Talents-Oriented Action on Chinese College English Educational Reform

With the publication of “College English Teaching Guide” by Chinese Ministry of Education, College English Educational Reform becomes imminent. Before the introduction of the “Guide”, college English teaching General English as the mainstream has been going on for more than 30 years. With the deepening of China’s reform and opening up, the importance of foreign languages (especially English) has been recognized by the common Chinese people. Nowadays, the English level of college freshmen has improved significantly at the time of their enrollment. Therefore, how to change the previous College English Curriculum system so as to properly meet the new educational situation becomes an urgent and tough issue for the common Colleges of Science and Technology. This paper puts forward the curricu lum of compulsory courses with modular teaching of General English, Cross-cultural Courses, and English for Specific Purposes, together with various individualized optional courses. Taking into account the double role of instrumentality and humanity of English, the compulsory courses not only help students to learn general English in order to master basic knowledge and win some necessary certificates, but also help improve students’ communicat ive competence and specialized English proficiency. Meanwhile, optional courses should fully reflect the educational idea of teaching according to students’ individual aptitude, personal interests and development. With the on-going nation-wide d iscussion about the setting up of standard or individualized English curriculum, hopefully, this paper makes an acceptable and feasible suggestion to help Colleges of Science and Technology to cope with this hot issue.


Introduction
In 2016, Chinese Ministry of Education officially promu lgated the "College English Teaching Guide" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide"), which was formed after mu ltip le rounds of research, discussions and revisions by the National Co llege Foreign Language Teaching Gu iding Co mmittee. The publication of the "Guide" is considered as a big event since the "Guide" will be a leading docu ment in college English teaching for the next one or two decades.

Previous Discussions about the Reform of College English Teaching
Before the introduction of the "Gu ide", college Eng lish teaching General English as the mainstream has been going on for more than 30 years. The Min istry of Education began preparations in 1986 and officially implemented Grade 4 (CET-4) and Grade 6(CET-6) national exams of Co llege English Test in 1987. The passing rate of CET-4 and CET-6 examinations was virtually considered as the core criterion for identifying the quality of teaching in each school. The passing rate of English test has also become an important indicator in the evaluation of undergraduate teaching level. As a result, colleges across the mainland China co mpete to significantly improve the nu mber of hours of college English teaching, and the corresponding general English teaching has become the best choice for college English courses. In other words, the mainstream of general English teaching as a college English course is in line with the actual needs of English teaching in China at that time. In the next 30 years, with the deepening of China's reform and opening up, the importance of foreign languages (especially English) has been recognized by the common Ch inese people. The English level of college freshmen is not the same as before, and many students in those entitled 985 or 211 universities have reached the level of CET -4 at the time of enrollment. At the same time, China's comp rehensive strength, economic development, and national cultural awareness have undergone earth-shaking changes. On the one hand, people began to doubt the excessive attention to English learning, and on the other hand they regretted the lack of highly qualified international talents. The questioning and expectation of the society for college English teaching has also led to the thinking and hot debates in the foreign language teaching circle. No matter whether general Eng lish and specialized English can replace each other or which should become the mainstream of co llege English courses, the situation of only general English teaching that has remained unchanged for 30 years must be changed. Although well-known influential do mestic experts and scholars have different opinions on the positioning of college English in various speeches and papers, many colleges and universities have independently initiated various trial reforms. Undoubtedly, the college English courses offered by most colleges and universities in the past 30 years have reached a point where they must be changed. The direction of refo rm must be to abandon the general English (including listening, speaking, reading, grammar, etc.) taken by almost all the colleges. The co mmon curriculu m system is likely to be replaced by a personalized curriculu m with the characteristics of each school and set according to different professional requirements. At the same time, the emphasis on specialized English is not the same as focus on the instrumentality of language, but both the instrumentality and humanity of language should be taken into account. The Outline of the National Mediu m-and Long-Term Education Reform and Develop ment Plan (2010-2020) clearly states that it is necessary to "train a large number of international talents with international vision, international rules, and ability to participate in international affairs and international competition." The development of these abilit ies is difficult to achieve simp ly by the General English and ESP English courses alone. Under the background of the country's emphasis on "Chinese culture going out" and cultivating students' international awareness and world v ision, the opening of intercultural co mmunicat ion courses is extremely urgent. In the past, foreign language learning was mainly to learn advanced foreign science and technology. In addition to traditional purposes, foreign language learning today covers spreading Chinese thought, custom, and culture, and opening up international markets.

