This paper focuses on the philosophies and paths of building the College English Courses (CEC) Virtual Teaching & Research Center led by Zhejiang University. Based on the concepts of “fostering virtue through education, integrating research with education, connecting the east with the west, and contributing jointly for shared benefits”, the CEC Virtual Teaching & Research Center commits itself to boosting core competitiveness featuring “innovation in course concepts, optimization in the course system, improvement in teaching and assessment, and enhancement in technological application”, and developing its organization system with “five elements”, namely serving the nation, perfecting the system, integrating research with education, innovating curriculum design, and contributing for shared benefits. The building of the CEC Virtual Teaching & Research Center reflects the efforts to actively explore innovative forms and modes of basic teaching organizations, which conforms to the requirements on College English teaching in the information age and responds to both the growth need of student individuals and the strategic need of national development.

This study adopts a 5-dimension error scoring system including fidelity, fluency, terminology translation, style and cultural reception to compare the English-Chinese translation qualities between a group of translation learners majoring in English and a Neural Machine Translation (NMT) system. The results show that the NMT's total error score and fidelity error score are significantly lower than the translation learners' mean error score, but its fluency error score is significantly higher than the translation learners' mean score. The differences between human and machine translation in terminology translation, style and cultural reception are not statistically significant. In view of the results, translation instructors should make efforts to alleviate learner anxiety, guide and supervise the proper use of machine translation technology, and reform measures of translation teaching assessment.

Abstract:From the perspective of English temporality and Chinese spatiality, this study  examines“runon sentences”  in the written language retrieved from Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC). As noteworthy errors of syntactical and textual nature, runon sentences have been frequently produced by Chinese EFL learners at different learning stages. By way of the analysis and qualitative survey of these errors and their counterparts in the learners mother tongue Chinese, the study further probes into the causation of these erroneous sentences. The results show that runon sentences in CLEC are a kind of unconscious and negative transfer incurred by the structural differences between English and Chinese. The root cause of the transfer lies in the English peoples preference for temporality and the Chinese peoples preference for spatiality in their thinking modes.
Key words:Chinese EFL learner; runon sentences; negative transfer; temporality; spatiality

Playing an important role in learners' L2 writing development, engagement with feedback is jointly affected by individual factors and environmental factors. The application of automated writing evaluation (AWE) system has furnished L2 writing pedagogic practice with a new environment of integrated feedback. This study examines the impact of the integrated feedback environment on learner engagement and L2 writing performance. The findings reveal that: (1) integrated feedback significantly outshines teacher feedback in improving learner engagement and consequently L2 writing performance; (2) in the integrated feedback environment, cognitive engagement has the greatest impact on learners' L2 writing performance, followed by behavioral engagement and affective engagement, and regarding cognitive engagement, the use of metacognitive strategies significantly contributes to a valid prediction of learners' writing performance.

Abstract:Based on the categorization of the main ideal L2 selves (IL2Ss) and through the questionnaire survey, paired samples t test and regression analysis, this study examines the intensity of different types of IL2Ss and their effect on motivational learning behavior (MLB) among sample EFL undergraduates from a university in China. The findings are as follows: there is significant difference between the means of the imagined and practical IL2Ss among the samples, but the means dont match their effect power on MLB; there is also significant difference between the means of the Eastern and Western IL2Ss, and the means do match their effect power on MLB. The study implies that its better to construct more identificationinternalized motivations than to explore theoretically as many motivations as possible, and MLB can be promoted effectively by deepening the internalization of motivations.
Key words:ideal L2 selves; types; test

Research on English listening comprehension difficulties of Chinese EFL learners is still in its infancy. The present study explores the inner structure of listening comprehension difficulties based on the language comprehension theory, and investigates the relationship between listening comprehension ability and difficulties. The results show that English listening comprehension difficulties are composed of difficulties at three stages of perception, parsing and utilization. Freshmen majoring in English encounter listening comprehension difficulties in a similar pattern, most frequently at the stage of perception, then utilization, and least frequently parsing; the lower their listening comprehension ability is, the more frequently they may encounter listening comprehension difficulties at three stages. The findings provide some implications for teaching of English listening.

