Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand paid its first visit to the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) on Oct. 26. The Otago delegation consisted of Mr. Sam Allawi— Director of Auckland campus, Prof. Nick Van Der Walt—Executive Director of Auckland campus and Mr. Xu Dingyi—a senior adviser. Dean Li Chengjian, vice dean Yu Senlin, Dean assistant Yang Anwen and some teachers in charge of related affairs had a friendly and fruitful talk with Otago delegation.
Dean Li expressed a warm welcome, and introduced the development of the SFL disciplines as well as its international exchange and cooperation. She then shew her encouragement and support for the possible cooperation between the two sides. Director Sam also introduced the programs development, education advantages and its philosophy in talents cultivation, expressing his intention of an all-round cooperation with SFL. He further put forward a preliminary framework of some specific cooperation projects based on the common interests and aspirations.
After a further discussion on the possible students exchange programs, academic interaction projects, faculty development projects and so on, a preliminary cooperation memorandum was signed. Moreover, Otago agreed to provide professional teachers’ training for business English teachers, which will satisfy SFL’s need in establishing a brand new major—Business English. SFL has great confidence in the first cooperation with a prestigious New Zealand university, believing it will be a fresh and beautiful page for SFL in its international cooperation.