Impact of the "Guide" on College English Teaching
After many twists and turns, the new "Guide" that everyone is looking forward to is finally available, setting the tone for the trend of college English reform and becoming the symbolic document of the critical period of college English teaching reform.

Background and Function of the "Guide"
The "Guide" "responds to the various disputes, doubts and confusions that have emerged in the college English teaching community for a long time. It provides a new standard for the reform of co llege Eng lish teaching and provides a broad platform for the national co llege English teaching. It finally returns to the original element, repositioning according to the national development strategy and social needs, and determines the new university English content system, organizational system, practical system, and guarantee system according to the new attributes and new features of college English teaching in the coming period." (Wang Shuting, Wu Yizhen, 2019) At this point, the various disputes about the function of college English in the foreign language community have temporarily subsided.
Prof. Wang Shouren, Chairman of the Foreign Language Teaching Guiding Co mmittee, in his "Interpretation of the Key Points of the College English Teaching Gu ide" published in Foreign Languages, elaborated on the development process and basic principles of the "Gu ide", and the value of the course of college English. The teaching objectives, curriculu m system, teaching evaluation, teaching methods and means, and teacher development were deeply interpreted. The article points out that the "Guide" co mbines the spirit of the "National Mediu mand Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan" and the "Ministry of Education's Several Op inions on Improving the Quality of Higher Education". With regard to the history of college English curriculu m construction and teaching reform, and the widespread discussions and consultations, the Guide provides programmat ic guidance for college English and will beco me an important document for college English teaching in China for a long time. The "Guide" is undoubtedly the basis for the development of English syllabus for individual universities, the construction of college English courses, and the implementation of co llege Eng lish evaluation in the new era. It p lays an important role in pro moting educational innovation, deepening the reform of co llege English teaching, and improving the quality of teaching.

Dilemma Faced by Colleges of Science and Technology
Based on this, all co lleges and universities are moving in the direction of the program, and under the guidance of programmat ic documents, they will discuss the English curriculu m system of the respective colleges, and strive to promote the reform of co llege English teaching under the new situation. Co mpared with other universities, the reform of ord inary science and engineering colleges is particularly difficult. The English level of the students in these colleges is no equal to those from the entitled 985 or 211 universities. It is usual that English course can draw no special concern from the leaders in ordinary colleges of science and technology, and English teaching is difficult to get rid of its marg inalized status in the whole teaching stage. However, it is undeniable that with the full imp lementation of the refo rm of English teaching in high school in Ch ina, the overall English level of freshmen has been greatly improved. At the same t ime, the compulsory credits of college Eng lish have been continuously reduced. Many colleges have reduced fro m the past 16 credits to the present 8-12 credits. Even so, the college English reform in o rdinary science and engineering colleges is still struggling, actively adapting to the new requirements, and closely focusing on the theme of talent cultivat ion, in order to meet the new challenges.

Key Ideas of the "Guide"
The "Guide" clearly clarifies the value of college English courses, pointing out that "the main content of college English teaching can be divided into three parts: General English, Cross-cultural Courses, and English for Specific Purposes (ESP)", clearly suggesting that college English plays the double role of instrumentality and humanity. How to build an efficient and reasonable college English curriculu m system is a big prob lem in front of the relevant teaching management. "The knowledge structure presented by the curriculu m system is organized according to certain teaching objectives, according to the development logic of subject knowledge or the growth process of students' learning ability." (GaoNing, Zhang Meng 2018) The concept of "College English Curriculu m System" itself reflects the consensus of the society on college English education, that is, college English is not a simple language tool, but a systematic project co mposed of a series of related courses to serve the goal of talent training. The personalities, learning habits, learning abilities, learning expectations, and the expectations and requirements for future work of science and engineering students are different fro m those of other types of students. The college English curriculu m system tailored to them must meet the requirements of the "Guide" and related program documents, and be beneficial to students, while emp loy ment is a big concern for them.
In view of the fact that the "Guide" clearly requires that the main content of college English teaching be general English, ESP and English for intercultural co mmun ication, three corresponding compulsory courses should be formed accordingly. Through a series of reforms such as college English curricu lu m, teaching model, content, and evaluation methods, the curriculu m of co mpulsory courses can take modular teaching with General Eng lish, Cross-cultural Courses, and English for Specific Purposes. Optional courses can fully reflect the idea o f "teaching according to their aptitude, classification guidance, personalized development", fu rther imp rove students' listening, speaking, reading, writing and other language application skills, imp rove students' human ities quality, encourage students to learn independently, and comprehensively imp rove the quality of college English teaching. All colleges and universities should follow the language teaching and learning ru les according to the type, level, source of students, school orientation, talent training objectives, etc., reasonably arrange the corresponding teaching content and class hours, and form a dynamic, open, scientific and reasonable college English curriculu m system that reflects the characteristics of individual schools.

