources (73.81%) and about new resources (83.5%).

2.4 Students’ use of online resources in English language learning

Jung (2006) conducted an inquiry into 591 Chinese university students’ frequency of ICT use for general and English learning purposes. The findings indicated that most of them spent three to ten hours a week making use of ICTs with 95% browsing the Internet for pleasure, whereas nearly 40% spent less than one hour per week on ICTs to learn English.

Zhang (2006) found that most of the students have no idea of utilizing the net-based resources for their English learning, even if some of them do use the net in their learning, their use are blind or purposeless. Due to insufficient instructions and help from their teachers, students lack knowledge about matacognitive strategies and autonomy, and they are confused about how to make full use of the abundant resources on the net.

Cheng Yingying’s (2007) survey including 80 junior students from Electronic Commerce department in Huazhong University of Science and Technology suggested the online learning time is 3.60 hours on average, indicating that some students do not get access to the Internet frequently each week.

The findings in Dang Hoang Tri amp; Nhung Hong Thi Nguyen’s (2013) research highlighted that the majority of the students spent more time employing ICT for general purposes than for language learning purposes.

Sun (2014) conducted an eight-week action research on 39 students in their last half of freshman year at Hunan Normal University. The results of research showed no significant change in students' beliefs regarding goal setting, independent action and evaluation; however, their strategies regarding these aspects have been greatly improved. The overall tendency of changes of the learner autonomy development is heading to the expected direction, which proves that students' learner autonomy can be improved by using Internet resource.

Ⅲ. Methodology

3.1 Research questions

This research aims at answering the following questions.

1) Which type of online resources is mostly used in English language learning? What is the frequency of using online resources for English language learning purposes among English major students?

2) What is students' preference between online resources and textbooks?

3) Can students fully make use of the Internet to help English learning?

3.2 Subjects

This study used a sample of 138 English major students from three grades at Southeast University. All of the subjects have their own personal computer or smart phone, Therefore, it is easy for them to get access to study online.

150 questionnaires were distributed and 138 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed.

Among the 138 respondents, 33 are from 1^st grade, 52 from 2^nd grade, and 53 from 3^rd grade.

3.3 Instrumentation

The instrument employed in this study is a written questionnaire.

3.3.1 Questionnaire design

With reference to Wen Qiufang (2012), some items of questionnaire are designed and modified to improve the questionnaire’s quality. The Chinese-written questionnaire (see appendix I) contains two parts. The first part is about the background information of the subjects. The second part is multiple choice questions, among which some are Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly Agree) questions. The design is based on the categories outlined in the table. Each category is designed as a variable when analyzing the collected data.

Table 3.1 Questionnaire Design

*Qs: questions

There are a total of 29 items. After reliability test (Cronbach alpha), a few problematic questions were deleted to improve the quality of questionnaire. Item l and 2 are intended to investigate the mostly used type of online resources in English language learning. Item 3 and 4 are designed to investigate the hours spent on using online resources to learn English per week. Item 11 to 14 are intended to investigate students' perceptions of the online resources. Item 15 to 17 are made to investigate students' perceptions of the textbooks. Item 5 to 9 are designed to investigate the efficiency of using online resources. Item 20 to 23 are made to investigate contribution of using online resources. Item 26 to 29 are made to investigate future use of online resources.

3.3.2 Questionnaire distribution

The questionnaires were distributed to the students during the break time on April 29th, 2015 with the assistance of the teachers who were in charge of these classes. 138 valid questionnaires among 150 questionnaires have been collected.

3.4 Data analysis

The participants’ responses were processed with SPSS version 18. The first two variables were dealt with Frequencies Statistics, and the left variables were dealt with Descriptive Statistics.

Ⅳ. Results and Discussions

4.1 Type and frequency of using online resources

4.1.1 The mostly used type of online resources in English language learning

Item 2 is designed to investigated the mostly used type of online resources for English majors in English language learning. This category is processed by Frequencies Statistics. As indicated, more than half of the participants (67.9%) choose to make use of online dictionary in English language learning, and 23.4% choose movies and TV series. The participants who use News Websites, Radio and Forum occupy only 5.1%, 2.9% and 0.7% respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the mostly used type of online resources for English majors in English language learning is online dictionary and that the next is movies and TV series.

