Foreign studies as an academic discipline has entered a new stage of development, which requires all disciplinary members to accurately understand and actively adapt to the ongoing changes. Among the various elements contributing to the development of the discipline, quality and effectiveness are the most fundamental factors and key indicators of a new mode of development relying on internal resources and motivations. In order to promote high quality disciplinary development of foreign studies, it is highly important to differentiate between modes of development that depend on internal and external factors respectively and balance between quantitative and qualitative development to establish a new philosophy of disciplinary construction, as well as to improve the quality of education and enhance knowledge production through pedagogical reform.