On 20-22 November 2020, Associate Professor Liu Sen from School of Foreign Languages was invited to participate in 2020 Global English Education China Assembly . The theme of the conference is Cooperation and Learning for a shared future. The sub-topics cover Teacher Education and Professional Development, Curriculum Design and Teaching Material Development, Language Testing and Evaluation, Artificial Intelligence and Foreign Language Teaching, Teaching English Speaking and Oral English and other fields relating to English education. The conference was held both online and offline with dual venues in Hangzhou and Beijing, attracting more than 10,000 English education experts, primary and secondary school English teachers and educators home and abroad.

In the Session Teaching English Speaking and Oral English, Associate Professor Liu gave a keynote speech on Teaching of ‘Speaking as Skill’. She focused on the cultivation of spoken English ability and cited the definition of language ability in China’s English Proficiency Rating Scale, indicating that the core of language ability is that the speaker can interpret and express intended meaning in a specific context and communication task.” Therefore it is made clear that the goal of oral English teaching is meaning rather than form. Secondly, Liu analyzed the learning needs of learners in the development of oral English ability and emphasized that teachers should carry out teaching tasks from the perspective of learners during their oral English teaching. Finally, citing China’s English Proficiency Rating Scale, Liu delved into the Listening and Speaking Test in Shanghai’s New National Matriculation English Test to demonstrate that the focus of language testing today has shifted from native-like accent to intelligibility, so oral English teaching should also be based on the development of time and the needs of learners. Phonetics teaching should not be an isolated discipline, but should be combined with other disciplines of linguistics to cultivate students' language ability.

Professor He Lianzhen, Vice President of Zhejiang University and Language Testing Expert, Professor Mei Deming, Dean of School of English at Shanghai International Studies University, Professor Jin Yan from Shanghai Jiaotong University, Professor Don Snow from Duke Kunshan University, Professor Cheng Xiaotang from Beijing Normal University and Professor Qu Weiguo from Fudan University also deliver speeches. 

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must uphold the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, create opportunities through opening up and solve problems through cooperation; we must expand the opening of education and strengthen international exchanges and cooperation. In this era, it is particularly important to enhance educational modernization through deepening reforms. The conference brought together more than 130 Chinese and foreign experts along with more than 10,000 English teachers and educators in universities, middle schools and primary schools. It is of far-reaching significance for deepening reforms and building a community with a shared future for English education. Associate Professor Liu Sen and her team members also gained a lot from this conference.