Abstract:As an important part of

multimedia-assisted teaching systems, PowerPoint has been developed to provide a

convenient and advanced medium for English teaching. There is no doubt that the

application of PowerPoint in teaching benefits us a lot，However, it is also easy for us to be inclined to ignore

its negative influence. Therefore, a related questionnaire

survey is carried out among fifty students of English major in the Guangxi

Normal University, for the purpose of finding out the existed problems of the

application of PowerPoint in college’s English teaching from the perspective of

students. The result of survey shows that the major problems of applying

PowerPoint in English teaching are: improperly designed and overused PowerPoint

by teachers in class. Then, some reasonable suggestions are proposed for

reference.

Key words: PowerPoint; Application;

Disadvantage;

中图分类号：G642　       文献标识码：A

Ⅰ. Introduction

PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft, and it is a part of

the Microsoft Office

system. Nowadays, it has been widely applied for different kinds of professional

presentations, especially in instruction. At the same

time, the debate on the application of PowerPoint in English teaching has been

a hot topic. Most users acknowledge the virtues of the application of PowerPoint,

whereas some people believe that the demerits of application of PowerPoint

overweight the merits.

Therefore, the present survey is carried out on

this controversial issue for the purpose of finding out, in the eyes of students,

the advantages and disadvantages of PowerPoint used in English teaching. Then

in terms of the problem reflected in the survey, the related solutions are

brought forward.

Ⅱ. A Survey and the Related Analysis

2.1 Subjects of the Survey

  The subjects of the present survey are the

students majoring

English in College of Foreign Studies, Guangxi Normal University. There are

fifty students who are randomly chosen from different classes. All of them are experienced

English teaching, for at least two years at university, given by their English

teachers with the help of PowerPoint.

2.2 The Situation of Application of Power Point in English teaching

What we learn from the survey is that more

than half of the subjects (51%) prefer PowerPoint to others (Blackboard-writing14.3%; Class

Discussion10.2%;

Audio Player25.5%),

which clearly shows the attitude of the students towards PowerPoint. At the

same time, according to the information from the subjects’ free talk, it can be

found that most students hold that PowerPoint is their favorite because

of the following reasons: Firstly, using blackboard-writing alone

for teaching easily makes students feel boring. Secondly, audio player is not

fit for some teaching contents. Only a scientific use of them in English

classes would be better for students, and in this way, the

teaching efficiency can be guaranteed.

2.3 Advantages of Applying PowerPoint in

English Teaching

18.4 % of the subjects think that it can

save time in teaching if applying PowerPoint aid. 40.8 % of the subjects

believe that the most significant advantage of using PowerPoint in English lessons

is that it can make the teaching key points more explicit; thus, it can benefit

their learning after classes. 18.4 % hold that teaching with PowerPoint is more

interesting. Furthermore, 22.4% of the subjects argue

that using PowerPoint

in teaching is helpful for memorizing English words and phrases because of the vivid

graphic pictures, which makes a visual connection to the abstract idea.

2.4 Disadvantages of Applying PowerPoint in English Teaching

2.4.1 Rigidifying the Teaching

16.3 % of the subjects hold that the application

of PowerPoint

in teaching may make the teaching process rigidified. As we all know, PowerPoint

must be cranked out before classes, that is to say, the teaching process has to

rigidly follow the structure of PowerPoint already designed. It is not an easy

thing that the teacher temporarily adds the new content to the original PowerPoint

in class, and the teaching efficiency would be affected.

2.4.2 Diverting Students’ Attention

Accounting to the survey data, 8.2% of the subjects hold that

their attention would be distracted while applying PowerPoint in English

lessons. Students would pay more attention to the pictures and animations

rather than the leaning content itself while presenting PowerPoint. In this

way, the multifunction of PowerPoint would get its negative effect

2.4.3 Excessively Depending on PowerPoint

30.6% of the subjects think that the

application of PowerPoint in teaching gives rise to the dependence on PowerPoint for both

teachers and students. On the part of teachers, they

cannot teach with the computer in class because they have to switch the slides

at any moment. It is possible that the teacher becomes an aide of PowerPoint.