General Actions Taken by Colleges
As is known to all Chinese people, before going to college, freshmen have been learning English for at least 6 years, or even 12 years, and have been laying a quite solid foundation. For those with higher basic levels, if they have to take another two years to continue to learn the basics of general English, it is extremely unfair and extremely unbearable. At the same time, although the overall English enrollment level o f students has improved, the level is quite uneven. For students with weak foundations, it is still impo rtant to lay a solid foundation for language learning. In addition, CET-4 and CET-6 are still recognized as constant indicators for testing the quality of co llege Eng lish teaching and the English level of students. Some colleges and universities even regard it as one of the criteria fo r students to graduate; and CET-4 and CET-6 certificates have become the threshold for many employers. Although the call to cancel th e two national exams has emerged in recent years, its position in many college leaders and teachers is rock solid. Therefore, the basic course, that is, the general English course will surely go along with CET-4 and CET-6. Ho wever, the expansion of the general Eng lish course should be limited, and it is better be limited within two semesters.
The "Gu ide" proposes that "the college Eng lish course has both the dual nature of instrumentality and hu manity". On the one hand, it imp roves students' English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, cultivates intercultural co mmun ication skills, and helps students master English as a communication tool. On the other hand, instrumentality is also reflected in specialized English, which allows students to study academic or professional English related to professional or future career work. In terms of humanity, it helps students understand the social history and culture of foreign countries and enhance international understanding. It can be seen that the college English course is o f great significance for China to participate in global activities and have its voice heard. Proficiency in English is the basic ability for international talents, but the English ability of international talents cannot be cultivated only through basic courses. To participate in international affairs, we must participate in international dialogues and exchanges. When people use language as the mediu m to communicate, they actually commun icate with culture. Therefore, cu ltural factors play an important role in the success or failure of co mmunicat ion. "Intercultural communicat ion studies believe that there are many countries and nations in the world, each of wh ich constitutes a group with a specific language and culture. Members of these groups interact or talk with each other, which is the co mmun ication between d ifferent cultures." (Ma Yuan 34) Therefore, it is imperative to offer Intercultural Co mmun ication English Course in order to enrich students' social and cultural knowledge at home and abroad, help students understand the differences between Chinese and foreign world views, values, ways of thinking, customs and so on, cultivate students' cross-cultural awareness, and improve students' social language ability and intercultural commun ication ability. This course is designed not only to enable students to master the necessary common sense of cultural communicat ion between the East and West, but also to cultivate good intercultural communication habits and skills. At the same time, it is necessary to train students to convey Chinese culture in English and to tell the stories of Chinese in English. This course can be offered in the third semester, after General English.
The third component of the main content of college English teaching proposed in the "Guide" is English for specialized purposes. Today, as higher education becomes more international, the demand for professional learning and professional communicat ion in English is increasing. Shu Dingfang (2011) believes that the teaching goal of college English in China is to serve "internationalization of higher education, and to cultivate students' realistic or potential academic co mmun ication skills". Cai Jigang (2013) conducted a survey of the needs of teachers and students in universities of Shanghai and concluded that "specialized English can imp rove the international competitiveness of students in their professional fields and their competitiveness in future studies or work." It is undeniable that with the improvement of the overall English level of freshmen in China, with the increasing international exchanges and the advent of economic globalization, technology integration and cultural pluralism, ESP teaching will become a very important part of the university English curricu lu m system. For ordinary science and engineering colleges, English for specialized use is inseparable fro m scientific and technical English. Scientific and technical English generally refers to English used in research papers, books, textbooks, scientific reports, academic lectures, and academic conferences in the fields of natural sciences and engineering technology. Scientific and technical English is presented in a large amount of scientific and technical literature with its relat ively stable, pro fessional and repetitive vocabulary and more rigorous, well-defined, compact, and objective sentences. Technical English has become a specialized area of modern English in many countries. With the further development of science and technology and the gradual deepening of global economic integration, scientific and technical English has increasingly demonstrated its importance and application value. As for science and engineering college students, it is necessary to understand the specific English language in their relevant fields, to read and write English articles, and to express relevant ideas in the field of science and technology in English.
However, it is far fro m enough to offer just three courses in general Eng lish, intercultural commun ication and ESP. Intercultural co mmunicat ion and ESP should extend more branches fro m the main trunk. W ith the improvement of students' Eng lish entrance level, most colleges and universities have gradually reduced the college Eng lish cred its fro m 16to 12, or to even 8 credits. In view of the actual situation of students in ordinary science and engineering colleges, it is more practical to set up 12 credits fo r co llege Eng lish courses. It not only helps students to learn general English in o rder to win the necessary certificates (such as Certificates of CET-4, CET-6, and IELTS, TOEFL, etc.), but also considers students' communicat ive co mpetence and specialized English proficiency. It is necessary to face the status quo of compulsory credits and to cultivate qualified international talents, while taking into account the instrumentality and humanity of English. Then, college English courses can be incorporated with a combination of compulsory and optional courses.

