An important purpose of language standards is to enhance the clarity of test score interpretation, enrich the meaning of test scores, and promote the rational use of language tests. In preparation for the reform of the College English Test (CET), especially its score interpretation and report, the National College English Testing Committee conducted an alignment study, in which the CET was linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the China's Standards of English Language Ability. This study presents the rationale for the alignment study, and explains the research design and implementation. It then reports the findings and discusses the implications of the alignment study for improving locally developed language standards and language tests. Finally, suggestions on the methodology and implementation are provided for future alignment studies.

Implicature constitutes a central topic in L2 pragmatic research. The present study, using a self-paced reading task, explores the influence of different types of implicature on L2 implicature processing among Chinese English learners with varying English proficiencies. The linear mixed effect model results show that: (1) types of implicature significantly influence L2 processing, and the respective processing costs of indirect refusals, indirect opinions and ironies increase successively; (2) there are significant differences between advanced and intermediate learners in processing L2 implicature, the former coming out with higher accuracy and shorter response time, and the latter with lower accuracy and longer response time. These findings partially support the conventionality effect, and reveal the pragmatic inferencing mechanisms in L2 implicature processing across different levels of English proficiencies.

This paper explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in foreign language education research, and proposes a systematic and multi-dimensional framework for research topic selection and methodological recommendations. First, it constructs a “four-dimensional” conceptual framework comprising national policies, foreign language teaching design, teaching implementation, and teachers and learners as educational agents, highlighting the logical interconnections among these dimensions. Second, it presents three approaches to topic selection: top-down systematic progression, flexible selection with comprehensive examination, and focus on teaching and learning subjects. The paper then elaborates on applicable research methods, including mixed methods, case study, case analysis, design-based research, dialectical research, etc., and illustrates their applications with specific examples. Finally, it emphasizes the significance of AI technology in foreign language education research, and suggests directions for future research.

To build a strong nation, education must be prioritized, and to strengthen education, the quality of teachers must be enhanced in the first place. This paper, in the context of building a strong nation in education, elaborates on the “five-in-one” competencies of college foreign language teachers. It addresses how college foreign language teachers should enhance digital literacy and utilize artificial intelligence to promote the digital transformation of college foreign language education. It calls on college foreign language teachers to consciously model themselves after exemplary educators, uphold moral character, diligently pursue academic excellence, and continuously enhance their own competencies, in order to advance education modernization, deliver education meeting people's expectations and build a strong nation in education.

This one year longitudinal study involves two cohorts of undergraduates at a Chinese university: 2 673 students from the 2022 cohort and 2 272 students from the 2023 cohort. It uses a self-developed GenAI-powered personalized adaptive learning system ZJU E-Lang, and examines its role in improving EFL listening and reading abilities from the perspectives of learning outcomes and students' perceived effectiveness. The findings indicate that the GenAI-powered system significantly enhanced students' English listening and reading abilities. However, a clear novelty effect was observed, with substantial progress during the first half of the year followed by a slowdown in the second half. Students' perceptions of the GenAI-powered system varied by discipline, but disciplinary backgrounds did not interact with GenAI-facilitated learning effects. The positive effects of the GenAI-powered system in supporting language learning provide enlightenment for the deep integration of human intelligence and artificial intelligence in foreign language teaching.

The rise of large language models has profoundly reshaped translation production practices, presenting a significant challenge to traditional translation training systems. This paper, oriented towards the objectives of knowledge, skills, and critical thinking, proposes a pedagogical framework driven by large language models for human-machine collaborative translation. The framework comprises a four-stage teaching pathway of translation diagnosis, prompt design, multi-round interaction and project practice, and adopts a comprehensive evaluation method, aiming to promote the intelligent transformation of translation education and cultivate innovative translators in the AI era.

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.

Based on 11 670 job ads collected through data mining, this study conducts multiple textometric needs analysis of translation-related jobs in Chinese markets in terms of language competence, domain-relevant knowledge and instrumental competence. The findings reveal that in the context of the new development pattern, there is a marked increase in the needs for translation talents' domain-relevant knowledge in emerging fields, and instrumental competence. Job positions and language requirements reflect the cluster effect of business activities in a specific region. The recruitment requirements for translation talents with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are homogeneous, except for the difference in domains and positions. Accordingly, the study offers suggestions for translator training in China concerning talent levels, educational resources, and industry-academia collaboration.

This paper proposes a new model of translation revision competence by integrating key elements of translation competence and translation revision competence. The specific components of the model include cognitive competence, strategic competence, assessment competence, the spirit of truth-seeking, the spirit of utility-attaining, common elements of translation competence and unique elements of translation revision competence. It incorporates the translator's self-revision, which is often excluded by Western scholars, and can explain various types of translation revision, such as monolingual revision and literary translation revision. Its distinctive feature lies in the openness of components, so that each type of translation revision can activate corresponding sub-competences. The model has both theoretical and practical value, offering insights for understanding relevant theoretical translation concepts and cultivating translation talents.

