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.

Intelligent chatbots are emerging technological tools for second language acquisition, though their effects on language acquisition remain controversial. Using meta-analysis, this study examines the overall and moderating effects of 35 experimental and quasi-experimental studies on application of intelligent chatbots to second language acquisition in the past decade. The results show that: (1) the overall average effect value is 0.677, exhibiting a large effect on language learning; (2) the moderating variables such as learning stages, teaching cycles, intelligent chatbot features (including interfaces and interaction modes), and second language skills produce significant effects on language learning, while learning situations have no moderating effect. The study provides implications for applying intelligent chatbots to second language teaching.

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.

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.

As an essential higher-order capacity for foreign language learners, meta discourse awareness provides vital support for fostering high-quality foreign language professionals. Drawing on the findings from the research on English-Chinese discourse contrastive analysis, this paper proposes a content framework and its implementation strategy for cultivating meta discourse awareness. The framework operates at the micro, meso and macro levels, and comprises five key factors, namely structural awareness, semantic awareness, genre awareness, critical awareness and intercultural awareness. To implement the framework, the metacognition driven input-output strategy is adopted. With metacognition in the central organizing position, the strategy emphasizes clear goal orientation and self-regulatory ability development through discourse input and output. Its core lies in the bidirectional adjustment by teachers and learners via continuous reflection and feedback, thereby facilitating the effective transfer from English-Chinese discourse knowledge to intercultural discourse processing competence.

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.

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.

Views of language competence determine the paths and directions of foreign language education. As a significantly influential linguistic competence framework, the Communicative Language Ability (CLA) model has served as a theoretical foundation for developing language proficiency scales and formulating foreign language education policies worldwide. This paper clarifies that the CLA model proposed by Bachman & Palmer (2010) features dual-mode categorization (non-interactive and interactive), and integrates the dual framework of language competence and language use, thereby advancing the paradigm shift in applied linguistics toward sociocognitive approaches. The paper further explores the application of the CLA model to foreign language assessment, materials development and teaching, aiming to enhance the facilitating roles of language competence models in foreign language educational practice in China.

This study collected 1 758 valid questionnaires from college students all over China, and used structural equation modelling to explore the influence of digital nativeness composed of 4 factors on students' online English learning engagement. The results showed that: (1) the digital nativeness of Chinese college students was at a high level; (2) their online English learning engagement was above the medium level; (3) “growing up with technology” had no significant impact on online English learning engagement, “comfortable with multitasking” had a significant negative impact on online English learning engagement, while “reliant on graphics for communication” and “thriving on instant gratifications and rewards” had significant positive impacts on online English learning engagement. Online English teaching suggestions and future research directions are further provided.

Based on the macroscopic socio-educational model and the microscopic L2 motivation model, this study explored the interrelationship among 6 internal dimensions of L2 learning motivation (i.e., ideal L2 self, interest in language learning, cultural integration, information medium, attitudes toward native speakers of the target language, and individual development). A total of 898 Chinese, American and British university students completed a questionnaire, and the survey data were subsequently fitted by structural equation modelling. Results showed that interest in L2 learning had significant impacts on individual development, cultural integration, attitudes toward native speakers of the target language, and ideal L2 self. Nationality had mediating effects on individual development, information medium, attitudes toward native speakers of the target language, and interest in L2 learning. These observations, the direct effects of interest in L2 learning and the mediating effects of nationality in particular, are potentially insightful for updating the existing L2 learning motivation models.

As a vital medium for cultural inheritance and knowledge imparting, textbooks play a significant role in communicating the discourse with Chinese characteristics. Addressing current challenges in the international communication of the discourse with Chinese characteristics, China and the World: Progressive College English innovatively explores effective approaches to integrating the discourse with Chinese characteristics into college English textbooks. Through theme-based text organization, a blended print-digital format, and original exercise design, together with a comparative China-global perspective and multidimensional communication strategies, the textbook aims to cultivate students' ability to tell China's stories well in English, thereby facilitating the global communication of the discourse with Chinese characteristics.

Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have brought new opportunities to foreign language education in universities, and the new ecology of online and offline integrated teaching has put forward new requirements for non-language major foreign language teachers. This paper sorts out the conceptions of teacher competence and the previous relevant literature both at home and abroad. Then, it proposes a situated and dynamic competence framework for non-language major foreign language teachers in the online and offline integrated environment. The proposed framework comprises three competence components of awareness, knowledge and skills, and includes three development stages of exploration, integration and innovation. The paper is expected to provide insights for the professional development of university non-language major foreign language teachers in the information age, and promote the deep integration of ICT and foreign language teaching.

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.

Grounded in the self-regulated learning theory and blended learning theory, this study constructs an AI agent-assisted blended autonomous learning model of foreign languages, aiming to maintain the balance between the technological empowerment and development of autonomous learning abilities. This model emphasizes dynamic alignment of learning objectives and content, interactive design of learning methods and organization, and continuous improvement of learning assessment and feedback, and is implemented through a “planningexecutionreflection” cycle. An interpreting teaching experiment demonstrates that the model significantly improves students' interpreting performance, which is positively correlated with learning stages, while technology acceptance and feedback mechanisms reveal phased cognitive adaptation needs. Based on the experimental findings, the study provides recommendations for optimizing the model implementation, including collaboratively setting goals, explicitly teaching strategies and coordinating emotional support.

