1 Introduction

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes the construction of a high-quality education system, with the key being the development of the teaching staff. International trends indicate that teacher professional standards are crucial for educational reform. The professional development of foreign language teachers in Chinese universities requires the establishment of a standard system that is in line with the national conditions, in order to enhance the quality of teachers and education. Beijing Foreign Studies University has launched relevant research projects aimed at clarifying teacher development goals and paths. During the development process of the "Professional Standards for Foreign Language Teachers in Colleges and Universities", emphasis was placed on scientificity, comprehensiveness, and leadership, providing a professional development framework for teachers and evaluation tools for educational administrators. This standard covers six aspects: educational literacy, disciplinary literacy, teaching literacy, scientific research literacy, digital literacy, and learning literacy. Each aspect includes four elements: correct values, core knowledge, key abilities, and essential character.

The fundamental principles for establishing the professional competence of foreign language teachers in two universities

This article elaborates on the fundamental principles for establishing the professional competence of foreign language teachers in universities, including the spirit of the Party Central Committee's documents, the guiding principles of the "Guidelines for College English Teaching (2020 Edition)" and the "Guidelines for Undergraduate Foreign Language and Literature Majors in Ordinary Higher Education Institutions", as well as the theoretical basis provided by existing literature. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasizes the importance of building the teaching staff and proposes the goal of improving the comprehensive quality, professional level, and innovation ability of teachers by 2035. The "British Guide" and the "Foreign Experts Guide" respectively put forward specific requirements for the literacy of university English teachers and foreign language teachers, emphasizing that teachers should possess educational literacy, disciplinary literacy, teaching literacy, scientific research literacy, and information literacy, and continue to learn to promote the sustainable development of literacy.

The basis and relationship for establishing the professional competence of foreign language teachers in three universities

Deeply explored the basis and connotation of establishing the professional competence of foreign language teachers in universities. Since the establishment of relevant committees in the United States in 1946, many countries around the world have begun to develop competency standards for foreign language teachers to promote their professional development. Chinese scholars have also begun to pay attention to teachers' professional competence since the 1990s, proposing a multidimensional structure that includes professional ideals, knowledge levels, educational concepts, and so on. Ding Shiqiang et al. (2023) further emphasized the comprehensiveness of teachers' professional competence, including knowledge, skills, emotions, and beliefs. Sun Youzhong (2018) and Wen Qiufang (2021) proposed competency frameworks for foreign language teachers in universities, but did not fully focus on internal factors such as psychological qualities. This study suggests that the professional competence of foreign language teachers in universities should include correct values, core knowledge, key abilities, and essential character traits. These four elements are interdependent and constitute the basic dimensions of teacher professional competence.

The connotation and constituent elements of professional competence of foreign language teachers in four universities

The connotation and constituent elements of the professional competence of foreign language teachers in universities include four aspects: correct values, core knowledge, key abilities, and essential character. Educational literacy emphasizes that teachers promote students' comprehensive development in teaching, including cross-cultural understanding and respect, educational fairness and justice. Subject literacy requires teachers to have a correct understanding of the value of foreign language subjects, possess knowledge of foreign language subjects, and cross-cultural communication skills. Teaching literacy involves teachers' teaching beliefs, academic ethics, curriculum knowledge, teaching knowledge, and student knowledge, as well as their ability to design, implement, evaluate, and communicate effectively. Research literacy requires teachers to use scientific research methods to improve teaching practices, including recognition of research value, academic integrity, research methods and skills. Digital literacy refers to teachers utilizing digital technology to optimize teaching activities, including digital education awareness, data privacy and security, and digital technology knowledge and skills. Learning literacy emphasizes teachers' continuous learning, reflection, improvement, and self-improvement, including lifelong learning, professional development pathways, self-regulated learning, evaluation and utilization of learning resources, reflection and improvement.

5 Suggestions for the Use of Teacher Professional Standards

The emphasis is on the professional competence standards for foreign language teachers in universities, which aim to provide teachers with a development vision and goals, rather than assessment tools. Through the example of the three-level representation of "foreign language teaching evaluation and feedback" ability (entry-level, competence level, excellence level), it is recommended that teachers conduct self-assessment and professional development planning. New teachers should comprehensively analyze their own strengths and weaknesses, determine improvement goals, and choose learning resources. Department managers can evaluate teachers' abilities, provide personalized training, and establish development mechanisms. Education managers can design pre service education courses to ensure that teachers achieve entry-level competencies, while also serving as a reference for the integrated training of pre service and in-service teachers.

6 Conclusion

Establishing professional competence standards for foreign language teachers in universities is crucial for the professionalization of teachers and the improvement of educational quality, and can serve as a guide for evaluation and self-development. Standards are one of the tools for promoting teacher development, and their connotations need to be fully understood. System design should be implemented, focusing on the needs of stakeholders and promoting the development of the foreign language teacher team.