Research on the Integration Path of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education and Foreign Language Major Education under the Background of “New Liberal Arts”
—With the Goal of Cultivating Envoys for Cultural Global Communication ()
1. Introduction
As China moves closer to the center of the world stage, promoting the “going global” of Chinese culture and enhancing national cultural soft power have become a crucial national strategy. The implementation of this strategy is in urgent need of a group of “envoys for cultural global communication” who can integrate Chinese and foreign perspectives and possess both international communication capabilities and the spirit of innovation and practice. [1] However, traditional foreign language major education has long focused on language skill training and the teaching of literary and cultural knowledge, and has obvious shortcomings in cultivating students’ ability of creative transformation of culture, cross-cultural project operation capability and market adaptability. This model, which “prioritizes input over output and knowledge acquisition over innovation”, is difficult to meet the urgent demand for interdisciplinary, innovative and international talents in the new era.
At the same time, the construction of “New Liberal Arts”, with the core concept of “upholding integrity and fostering innovation, and promoting interdisciplinary integration”, has pointed out the direction for the reform of higher liberal arts education in China, especially foreign language majors. It advocates breaking disciplinary barriers and responding to the propositions of the times, which provides a top-level design and theoretical basis for the in-depth integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education into foreign language majors. Injecting the critical thinking, opportunity identification, value creation and practical spirit contained in innovation and entrepreneurship education into foreign language education is not only an inherent requirement of New Liberal Arts construction, but also an inevitable path to cultivate strategic talents who can “tell Chinese stories well and spread Chinese voices effectively”. This study aims to systematically explore the internal logic, practical challenges and feasible paths of the integration of the two, so as to serve the core training goal of “envoys for cultural global communication”.
2. The Necessity of Integration: The Triple Logics of Theory, Strategy and Reality
Integrating innovation and entrepreneurship education into foreign language majors is not a simple addition of courses, but a paradigm reconstruction based on the concept of New Liberal Arts. Its necessity is rooted in three profound logics.
2.1. The Internal Logic of Disciplinary Development: Transcending “Instrumentality” and Returning to “Humanism” and “Innovativeness”
Traditional foreign language education is prone to fall into the trap of “instrumental rationality”. The construction of New Liberal Arts calls for foreign language education to return to the essence of humanities, namely cultivating critical thinking ability, cultural comprehension and value-shaping ability. Sun Youzhong et al. (2022) [2] pointed out that foreign language education in the new era should serve “national strategies and the all-round development of human beings”. Guo Yingjian (2021) [3] further emphasized that the essence of New Liberal Arts is cross-border integration, and foreign language majors must seek new growth points through integration with other disciplines. The core of innovation and entrepreneurship education is the critical application of existing knowledge and the creation of new values, which can inject vitality into foreign language majors and promote their paradigm transformation from “language training” to “holistic education” and “innovation literacy education”.
2.2. The External Drive of National Strategy: Addressing the Core Competence Bottlenecks in “Cultural Global Communication”
“Cultural global communication” is a complex cross-cultural practice, which requires talents to have the ability of creative transformation and innovative development of cultural resources. Wen Qiufang (2023) [4] deconstructed international communication competence into multi-dimensional capabilities such as advanced writing, translation for foreign communication, cross-cultural communication and participation in international affairs. Traditional courses may involve “translation for foreign communication” and “cross-cultural communication”, but there is a huge gap in “content creation” based on international audiences, “communication operation” based on market rules and “practical execution” based on project management. Innovation and entrepreneurship education is the key to making up for these shortcomings in practical and creative abilities. It can cultivate students’ comprehensive literacy in transforming cultural content into products, projects and market-oriented goods.
2.3. The Practical Compulsion of Technological Revolution and Industrial Form Changes: Meeting the In-depth Challenges of Language Intelligence
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is reshaping the language service industry. In this context, Hu Jiehui (2023) [5] proposed that foreign language education must consider how to coordinate with curriculum ideological and political education and innovation and entrepreneurship education to cultivate high-level interdisciplinary talents that cannot be replaced by technology. Simple foreign language skills are no longer sufficient to form core competitiveness. Future foreign language talents must be able to master technology, such as using AI for efficient translation and content generation, and focus on high-level tasks that technology cannot yet complete, such as strategy formulation, cultural adaptation, brand building and resource integration. This requires the education model to shift from “skill teaching” to the cultivation of both “technical literacy” and “entrepreneurial thinking”, and innovation and entrepreneurship education is the best carrier for cultivating such high-level thinking and practical abilities.
3. The Design of Integration Path: A Systematic Five-Dimension Model
Based on the above analysis, this paper constructs a five-dimension integration path model with “values as guidance, competencies as core, curriculum as carrier, practice as field and evaluation as orientation”.
