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1 Introduction

The discussion traces the century-long development of foreign language education in modern China and its strategic role in national progress. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology is reshaping how information is accessed, knowledge is produced, and languages are acquired, significantly impacting the field of foreign languages. Traditional foreign language education models now face challenges to their relevance and necessity. While GenAI has limitations, it also presents new opportunities for the discipline, such as preserving linguistic diversity and generating creative content. Against this backdrop, Beijing Foreign Studies University hosted a high-level forum to explore the future direction of foreign language studies in the GenAI era. The forum reached four core consensuses and proposed reform pathways for the discipline across three dimensions: disciplinary planning, educational practice, and research development.

2 Core Consensuses and Analysis from the Forum

The forum delved into the development consensuses and reform pathways for China’s foreign language discipline in the GenAI era. First, it emphasized the discipline’s strategic importance in national development and societal needs, arguing that it must transcend "instrumental rationality," elevate its purpose, redefine its value framework, and reshape its professional structure and talent cultivation models. Experts agreed that the discipline must strengthen self-awareness and proactively demonstrate its irreplaceable value to society. Additionally, it should deepen its theoretical foundations, drawing from China’s unique practices to build an autonomous knowledge system for foreign language studies.

Second, the discussion highlighted foreign language studies as a vital component of the humanities, with educational goals serving as both the logical starting point and value anchor for disciplinary development. Amid tensions between instrumental and value rationality, the field faces internal and external challenges, necessitating an integrated cultivation paradigm that combines "interdisciplinary knowledge, versatile competencies, and humanistic values" to enhance resilience against technological alienation. Experts proposed centering education on humanistic spirit, innovating teaching models, and guiding students to "express themselves through language, understand the world, and engage with others." Key focus areas include international communication, cross-cultural competence, and global governance.

Next, the forum addressed the deep integration of large language models (LLMs) in GenAI technology into foreign language teaching. While transformative, these technologies are not neutral and carry risks such as homogenization, decontextualization, and bias reinforcement. Thus, GenAI and LLM development must be guided by humanistic values—prioritizing equity, justice, sustainability, and inclusivity—to ensure technology empowers the discipline and advances human civilization. Foreign language scholars must actively engage in GenAI development, advocating for linguistic sensitivity, cultural diversity, and cross-cultural ethics in model training to improve data quality and promote responsible AI.

Lastly, the forum examined GenAI’s urgent demands for teachers’ skill sets, professional素养, and role evolution. Teachers’ AI literacy has become a critical focus, prompting governments, institutions, and industries to launch training initiatives. Experts unanimously stressed the pivotal role of teacher development in advancing the discipline. Educators must adopt a future-oriented mindset,复合能力 (versatile competencies), a commitment to humanistic values, and a student-centered ethos to nurture key competencies and ensure the discipline’s sustainable evolution in the GenAI era.

3 Reform Pathways for China’s Foreign Language Discipline in the GenAI Era

In the GenAI era, China’s foreign language discipline must align value-driven leadership, educational essence, and technological empowerment. For disciplinary planning, internal structures should be optimized to cultivate talent in area studies and international communication, with specialized sub-disciplines and differentiated programs to build distinctive brands. Emerging fields like language engineering should balance technical and humanistic education. Doctoral programs must expand to supply high-level talent. Interdisciplinary collaboration should preserve the discipline’s humanistic core while integrating resources through dual-degree or "multi-certification" models,缩短 (shortening) the training cycle for复合型 (interdisciplinary) talent. Partnerships among universities, enterprises, and governments can foster innovation, global perspectives, and cross-cultural competence, creating a new ecosystem for foreign language education.

In educational practice, the discipline must redefine pedagogy by merging technology and humanism. Teachers should leverage digital platforms and AI to enhance efficiency while guiding students in self-directed learning with smart tools. Educators must transition from tech users to value leaders, emphasizing critical digital literacy and innovation. Scenario-based and dialogic teaching methods can help students critically evaluate AI-generated content’s biases and cultural limitations. Strengthening language skills and digital literacy should be paired with deepening humanistic foundations. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) should incorporate Chinese and target-country politics, society, history, and culture. Ideological education in foreign language courses should foster patriotism, global awareness, and cultural depth. Teacher development mechanisms must evolve, with GenAI offering new pathways for professional growth.

In research, GenAI provides innovative approaches for foreign language education, but current studies lag behind实践 (practice). International research remains limited, focusing on micro-level empirical work, while domestic studies are more abundant but often theoretical. Gaps exist in multimodal AI applications, non-English language teaching, comparative studies of LLMs, student acceptance of AI, teacher role redefinition, and AI literacy assessment. Future research should expand to cover AI-assisted lesson planning, teaching, evaluation, emotional support, and personalized learning across all language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, translation). Non-major languages warrant attention. Theoretically, interdisciplinary frameworks—spanning philosophy of technology, second language acquisition, educational psychology, and applied linguistics—can enhance rigor. Case studies from China’s unique context should be systematized into理论 (theories). Research should span K-12 to graduate levels, diverse majors, and student feedback. Mixed methods, case studies, action research, and dialectical approaches can deepen insights. Topics should extend to AI in policy, curriculum design, assessment, materials development, and educational management. Cross-disciplinary collaborations can yield智能 (intelligent) platforms and tools tailored to外语 (foreign language) education, boosting innovation and applicability.

4 Conclusion

The forum crystallized four consensuses for foreign language studies in the GenAI era: affirming disciplinary confidence, returning to humanistic roots, strengthening value leadership, and redefining teacher素养. Future development must harmonize disciplinary and professional growth, internal motivation and external support, teaching-research and societal service, and technological-humanistic synergy. A distinctly Chinese knowledge system, disciplinary framework, academic discourse, and话语 (narrative) for foreign language education should be built to serve modernization and drive内涵式 (connotative) development and innovation.

--- The translation preserves the original structure, headings, and paragraph breaks while ensuring accuracy and readability in English. Technical terms (e.g., 复合型 as "versatile competencies") and culturally specific phrases (e.g., 人文底蕴 as "cultural depth") are rendered contextually. Chinese concepts like 思政 ("ideological education") are translated functionally.