The three-day 2023 Global English Education China Assembly successfully concluded at the City University of Macau (CityU), with the theme "Opening up new prospects in education cooperation worldwide."
The event featured nine keynote speeches and 24 parallel sessions, including the Dean’s Forum on International Communication, the Special Session for Teachers in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Special Session for Thematic Committees, and the Young Scholars' Forum. Over 1,600 experts, scholars, and English teachers from more than 20 countries and regions participated in person or online, focusing on 12 sub-themes.
Prof. Jun Liu, rector of CityU and President of The International Research Foundation of English Language Education, emphasized the important role that English played in Macao’ positioning as a world center for tourism and leisure in his keynote speech titled “An Internationalization agenda and roles for English in the future: The Case of Macao.” He also elaborated on how to use English as a lingua franca to promote Macao’s internationalization, such as attracting foreign investors by improving citizens’ English proficiency, creating a friendly academic environment and cultural exchange opportunities for international students and visiting scholars, promoting cultural exchanges with the world, and fostering cross-cultural talents through strengthening English education.
The promulgation of the “Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition)” and the “General High School English Curriculum Standards (2017 Revised Edition)” marked a new stage in China’s basic English curriculum reform, shifting the goal from developing students’ overall language abilities to cultivating their core competencies through the English subject. In her keynote speech, Prof. Wang Qiang from Beijing Normal University discussed the revision of the English curriculum standards. She outlined the efforts made in the past 30 years to continuously innovate English curriculum in China, explored the main challenges that English teachers faced, and proposed further efforts needed to cultivate outstanding, capable, and responsible foreign language talents, which could help English teachers deepen their understanding of the essence of English education and introduced China’s wisdom in English education to the global English education community.
Prof. Icy Lee from the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, and former president of the Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics, gave a keynote speech on “Teacher Feedback Competencies in L2 Writing.” She pointed out that teachers’ feedback competencies included basic skills, knowledge, values, attitudes, and goals; writing teachers needed writing abilities to design effective feedback processes and used technological means to improve teaching practices. She emphasized that feedback is a joint responsibility of teachers and students, and teachers should provide feedback according to the needs of the teaching environment, using it to help students improve their writing abilities and bring about real change in their writing.
In his keynote speech, David Nunan, professor emeritus at the University of Hong Kong, distinguished research professor at Anaheim University, and former president of TESOL pointed out that the global population of English language learners had gradually stabilized, the full-English instruction was becoming increasingly popular in higher education globally, and there was an increasing demand for English talents in various industries. The rapid advancement of the Internet had made online learning one of the major learning methods. English had evolved from a communication tool to an important means of cultural exchange around the world. In this globalized era, English teachers not only had the responsibility of teaching language but also played a crucial role in promoting education, society, and national development.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road initiative. In order to leverage the advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and build an international cooperation platform for foreign language education, the organizing committee of the Global English Education China Assembly jointly established the Belt and Road English Education Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Exchange Base with the City University of Macau (CityU). In addition, the conference invited experts and scholars from countries and regions along the Belt and Road, such as Russia, Singapore, Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Mongolia, Iran, and Serbia, to speak on the career development of English teachers and trends in English teaching. Through language and cultural exchanges, the conference aimed to promote people-to-people connectivity and mutual learning among civilizations, and contribute to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
As one of the sub-forums of this year’s conference, the Deans’ Forum on International Communication focused on the integration of language education and international communication, and held discussions on the innovative development of foreign language disciplines and the approach of cultivating international communication talents. Zha Mingjian, vice-president of Shanghai International Studies University, and and Zeng Qingkai, editor-in-chief of China Daily 21st Century English Education Media delivered their opening remarks. Prof. Chang Junyue, vice-president of the Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Prof. Sun Jisheng, vice-president of the China Foreign Affairs University, Prof. Chang Chenguang, Dean of School of International Studies and Dean of School of Foreign Languages at Sun Yat-sen University, Prof. Wu Xia, head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Tsinghua University, Prof. Gao Yongwei, dean of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Prof. Yang Yanning, dean of Foreign Languages School at East China Normal University, Prof. Wang Dan, vice dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Peking University, Prof. Mao Sihui, dean of College of Liberal Arts at Shantou University, Prof. Chen Jing, dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Xiamen University, Prof. Yuan Zhoumin, dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Professor Wu Peng, deputy dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Jiangsu University, were invited as guest speakers to discuss the topic of cultivating international communication talents. Prof. Wang Xin, dean of the School of English Studies of the Shanghai International Studies University, and Prof. Miao Xingwei, dean of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature at Beijing Normal University, served as moderators for the forum.
At the closing ceremony, Motikala Subba Dewan, president of the Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA), congratulated the successful conclusion of this conference. She stated that the conference had created a high-level academic exchange platform for English teachers and researchers, enhanced dialogue between China and the global English education community, and the speeches by scholars were impressive and diverse. Prof. Fang Fan from Shantou University summarized his experience at the conference with two keywords, “reunion” and “recharge”. He believed that the conference was not only a reunion for old and new friends but also a rare opportunity for academic recharging, allowing participants to gain fresh ideas and inspiration. “English is the key to unlimited opportunities,” said Prof. Jun Liu. He expressed that the conference had ignited the torch of knowledge through diverse forms of learning and exchange, and encouraged English teachers to strive for higher goals with passion and aspirations.
The 2023 Global English Education China Assembly was hosted by China Daily and Shanghai International Studies University, co-hosted by Macao SAR Government Education and Youth Development Bureau, and organized by City University of Macau (CityU) and 21st Century English Education Media. The Association for Comparative Studies of English and Chinese, The International Research Foundation for English Language Education, the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Beijing Normal University, the National Association of Foreign Language Education China Education Society, the British Council, and ETS China served as academic advisory units. Over the past six years, the conference has become a high-end, unique international platform for idea exchange, sharing of achievements, and collaborative innovation, contributing wisdom to the modernization of English education in China and the global foreign language education.
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