[Shoulder on Responsibility, Promote Agricultural Development] (4) Russian language major: a story from a course to a major

On February 10, the Ministry of Education announced the results of the record and approval of undergraduate majors in colleges and universities in 2020. Majors of “Smart Animal Husbandry Science and Engineering” “Smart Agriculture” and “Russian” applied by the university were approved for enrollment.

This news was reported on the university news website titled by “Three New Added Undergraduate Majors”. The reading volume of teachers and students exceeded 6,300. Happy news spread widely.

Among the three new majors, “Russian language” is a very special one. Why does the university set up this major? How is the development of Russian language teaching going in China and in NWAFU? What are the characteristics of this major in NWAFU? After reviewing relevant papers and interviewing with teachers, the correspondent of this news report observed that it is the national development for language and the university’s responsibility for talent training that have initiated the new language major in this global communication era.

Statistics show that there are 173 colleges and universities setting up Russian language major nationwide in 2020. Among them, there are five agriculture and forestry colleges including Northeast Agricultural University, Northeast Forestry University, Shandong Agricultural University, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, and Xinjiang Agricultural University, and also seven universities in Shaanxi province including Xi’an International Studies University, Northwest University, Xi'an Shiyou University, and Shaanxi Normal University.

“Russian language major meets the need of developing international education in the university” said Vice-principal Chen Yulin. Northwest A&F University is the first "Double First-class" agricultural university that set up Russian language in the entire Northwest region.

The ancient Silk Road started from today’s Xi’an, passed through Gansu and Xinjiang provinces, to Central Asia, West Asia, and to the Mediterranean countries. In the construction of the “Belt and Road”, the university is now at the starting point of the Silk Road in the new era.

Many countries along the Silk Road and Northwest China are at the arid and semi-arid zones, which share the very similar climatic conditions, ecological environment, and adaptability of animals and plants. There is a great prospect for agricultural development and agricultural cooperation among countries. In 2016, NWAFU advocated the establishment of the Silk Road Agricultural Education Technology Innovation Alliance. By the end of October last year, the alliance has brought together 90 units from 17 countries.

NWAFU has jointly established eight overseas agricultural science and technology demonstration parks with universities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries. The Sino-Russian Agriculture Science and Technology Development Policy Research Center headed by Professor Zhu Yuchun, the Kazakhstan Research Center directed by Professor Wei Feng have also been established successively.

In June 14th, 2019, general secretary Xi Jinping noted on the Bishkek Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that China was going to establish the training base in Shaanxi Province for SCO agricultural technology exchanges, and to better develop the cooperation on modern agriculture between countries in the same region. It is the NWAFU and Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone that shall take the responsibility for the development.

“Russian language major is coming just in time.” said Zhang Zhengmao, a researcher from College of Agronomy, who studies on wheat breeding. He said that Russian language is one of two official languages in SCO. The principle of close connection, win-win cooperation, and mutual development of SCO requires more agricultural and technological talents who have good command of Russian in international cooperation.

In recent years, researcher Zhang traveled to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for several times, paving the way for the development of modern agriculture between China and Central Asian countries by adopting new technologies and new modes of agriculture. Now, he has been noted as “ambassador of agriculture and technology” in international exchanges, and becomes the chief expert in Kokshetau demonstration zone, Kazakhstan.

Russian language teaching in NWAFU never ceased

The foreign language teaching policy of a country is always closely connected with country’s development of diplomacy, commerce, technology and etc. So does the Russian language teaching in China. Since the establishment of Russian Cultural Center in 1708, Russian language teaching in China has a history of 313 years. As the school Documentary recorded, Russian language was one of the eight general education courses in National Northwest Agriculture University.

In 1930s and 1940s, with small numbers of students, the university set the foreign language courses as general elective courses. It was usually that one teacher taught one foreign language. After the founding of P.R.China, NWAFU set off a climax of Russian learning and carried out teaching reforms in accordance with the Soviet education model. The school set up a foreign language teaching and research group, and all teachers in the school rushed to learn Russian. In 1950, Mr. Jiang Yongqiu graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. degree and brought his wife to work in the Department of Water Conservancy of our school. He went to Northwest Institute of Technology to participate in Russian classes . He came to study the Russian crash course in Northwest Polytechnical University, and took the lead of using Soviet textbooks.

