Translated by Claude, edited by Sinocism.com

Strengthen Ideological-Political Education in Foreign-Language Curricula (Hitting the Mark)

加强外语课程思政建设（有的放矢）

Led by Consolidating Cultural Subjectivity

以巩固文化主体性为引领

Source: People’s Daily | Author: Yin Jing (尹晶)

Date: June 9, 2026, page 9 (Theory)

Foreign-language teaching plays an important role in deepening exchanges between China and other countries, enhancing friendship among the peoples of all nations, telling China’s story well, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. It shoulders both the political responsibility of fostering virtue through education and cultivating a new generation of people equipped to take on the great task of national rejuvenation, and the professional mission of imparting language knowledge and developing students’ cross-cultural communication abilities. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “For any culture to stand firm and travel far, and to possess leading power, cohesive power, shaping power, and radiating power, it must have its own subjectivity.” At present, great changes unseen in a century in the world are accelerating, and currents of thought of every kind are intersecting and surging. Foreign-language teaching is not for the sake of following along, nor for the sake of imitation, but to push the Chinese discourse system to grow stronger and, against the backdrop of the deepening development of economic globalization, to raise China’s capacity to participate in agenda-setting and the formulation of international rules on the global stage. For precisely this reason, training foreign-language talent must focus not only on improving language ability, but even more on cultivating students’ cross-cultural communication skills, international vision, critical thinking, and spirit of innovation. To translate the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks into practice, ideological-political education must be carried through every stage and every link of foreign-language teaching. Led by the consolidation of cultural subjectivity, we must shore up the weak links and shortcomings of foreign-language teaching in ideological-political education, and produce more foreign-language talent who possess both an international vision and a sense of country and family.

外语教学对于深化中外交流、增进各国人民友谊、讲好中国故事、推动构建人类命运共同体等具有重要作用，既肩负着立德树人、培养担当民族复兴大任的时代新人的政治责任，也承担着传授语言知识、培育学生跨文化交流能力的专业使命。习近平总书记指出：“任何文化要立得住、行得远，要有引领力、凝聚力、塑造力、辐射力，就必须有自己的主体性。”当前，世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，各种思潮交织激荡。外语教学不是为了跟随，也不是为了模仿，而是要推动中国话语体系强起来，在经济全球化深入发展的背景下提升中国在国际舞台参与议题设置和国际规则制定的能力。正因如此，外语人才培养不仅要注重语言能力的提高，更要注重培养学生的跨文化沟通能力、国际视野、批判性思维和创新精神。把习近平总书记重要讲话精神落到实处，必须把思想政治教育贯穿外语教学全过程各环节，以巩固文化主体性为引领，补强外语教学在思政教育方面的短板弱项，造就更多兼具国际视野与家国情怀的外语人才。

Hold the value bottom line from the standpoint of Chinese culture. Language is the carrier of culture and also the container of values. For a long time, China’s foreign-language teaching has produced notable results in helping students master standard foreign languages and understand the cultures of the countries whose languages they study, but shortcomings also exist. For example, in some teaching there is a lack of conscious effort to consolidate cultural subjectivity, and in cross-cultural comparison some students are prone to falling into the trap of “Western-centrism.” Therefore, in strengthening research on foreign-language teaching, we cannot neglect critical reflection on the value orientations and ideological content that lie behind the language. Strengthening ideological-political construction of foreign-language curricula under the guidance of consolidating cultural subjectivity means ensuring that, while students master foreign-language skills, they always hold firm to a Chinese cultural standpoint, measure foreign concepts by Chinese values, and use Chinese theory to interpret foreign texts. Foreign-language educators must deeply study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, nourish hearts and minds with Chinese culture, and ensure that the foreign-language classroom always serves as an important front for consolidating cultural subjectivity.

以中华文化立场守好价值底线。语言是文化的载体，也是价值观的容器。长期以来，我国外语教学在帮助学生掌握标准外语、了解对象国文化方面取得显著成效，但也存在一些不足。比如，有的教学中缺乏巩固文化主体性的自觉，部分学生在跨文化比较中容易陷入“西方中心论”的迷思。因此，在加强外语教学研究的过程中，不能忽视对语言背后的价值取向和意识形态内容的批判性思考。以巩固文化主体性为引领加强外语课程思政建设，就是要让学生在掌握外语技能的同时，始终坚守中华文化立场，以中国价值衡量外来观念，用中国理论阐释外国文本。外语教育工作者要深入学习贯彻习近平文化思想，以中华文化滋润人心，让外语课堂始终成为巩固文化主体性的重要阵地。

