College English Research Articles

The design of the OBE-based flipped classroom model of college English pro-posed in this article centers around the framework of “defining teaching objec-tives, restructuring content, designing the teaching process and designing teaching evaluation.” The entire instructional design process adheres to an out-come-oriented approach, employing backward design for teaching content and activities with an integration of online and offline components. It can provide an efficient model for college English teaching to enhance students’ comprehen-sive language skills and independent learning competence.

Abstract As the UK higher education sector becomes increasingly market‐driven and focused on preparing students for the graduate labour market, universities must define and contextualise employability and their role in supporting students beyond academia. Social Cognitive Theory highlights the critical importance of self‐efficacy in enhancing employability and educational attainment, and links it to graduate success. This research introduces a new employability typology, grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, structured around three key areas: ‘Tangible, Transitional, and Transformational’. This typology was developed from discussions with students, staff and employers at an English university. The ‘Tangible’ aspect focuses on student and institutional exchange to support labour market integration, delivered through courses, qualifications and other resources. The ‘Transitional’ element addresses the support students need as they move into post‐graduate life and can be upwardly mobile in an organisation. Finally, the ‘Transformational’ aspect encourages institutions to view employability beyond a transactional lens, considering the students' personal growth, ability to make meaningful choices and other intangible benefits, reflecting universities' growing role as civil actors. In addition to Social Cognitive Theory, this research uses Bourdieu's concept of cultural and social capital to reflect on students' employability and transition into the labour market. This framework provides a deeper exploration of the hidden barriers impacting student success, allowing stakeholders to design effective employability interventions that strengthen students' paths to becoming successful graduates. The research highlights key employability characteristics, stakeholder perspectives and hidden barriers, contributing to the employability paradigm.

Abstract The prevalent ownership of mobile devices and increasing use of AI learning tools among college English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners has triggered wide discussions on the application of AI learning tools in developing English skills. This mixed-method cross-sectional study tries to understand how language-learning-related psychological factors, including Willingness to Communicate (WTC), Self-perceived Communication Competence (SPCC), and Speaking Anxiety (SA), are related to learners’ acceptance and adoption of AI speaking apps based on the Technology Acceptance Model. In this study, 280 Chinese students from 6 different universities, including both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, participated in the questionnaire, with 8 of them further taking part in semi-structured interviews. Binary Logistic Regression analysis revealed that WTC is positively correlated with the behavioral intention to use the apps and perceived usefulness, while SPCC is negatively correlated with perceived usefulness. SA, however, showed no significant correlation with learners’ acceptance of the apps. The interviews provided additional insights, with participants highlighting the motivational mechanisms, the utility during fragmented time and the emotional relief provided by the apps as the key factors driving their use. The findings underscore the potential of mobile AI speaking apps in enhancing English speaking practice while also revealing certain limitations.

Current college English reading instruction is constrained by traditional single-modal approaches, making it hard to meet students’ learning needs in the digital age. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has injected new vitality into education, and its integration with multimodal teaching—by incorporating resources like images, audios, and videos—shows great potential to break free from the text-centric paradigm and create a more multidimensional language input environment. Multimodal reading instruction enhances language comprehension, cognitive engagement, and student learning interest. AI integration facilitates individualized learning, shifting teaching from “one-size-fits-all” to “precision-oriented”, which is key to college English education reform.

This research seeks to determine the efficacy of a group discussion-oriented MUET speaking preparation approach for Form 6 (a Level 6 category under the Malaysian education system) learners preparing for MUET, otherwise known as the Malaysian University English Test. Although conventional methods of teaching have been widely employed, performance of students in the speaking component of the MUET is considered low. Speech impediments, lack of vocabulary and test anxiety interfere with some students’ success. Common teaching methods, lecture by teacher and practice work of individuals do not always work to develop both interactive and communicative capabilities. Filling this gap, the paper investigates whether structured group discussions may provide a better substitute. Purposive sampling was used and a quasi-experimental study design was used.76 students from a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur were selected and divided into an experimental group (discussion) and a control group (conventional method). Speaking tasks were given as pre- and post-assessment for 4 weeks and data were analyzed by means of independent samples t-tests. The results show that group discussion can significantly improve students’ speaking proficiency for the group discussion method as a possible effective preparation method for MUET speaking component.