3.1. Goal Level: Value Remolding and Goal Integration
The training goal should be clearly shifted from “foreign language specialists” to “interdisciplinary international communication talents who understand national strategies, are familiar with international rules, and have innovative spirit and entrepreneurial potential”. This requires the organic integration of “a sense of national belonging” (curriculum ideological and political education), “global competence” (foreign language expertise) and “initiative spirit” (innovation and entrepreneurship education) under the overall goal of “envoys for cultural global communication”. The education process must always run through value guidance to ensure that talents can uphold China’s stance and effectively spread Chinese culture in cross-cultural practices.
3.2. Curriculum Level: System Restructuring and Content Integration
It is necessary to break the dual structure of “language skill courses + literature and culture courses” and build a three-dimensional curriculum group consisting of “core basic module· + interdisciplinary expansion module + practical project module”.
Core basic module: While strengthening advanced language abilities, systematically offer courses such as “An Overview of Contemporary China”, “Translation and Interpretation of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture” and “Theories of Cross-cultural Communication” to consolidate students’ content foundation and cultural confidence [6].
Avoid Interdisciplinary expansion module: This is the essence of “cross-border integration”. Mini-majors or course groups such as “Foreign Language + International Business” (cross-border e-commerce, international marketing), “Foreign Language + Digital Technology” (international new media operation, localization project management) and “Foreign Language + Public Diplomacy” (international organizations and global governance) can be launched to meet the requirements of New Liberal Arts for interdisciplinary knowledge structure.
Practical project module: Fully implement Project-Based Learning (PBL). Integrate real or simulated projects such as “operation of Chinese cultural overseas social media accounts”, “international promotion plan of local intangible cultural heritage” and “virtual cultural and creative product development” into teaching, enabling students to integrate and apply knowledge from various modules through “learning by doing”.
3.3. Practice Level: Platform Integration and Scene Integration
Adopt and expand the practice wing in the “one-body-two-wings” system proposed by Wang Wei et al. (2024) [7] to build a multi-level, virtual-real integrated practice platform chain.
On-campus platforms: Build “multilingual international communication studios”, “cross-cultural innovation workshops” and “intelligent language service laboratories”, equipped with necessary technologies and software to support students in content creation and project incubation.
Off-campus platforms: Co-construct practice bases with international communication institutions, cultural trade enterprises, cross-border e-commerce platforms, etc., implement the “industrial professor” and “double mentor” system, and allow students to participate in real projects.
Virtual and international platforms: Use Metaverse and virtual reality (VR) technology to build virtual cultural exchange scenarios; expand overseas internships, international volunteer services and online international collaboration projects to temper students’ abilities in real cross-cultural environments.
3.4. Evaluation Level: Standard Innovation and Effect Integration
Reform the examination-oriented evaluation method and establish a comprehensive evaluation system that is process-oriented, performance-based and development-focused. The practice of Zhang Weilei (2022) [8] shows that incorporating discipline competitions, entrepreneurial projects and practice reports into assessment can effectively motivate students. Specific contents can include project achievement evaluation, cross-cultural case solution analysis, simulated negotiation performance, personal ability growth portfolio, etc. In particular, attention should be paid to students’ cultural sensitivity, innovative thinking and resource integration ability reflected in complex tasks.
4. Cutting-Edge Practical Cases and Enlightenments
The exploration of some domestic universities provides vivid examples for the above path. Tianjin Foreign Studies University established the “School of International Intelligent Communication Industry” in 2025, building an integrated training system of “language + technology + communication”, which directly meets the cutting-edge industrial demand of “multilingual + intelligent communication”, setting a model for cultivating practical talents through industry-education integration [9]. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, through the development of the “practical training large model for foreign-related legal talents” and the “AI Yunfan Translation” intelligent platform, deeply empowers the training of advanced language abilities and cross-cultural practical capabilities with digital technology, reflecting the key role of “digital intelligence-driven” in the cultivation of foreign language talents in New Liberal Arts [10].
These cases enlighten us that successful integration must keep up with the technological frontier, deeply connect with industries, and boldly innovate institutional mechanisms. Future exploration of integration paths should pay more attention to using new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to build a smart learning ecology, while exploring a sustainable school-enterprise collaborative education model.
5. Conclusions and Prospect
Under the background of New Liberal Arts, promoting the in-depth integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education and foreign language major education to cultivate envoys for cultural global communication is a systematic project related to national strategies and the future of disciplines. This study demonstrates that this integration has profound theoretical, strategic and practical inevitability, and proposes a systematic five-dimension path model. However, the integration path still faces many challenges, such as how to balance humanistic heritage and technological innovation, how to build an interdisciplinary faculty team, and how to establish a long-term industry-education integration benefit-sharing mechanism.
In the future, it is necessary for education authorities, universities, enterprises and all sectors of society to form a joint force and continuously innovate in policy support, resource investment and evaluation reform. Only through in-depth and systematic education reform can we build a new talent training ecology that can continuously cultivate outstanding envoys for cultural global communication, laying a solid talent foundation for enhancing the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization and promoting the development of China’s cultural soft power.
Funding Statement
Key Project of Undergraduate Education and Teaching Reform of Qilu Normal University in 2024: Theoretical and Practical Research on the Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education with Professional Education (Project Number: XJG2024003).