Abstract:

Contemporary university students’ capacity for international communication is a core component of national soft power and one of the key objectives of English education for foreign language talents in the new era. National English competitions provide an important pathway for cultivating such talents. From the perspective of Competition-Driven Practical Ability Cultivation, this study selects university students participating in national English competitions oriented toward international communication as its research participants and adopts in-depth interviews to examine the conceptual definition of university students’ English international communication competence and the core logic of Competition-Driven Practical Ability Cultivation in practice. The findings show that international communication-oriented English competitions can positively enhance university students’ awareness of international communication. The full process of competition participation effectively promotes the coordinated development of “Generation Z” students’ competence in four dimensions: cognition, language, narrative, and culture. Accordingly, this study proposes a cultivation strategy of promoting knowledge through competitions, learning through knowledge, and practical ability through learning, and constructs a cultivation pathway integrating competition practice with classroom teaching. The study offers practical implications for the cultivation of international communication talents in universities, the optimization of English competitions, and the reform of foreign language teaching, thereby helping contemporary Chinese university students tell China’s stories well in English.

Key words: foreign language talents in the new era, English education, international communication, Competition-Driven Practical Ability Cultivation