This study describes the students' problems in the creative writing course. Knowing these problems can help lecturers find out students' weaknesses in writing. Therefore, the researcher is interested in investigating the problems that exist when writing. The purpose of this research is to find out students' problems in writing in the Creative Writing Course. The researcher used quantitative descriptive methods. The population was taken from PGRI Wiranegara University English Language Education Study Program students’ classes 2020, 2021, and 2022, with a total of 89 students. Data collection through a questionnaire was carried out over 5 days using Google Forms from May 17th, 2024, to May 21st, 2022. Interviews were conducted on May 29th, 2024. Documentation was conducted on May 29th, 2024. There were 9 students interviewed, and they were chosen randomly. The researcher gave 15 questions through a questionnaire and gave 6 questions during interviews about students' writing problems. The results of this research show that students experience problems related to linguistic, cognitive, psychological, and pedagogical aspects. In this research, the dominant aspects are linguistic and cognitive. It is hoped that these findings can help students to minimize the difficulties they face, and lecturers can determine a suitable teaching style for students.

Developing Chinese English language teachers’ research literacy: A multi-case study of an MA TESOL programme at a British university

Building bridges or holy huddles? Student religious organizations in British universities.

The present study aimed to investigate the patterns and predictors of FL lexical attrition among Chinese college students. Participants were 17 non-English major undergraduates from a comprehensive university in Shandong, China, all native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. A longitudinal follow-up was conducted at four time points: immediately after the end of formal English instruction, and 3, 7, and 10 months thereafter. Data on participants’ free vocabulary output were collected via vocabulary fluency tests and two types of oral production tasks (topic speaking and film retelling tasks). Background questionnaires and vocabulary size tests were used to extract individual difference variables. A total of 340 transcribed texts were analyzed using lexical complexity software. Multivariate analysis of variance and linear regression revealed that: (1) lexical fluency declined at the second test point but partially recovered in the third and fourth tests; lexical density in oral production tasks did not differ significantly across time; certain lexical complexity indicators showed individual variation; lexical diversity significantly differed in topic speaking task but not in film retelling task; (2) initial vocabulary scores significantly predicted lexical fluency but did not directly predict lexical richness in either oral production task, and FL use showed no significant predictive effect on any lexical measures.

Design and practice of university English multimodal intelligent interaction system for translation learning

Given that the core objective of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is to enable students to effectively engage in specialized communication within their professional fields, it is crucial for ESP learners to become active participants in their professional discourse communities and to accurately use specialized terminology in various contexts. However, for students with average English proficiency, ESP teaching needs to be continuously adjusted, with the principle of adjustment being based on the overall improvement of students’ English application ability. To truly enable students to participate in the learning process, integrating translation methods with ESP teaching has become a feasible teaching approach. To verify the feasibility of this method, this paper takes the Secretarial English course — offered by the College English Department of Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages — as a case study. By discussing task-oriented training activities (vocabulary, sentence patterns, dialogues, and translation) centered on practicing translation methods for Chinese Language and Culture majors, it illustrates how the use of translation methods enhances students’ communicative competence in real-life scenarios, enables them to identify cultural effects, and fosters a cooperative learning environment. Such cooperation also represents an adaptable teaching mode that meets the demands of the contemporary ESP post-methods era. The effectiveness of the approach is evidenced by students’ mastery of the relevant final-exam topics and by their relatively improved linguistic performance.

The Outcome-Based Education (OBE) emphasizes student-centeredness and reverse design of the teaching system based on outcomes. This paper first analyzes some problems existing in the traditional college English reading and writing teaching, then briefly summarizes the OBE concept, and finally uses Text B Audrey Hepburn — a true angel in this world in “New Horizon College English Reading and Writing (Book 3, the Fourth Edition)” to illustrate the teaching design of college English reading and writing under the OBE concept.

