The 2023 Seminar on Foreign Language Teachers' Research Ability Development at TJU

On May 27, the 2023 Foreign Language Teachers Research Ability Development Seminar for Universities in Tianjin, sponsored by the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, co-organized by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, and undertaken by the School of Foreign Languages of Tianjin University, was held in the lecture hall on the first floor of the Large Device Simulation Center of in the Beiyangyuan Campus of Tianjin University.

The purpose of the conference is to fully study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, calling on local universities to foster virtue through education, to advance the high-quality development of college foreign language education, to meet the needs of foreign language teachers in research ability development. In this way, local universities can to better serve the economic and social development of Tianjin. 

More than 200 attendees were present at the seminar, including academic leaders, research directors, and outstanding teachers from local universities in Tianjin.

The opening ceremony of the conference was chaired by Professor Wang Lisong from Tianjin University. Zhang Junyan, Tianjin University’s Party Committee Standing Committee member, United Front Department Director, Social Sciences Department Director, and Director of the Liberal Arts Office on behalf of Tianjin University, delivered a welcoming speech in which she introduced the discipline system and the development of the philosophy and social sciences at Tianjin University, as well as the progress of the foreign language discipline.

In recent years, TJU’s overall strength in foreign language discipline has been continuously enhanced: Outstanding results have been achieved in the national fifth round of discipline evaluation for the Master of Interpreting and Translation; the number of high-quality journal papers has increased significantly, and national social science translation projects have been approved. And the host school has won awards and honors in teaching including, the title of Tianjin Municipal University Curriculum Ideology and Politics Demonstration Course, Tianjin Teaching Achievement Award, and Teaching Team Award.

On behalf of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, Shi Bing extended a warm welcome to the experts and scholars present, calling on the attendees to fully understand the importance of enhancing the research ability of foreign language teachers, to motivate them to further conduct in-depth research and strive to create new academic achievements.

Yan Kai, on behalf of the Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, expressed sincere gratitude to the full trust of Municipal Education Commission and long-term support from Tianjin University. Yan said the Press has been and will be committed to promoting the development of foreign language education in China, and advocate reform in foreign language education, making contributions to the development of foreign language teaching and academic progress, the construction of foreign language disciplines, and the cultivation of talents in the new era. 

TJU has always attached great importance to foreign language education and the building of the first-class expert team. Previously, Tianjin University appointed Professor Wen Jun from Beihang University and Miao Xingwei from Beijing Normal University as part-time professors. Minister Zhang Junyan issued the letter of appointment to Professor Wen Jun at the opening ceremony. 

The post-ceremony report session was chaired by four professors from local universities. 

Professor Zhao Ronghui from Shanghai International Studies University delivered a keynote report entitled “International Understanding and Competence Cultivation in New Globalization”. She elaborated on the path to achieve the goal of international understanding and competence in the new globalization for foreign language education from three perspectives, including “Global Governance in New Globalization”, “From International Understanding to Trust”, and “Foreign Language Education for Achieving International Competence”. 

Professor Miao Xingwei from Beijing Normal University delivered a speech entitled “the Theoretical Framework and Analytical Model in Language Research” with his case studies, pointing out the significance of theoretical guidance in language research, foreign language teaching, and curriculum construction and emphasizing the need for language research to enhance problem awareness, focus on theoretical accomplishment, and be based on language facts to integrate theory with practice.

Professor Wen Jun from Beihang University started with "one concept, one viewpoint, and one case" to systematically explain the process, content, and skills to apply for social science fund projects, calling on attending teachers to make academic research activities a way of life and the fund a phased achievement, a booster and a new starting point for subsequent research activities, with continuous academic result production as the core aim.

Professor Lu Wei from Beijing Language and Culture University explained the relationship between the Country and Area Studies and related disciplines，explored the new research projects brought by inter-disciplinary areas and potential directions for teachers to engage in old and new disciplines with the theme “Exploring the direction of academic research in foreign language disciplines at the inter-disciplinary are of old and new disciplines: with the example of ‘Country and Area Studies’”  

After the report, Professor Wang Lishong from Tianjin University delivered a keynote report entitled “Focusing on the Growth Path of ‘Foreign Language Plus’ and Cultivating inter-disciplinary Foreign Language Talents in the New Era”. He discussed the growth path and cultivation strategies of foreign language talents in both domestic and international situations, as well as the opportunities and challenges faced by translation talents and critical aspects of cultivation in the new era and shared special cultivation measures at Tianjin University.  

In order to promote the development of philosophical and sociological disciplines in Tianjin’s universities, the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press have jointly established the Research Program for Foreign Language Education under open competition mechanisms since 2021. After two years’ development, the initiative has fully mobilized the enthusiasm of front-line foreign language teachers in Tianjin’s universities, achieving outstanding results. At the conference, Chen Jiafu from Tianjin Agricultural University and Feng Ruiling from Tianjin Normal University, both as project representatives, shared their experiences and feelings on project application and construction. Professor Wen Jun had wonderful comments on the two projects and provided insightful suggestions for the projects.

Ding Shanshan, on behalf of Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, made concluding remarks on the project. This conference also released the application guidelines for Research Program (Foreign Language Education) under open competition mechanisms for 2023. 

After the one-day conference, attendees expressed their appreciation for the practical and informative seminar which focused on academic leadership and research empowerment, centering on the improvement of foreign language education and teacher research abilities in the new era and benefited a lot.