International Journal of Education

Technology-empowered English teaching is a teaching model that utilizes modern information technologies, including the Internet, artificial intelligence, big data, etc., to offer assistance and services for English instruction. Although the body of relevant researches has been on the rise in the past decade, they have focused on its application in eastern areas and tertiary education sector. There has been scarce literature on the development of technology-empowered English teaching in the compulsory education stages in the western region. Therefore, adopting a mixed-method approach, this study aimed to investigate the status quo of technological integration into English teaching in primary and junior high schools in Xinjiang and explore students’ and teachers’ perceptions about their experiences with this practice and its impact, and ultimately provides insight into the development of digitalisation and equity of education in the country. The analysis of the data yielded the following findings: Firstly, the current status is characterized by the widespread utilization of advanced tools such as whiteboards, courseware, and video playback, particularly by the majority of teachers operating at an elevated level. Secondly, both the teachers and students concurred that despite the occasional trouble-shooting issues with equipment and software, the utilization of technology facilitated the process of English teaching and learning and contributed to the enhancement of English proficiency. Lastly, students with higher interest in English perceived moderately greater positive impact of technology on improving their English abilities. The study concluded with pedagogical, technological, and administrative implications.

Technology-empowered English teaching; Ethnic minoritiy areas; Compulsory education sector; English learning interest; Impact on learning