Educational assessment reform is a pivotal lever for deepening high-quality development of vocational education in the new era. Traditional English academic assessment systems in vocational colleges suffer from inherent drawbacks such as “dominance of summative assessment, unidimensionality, and neglect of individual differences,” making it difficult to accurately measure teaching effectiveness and student growth. Value-Added Assessment (VAA), with its core characteristics of “focusing on the starting point, emphasizing the process, and considering progress,” provides a novel theoretical perspective and practical tool to address this dilemma. Based on the practice of English teaching in vocational colleges, this paper first explains the connotation of VAA and its applicability to the field of vocational college English. Secondly, it systematically constructs an academic quality VAA indicator system encompassing four dimensions—“language proficiency, professional competence, affective attitudes, and developmental potential”—and elaborates on its specific application models and methods in English teaching. Thirdly, it offers a profound reflection on the practical challenges encountered during implementation, including data collection, standardization of criteria, model accuracy, and application of results. Finally, it prospects future optimization paths, proposing strategies such as technological empowerment, deepening school-enterprise co-evaluation, enhancing teacher training, expanding research scope, and constructing a feedback loop. The aim is to promote the localized innovation and application of VAA, providing theoretical reference and practical paradigms for building a scientific, equitable, and developmental new ecosystem for English education assessment in vocational colleges.

Against the backdrop of globalization and deepening international exchanges, intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has become a core literacy requirement for college students in the new era, and integrating ICC cultivation into college English teaching has become an inevitable trend in the reform of English language education. This study, rooted in the researcher’s background in translation studies, years of college English teaching experience, and research focus on intercultural communication and communication studies, aims to address the current shortcomings in college English teaching—such as overemphasis on linguistic proficiency while neglecting cultural awareness, disconnected teaching content from real intercultural scenarios, and single-mode teaching methods. By adopting a mixed research method combining literature analysis, teaching case studies, and questionnaire surveys, this study first clarifies the connotation and structural dimensions of ICC based on recent interdisciplinary theories (including cross-cultural communication, translation studies, and second language acquisition). It then explores the intrinsic connections between translation practice, college English teaching, and intercultural communication: translation, as a “cultural mediator,” can effectively enhance students’ cultural sensitivity and contextual adaptation; teaching experience provides practical insights for designing student-centered activities; and intercultural communication theories offer a theoretical framework for optimizing teaching content. On this basis, the study constructs a “three-dimensional integration” ICC training model with “goal orientation, content integration, method innovation, and evaluation guarantee” as its core. The model takes “developing linguistic proficiency + cultural cognition + communicative strategies + cultural empathy” as the overall goal, integrates cultural content into language teaching through translation tasks (e.g., translating culturally-loaded texts), adopts diversified teaching methods (case analysis, intercultural simulation, project-based learning), and establishes a dual evaluation system combining formative and summative assessment. To verify the model’s effectiveness, a 16-week teaching practice was conducted at Liaoning University of International Business and Economics, involving 240 non-English major sophomores. The results show that students in the experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in cultural awareness (e.g., recognizing cultural differences in discourse), intercultural communication confidence, and the ability to handle cultural conflicts in translation compared to the control group. This study enriches the theoretical research on ICC cultivation in college English teaching by integrating translation studies and communication theories. Practically, it provides an operable teaching framework for colleges and universities, especially those with translation programs, to promote students’ comprehensive English literacy and meet the social demand for intercultural talents.

With advancements in technology, traditional college English vocabulary instruction faces challenges such as limited interactivity and student disengagement. Gamified computer-assisted instruction, which combines educational technology and psychology principles, has emerged as a solution. By incorporating game elements like points, task progression, and rewards, this approach creates an interactive and motivating learning environment. Based on constructivist and self-determination theories, this study tests a gamified framework using a self-developed platform. Results show that gamified tasks reduce resistance to learning, improve autonomous learning, and enhance collaboration. Compared to traditional methods, game mechanics increase language input/output and diversify learning approaches. This research offers practical and theoretical support for reforming English vocabulary instruction in higher education.

Please refer to the URL that includes this article for the abstract.