4.1.2 The time spent on using online resources in English language learning

Item 3 is about the total time spent on English language learning per week. As illustrated, generally, most of subjects (37%) claimed that they spent twenty-one to twenty-eight hours per week on English language learning in total. Besides, the percentage rate of subjects who spent respectively less than twenty-one hours, twenty-nine to thirty-five hours and more than thirty-five hours are very close (around 20%).

Item 4 is about the hours per week spent on English learning by using online resources. Nearly 35.5% reported that they spent three to seven hours a week to learn English by using online resources with 19.6% less than three hours, 23.9% between eight and fourteen hours and 21.0% more than fourteen hours respectively.

4. 2 The comparison between Online resources and Textbooks

4.2.1 Students' perceptions of online resources

Among four variables which are designed to investigate students' perceptions of online resources, the first and third are positive, while the second and the fourth are negative. According to Qin (2011), the data of negative variable was transformed for analysis. As demonstrated, the total mean is 3.54, stating clearly that most students are approve of online resources. As to the first, the second and the third variable, the mean 4.04, 3.31 and 4.07 affirm online resources’ positive aspects. It suggests that participants agree to online resources’ diversity, reliability and update. However, the fourth variable’s mean (2.74) shows participants’ negative opinions. They agree that there are many mistakes in online resources.

4.2.2 Students' perceptions of textbooks

These four variables are to investigate students' perceptions of textbooks. Similarly, the first and the third are positive, while the second and the fourth are negative. Also, the data of negative variable was transformed for analysis. The total mean is 3.02 (very close to 3), which indicates that participants remain neutral when it comes to textbooks. But among 4 means, only the mean of variable 1 which is designed to measure the classic significance of the textbooks is over 3 (3.58). So it can be said that most students acknowledge that the content of textbooks is classic and worth learning as textbooks are compiled and edited by famous professors or experts. By contrast, the mean of other three variables are all below 3. It is told that participants think textbooks are out of date, lack of diversity and not free of mistakes.

4.3 The efficiency of using online resources

This variable is designed to measure the suitability of online resources currently chose by English majors. The mean is 3.53, suggesting participants agree that the online resources they choose are suitable to help learn English.

Table 4.7 shows a majority of students (44.2%) think their teachers often recommend new online resources to them; most of students (72.5%) choose something they are interested in to learn; many students (46.7%) can persist to use online resources for a long time.

In conclusion, participants, to some extent, can make good use of online resources in learning English.

4.4 The contribution of using the online resources

Table 4.8 is about whether students’ English is improved or not after using online resources. The mean of four variables are all over 3, showing that most students considered the online resources playing a beneficial role in help them enhance their listening, reading, writing and speaking. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the mean of variable “writing” is 3.04, which is very close to 3. So it is reasonable to say respondents hold a neutral attitudes towards the contribution of online resources on writing.

4.5 The future use of online resources

As to the the future use of online resources, most students give supportive answers. The first three means (3.94, 4.07, 4.07) confirm that respondents are willing to utilize more online resources in the future, hope their teachers can recommend more useful online resources and hope to get guides and suggestions from teachers. Interestingly, the mean of the last variable is 2.93, it seems that students do not agree to include the use of online resources into a part of examination.

Ⅴ. Conclusion and Limitations

5.1 Major Findings of this Study

Online resources have a lot of advantages. Internet-based English learning is receiving more and more attention. Facing a mount of online resources, can students fully make use of the Internet to help them learn English? The situation of their use of online resources in terms of frequency, favor between textbooks and online resources, effects, and future use can be summed up as follows:

1. The mostly used online resource in English language learning is online dictionary, and the next is movie and TV series.
2. Among English majors, more than half of subjects claimed that they spent twenty-one to twenty-eight hours per week totally on English language learning, and the hours over one third of students spent on online resources are three to seven.
3. Comparing online resources to textbooks, participants are inclined to approve of online resources for their diversity, reliability and update.
4. As to the efficiency of using online resources, students, to a large degree, are able to make good use of online resources and benefit form these resources in listening, reading and speaking.

5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study

1. All subjects are limited to southeast university. Future study can involve more students from various universities and regions.
2. The number of the subjects is small (n=150), and only 140 questionnaire were collected, in which 138 are valid questionnaires that can be analyzed. The further study can enlarge its subjects by adding online questionnaires.
3. A pilot study is not carried out in order to guarantee the validity and feasibility of the research.

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Appendix I

Questionnaire

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