The development of China's higher foreign language education has always been closely aligned with national strategies. This paper begins with a concise review of the evolution of higher foreign language education since the reform and opening-up, revealing the historical logic behind its service to national strategies. On this basis, it argues that the new connotation of higher foreign language education has shifted toward playing a foundational and strategic supporting role in pursuing the cause of building China into a leading country in education. Against the backdrop of national rejuvenation and digital-intelligent technological transformation, the paper proposes for higher foreign language education a trinity of development coordinates, grounded in “Chinese perspective, mutual learning among civilizations, and AI integration”. Through systematic self-innovation and accelerated transformation, higher foreign language education should commit to cultivating new-type foreign language professionals capable of meeting the critical national needs, and proactively respond to the requirements of the times within the broader context of “advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization”.

This two-term ethnographic case study explored the process and the influencing factors of the academic literacy socialization of five freshmen majoring in foreign languages. It was found that the socialization of academic literacy developed at different stages, and at the practice stage the participants underwent three sub-stages, namely challenge, exploration and harvest. This complex and dynamic socialization process was influenced by the sociocultural environment at the marco level, the contexts of schools and classrooms at the meso level, and the individual factors at the micro level. The study further proposed a model of the academic literacy socialization.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the New Era, integrating excellent traditional Chinese culture into teaching of foreign language majors has become increasingly important and urgent. Taking the course “Key Topics on Traditional Chinese Culture” as a case study, this paper addresses the issue mainly from two aspects of curriculum framework and teaching methods. In terms of the former, the author establishes the course themes based on traditional Chinese philosophical ideology of “Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism” and traditional Chinese literature of “Tang Poetry, Song Ci, Yuan Drama, Ming and Qing Novels”, and constructs three core teaching modules, including cultural learning, foreign language expression, and translation analysis. Regarding the latter, the author proposes five methods, namely close reading and appreciation, terminology translation, comparative reading of multiple translations, cross-cultural comparison, and synthesis. The paper provides references and insights for cultivating foreign language majors' ability of “telling China's stories well” and supporting the Chinese culture “Going Global” strategy.

As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly impacts on various industries, foreign language education has become a widely debated subject once more. This paper argues that in the AI era, foreign language education should implement the New Model of Tertiary Foreign Language Education by adhering to the basic educational principles of prioritizing students' key competencies, including language proficiency, human-AI interaction skills, intercultural competences, and research capabilities. Meanwhile, it should strategically incorporate AI tools to enhance teaching effectiveness. Foreign language teachers should strengthen AI literacy both in theory and practice to develop the New Model of Tertiary Foreign Language Education and drive teaching innovation, so that foreign language programs can cultivate high-quality talents capable of meeting the demands of national and societal progress in the AI era.

With its rapid advancement, artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually replacing the instrumental value of the discipline of foreign languages and literatures, but not the ontological value. However, AI has prompted the discipline to engage in deep reflection on its shortcomings in substantive aspects of development, thereby accelerating its substantive and innovative development. To meet national strategic demands, the discipline should establish an independent system of global knowledge and scholarship while cultivating high-level talents equipped with interdisciplinary literacy and creative thinking. In the AI era, the discipline of foreign languages and literatures should aim to construct China's independent knowledge system and talent cultivation system, actively embrace and skillfully utilize AI technologies, and deepen the development of knowledge production, academic innovation, discourse construction and talent cultivation across its five major research areas under the concept of “New Humanism”, in order to demonstrate its irreplaceable value.

Speech perception is a cognitive process that integrates visual and auditory modalities. Observers process prominent information through visual (e.g. facial expressions) and auditory (e.g. prominence) cues. Based on the McGurk effect theory, this study investigates Chinese EFL learners' audiovisual perception of English and Chinese prominence by measuring reaction time and accuracy. The results reveal that the congruent audiovisual cues have the strongest effect on prominence perception. It is easier for EFL learners to judge Chinese prominence than English prominence, showing native language advantage. Under audiovisually congruent conditions, EFL learners' audiovisual perception patterns of English prominence closely approximate those of native speakers. It is faster and easier to detect prominent words in the non-final positions of a sentence than those in the final position. The study provides foundational data for human-computer interaction research, offering practical application value in fields such as intelligent education and medical rehabilitation.

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.

Based on the Interpreting Scale of China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSE) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the current study develops an automatic scoring system for interpreting, hopefully applicable to interpreting teaching, learning, and testing. Preliminary data shows that the Pearson coefficient of the AI algorithm model 1.0 and human reviewers is 0.95 in the homogeneous interpreting student population. In the case of heterogeneous interpreting students in different application scenarios and high consistency among human reviewers, the scores of AI model fluctuate in a certain range. The study concludes that it is feasible to use AI algorithm models to apply CSE-Interpreting Scales in automatic scoring of interpreting.