Recently, the new version of the Introduction to Graduate Education Disciplines and Basic Requirements (Trial Version) was officially announced. Foreign Language Pedagogy, advocated by Prof. Li Min as one of the founding members of the College, was officially included in the catalog of disciplines in the new version. It joins English Language and Literature, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Translation Studies, and other disciplines. It belongs to the second level of disciplines within the field of Foreign Language and Literature.
In 2016, Professor Li Min and Professor Wang Wenbin, Director of the National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education at Beijing Foreign Studies University, took the lead in proposing the concept of developing a Foreign Language Pedagogy. After that, they published a series of papers in publications such as Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Foreign Languages in China, Foreign Language and Their Teaching, Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice, Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Education in China, and Guangming Daily, systematically elaborating on the necessity and possibility of constructing a foreign language pedagogy. They also discussed the disciplinary system, which has had a significant impact on the academic community. The inclusion of foreign language pedagogy as a secondary discipline not only confirms previous research findings but is also a reflection of the urgent need and significant importance of foreign language education for the state. It also demonstrates our college's dedication to addressing national development needs, resolving disciplinary development challenges, and establishing a knowledge system in philosophical and social sciences with distinct Chinese characteristics over time.
It is reported that this adjustment is made by the Eighth Discipline Review Group of the State Council Academic Degree Committee and the National Steering Committee of Postgraduate Education for Professional Degrees. This adjustment aims to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, align with the implementation of the Catalogue of Disciplines and Majors of Postgraduate Education (2022), and compile and revise the following documents: “Introduction of Disciplines and Majors for Awarding Doctoral and Master's Degrees and Training Postgraduates,” “Introduction of the First-Level Disciplines of Degree Conferment and Talent Cultivation,” and “First-Level Disciplines of Doctoral, Basic Requirements for Doctoral and Master's Degrees of First-level Disciplines, Basic Requirements for Doctoral and Master's Degrees of Professional Degree Categories (Fields).” These documents are compiled and revised in accordance with the needs of national development and the evolving knowledge system updates. The main purpose of the Catalogue is to provide the competent departments responsible for education at all levels and the degree-granting units with a reference basis for managing academic disciplines and specialties, regulating postgraduates' cultivation, strengthening the construction of academic disciplines and specialties, formulating cultivation programs, and awarding degrees. It also serves as a platform for all sectors of society to comprehend China's academic disciplines and specialized settings, as well as to oversee the quality of postgraduate education.
