For the Freshmen of 2019: The Concept and the Objective of College of Foreign Language of NKU
By Yan Guodong
Distinguished teachers and dear students:
2019, the year of your enrollment, the year of your grade, firmly embodies that you will become the glory of Nankai University. On behalf of over one hundred faculties in CFL, I warmly welcome your coming for Nankai University, a school with long history, extensive and profound culture, and unlimited vigor.
I would like to address in the following five points:
NO.1 Our Century-Old Foreign Language Discipline
This year is 2019, the year marking the 100 years old of Nankai University, the year indicating the 100 years old of our foreign language discipline as well. Someone is likely to doubt that this year will be the 88th year of foreign language discipline since the English Department of NKU was founded in 1931, with Professor Chen Kui, a well-known poet and translator, as its first chairman. I was always believing that someone would ask me such kind of question, yet, in fact, I have never been asked before. Probably the question is too simple to be asked, or nobody really cares about it. However, as a member of CFL of NKU, you should never treat this question casually. The casual attitude seems to be ethereal, but it may lead to a fruitless life. I am suddenly driven by an impulse when I am beholding all of you, the freshmen of 2019, that I want to tell you the truth our foreign language discipline is indeed 100 years old. Founded in 1919, Nankai University set up Liberal art, Science and Commerce as 3 major disciplines under the concept of “governing the country via liberal arts, strengthening the country via science, and enriching the country via commerce”, and then added Mineral discipline in 1921. All of the courses were divided into 4 groups: Literature and Language, Mathematics and Science, Philosophy and Social Science, and Commerce. Students received overall education during their first two years and began to choose professional courses from a specific group during their third year. The group of Literature and Language comprised 5 specific disciplines: Chinese, English, French, German, and Japanese. If the student could gain 50 points (like the credit now) from the professional courses he had chosen, he or she would graduate with the degree in accordance with his chosen disciplines (like the department now, but without entity). In fact, today’s specialty-free enrollment and cultivation cannot be compared with the specialty-free enrollment and cultivation in the early time of Nankai University as there exists huge difference between each other. We can discuss it later, but what I want to emphasize now is that the first graduates obtained their bachelor degrees in 1923, among whom 2 students, Huang Zhaonian and Ma Futong, graduated with the degrees of English. The two were enrolled in 1919, and you are in 2019, with 100 years’ span between your enrollment and theirs. On the opening ceremony of Nankai University held on September 25, 1919, the total number of present teachers was less than 10, while among them are two English teachers: Lady Situ Rukun and foreign teacher Mrs. Louis. The status of foreign language education was manifest at the time of NKU’s initiation. In a word, all I intend to tell you is that our foreign languages disciplines are really one hundred years old.
During this 100 years, even though the foreign languages discipline of NKU has encountered thousands of difficulties, all the faculty from our college have been committed to the development of our foreign languages discipline over generations, adhering to the motto of “dedication to public interests, acquisition of all-round capability, and aspiration for progress with each passing day” proposed by our first headmaster Zhang Boling. Not only have we resolutely cultivated a large number of foreign language talents for the country, but also have made great achievements in the fields of linguistics, foreign literature, translation study, and the cultural exchange between China and other countries.
Since its establishment in 1919, our foreign language discipline has trained 8163 foreign language talents (including 6214 undergraduates and 1949 postgraduates) for People’s Republic of China.
The century-old history of Nankai foreign language discipline is a huge book which we could only have a glimpse of today. Now, I have to call my memory back to the current time, make an introduction to the enrollment of our college in this year and assert the concept and the objective for the cultivation of foreign language talents.
No.2 Our New Students
First, the year of 2019 witnesses the biggest and the most comprehensive enrollment in the history of CFL’ enrollment.
This year, CFL of NKU have achieved a marvelous enrollment for the first time, covering 10 majors and 9 foreign languages: English, Russian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic and English Translation, which can be called “perfection in 9 aspects”. The reason why I didn’t use “perfection in every aspect” (a Chinese idiom) is that thousands of languages exist on the earth and dozens of foreign languages are taught in those excellent and noted universities around the world. These 9 languages taught in CFL are only part of them. However, these 9 languages belong to the most used languages in the world, hold relatively massive impacts on culture and economy, carry the most important stance to China’s reform and opening-up and Global Nankai Plan, and contain all the working languages in the United Nations.
As for the overall quantity of the enrollment in this year, we have enrolled 269 undergraduates, including 49 of English major, 30 of Russian, 31 of Japanese, 20 of French, 20 of German, 45 of English Translation, 32 of Spanish, 15 of Portuguese, 16 of Italian, 8 of Arabic, and among them 6 are from other countries, and Hong Kong and Macao, China.