Suggestive Setting of English Curriculum System in Colleges of Science and Technology
Semester Compulsory (8-12 credits in total) Optional (2 credits per course) Fro m the analysis above, colleges of science and technology should set up an English curriculu m system that is student-oriented, talent-oriented, and innovative. "College English should serve the internationalization o f higher education. Learners should use English to think and communicate. The versatility, practicality and effectiveness of language in communication are the goals of language learning, and thus students will fo rm a solid base when they will go abroad for further study or academic exchanges." (Gao Yuy ing, Liu Xiaoyan, 2019) Therefore, the college Eng lish curricu lu m system of ordinary science and engineering colleges is suggested to adopt the above modes.
In this system, General English is offered to the first-year university students, with emphasis on common English, grammatical correctness, fluent exp ression, and vocabulary accumulation, and the students will be helped to obtain various relevant English cert ificates with high social recognition. In the second year of the university, intercultural co mmun ication English is to be set up. From the perspective of quality training, students' international vision and the ability to use English to co mmunicate effectively are considered. They should understand the core cultural ideas of both the West and China, and develop their skills of spreading Ch inese culture in English. In view o f the d ifferent academic advantages of science and engineering colleges, the second year students should select the scientific and technical English suitable for school-based characteristics, so that they can develop the habit of reading English literature in professional fields, understand the common related terms of th eir majors, and learn to write English academic papers in their professional fields. In addit ion to the compulsory course system, a relat ively independent optional course system is established to meet the ind ividual development needs of students. In the first year, colleges will provide courses related to English speeches and debates. They may select outstanding talents with good oral Eng lish, strong logical thin king skills and broad knowledge, and then further expand their English knowledge, improve their Eng lish skills, and encourage them to participate in various related activit ies. Offering mu ltiple optional courses from the second year to the third can not only meet the indiv idual needs of students, but also improve students' interest in English learn ing, and also ensure their continuity of students' English learning. The setting up of academic English in the seventh semester will provide useful guidance for students with good foundations to further study their own subject areas and publish English academic papers, and lay a solid foundation for students with academic potential to enter postgraduate studies.

Conclusions
In general, the instrumentality of a co llege Eng lish course determines that English must be combined with another discipline or major to function better. The humanity of the college English course guides the majority of English teachers to continue to innovate and advance with the times by cultivating a new generation of college students with rich international knowledge, international perspective, international ru les and international responsibility. Under the guidance of the official "Gu ide", therefo re, it is highly suggested that the curriculu m with "General English + Cross-cultural Courses + English for Specific Purposes" as the compulsory courses and various individualized subjects as optional courses should be offered to the future scientists and engineers in Colleges of Science and Technology. Of course, the new curriculu m system is inseparable fro m the innovation of teaching methods, the reformat ion of curriculu m design and the three-dimensional evaluation, and the improvement of the management system, wh ich requires further consideration by relevant university senior executives.
on the construction of Co llege English Curricu lu m System in Colleges of Science and Technology under the Gu idance of College English Teaching Gu ide"(ZGW YJYJJ2018B03) supported by the ninth batch of China Foreign Language Education Fund Projects. I am quite grateful fo r the fund to enable me to conduct this research.