Redesigning College English Goals: A Global Citizenship Approach

This study evaluates the curriculum goals of a compulsory College English I course at a Chinese university through the lens of global citizenship education (GCE), identifying limitations and proposing pedagogical reforms. Adopting UNESCO's three-dimensional GCE framework (cognitive, socio-emotional, behavioral), the analysis critiques existing course objectives using scholarly literature on language curriculum design and intercultural education. While current goals promote language proficiency and critical analysis of English media, they exhibit three critical gaps: (1) Insufficient engagement with global power dynamics and inequalities; (2) Essentialist treatment of culture (limited to China vs. "Western" binaries); (3) Instrumentalist language views neglecting identity-shaping power. Proposed solutions emphasize teacher agency in adapting goals via global-issue integration, culturally responsive tasks (e.g., TBLT), and critical curriculum contextualization. Successful GCE integration requires empowering teachers to mediate rigid objectives, foster intercultural complexity, and navigate macro-level constraints (e.g., exam-oriented systems). The study advocates for goal flexibility and non-Western GCE perspectives in EFL contexts.