Construction of a «Language + Ideological and Political Education» collaborative education model for English majors based on the OBE concept

Abstract

The integration of outcome-based education (OBE) with ideological and political education (IPE) inside English major programs has attracted growing attention in Chinese higher education reform, yet the practical architecture of such integration remains underdeveloped. This article examines how the OBE concept – with its insistence on backward course design from learning outcomes – can serve as the structural logic for a «Language + IPE» collaborative model rather than as a rhetorical endorsement. Drawing on curriculum design theory, OBE principles, and empirical evidence from English major teaching reform in Chinese universities, the study identifies three persistent failures in current practice: outcome statements that list political values without specifying measurable linguistic behaviors; course content where ideological themes appear as contextual decoration rather than as objects of genuine communicative work; and assessment regimes that evaluate language competence and political awareness in separate compartments, making coherent feedback impossible. Against this diagnostic, the article proposes a four-component collaborative model organized around outcome alignment, content reconstruction, task integration, and assessment redesign. Each component is described with enough specificity to function as a design tool rather than a declaration of intent. The findings suggest that OBE, applied rigorously rather than nominally, provides a principled basis for making «Language + IPE» integration something other than a policy slogan – though the degree to which it can resolve the deeper tension between disciplinary autonomy and ideological guidance remains a question worth holding open.