In language teaching in colleges and universities, the teaching materials selected are both literary and artistic, and many of them are exemplary masterpieces recognized in China and abroad, which contain beautiful intentions, beautiful language, vivid images and noble ideals. Some articles move us, some verses shock us, some allusions make us feel, and some characters make us admire. Language teaching workers in colleges and universities should require themselves to be able to appreciate the beauty contained in these teaching materials, and then guide students to learn and feel. Therefore, teachers should not only aim at completing the teaching task, but also make students feel the charm of literature and art through language teaching, and gradually improve students' own literary literacy through the inculcation and cultivation of language teaching, so as to enhance the quality of humanities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and innovation of language education in colleges and universities at this stage based on the background of humanistic quality cultivation. By analyzing the current situation of language education in colleges and universities, it focuses on how to achieve innovation and development in the field of language education in colleges and universities under the premise of guaranteeing the quality of education, so as to improve the students' humanistic literacy and the quality of talent cultivation.