Furthermore, when using PowerPoint in class, teachers have to frequently fix

their eyes on computer screen instead of students. At the same time, students

gaze at the projection all the time. In this case, the necessary communication

between teachers and students, such as eye-contact, posture show and so on, is impossible.

It is very passive for teaching, and goes against the learning.

Ⅲ. Related Solutions to the Problems

First of all, PowerPoint should service for people instead of

being serviced by people. It is clearly understood that PowerPoint is just a

complement to and an enhancement of teaching. In order to improve the teaching efficiency,

teachers and students become the users of PowerPoint rather than the mechanical

operators.

Furthermore, teacher-student communication can not be neglected

in PowerPoint-assisted English classes. It is well-known that Rodges’s Nondirective Teaching Theory argues

that the traditional teaching model ignores the communication between teachers

and students. He claims that the harmonious

teacher-student relation is helpful for students to absorb the new knowledge. Therefore,

teachers should avoid being imprisoned by computers or totally focusing on reading off the slides,

but move around students to communicate with students, because it could make

students feel intimate, and benefits building up a pleasant teaching environment

to heighten the learning efficiency of students. A laser pointer can help

teachers to point out the parts of a diagram or key phrases, when teachers are

far away from computers.

In addition, the multiple teaching techniques can be used in PowerPoint-assisted

English classes. Other teaching techniques should be accepted and encouraged to

apply to English lessons in conjunction with the PowerPoint, such as discussion,

questioning, analogy, examples, and role-plays and so on. The monotonous

teaching pattern would make students feel dull and dry, and even lose the interest

of study. So the comprehensive application of various teaching techniques in

the English teaching would enrich the English teaching patterns, and make the English

lesson colorful.

In a word, no matter what the

teaching pattern or technique is adopted, all the teaching activities must base

on students’ learning, and service for it. Constructivists advocate teaching should

be students-oriented. At present, the roles of students have shifted from

passive information-receivers to active constructors. Teachers are the organizers,

directors and promoters of teaching. In PowerPoint-assisted lessons, teachers utilize

PowerPoint to bring students’ initiatives into full play and arouse the students’

learning enthusiasm.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

According to this survey and analysis, we

can see the students’ opinions of the application of PowerPoint in English

class have been brought to light, and the solutions of the so-called problems

are put forward, which is in line with the expectation. On the account of the finite

time and the limited number of survey, the solutions are still not comprehensive.

However, it hopes that the present survey can provide some elicitations for further

researches. If more students can participate in the survey the result would be

more convincing, and at the same time, more novel viewpoints would turn out. What

is more, teaching is worked together by teachers and students. So teachers can be

involved in such survey. Teachers become not only the operators of PowerPoint

but also the researchers. It is an important way to promote the development of PowerPoint-assisted

teaching.

Jamie McKenzie in 2000 first created a

term “PowerPointlessness”, which is defined as “any fancy

transitions, sounds, and other effects that have no discernible

purpose, use, or benefit” (McFedries, 2001). It is a warning for

users of PowerPoint

that PowerPoint should not be abused, even though it is well known that the

application of PowerPoint is able to benefit a lot for English teaching. Although

PowerPoint has not only the notable strengths but also some inevitable disadvantages,

as a matter of fact, PowerPoint has been widely applied in English teaching. What

we can do is trying our best to improve the quality of the application, and realize

the best connected points between PowerPoint and English teaching. Besides, we also

should pay attention to getting rid of some misuse of PowerPoint to ensure the validity

of application.

All in all, PowerPoint, as an effective complement and

enhancement of English teaching, represents the development of English teaching.

The application of PowerPoint in teaching is not only a kind of fashions but

also a developing trend of English teaching reforms.