We also have FAS class, the program of cultivating comprehensive and international talents majoring in non-universal foreign language, liberal arts and social science. 39 students from our college have entered the FAS class through strict selection, and they will learn business economy, international politics, world history, Chinese international education and tourist management in the following 4 years. 44 students from other colleges have chosen Russian, Japanese, Spanish as their minor major.
Therefore, the number of undergraduates who attend the ceremony today has come to 340. This is the biggest number that has ever occurred in the history of CFL’s undergraduate enrollment, but it hasn’t reached the intended scale that we have planned for establishing the first rank discipline. According to the school’s plan for the FAS class, all the non-universal foreign language majors should be included. So, the number should increase by 50 at least, even if no more other colleges cooperate with CFL (more colleges will undertake cooperation with us actually).
This year, the ratio of female undergraduate is 82.5%, male 17.5% only. However, I am very glad to see that we are not the “champion” when compared with the School of Literature in Nankai University, as the ratio of their female undergraduate is 86.4%. For the College of Physics, the thing becomes another story. The truth is the portion of their male undergraduate equates with our female’s and the portion of their female undergraduate is the same to our male’s. As you can see, boys go to the College of Physics and girls come to us. Some teachers suggest that we should have more cooperation with the College of Physics and encourage our girls have more communication with the boys from the College of Physics so as to facilitate the integrity of Science and Liberal Arts.
The portion of male and female in our college has its long history since the foundation of Nankai foreign language discipline. The first two teachers of our foreign language discipline were women: Situ Rukun and Mrs. Louis, particularly Mrs. Louis, who even had called for the enrollment of female students on the opening ceremony in 1919. Mrs. Louis’s appeal was responded as Nankai University recruited 3 female students in the next year. In 1924, the first female graduates of NKU, Liu Judan, was from our English major. At the same time, I also realized that these two female English teachers were the founder of our foreign language discipline.
This year, we have enrolled 154 postgraduates, including 10 Ph.D. candidates, 144 master candidates. Postgraduates for academic degree contain 32 from English and Literature major, 25 from Glasgow Program, 7 from Russian, 9 from Japanese, 4 from Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Postgraduates for professional degree compromise 53 from MTI in English, 17 from MTI in Japanese.
All in all, the total number of undergraduate (including FAS class) and postgraduate enrollment is 494. Base on this scale, we will cultivate over 10 thousand talents for the country in 3 or 4 years.
Second, specialty-free enrollment and twice or thrice diversion are fully implemented.
CFL of NKU started to carry out specialty-free enrollment in 2018. Such enrollment might be the most complete one among all of the universities in NKU level in China for our specialty-free enrollment covers 10 majors. We have the strength and confidence to do such complete enrollment, moreover, we have the wisdom and plan to deal with the relevant problems. This year is the second year of specialty-free enrollment implementation. Although the number of major reached 10, we still don’t have more pressure in diversion plan. We have designed a diversion plan which takes students’ intension into sufficient consideration, especially for the freshmen, who are granted the right to exclude one major, so as to ensure they will not be trapped by the major they don’t like (doesn’t mean they are not good at). The high demands of capability and perseverance for learning double majors are fully considered when we carry out the diversion plan for FAS class. At the same time, CFL has constantly perfected the syllabus and teaching plan of specialty-free cultivation and enlarged the number of FAS class enrollment and the number of collaborated majors.
Third, the enrollment for students who make application of college entrance examination in advance is implemented within the overall foreign language discipline for the first time.
This year, we have carried out the enrollment for students who make application of college entrance examination in advance within the overall foreign language discipline. By doing this, we aim to recruit a number of the young who hold great ambition and competence in learning foreign language as their first application other than those students who are manipulated to learn foreign language. Moreover, I am glad to see that we have achieved tremendous success in this year’s experiment.
Above all are several points about this year’s enrollment in CFL. What I want to emphasize today is two key issues which are firmly related with the development of our college and the quality of talent cultivation. One is the concept. The other is the objective.
No.3 Our Concept of Talent Cultivation
We have used 20 Chinese characters to clarify our concept of talent cultivation in CFL since 2015. They are:
This concept is not only the fundamental principle of teaching reform in CFL, but also the pursuit of students’ self-achievement, which plays a more and more important role in the process of talent cultivation and the development of discipline.
What is the Foreign Language Specialty? It refers that students are equipped with systematic and solid knowledge of foreign language, excellent professional skill and outstanding ability in intercultural exchange. Specialty means someone is good and professional in a particular field or skill, which, for us, is that we should specialize in foreign language. This is the basis for your knowledge, your major, your graduation and even your further study and future occupation. In a word, the essential and basic task for talent cultivation in our discipline is to train professional foreign language talent with high quality.