With the rapid development of new-generation information technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is irreversibly reshaping the ecosystem of foreign language education, bringing unprecedented opportunities and challenges to foreign language education. Only by forging ahead in the right direction can AI-empowered foreign language education truly promote the development of programs and serve the progress of humanity. To carry forward the reform of foreign language education, it is essential to actively embrace AI technologies, integrate into the broader trend, and identify the contemporary positioning of foreign language education. Efforts should also be made to strengthen the internal capabilities of foreign language education, enhance its connotation, optimize its structure, update its types and models, and adhere to its humanistic nature through inheritance and innovation.

This paper overviews the issues related to the researchpractice relationship in second language education. In the field of second language education, there has long been a disconnect between theoretical research and teaching practice, primarily due to: (1) practical and epistemological barriers between researchers and teachers; (2) past research typically focusing only on teachers while neglecting other stakeholders in the educational ecosystem; (3) the limitations of empirical research in directly addressing complex educational contexts. To bridge the gap between research and practice, the paper proposes a series of potential actions that researchers can take, including fostering a sense of collaboration, re-examining research topics, designs and dissemination, and clarifying research directions, with the aim of better advancing second language education.

Research on emotions in the field of applied linguistics predominantly focuses on their linear effects, overlooking nonlinear relationships among variables. Conducting a questionnaire survey of 325 undergraduate students, and utilizing polynomial regression and response surface analysis, this study investigates the nonlinear impact of foreign language anxiety and enjoyment on learning engagement. The results reveal that when foreign language anxiety and enjoyment change in the same direction, students' engagement is significantly higher in the low anxiety and enjoyment situation than in the high anxiety and enjoyment situation. When foreign language anxiety and enjoyment change in the opposite directions, students' engagement is significantly higher in the low anxiety and high enjoyment situation than in the high anxiety and low enjoyment situation. The study offers a novel perspective for foreign language emotion research and provides implications for enhancing students' foreign language learning engagement.

As an important course assessment form, portfolio assessment requires a scientific rating scale for its effective application. Taking the case of the course Comprehensive English and adopting the method of teacher-student cooperative construction, this study collected and analyzed the independent ratings and reflections of teachers and students on portfolios, focused group discussions and questionnaire surveys to develop a rating scale for the portfolio. It subsequently validated the portfolio through the Many-Facet Rasch Model analysis of student ratings. The study provides empirical evidence for applying portfolios to foreign language courses, and has methodological implications for developing rating scales for other courses of foreign language programs.

This study systematically reviews the literature on the role of task planning in second language learning from a methodological perspective. Fifty-six SSCI articles were coded and statistically analyzed. The results revealed that the participants were mainly adult EFL learners; quantitative methods and controlled experimental designs were dominant; comparisons of task planning conditions and types were not sufficiently balanced; researchers preferred classroom or laboratory environments, often using narrative essays or argumentative essays; syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, accuracy and fluency were meticulously analyzed; many statistical methods were used for data analysis, with insufficient attention paid to their assumption checking. Recommendations for future research on task planning are offered.

Based on the theoretical framework of educational ecology, and through textual analysis of outstanding teaching cases, this study elucidates the ecological characteristics, imbalances, and optimization pathways within the evaluation system of curriculum-based ideological and political education (CIPE) implemented by foreign language teachers. The findings reveal that the evaluation system has distinctive content characteristics of “bidirectional facilitation” and strategic features of “tripartite mutual construction”, while simultaneously exposing ecological imbalances such as temporal-spatial disconnections in evaluation activities, absence of multi-agent collaboration mechanisms, and deficiency of reflective culture. The study then proposes an ecological CIPE evaluation framework for foreign language teachers, which comprises five dimensions: 1) a “language-culture-value” tripartite evaluation matrix, 2) multimodal and cross-culturally contextualized assessment methodologies, 3) mutually constructive and co-evolutionary evaluation agents, 4) institutionalized reflective evaluation culture, and 5) external ecological nourishment encompassing policies, technologies and resources. It provides an operational CIPE evaluation framework for high-quality morality cultivation.

GenAI, as the core engine driving the digital transformation of education, is reshaping the practical paradigms of foreign language education through multidimensional synergistic mechanisms. This paper firstly addresses the limitations inherent in technology-enabled foreign language education, and clarifies the transformative significance of GenAI's technical features for forming a new education ecosystem. Subsequently, it examines the interaction of the four dimensions of teaching, learning, assessment and governance, elucidates the internal logic behind GenAI's empowerment of foreign language education, and thus proposes corresponding actionable approaches. In so doing, the paper aims to provide insights and references for the sustainable development of intelligent foreign language education.

