Recently, Zhao Wei, the provost of Shenzhen University of Technology and former president of the University of Macau, publicly announced educational reform information: students admitted in 2026 will enter a new experimental class. The university plans to gradually cancel the original compulsory public English courses and replace them with new cross-cultural communication special courses. This bold move is a fundamental reflection on traditional foreign language teaching models in the AI era.

Zhao Wei clearly stated that in traditional English courses, a large number of knowledge points that require rote memorization can now be easily accessed and automatically translated with AI tools. However, the ability for deep cross-cultural communication between people, as well as the perspective and insight in dealing with others, are core competencies that AI can never teach students. His words reveal the core logic of the reform: when language tools can be replaced by AI, the focus of language education must shift from "learning knowledge" to "developing skills."

The new curriculum does not teach grammar but focuses on "perspective"

The core goal of this new cross-cultural communication course has moved away from the previous logic of simply teaching language knowledge points. The curriculum system will simultaneously deepen the core characteristics of Eastern and Western cultures, placing the development of students' sense of perspective, social propriety, and life skills at the forefront.

The ultimate goal is to enable students to communicate confidently and politely with people from different cultural backgrounds—neither overly flattering nor submissive, nor arrogant and confrontational. Instead, they will complete various communications with reason and composure throughout. In other words, future English classes will no longer teach "how to speak English," but rather "how to use English to be a person with a broad perspective."

Several universities follow suit, returning language education to its essence

This reform in foreign language education is not an isolated case at Shenzhen University of Technology. Several universities across the country have already started optimizing and adjusting their university foreign language education systems. In May 2026, the Academic Affairs Office of Zhejiang Normal University issued a notice about revising the undergraduate talent training program, clearly stating that the credit hours for university foreign language courses were adjusted from 8 credits to 6 credits, and a flexible tiered teaching model will be fully implemented later.