On the afternoon of March 10, 2023, Wu Yanjing, professor of Ningbo University, co-doctoral supervisor of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and candidate of National Talent Program, was invited to give a lecture entitled "The Beginning of Human Language Learning". This lecture was hosted by Professor Chang Hui, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages.

In the lecture, Professor Wu Yan-ching first introduced the development and evolution of human language，and then elaborated on the concept of "world citizen" proposed by Patricia Kuhl. Next, Professor Wu introduced his latest brain research published in Nature Human Behavior, an internationally renowned academic journal. The study used near-infrared method to investigate the newborn’s speech distinguishing ability. The results showed that a short period of training can help two-to-five-month-old newborns learned to distinguish between human speech sounds (monophonies) and non-verbal sounds. The study result challenged the long-standing understanding in the academic world of the law of the development of language nervous system, putting forward the disruptive view that the beginning of human language learning was none other than the beginning of the life itself. 

During the Q and A session, Professor Wu Yanjing had a lively discussion with SFL teachers and students, covering such topics as the development of language process, children's phonological and semantic understanding, brain science and language research, the learning model of universal grammar, as well as publishing in high-level comprehensive journals. The teachers and students present listened attentively and gained a lot. Professor Chang Hui summed up the lecture and expressed his sincere thanks to Professor Wu Yanjing. The lecture ended successfully.