Abstract:With the burgeoning development of translator education in China, translation teaching studies is becoming an area of increasing practical and theoretical significance. By resorting to Excel and CiteSpace, and based on the data from the Online Translation Studies Bibliography and SSCI database in Web of Science, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of translation teaching studies abroad over the past four decades. It analyzes the amount of annual publications, keyword clustering and cocitation references to provide visualized knowledge domains that show the focuses and trends of translation teaching studies. The paper is concluded with its implications for translation teaching studies in China.
Key words:translation teaching; knowledge domains; research focuses and trends; implications

Abstract:The National Criteria of Teaching Quality for Undergraduate English Majors will be issued in 2017. To implement the National Criteria, universities need to make criteria and design syllabuses and curriculums for English major programs. This paper offers suggestions for universities to make their own criteria, design their own syllabuses and develop corresponding curriculums in accordance with the requirements in the National Criteria.
Key words:National Criteria; talent cultivation; program features

Adopting a mixed design based on the Latent Growth Curve Modeling and Retrodictive Modeling from a Complexity Theory perspective, this study investigates the macro, meso and micro developmental features of English writing competence in a group of English-major freshmen across one year. It uses lexical complexity, sentence complexity, accuracy and fluency as the variables, and finds that: (1) the students' CAF development is not linear, faster at the beginning and the end than in the middle; (2) the students' English writing competence can be longitudinally classified into three prototypes, namely the continuous stable type, bouncing first and then stable type, and alternate bouncing and stable type; (3) the CAF development of the typical students indicates that the dynamic correlations among the sub-systems are different in three prototypes, and distribution of cognitive resources, initial writing habits, feedback and motivation are the driving forces of different outcomes. The results have implications for teaching of English writing.

The Project-based College English Virtual Teaching & Research Center was among the first batch of national experimental virtual teaching & research centers approved by the Ministry of Education. It aims for innovativeness in theoretical research, modes of organization and operation, and focal areas of work, and for excellence in course and teaching materials development, teaching methodology, and pedagogical research. To this end, the center coordinates collaboration in course development, resource construction and faculty development among school-based or virtual teaching & research groups, and encourages the sharing of academic and teaching resources, expertise, and pedagogical research achievements.

This paper introduces the background of virtual teaching & research centers, and sketches foreign language virtual teaching & research center projects approved by the Ministry of Education in 2022. It then gives an overview of the development of the Virtual Teaching & Research Center of College English Curriculum Development. Based on the proposed virtual community of practice model, the paper further illustrates its intended implementation from the aspects of theoretical basis, organizational management and community of practice.

Abstract:Mr Lu Gusun was a prominent lexicographer, translator and literary researcher, whose reflections and suggestions on foreign language teaching (FLT) could serve as great food for thought on FLT theories with Chinese characteristics. This paper summarizes Mr Lus remarks and suggestions on FLT to throw light on how we could inherit useful insights from the traditional language teaching and incorporate them into FLT theory development in China. Some of his suggestions on FLT are: (1) one should not be too practical in learning a foreign language, or in other words, one should learn to enjoy the process of learning a foreign language instead of expecting immediate gains or profits from it; (2) linguistic competence should be cultivated in tandem with the cognitive and critical thinking development; (3) more touching and inspiring materials should be added to linguistic input; (4) mechanical imitation should not be completely “ruled out”  in learning a foreign language; (5) one should often make comparisons between a mother tongue and a foreign language; (6) one should learn about the history of the target language to make language learning more effective.
Key words:Lu Gusun; Chinese characteristics; FLT theories

Abstract:In the age of translation professionalization, information literacy has become an increasingly essential requirement for professional translators. This paper investigates the information needs of professional translators, interprets the concept of information literacy for translators based upon relevant studies on information literacy and translation competence, constructs a systematic model, and further discusses the pedagogical significance of information literacy for translators. It is suggested that information literacy constitute a metaliteracy for professional translators to succeed in the translation industry, and that the goal of translation technology teaching be upgraded from technology competence training to information literacy development.
Key words:information literacy for translators; translation professionalization; translation competence; translation teaching

Based on China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSE), this study explores an implementation path of assessment for learning (AfL) in college English writing, including two implementation stages of CSE application and assessment practice. At the stage of CSE application, scale descriptors are properly processed to clarify writing ability, design writing tasks, and develop rating scales, so as to ensure rationality and feasibility of AfL implementation. The stage of assessment practice places emphasis on the combination of formative and summative evaluation, encourages students' full participation, and actively adopts new technologies to help teachers and students receive high-quality feedback. The construction of the AfL implementation path is a helpful attempt to give full play to the role of CSE, and provides some implications for more effective English writing assessment.

