On June 16th to 18th, 2023, the 20th National Symposium on Teaching for English Majors at Polytechnic Universities and the 5th Forum for Deans/Department Heads were successfully held in Xi’an Jiao Tong University. The symposium was sponsored by the English Major Teaching Guidance Subcommittee of the National Administry Committee on Teaching English Language to Majors in Higher Education under the Ministry of Education, organized by the School of Foreign Studies of Xi’an Jiao Tong University, and co-organized by the Xi’an Jiao Tong University Press and the Beijing Waiyan Online Digital Technology Co., Ltd.
The opening ceremony was delivered by Wang Shuguo, President of Xi’an Jiao Tong University, and Peng Qinglong, head of the Polytechnic Group, the National Administry Subcommittee on Teaching English Language to Majors in Higher Education under the Ministry of Education as well as Distinguished Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Subsequently, renowned experts and scholars make keynote speeches, including Prof. Sun Youzhong, Vice President of Beijing Foreign Studies University and Director of the National Administry Committee on Foreign Languages and Literatures in Higher Education under The Ministry of Education, Prof. Wang Qilong, President of Xi’an International Studies University and Chief Expert of the Major Project of the National Social Science Program, and Prof. Jiang Yajun, Vice President of Xi’an International Studies University and Vice Director of the National Administry Subcommittee on Teaching English Language to Majors in Higher Education under The Ministry of Education.
More than 110 experts and scholars, deans, department heads and key teachers from over 50 polytechnic colleges and universities in different provinces and cities across the country attended the conference. Prof. Chen Xiangjing, Dean of School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiao Tong University, presided over the opening ceremony. Dean Liu Qin of our college was invited by the symposium to make a keynote speech. Huang Fang, Director of the English Department (Sino-U.S. Cooperation) and Wu Juyan, Associate Director of the English Department (Scientific and Technical Translation), from the College of Foreign Languages at USST also attended the event.
In the keynote presentation titled “Upholding Tradition and Innovating in Foreign Language Disciplines at Polytechnic Institutes in the Context of Chinese-style Modernization”, Liu Qin proposed that under the perspective of Chinese modernization, the construction of foreign language and literature disciplines in polytechnic institutes needs to be organically integrated with the school conditions and subject attributes, and take the road of characteristic development. She reviewed the development process of the foreign language and literature discipline at Shanghai Polytechnic University and discussed how to maintain tradition and innovation within the framework of Chinese-style modernization. In addition, she believes that the School of Foreign Languages should explore new disciplinary directions on the basis of consolidating traditional subject fields, so as to contribute to the overall development of the university.
In a sub-forum, Ms. Wu Juyan gave a presentation titled “Development of English-Chinese Comparative Linguistic Literacy in English Teachers in the Intelligent Era”. She emphasized the three major functions of language: communication, thinking and culture. Taking the comparative study of English-Chinese lexical imagery, syntactic structure and discourse system as an example, she elaborated on the significant differences between English and Chinese in terms of language ontology, national thinking and traditional culture. Furthermore, she called on English teachers to continuously enhance their theoretical literacy in comparative linguistics, and cultivate foreign language talents who can serve the national strategies, meet national needs and boast excellent cross-cultural communication skills.
The symposium is of great significance for further implementing the Ministry of Education’s new guidelines and policies for cultivating foreign language talents, promoting the digitalization and internationalization of foreign language disciplines in colleges and universities, contributing to the development of English majors in polytechnic colleges and universities nationwide, and cultivating high-quality new liberal arts foreign language talents. Also, it provides clear direction for improving foreign language disciplines at polytechnic colleges and universities.
