On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Multimedia in Assisting College English Teaching Abstract: Nowadays, applying multimedia has become a popular new trend in College English teaching. This paper is based on combining teaching examples which use multimedia in college English teaching to study the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia teaching. And the main purpose of this paper is to remind college English teachers that the technology of multimedia is like a “double-edged sword”, therefore, teachers should develop the strong points and avoid the weak points when apply multimedia in college English teaching.Keywords: multimedia, advantages and disadvantages, college English teaching1. IntroductionAlong with the development of science and technology, the gradual universality of the computer, the multimedia is playing a more and more important role in assisting English teaching. Especially in universities, compared to primary schools or secondary schools, their relatively good economy make it possible to use multimedia widely in English teaching. In addition, the Ministry of Education highlights that each university and college should make good use of multimedia and network technique, adopt new teaching mode to improve the traditional teaching mode which centers on teachers teaching. Consequently, it promotes colleges and universities to use the multimedia extensively. Undoubtedly, the advantages of multimedia are evident, however, it also has its disadvantages which should not be ignored, otherwise it can affect English teaching quality in colleges and universities. The advantages of multimedia in assisting college English can be generalized as follows: it can be beneficial to students listening, speaking, comprehending and memorizing; enhance students interests of learning English; improve teachers teaching efficiency. The disadvantages of it include being disadvantageous to communicating between teachers and students, taking notes for students; being disadvantageous to students thinking and developing students imagination; it can also add more burden to teachers.The main purpose of this paper is to remind college English teachers that the technology of multimedia is like a “double-edged sword”, therefore, teachers should develop the strong points and avoid the weak points when apply multimedia in college English teaching. By doing so, English teachers can create a vivid and efficient learning environment for students. As a result, students who study English in such an interesting and efficient atmosphere will enjoy learning English to a large extent.2. The Advantages of Multimedia in College English TeachingGenerally speaking, the advantages of multimedia in college English teaching mainly include six points. That is, when the multimedia is applied in English teaching, it can be beneficial to students listening, speaking, comprehending, and memorizing. It can also enhance students interests of learning English and improve teaching efficiency.2.1 Being Beneficial to Students ListeningIt is evident that when one begins to learn a new language, the first thing one will contact is listening, such as the sound of each element which consists of one word, the sound of a single word, even the sound of one sentence or one paragraph, etc. And it is very important in language learning because listening is the basis of communication with other people in one language. So in English teaching, teachers and students both take it into account.Now we can take a look at listening in college English teaching. We know that English audiovisual course is one of the courses in college English teaching. And the focus of it is to train the students listening. In this case, multimedia acts a very important role in training learners listening. For example, teachers can select a great many of various original listening materials which have the traits of sociality, practicability, and being interesting. Even teachers can classify these materials according to sound speed, the length of contents, phonetics articulation and so on. Then teachers can build a listening material storage in computer which has diverse listening materials fitting for students of different level to learn. And in audiovisual course, teachers can choose adaptive listening materials for them to learn from the language storage according to students average level. By doing so, students will learn English more easily. Even Students who want to practice listening to some of the teachers audio materials in their spare time can download them and continue studying. In addition, the newest version news of VOA, BBC, NPR, elegant European and American classical or rock music, extract of films, and soundtracks of celebrity speeches are helpful to students practice of listening, and they can make students reduce the influence of learners mother language to a large extent. Whats more, in sound labs, every student has his own audi