Author(s): Chunyang Wang, Wei Bai, Xintong Huo, Wei Liu

Abstract: In response to China’s strategic demand for cultivating interdisciplinary and application-oriented talents, the “New Liberal Arts” initiative is accelerating the transformation of traditional disciplines. However, a misalignment persists between university training and industry competency requirements, as conventional curricula often fail to meet the labor market’s demand for interdisciplinary professionals. Taking Business English—an emblematic interdisciplinary major—as the research subject, this study adopts the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework and focuses on competence setting under an employment-oriented perspective. It employs a dual-path approach through questionnaire surveys and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to identify students’ capability gaps and enterprises’ priority requirements for professional competencies. The findings reveal that while Business English majors value practice and internship opportunities, they tend to neglect soft skills such as risk management, resulting in a significant mismatch with industry expectations. This research aims to optimize the competence structure for Business English majors, providing empirical evidence for curriculum reform and university–industry collaborative training, thereby contributing to the improvement of educational quality and innovative talent cultivation models.

Keywords: Indigenous languages, multimedia instruction, intercultural education, teacher qualifications, working conditions

Article Info: Received: 06 Nov 2025; Received in revised form: 05 Dec 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025; Available online: 14 Dec 2025

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.106.54