On the morning of November 22nd, 2021, Zhou Yezhong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Wuhan University and vice president, led a team to our school to investigate the reform program of College English curriculum. Other attendees included Zhang Shaodong, dean of the Undergraduate College, Jiang Xin and Wu Dan, vice deans of Undergraduate College, and people in charge of the Quality Management Department of the Undergraduate College. Leading members of the Party committee and administration in our school, the teaching supervisor of College English curriculum, the director of the College English Department and representatives of teachers attended the colloquium presided over by Zhang Shaodong.

Combining the talent training objectives of Wuhan University and the advantages of the College English Department, the tailored experimental scheme for reform of advanced English teaching was rolled out based on “listening and speaking training first ”. This reform will usher in a new paradigm for the revision of the English Development Program for Colleges and Universities (2023 edition) since it is a further reform measure, with the integration of research of all party, launched step by step by the College English Department on the basis of the English teaching quality reform in the Undergraduate College in 2021.

In the report on the curriculum reform plan, Cheng Xiangli, the vice dean in charge of the College English Department, put forward the necessity of the reform from the perspective of adapting to the change, and made an exhaustive introduction from the aspects of curriculum purpose, teaching model, textbook, teaching team and implementation plan. The 2021 English Fast Class and the advanced English course of Hongyi Honor College of Whuhan University will be selected as the pilot of the reform program, which will integrate knowledge imparting, skill training and character shaping to better cultivate professionals with excellent English language competency, profound humanistic quality and good thinking and communication in the process of exploring the instrumental, humanistic and ideological features of language teaching, helped by the combination of modern technology, the philosophy of “listening and speaking training first” and mixed teaching mode in which offline teaching plays a leading role while online teaching serves as a supplement. This reform program will be implemented in three stages: The first half of 2022 is the pilot phase, in which we mainly conduct research on teaching mode, summarize demonstration experience and establish demonstration classroom. The second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023 is the promotion stage, which will promote the teaching mode of the pilot classes to the ordinary classes. In the second half of 2023, a new College English teaching system under the mode of talent cultivation scheme will be established.

Professor Wang Huoyan, the teaching supervisor of the College English Department and a member of the National Foreign Languages Teaching Advisory Board Under the Ministry of Education, believes that the reform plan of the College English Department is in line with the current development direction of foreign language teaching, concretely analyzing the feasibility of implementing the plan from three aspects: textbooks, teachers and teaching. Li Jiali, deputy director of the College English Department, explained the scientific character of the plan from the perspective of language learning laws and teaching rules. Having summed up previous research on other universities, Zhang Mingyao, director of the College English Department, detailed the specific problems and corresponding solutions based on the status quo of the College English Department. Teachers' representatives, all frontline teachers, held a full discussion, expressing their confidence in the implementation of teaching reform.

Ma Xiao, Dean of the School of Foreign Language and Literature, expressed that the School of Foreign Language and Literature attached great importance to the reform program of the College English Department. Huang Hongfa, secretary of the Party Committee of our school, expressed the full commitment of all levels of the college to this reform plan, and introduced the preparatory work of the college in the early stage, such as research, plan formulating and teacher mobilization. From the perspective of the long-term development of the School of Foreign Language and Literature, he also emphasized the joint efforts of many parties, stressing that the successful promotion of various measures can not be separated from the strong support of the school.

Vice President Zhou Yezhong fully affirmed the great contribution of the College English Department to the talent cultivation of Wuhan University, and put forward three requirements for the teaching reform: First, the teaching should be oriented to the needs of the country, society and students to cultivate interdisciplinary talents in the new era with “one specialization and multiple skills”. The second is to follow the principles of teaching process and to cultivate talents while cherishing the idea of “serving great cause”so as to enhance students' initiative and enthusiasm. Third, set the corresponding goals, paths and indicators on the basis of the output effect, ensuring that students can substantially improve themselves.

Dean Zhang Shaodong concluded that the curriculum reform has received strong support from the Undergraduate College that will continue to communicate with the School of Foreign Languages and Literature on details in the future.

(Correspondent: Xie Xiaohong, Translated by Wei Ling, Edited by Guo Saijun)