On May 17, 2024, a lecture on the topic of “Language Service Theory and Practice for High-quality development of Digital Economy” was successfully held at the School of Foreign Languages (SFL). Prof. Wang Lifei, Beijing Language and Culture University, a renowned scholar and a doctoral supervisor from the School of Translation and Interpreting (STI) as well as the Dean of the Academy of International Language Services Science (AILSS), shared his research at the lecture. Hosted by Du Jingping, the Vice Dean of SFL, the lecture provided detailed information about the background, scale and relevant policies of the Language Services, attracting many teachers and students, and ending in lively discussion.

At the beginning of the lecture, prof. Wang briefly stated the concept of Language Services: It is a cross-linguistic competence-supported modern service with the aim of information transformation, knowledge transfer, cultural dissemination and language training, which also has capacities to offer translation and interpretation, technology R&D, tool application, creative content writing for High tech, international economy and trade, foreign-related laws, international communication and other fields. Prof. Wang highlighted the importance of Language Services for three reasons:

1. Stable growth in industrial scale and enormous potential in domestic and international markets.

2. Our country has introduced supportive policies, built characteristic bases, and established the discipline of International Language Services.

3. The development of artificial intelligence and GPT assisted language services have great potential.

Then, prof. Wang emphasized the research content of the Language Services from four aspects: Ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology. The research focuses on industry, resources, strategies, exports, security, capabilities, talents and emergency assistance of language services. In terms of foreign language education, it is also transitioning towards intelligence, and communication services. Finally, Prof. Wang provided valuable suggestions for the future development of business English of SFL from the perspective of language services and geographical indications.

At the end of the lecture, the teachers and students had in-depth exchanges with Prof. Wang on language services and the transformation of business English education. Professor Wang answered the questions of the teachers and students in great detail. Finally, Dean Du summarized the lecture and once again thanked Professor Wang for his wonderful lecture.

By Zhang Wanxuan and Du Jingping