Abstract:The absence of critical thinking skills has been a recurring and conspicuous problem for English majors, and hence the National Criteria of Teaching Quality for Undergraduate English Majors puts forward specific requirements for the training of critical thinking skills. Based on the division of critical thinking skills into the subskills of logical reasoning, creative thinking, problem solving, comprehensive evaluation and practical operation, this paper explores how to integrate the cultivation of them into the design and teaching of curriculum modules including courses of language skills, language knowledge, language use, cultural appreciation and practice activities. The paper aims principally at enhancing students critical thinking awareness and skills, and promoting the reform of English major programs with their teaching quality improved.
Key words:National Criteria; curriculum modules; critical thinking skills; subskill cultivation

Through a quantitative content analysis of the research methods in Business English (BE) studies published in CSSCI and SSCI journals from 2007 to 2017, this paper finds that: (1) In research design, both domestic and overseas studies emphasized BE education, while international academia witnessed more BE discourse studies; both domestic and overseas studies were mainly based on linguistics, but more interdisciplinary studies were published in SSCI journals; a wider range of business genres, spoken and computermediated genres in particular, were investigated by overseas researchers. (2) In data collection, nonprobability sampling was widely applied both at home and abroad, while surveys, interviews and observations were more frequently used by overseas researchers. (3) In data analysis, mixed and qualitative methods were the mainstream in overseas studies, while quantitative methods were preferred domestically; in addition, domestic researchers made full use of corpus tools. (4) Reliability and validity tests were inadequate in both domestic and overseas studies. The paper is concluded with implications for domestic BE studies.

The Interpreting Scale is an important component of the China's Standards of English. This paper first defines the construct of interpreting proficiency, and then presents the descriptor framework of the Interpreting Scale from the perspectives of overall interpreting performance, interpreting strategic competence, interpreting knowledge and typical interpreting features. The paper further elaborates on the methods and procedures of constructing the Interpreting Scale, and illustrates its application with cases of formative assessment in interpreting teaching.

Based on the core database of Web of Science, this study analyzes the hot topics and trends of the international research on computer-assisted language learning in the past decade (2011-2021). It is found that with the development of artificial intelligence, the application of virtual reality, telecollaboration, automatic speech recognition, human-computer interaction system, automated assessment and other technologies has greatly changed the ways of foreign language learning. Informal digital learning, intelligent learning systems, blended learning and data-driven learning have become hot topics in this field. The study further summarizes the latest trends of computer-assisted language learning in the context of wide application of technologies, and provides implications for future research in the field.

Abstract:With 240 secondyear college English majors as the subjects, the present study constructs a survey scale of the inducing factors for the Chinese English learners classroom English writing anxiety, aiming to provide a scientificallyoriented and easilyhandled assessment tool for research on classroom English writing anxiety. The results show that English writing anxiety consists of the inducing factors from the language learners themselves and those from the writing process: the former refers to expression competence, language competence and discourse competence, while the latter involves evaluation feedback, written text characteristics and output modes; the ideal discrimination ability of the items in the survey scale meets the requirements of psychological measurement; the survey contents and items are closely correlated with ideal consistency and independency; the survey scale and items not only possess the predictive validity for assessing classroom English writing anxiety, but also have the potential ability in distinguishing individuals with different levels of English writing anxiety in the same English writing group.

Foreign language talents in the new era are expected to have more abilities than merely language ability, among which are critical thinking ability and intercultural communicative competence. Therefore, effective language tests will be needed to assess such abilities. By reviewing relevant literature and investigating two tasks in the English Test for International Communication, this study focuses on the development of test tasks integrating the target abilities from the aspects of task forms, task contents and evaluation criteria, with an expectation to provide useful insights for the selection and cultivation of foreign language talents.

：Malaysia is a multi-national and multi-cultural country. In such diversified social background, the linguistics scenery there are also multiple. During the colonial period, the British colonial government took English as the official language, while all the nations clung to their own languages. This leads to the lack of basis for national integration after the independence. In order to solve this problem, the Malaysia government set out language planning activities and language policies, and finally establish and consolidate the national language and sole official language status of the Malay language.

Through content analysis of the empirical studies on foreign language testing published in 14 main domestic foreign language journals from 2006 to 2017, this paper attempts to reveal the development trends, contents and features of the empirical studies on foreign language testing in China. The results show that the number of empirical studies on foreign language testing moves along a wavelike curve; more than half of the studies focus on largescale tests, and the studies deal with not only such traditional topics as test validity, construct, washback, human scoring, items/tasks/test papers, cognitive factors, affective factors and testtaker performance, but also new topics like computer and internetbased testing, automated scoring, classroom assessment, social factors, English proficiency scales, assessment literacy and cognitive diagnostic assessment; the empirical studies are characterized by a wide range of subjects, a variety of topics and mixed research methods, but they await further investigation to become more balanced, systematic and forefrontexploring. The paper further draws on the recent hotspots in international studies on language testing and puts forward suggestions for domestic studies.

