English education stressed as China's global role grows

English language education in China is of greater strategic importance as the country moves closer to center stage in the global arena, and Chinese English language educators should strive to nurture more talent with global competence, experts said on Friday at an international conference.

As the country enters the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period next year, language educators should continue to promote opening-up in the education sector and strengthen international cooperation and communication, experts said at the 2020 Global English Education China Assembly, which adopted the theme "Cooperation and Learning for a Shared Future".

The three-day assembly that opened on Friday, held online and offline in Hangzhou and Beijing, is jointly hosted by China Daily and the United States-based TESOL International Association. TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Deborah Short, president of the TESOL International Association, said the assembly has two aims: promoting scholarship and cross-cultural understanding among English educators in China, and enhancing dialogue between China's English language teaching professionals and their peers abroad.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging across the world, the assembly has brought English educators worldwide closer, she said.

English language education serves as a bridge for China to understand the world and vice versa. China's English education has always been closely related to the country's development and is an integral part of its national strategy, said Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily.

As China enters the new era, there have been extensive and profound changes in the relationship between the country and the world, so it is very important for the world to have a clear understanding of a changing China, he said.

English language educators in the country should cultivate more international talent with a global perspective, high English proficiency and good command of international rules to shoulder the responsibility of realizing the great national rejuvenation, he said.

The educators also should strengthen communication and cooperation with their counterparts in other countries and regions as well as international education organizations to introduce global experience to China and share the country's wisdom and solutions with the world, he added.

Li Yansong, president of Shanghai International Studies University, said there are higher requirements for China's English education in the new era. The assembly offers a sharing platform in nurturing foreign language talent and developing foreign language disciplines.

The English education sector in China should seize the opportunity to increase communication and cooperation with the world and promote the modernization of English education, he said.

Gong Yafu, president of the National Association of Foreign Language Education, said that while the COVID-19 pandemic remains a common challenge for the entire world, English educators worldwide have widened cooperation with open arms and learned from each other in innovative ways.

Many renowned universities have opened online library resources, and free lectures presented by experts at home and abroad have offered teachers in primary and secondary schools more opportunities to learn, he said.