Lay a firm foundation for cultural self-confidence through critical reading. Reading foreign-language classics is an important part of foreign-language teaching, but certain Western values can also be imported through such reading. For example, some classics of foreign literature carry not only the intellectual essence of a particular culture but also conceal specific ideological content at deeper levels. Uncritically accepting the values conveyed in such foreign classics may unwittingly draw one into the discursive trap of so-called “universal values.” The key to strengthening the ideological-political construction of foreign-language curricula under the guidance of consolidating cultural subjectivity lies in guiding students to read foreign classics critically. When reading Robinson Crusoe, for instance, while recognizing the protagonist’s spirit of adventure, students must also see clearly that, as a work of the age of colonial expansion, it is constructed so as to cast the West as a so-called “messenger of civilization.” In this way, students can both absorb the outstanding fruits of human civilization and view the world on a level plane, recognize the limits of Western discourse, and in such comparison firmly establish a steadfast cultural self-confidence. Students must also be made to understand that mastering standard foreign languages is only the foundation; more important is using that foundation to translate the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the vivid practice of Chinese modernization into foreign-language expressions readily understood by the international community, and so to keep raising the awareness and the ability to tell China’s story well.

以批判性阅读筑牢文化自信根基。外文经典阅读是外语教学的重要组成部分，但某些西方价值观也会通过外文经典阅读输入进来。比如，一些外国文学经典不仅承载着特定文化的思想精华，也在深层暗藏着特定的意识形态内容。如果不加批判地接受这些外文经典传递的价值观念，就可能在不知不觉中陷入所谓“普世价值”的话语陷阱。以巩固文化主体性为引领加强外语课程思政建设，关键在于引导学生对外文经典展开批判性阅读。比如，解读《鲁滨逊漂流记》时，在看到主人公具有冒险精神的同时，也要认清其作为殖民扩张时代的作品把西方塑造为所谓“文明使者”的建构本质。通过这种方式，让学生既汲取人类文明优秀成果，又能平视世界、看清西方话语的局限性，在比较中牢固树立坚定的文化自信。还要使学生认识到，掌握标准外语只是基础，更重要的是在此基础上将中国特色社会主义文化、中国式现代化的生动实践转译为国际社会易于理解的外语表达，不断提高讲好中国故事的自觉与能力。

Strengthen the capacity to educate through culture by deepening teaching reform. Consolidating cultural subjectivity in foreign-language teaching requires coordinated reform across curricula, teaching materials, and the teaching corps. Curriculum-building should combine points, lines, and surfaces. At the level of “points,” curriculum reform can be strengthened by organically integrating Chinese cultural content into core courses such as comprehensive foreign language, intercultural communication, and the reading of literary classics, systematically transmitting the essence of Chinese culture. At the level of “lines,” multi-domain content from literature, history, diplomacy, and other fields can be integrated around themes such as realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and building a community with a shared future for mankind, creating thematic course clusters that form a synergy in educating people. At the level of “surfaces,” the dimensions of practical instruction can be expanded through activities such as foreign-language speech contests, the production of thematic micro-videos, international-exchange volunteer service, and the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture, so that students hold to cultural subjectivity through practice. With respect to teaching materials, attention should be paid to converting the Party’s innovative theory and fine traditional Chinese culture into curricular and textbook form, so that teaching content carries both historical depth and the character of the times, and cultural immersion and value guidance reinforce one another. With respect to the teaching corps, attention should be paid to routinized capacity-building: through diversified channels such as thematic training programs and pedagogical seminars, teachers’ capacity for cultural interpretation and ideological guidance should be raised.

以深化教学改革增强以文化人能力。在外语教学中巩固文化主体性，需要课程、教材、教师队伍等多方面改革协同并进。课程建设要点、线、面结合。在“点”上，可加强课程改革，将中华文化内容有机融入综合外语、跨文化交际、文学经典阅读等核心课程，系统传授中华文化精髓；在“线”上，可围绕实现中华民族伟大复兴、构建人类命运共同体等主题，整合文学、历史、外交等多领域内容，打造主题课程群，形成育人合力；在“面”上，可拓展实践教学维度，通过外语演讲比赛、主题微视频制作、国际交流志愿服务、中国文化海外传播等活动，让学生在实践中坚守文化主体性。教材建设方面，注重将党的创新理论、中华优秀传统文化的内容课程化、教材化，使教学内容兼具历史厚度与时代特质，实现文化浸润与价值引领相协同。教师队伍建设方面，注重常态化赋能，通过专题研修、教学研讨等多元路径，提升教师的文化阐释力与思想引导能力。

(The author is a professor at the School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing.)

（作者为北京科技大学外国语学院教授）