The first summit forum on the construction and development of the worldclass discipline of foreign language and literature, and the inaugural meeting of the China University Alliance for the Development of Foreign Language and Literature Discipline was hosted by Shanghai International Studies University in March, 2018. This paper analyzes the hot topics of this summit forum. Through content analysis and document analysis, it summarizes the main academic views of the experts and scholars. The paper also discusses the status quo and multiple developmental trends of the worldclass foreign language and literature discipline in the Chinese higher education, so as to bring some enlightenment to the construction of the worldclass discipline of foreign language and literature in China.

Abstract:The trend of internationalization and globalization has set new requirements on intercultural communicative competence for English majors in China. This paper examines the key principles of intercultural foreign language teaching, introduces main methods of intercultural training, and applies them to foreign language teaching. By presenting an action research on intercultural teaching in the Integrated English Course and a case of classroom activity, it puts forward some accessible methods and suggestions for the design and practice of intercultural teaching.
Key words:Integrated English Course; intercultural teaching; intercultural training methods; intercultural communicative competence

Abstract:Metonymy is an essential operating mechanism for translation. However, the value of metonymic competence in translation teaching is not duly discussed. This study investigates the influence of metonymic competence on English majors   translation competence and its main influential factors. The results show that metonymic competence has real influence on translation competence in terms of metonymic identification, metonymic production and metonymic shifts. The study further puts forward some teaching measures  to improve students metonymic competence and ultimately their translation competence.
Key words:metonymy; metonymic competence; translation teaching; translation competence

The world today is going through major changes unseen in a century. Amid the new trend, how to boost a steady and sustained development of the foreign language discipline has become a new task for the academia of foreign languages. This paper explains the dialectical relationship between “going steady” and “going far”, analyses the challenges and opportunities faced by the foreign language discipline, and discusses the ways to enhance the high-quality development of the foreign language discipline.

Through questionnaires and background data mining, this study explores the level of English reading flow state, its influencing factors and the relationship between flow experience and reading performance of 101 English major freshmen. Descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple linear regression analyses find that: (1) the overall level of reading flow is low, and nearly two thirds of the students have no flow experience; (2) the learner factors affecting reading flow include reading interest, reading confidence and reading skills, among which reading interest has the greatest impact; (3) flow experience is significantly correlated with reading achievement, amount of reading and reading speed, and there are significant differences in these three aspects of reading performance between the students with and without flow experience. Flow experience is an important predictor of reading achievement, but there is no correlation between flow experience and reading duration.

Abstract:Integrated readingtowrite is indispensable to college English writing instruction in academic settings, while the confounding of skills in such tasks is a bottleneck in delineating the corresponding construct. Under the framework of China's Standards of English and with questionnaires and writing texts as information sources，this article makes an investigation into the readingtowrite construct and its components. Analysis of data from 205 teachers and 299 students yields the following results: 1) readingtowrite is a unique construct different from either reading or writing, with meditationtransformation as a core element; 2) writing ability, meditationselecting and constructing, readinggeneralization and evaluation, readingidentifying and comprehension, strategyplanning, strategyexecuting, and meditationtransformation are 7 factors contributing to the readingtowrite construct; 3) writing ability takes dominance on a taskspecific basis. The results might provide useful insights for writing instruction and assessment.

This paper provides an academic dialogue with Professor Michael Byram on localization of intercultural communication theories, dimensions and evaluation of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in teaching materials. The dialogue reveals that the Chinese scholars have managed to localize intercultural communication theories in practice. ICC presentation in teaching materials shall give priority to skills of relation and discovery among cultures, attitudes and critical cultural awareness. ICC evaluation shall integrate formative assessment of intercultural activities to improve students ICC. The paper is concluded with implications of intercultural communication theories for teaching materials evaluation.

This paper deals with the textbook series New Progressive College English in respects of its background, compiling concepts, framework and distinctive features. Written in accordance with the Guidelines on College English Teaching and drawing on rich experience from the College English and New College English textbook series, the New Progressive College English aims to meet the requirements of teaching EFL in China in the new era. The textbook series provides reading materials from the latest English articles, various exercises and digital resources, all of which involve pioneering practices in college English textbook compilation.