Abstract:

In 1998, the MOE released an important document entitled Some Opinions on the Reform of the Undergraduate Education for Foreign Language Majors in the 21st Century. The document requires that foreign language disciplines aimed at providing exclusive language trainings or single studies of literature and linguistics should be tailored to meet the national needs and cultivate compound talents. This is a great strategy to save the English major from its demise. Since 1998, however, the cultivation of the compound talents had been questioned and challenged until the issue of The National Standards of Teaching Quality for English Major, which officially put an end to implementing the policy. We analyze the reasons for the failure of the policy with an attempt to illustrate the significance of the cultivation of the compound talents in terms of avoiding the crisis of English majors and addressing the socioeconomic needs. We also explore the ways to cultivate the compound talents.