To further optimise the talent cultivation model in the Open University of China (OUC) and strengthen the development of English-related courses, from 5 to 7 November 2024, the Teaching and Research Central Groups for English-related majors and Public English (degree-conferral English programme) of the OUC held teaching and research activities in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.

These activities were co-organised by Heilongjiang Open University and Harbin Open University. Geng Yulong, vice  president of Heilongjiang Open University, and Zhang Li, vice president of Harbin Open University, attended the activities and delivered speeches.

Geng Yulong said that English-related teaching and research activities are important ways to promote teachers' professional growth, advance educational reform, and improve the talent cultivation model. Through these activities, teachers can gain in-depth insights into the strengths and weaknesses of teaching content and methods, continuously improve their teaching proficiency, and boost students' learning effectiveness.

Zhang Li said that teachers should keep pace with the times, re-evaluate and adjust talent cultivation objectives, curriculum settings, and teaching methods. They should make full use of advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to innovate teaching approaches, enhance learning efficiency, realise personalised teaching, and enable every student to study and grow at a pace that suits them best.

Zheng Jipeng, dean of the School of Foreign Languages at the OUC, and Xiong Ying, deputy dean, respectively reported on the key tasks of the School of Foreign Languages and the reform of Public English teaching. Meanwhile, the list of the new-term members of the Teaching and Research Central Groups for English-related majors and Public English (degree-conferral English programme) was announced and the appointment letters were issued.

Peng Weiqiang, a professor at Guangdong Open University, expounded on the concepts and methods of digital textbook compilation, bringing new inspiration for the textbook revision. Huang Furong, a professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, explored the significance and necessity of iterating the talent cultivation model for foreign language education in the context of globalisation.

During the activities, the members of the central groups united their minds and strengths and gathered their collective wisdom. Based on teaching practice and regional development requirements, they revolved around topics such as the promotion of intelligent Public English teaching, the reform of teaching evaluation, the revision of teaching resources, the implementation plan of degree-conferral English programme teaching, and the reform of English-related majors. The aim was to improve the quality of foreign language teaching, promote the construction of teaching teams in line with new development requirements, and reform the student-centric intelligent teaching model.

During this seminar, the re-election of the two central groups were successfully completed, which pointed out the direction for optimising the talent cultivation plan of English majors and improving the quality of intelligent Public English teaching, as well as injected new vitality into the construction of the English discipline in open education.

Written by Wang Minchen and Fan Rongrong, photo by Miao Miao, OUC