What is the Cultivation of Humanity? I think it includes two parts: one is the knowledge of liberal arts, such as literature, history, philosophy, religion, aesthetics, and art; the other is humanitarian spirit—to highly value the human civilization and maintain the dignity and the value of human being, to chase the beauty of life and of society. The extensive and profound liberal arts and social science resources and school culture in Nankai University can help to enrich students’ knowledge of liberal arts and cultivate their temperament, providing a stretch of land for the students where their quality of humanity is increased, spirit of liberal arts is formed, noble ethical principle and highly sophisticated aesthetic view are taken into shape.
What is the Vision of Internationality? It can be elaborated as students should be able to work toward a community with a shared future for mankind, embrace the mutual development of different civilizations, and call on all nations to exchange, work and improve together. Such a vision not only belongs to the demand of raising foreign language talent purposed by the nation, but also an essential condition that determines the height and extension of every foreign language leaner’s career. The talents trained by CFL have been fully involved in international affairs. On the one hand, nearly one third of students in CFL study abroad or pay visit to other countries every year, and some majors even achieve almost 100 percent ratio of studying abroad. On the other hand, we have academically close and effective collaboration with globally famous universities, creating an enabling environment for students to broaden their international horizon.
What is the Tie to China? The kernel is patriotism. The tie to China can’t exist unless you love this country. To foster the foreign language talents who can practice core socialist values and undertake the great task of Chinese rejuvenation is always our holy mission. We will constantly help our students to establish a noble faith of knowing China, loving China, serving China, and letting the world know China through professional class and afterschool activities, cultivate their self-awareness towards culture and confidence in system with Chinese characteristics, and work hard to bring our students up to devote to the construction of socialist affairs with Chinese characteristics and to inherit the great traditional culture of Chinese nation.
What is the Nankai Characteristics? The Nankai characteristics is the Nankai spirit or the Nankai ethos, a peculiar quality equipped by NKUer that stands for the good tradition of Chinese nation and advanced spirit of human civilization. Through 4 years’ study and life in Nankai University or even longer, such ethos will penetrate in your blood and become the crucial element that decides your value and attitude to life. CFL is committed to cultivate the NKUers who are noble but modest, excellent in study and eminent in research for a new era, adhering to the motto of “dedication to public interests, acquisition of all-round capability, and aspiration for progress with each passing day” and the spirit of “whole-hearted devotion to public interests, commitment and team working”.
No.4 Our Objective of Talent Cultivation
As China has stepped into the new journey of building socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, the demand for foreign language talents has significantly changed as well. The shift makes a new request for the knowledge and quality of foreign language learner. Based on an adequate survey on graduates’ employment structure, CFL has adjusted our objective of cultivation timely in accordance with the whole demand of our nation and has devoted to training more staffs involved in foreign affairs, researchers of international issues, practitioners of civilizational exchange and providers of language services for the country.
This objective is the guidance for talent cultivation in CFL, and also the compass for students’ learning plan and even occupation layout. All in all, the reason why we further clarify our objective of talent cultivation is to make ever faculty know what kind of foreign language talent we are going to raise and let the students know how many kinds of plan they have in order to carry out self-achievement, how many kinds of form and color exist in their lives.
I also believe every one of you can locate yourself within these four objectives. If you are not motivated to study, it is because you don’t have the objective of life. If you don’t have the objective of life, it is because you haven’t treated your life seriously. Moreover, it is not every university can completely achieve such kind of objective of talent cultivation. Only a globally-noted comprehensive university like Nankai University can provide all the necessary conditions for reaching these objectives.
Once again, I would like to congratulate your glorious becoming of NKUers in its 100th anniversary.
No.5 Entrustments and Wishes
Finally, I would like to repeat a few words I wrote to all the students on the day for registration (because the contents on the “welcome panel” are too much and the words are too small to read):
It is an appointment after a century, and just once in a hundred years!
Which gives all the faculty in our college mixed feelings and an upsurge of emotion!
Welcome, Freshmen of 2019, you are newborns in a new century of Nankai University!
In the College of Foreign Languages,
It is foreign language that will give you a window into the world;
It is foreign language that will give you wings to soar;
It is foreign language that will create infinite possibilities for your future!
I hope you,
Strength your will, and be indomitable; read good books, and never tire of it; work on papers, and experience thoroughly tempered; strive for progress, and always make further efforts; participate in competitions, and try to be invincible; do great things, and do your best; once fall in love, please enjoy the eternal love!
Keep cultivation concepts in your mind,
Foreign Language Specialty, Cultivation of Humanity, Vision of Internationality, Tie to China, and Nankai Characteristics!
Aim at our cultivation objectives, try to be
Staffs involved in foreign affairs, researchers of international issues, practitioners of civilizational exchange and providers of language services!
Let’s work together, embark on a new journey to next century.
Thank you again, our hardworking teachers; and once again, welcome, my dear students!
Thanks!