WANG Shujiang, now a 87-year-old professor, was one of the nine Russian language teachers from old Harbin Foreign Language Institute to the university in 1957. He introduced that there were more than half of teachers among 26 staffs in teaching and researching group of foreign languages worked on Russian language teaching. “Russian language course was a compulsory course. I taught students from Department of Forestry and Department of Water Construction three times a week”, he said.

After 1960s, the relationship between China and Soviet Union got worsen. Though the university was facing the great reduction in Russian language teaching, the Russian language teaching project in Northeast area and Xinjiang province continued. A group of talents in Russian language for the “Belt and Road” international agriculture cooperation were trained during the time. WEI Feng, ZHU Yuchun and other talents were representatives among them. Until today, there are students attend the Russian language test in annual National Foreign Language Test Band 4 and Band 6.

WANG Danmeng, a doctoral student of the College of Agronomy, applied for the Russian language Band 4 exam last year. Because of the “Study on Kazakhstan’s Grain Production Potential and Agricultural Trade Advantages”, She went to Kazakhstan for research from August to October 2019 and met some difficulties in communication with local scientists through machine translation. Thus after returning to school, she went to the Russian training class in the university. “It is very important to learn Russian well”. WANG Danmeng said that people-to-people communication is necessary for better development of the “Belt and Road” initiative.

“Now the wind is just right for sailing. We have conditions, and foundation to set up major of Russian language.” Said Professor WANG Shujiang, who was excited when he heard that the university has successfully applied the Russian language major. According to him, the foreign languages teaching in NWAFU has made a historic progress.

Keep integration as the main feature of Russian language major in NWAFU

“The Russian language major is not just about translation”. The responsible person from Department of Foreign languages emphasized that it is to build a general agricultural foreign language under the background of the new agricultural sciences, aiming to realize the “agricultural language” and to integrate and cultivate compound Russian talents who understand both Russian and agricultural professional knowledge.

In the early 1990s, some teachers were sent by the school to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to carry out scientific and technological cooperation with the Institute of Ecological Economics of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the country. After more than three years of experience, everyone deeply realized that only language or professional skills are not enough for international cooperation. One must have the combined skills of “profession plus language”.

To provide basic support for the training of new talents with interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary talents, language support for the training of different types of international agricultural talents, and language support for the school’s Silk Road Alliance and the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are the planning goals of the university’s Russian major.

        It is understood that our school plans to enroll 30-60 students for the Russian language major this year. At present, the Russian faculty is gradually expanding on the original basis: two Ph.Ds. graduated from Moscow University and St. Petersburg University have passed the interview, and many foreign professional teachers are working in the recruitment process, a number of part-time teachers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are also under investigation. Nearly 70% of the existing Russian teachers have doctoral degrees.

     Besides the “Silk Road International Agricultural Talents” professional postgraduate training program set up in 2019, two training programs, the China Scholarship Council China-Russia digital agricultural economic management innovative talent cooperation and " “Silk Road” for international talents in crop production are also established for the Russian language talents training.

      KANG Jile, deputy director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange and Office of the SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base Construction Project, introduced that the "Silk Road International Agricultural Talents" professional postgraduate training program has recruited 67 postgraduates for two sessions, including students from College of Agronomy, College of Economics and Management, College of Water Resources and Architecture Engineering, College of Animal Science and Technology. A one year intensive Russian study for the postgraduates and a three-month internship in countries along the route of Silk Road are designed for the students training. These students will also be recommended to the member units of the SCO Innovation Alliance for employment.

      “We take the lead in organizing the Sino-Russian humanities exchange project, and will also open a minor Russian major for the whole school”, said CHEN Yulin, the vice president of the NWAFU. In the momentum of international development, the Russian major is a powerful move to build a benchmark in the implementation of the “12345” development, added by him.

       The Russian major of has a great prospect in the future.