1 Introduction

It is pointed out that under the context of the new agricultural science initiative, cultivating new-type agricultural and forestry talents who not only understand agriculture but also possess foreign language skills and an international perspective is an important task in higher education. Existing college English teaching materials and curriculum systems struggle to meet this demand. Therefore, what kind of agricultural culture and knowledge should be presented in college English teaching materials tailored for new agricultural science talent cultivation, and how it should be presented, have become core questions that urgently need answers. Teaching materials serve as the core foundation for teaching activities and a key carrier for implementing national education policies. They should break through traditional models, organically integrate language learning with knowledge in fields such as agriculture, construct an integrated curriculum system, and enhance students' ability to narrate China's agricultural development stories in English and participate in international agricultural cooperation.

2 The Challenges of College English Teaching in New Agricultural Science

The challenges faced in college English teaching for new agricultural science are discussed. On one hand, agricultural science talents possess strong professional abilities but weak international communication skills, making it difficult for them to systematically explain Chinese agricultural practices in English, which places them at a disadvantage in international exchanges. The existing teaching material system fails to guide students in forming systematic narratives and value interpretations based on Chinese practices. On the other hand, while university foreign language and discipline-specific teaching proceed in parallel, the integration mechanisms are insufficient, leading to structural gaps between courses. Students find it difficult to use foreign languages for professional thinking and communication within authentic disciplinary contexts. There is an urgent need to develop college foreign language teaching materials that serve the dual functions of disciplinary development and language cultivation.

3 Rationale for Textbook Development

The theoretical basis for the compilation philosophy and practice of the "New Agricultural Science College English" textbook is explained, namely Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). CLIL is a dual-focused educational model that emphasizes the simultaneous development of disciplinary knowledge and language skills. Its theoretical foundation can be traced back to Canada's immersion teaching model and North America's bilingual education, and it has developed to varying degrees in Europe and Asia. In China, the practice and exploration of CLIL provide an important direction for the development of applied linguistics, but it is still in an exploratory stage, especially with limited application in non-language disciplines. Addressing this current situation, "New Agricultural Science College English" is based on the context of China's new agricultural science education, adopts a "three-teacher" compilation model, and constructs a college English textbook that integrates both disciplinary characteristics and interdisciplinary elements, aiming to resolve the disconnection among "specialty—language—international discourse" in the cultivation of new agricultural science talents.

4 Compilation Practice of "New Agricultural Science College English"

The compilation practice of "New Agricultural Science College English" revolves around national strategic needs, follows relevant guidelines from the Ministry of Education, and takes "Major Country Agriculture, Rural Areas, and Farmers Education" and "Chinese-style Agricultural Modernization Development" as core themes. It covers multiple fields including farming civilization, smart agriculture, and food security, aiming to cultivate interdisciplinary talents. The content setup includes five aspects: food security, ecological civilization, smart agriculture, nutrition and health, and rural development. It combines global dynamics with China's practical achievements to guide students in understanding related issues from a global perspective and narrating Chinese experiences in English.

The textbook adopts a "four-dimensional integration" framework and an "eight-module integration pathway," embedding content, cognition, culture, and communication dimensions into the learning process. Systematic language scaffolding ensures content comprehension and advanced expression. In terms of content and cognition, by clarifying learning objectives and tasks, students are guided to understand, analyze, and evaluate cutting-edge topics. Problem-driven tasks are set to cultivate students' critical thinking skills. In culture and communication, dual text configurations guide students to understand differences through international comparisons, form judgments, and achieve cross-cultural interpretation. In cognition and communication, various types of learning output tasks are designed around real agricultural issues, guiding students to complete the entire process from information collection to viewpoint expression, cultivating their thinking literacy. In content and communication, systematic embedding of language scaffolding is achieved through multiple modules and corpora, reducing cognitive language load, and promoting the coordinated development of language and thinking.

5 Conclusion

The compilation philosophy and practical outcomes of the "New Agricultural Science College English" textbook are summarized. Based on the context of the new agricultural science initiative, the textbook constructs a "content—cognition—culture—communication" four-dimensional integration framework and adopts an "eight-module integration pathway," effectively addressing common issues found in existing CLIL teaching materials. In teaching design, it emphasizes the coordinated advancement of content and language objectives, integrates agricultural disciplinary knowledge with language learning tasks, and enhances students' ability in international academic exchanges. Through systematic language scaffolding and problem-oriented task design, it assists learners in accurately communicating China's "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" experiences in English, promotes international exchange and cooperation, cultivates interdisciplinary talents with professional competence, international communication skills, and global competence, serves the cultivation of agricultural professionals and meets major national strategic needs, guiding students to understand China's agricultural development, narrate China's agricultural experiences, and enhance cross-cultural communication and international dissemination capabilities.