Organized by the editorial department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), the Research Center for Foreign Language Teaching of BFSU and operated by Foreign Language School of Jiangsu University, the 4th National Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Research was held in Jiangsu University from 18th to 20th April. About 20 distinguished experts and editors in the field, along with nearly 80 scholars attended the conference. Professor Mo, director of CTS, delivered a speech in the parallel sessions.
Themed as “Intellectual Quest and Empirical Research: the Methodology in Foreign Language Studies”, the conference consisted of 1 plenary session and 5 parallel sessions. Prominent professors in China, including Xu Jun from Nanjing University, Zhang Shaojie form Northeast Normal University, Wen Xu from Southwest University, and Liang Maocheng from the Research Center for Foreign Language Teaching of BFSU, delivered keynote speeches on the conference. The parallel sessions focused on language, applied linguistics and translation studies. Participants took part in heated discussion on various topics, for example, the nature of intellectual quest and empirical research, the theoretical development and academic innovation of language studies, the existing problems and concerned solutions in language teaching and research.
The conference was sponsored by a variety of journals, including Foreign Language and Their Teaching, Foreign Language Education, Foreign Language Research, Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Education, Contemporary Foreign Language Studies. The conference also offered an opportunity for the participants to communicate with the journals editors.
The conference was initially set up to encourage the young and mid-aged scholars to further their research by enabling them to hold academic dialogues with the academic journals. By doing so, it is helpful to promote the development of foreign language teaching and research in China. The conference was distinctive as it provided the platform for the communication among scholars, between journals and scholars.