Cultural education has long been a focal topic in foreign language teaching. While it is widely acknowledged that foreign language teaching should encompass both linguistic and cultural instruction, current practices in Chinese college English education reveal a significant imbalance. This study examines the phenomenon of “Chinese traditional culture aphasia”—the inability of students to articulate Chinese cultural elements in English—within college English programs at local universities in Shandong Province. By analyzing curriculum design, teaching materials, and pedagogical approaches, the paper highlights the overemphasis on Western cultural content and the neglect of Chinese cultural integration. It further proposes actionable strategies to address this imbalance, aiming to enhance students’ cross-cultural communication competence and promote the global dissemination of Chinese culture.

In the context of the ongoing transformation of higher education in China, College English instruction is undergoing a critical shift from a focus on instrumental language training toward a more holistic, values-oriented educational paradigm. The Understanding Contemporary China textbook series, designed for international audiences, conveys a distinctive pedagogical concept: centering on Chinese topics, guided by the goal of fostering cultural identity, and relying on English as the medium of global communication. This concept offers new theoretical direction and practical frameworks for the reform of College English teaching. This study investigates how the pedagogical philosophy of Understanding Contemporary China can be translated into concrete instructional strategies. The research was conducted over 12 weeks with 58 non-English major undergraduates at a Chinese university. Grounded in the textbook’s conceptual framework, the study involved the reconstruction of teaching content, the innovation of pedagogical approaches, and the design of interactive classroom activities. The aim was to explore integrated pathways for developing language competence alongside value orientation and cultural expression. Findings reveal that students demonstrated measurable improvements in several domains, including intercultural communication skills, critical engagement with China-related topics, and enhanced coherence in English writing and speaking. At the same time, the study identified several practical challenges, such as difficulties in shifting teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, insufficient course materials aligned with the new concept, and disparities in students’ language and cognitive abilities. By grounding the research in real classroom practice, this paper proposes a set of actionable strategies for optimizing College English instruction. It aims to offer empirical insights and reflective perspectives for the cultivation of students’ capacity to articulate Chinese narratives in English. Ultimately, the study contributes to the broader goal of embedding cultural identity and national discourse within foreign language education in Chinese universities.

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is reshaping language education worldwide, compelling teachers to adapt their pedagogy and professional identities. This article examines how Chinese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers are adjusting their teaching methods in response to the AI era, drawing on the author’s personal reflective teaching practice in tertiary classrooms. Recent advances in AI-assisted tools—from automated writing evaluation and intelligent feedback systems to AI-generated learning materials and conversational chatbots—offer new opportunities to enhance EFL instruction. Chinese university instructors have begun integrating these tools to provide more personalized writing feedback, facilitate flipped learning, and engage students in novel ways. The reflective findings illustrate how AI integration has improved students’ writing revision and participation, while also challenging teachers to redefine their roles and maintain the human touch in teaching. Through critical engagement with literature from 2020-2025, the article contextualizes these pedagogical shifts within broader trends in AI-mediated language education and the evolving teacher identity in the digital age. It discusses the benefits of AI (such as increased efficiency and learner autonomy) alongside concerns (such as bias, academic integrity, and teacher displacement), emphasizing the need for ongoing professional development and ethical guidance (UNESCO, 2023; Hockly, 2023; Kasneci et al., 2023). The article concludes that AI can enrich EFL teaching in Chinese higher education when used as a complementary tool, with teachers’ reflective adaptation being key to harnessing AI’s potential while safeguarding pedagogical values.

In the new era of deepening international exchange and cooperation, “Tell China’s stories well” is essential for enhancing the cultural soft power of the country and spreading Chinese culture to the world. How to implement “telling China’s stories well” is a mission for the foreign language education. As carrying out the basic task of fostering virtue through education is the mission of higher education, “telling China’s stories well” is also a good path for ideological and political education. This paper mainly explores the application of “telling China’s stories well” to ideological and political education in college English courses. It analyzes the significance of this application and discusses the practical teaching process and strategy. Based on the practical teaching, interview and questionnaire survey, it shows that students have high evaluation on this teaching strategy. It is suggested that the application of “telling China’s stories well” to ideological and political education in college English courses can be feasible and effective. The comprehensive abilities of students are been improved, whether their English language proficiency, morality, or practical abilities.