On 29 October, Professor Wang Kefei, chief editor of Foreign Language Teaching and Research (CSSCI core journal) and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, delivered a wonderful lecture on “academic mindsets and paper writing” at the School of Foreign Languages, Jiulonghu Campus, Southeast University. The lecture was hosted by Ma Dongmei, vice dean of the School of Foreign Languages.
Professor Wang first pointed out three major challenges faced by foreign language teachers in terms of conducting academic research: a heavy workload with extensive teaching hours, a limited number of journals that publish a small proportion of submitted papers, and a general lack of proper academic training. However, foreign language teachers should not be intimidated by these daunting challenges, but should rise to the challenges and strive harder to conduct better academic research. Professor Wang then went on to point out that compared with university teachers in other disciplines, foreign language teachers have two major advantages: a better mastery of foreign languages that enables them to read the latest international research findings, and a mindset to constantly make comparison between languages, cultures, disciplines and research in different contexts. A global and comparative perspective on academic research and literature, according to Professor Wang, would allow foreign language teachers to broaden their horizons and discover meaningful research topics.
Professor Wang’s profound and thought-provoking speech elicited enthusiastic responses from the audience, who all benefited greatly from the lecture.
Reported by Cheng Si
Photographed by Chen Xiangyu