Machine translation literacy has emerged as a frontier topic in translation studies in the human-machine collaboration era, but assessment tools for machine translation literacy remain underdeveloped. This study attempts to construct a machine translation literacy scale consisting of 5 dimensions and 18 indicators, and examines its reliability and validity. The dimensions include human-machine translating knowledge, human-machine translating strategies, pre-editing techniques, post-editing techniques and human-machine relationship understanding. The statistical results indicate that the scale demonstrates good convergent validity, discriminant validity, and internal consistency reliability. The machine translation literacy scale may provide reference for quantitative assessment in translation education and practice.

Within the theoretical framework of L2 Motivational Self System and by questionnaires and SEM, this study examined the mediating effects of motivated behavior on L2 Self and English reading and writing skills. The results show that Ideal L2 Self exerted a significant effect on reading skills, and motivated behavior partially mediated the effect of Ideal L2 Self on reading skills; L2 Learning Experience had a significant effect on writing skills, and motivated behavior partially mediated the effect of L2 Learning Experience on writing skills; Oughtto L2 Self exerted no significant effect on reading and writing skills, and thus no mediating effect existed. These results may contribute to the teaching and learning of English reading and writing skills.

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 College English Test (CET), a language testing system with distinctive Chinese characteristics, was designed and developed by Chinese language testers in the 1980s. In this article, a review was undertaken of the reform and development of the CET in the past three decades, focusing on its role in promoting college English teaching and learning. Directions for the further development of language testing in China were discussed based on the validity theory of language testing. It was suggested that language testers in China should pay due attention to the Chinese context and be actively engaged in research on the social dimensions of language testing so as to facilitate a sustained development of domestic language tests with Chinese characteristics and enhance their international recognition.

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.

Based on the author's personal experiences of learning to do qualitative research, this autoethnography reflects on the dilemma of qualitative research development in China's academia of foreign languages and seeks its solutions. The narrative inquiry finds that the dilemma is largely due to difficulties in learning and applying qualitative research, misunderstandings of and bias toward qualitative research among some researchers, and repellence from the traditional research culture and current academic context. In the era of methodological pluralism, the practice of teaching and learning qualitative research needs to be integrated into Chinas foreign language teacher education and postgraduate programs, and qualitative research deserves a place in domestic academic journals'

This paper expounds the theory and application of a dialectical research paradigm (DRP). It includes three major sections. The first section discusses the essential differences between the DRP and the DRM (dialectical research method). The second explains the theoretical framework of the DRP. Finally, the third looks into the practical value of the DRP by drawing on the authors own research experiences, and points out the problems to which the DRP users should pay attention.

Through investigating the curricula of the first cohort of 167 under-construction first-rate foreign language programs covering 25 majors, this paper looks into the implementation of the regulations and requirements for practicum teaching stated in the National Standards of Teaching Quality for Undergraduate Foreign Language and Literature Majors. The analysis of the teaching design of the programs shows that the designing of practicum teaching modules reflects different understanding of practicum teaching and different requirements both among different language-major programs and within the same language-major programs. Exemplar cases as well as suggestions are provided for implementing practicum teaching and cultivating critical thinking and innovation ability in the construction of first-rate foreign language major programs. The paper concludes with a call for the exploration into designing and implementing labor education in foreign language major programs.

Starting from college English teachers concern over the practice of blended teaching and taking the design of the textbook series New Progressive College English as an example, this paper attempts to discuss the background, principles and advantages of integrating textbooks with digital resources in blended teaching, so as to encourage graded teaching by embracing new teaching tools and foster students autonomous learning ability by using online platforms with teaching management functions.

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.

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.

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.

This study explores the connotation and practice of Chinese cultural awareness construction in university foreign language education. It elucidates the significant importance of integrating Chinese culture into university foreign language education, and provides a detailed analysis of the three levels of Chinese cultural awareness construction, namely recognition of Chinese culture, identification of Chinese culture, and confidence in Chinese culture. Based on questionnaire surveys and interviews of university foreign language teachers, it then proposes specific implementation routes from the aspects of textbooks, teaching methods and teachers, focusing on promoting the sublimation of students' Chinese cultural awareness from recognition to identification and ultimately to confidence. The study contributes to the cultivation of new-era talents with rich culture and the realization of the grand vision of a culturally strong China.

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for multimodal construction of transcultural Chinese discourse, and applies it to analysing the national image promotional videos Perspectives (2011) and PRC (2023). Analysis shows that there are two forms of transcultural Chinese discourse systems. The former mainly relies on implicit evaluation, focusing on inclusiveness and internal diversity of Chinese culture; the latter highlights explicit evaluation, emphasizing interconnection and coexistence among different cultures. The paper suggests that research on transcultural multimodal Chinese discourse is of great significance for cultivating high-quality multidisciplinary talents specializing in foreign languages and international communication to enhance the efficacy of China's global communication.