School of Foreign Studies

Overview

The School of Foreign Studies (SFS) traces its history back to the English Teaching Office in 1977, which gradually developed into the Department of English aiming at offer both short-term English training course and three-year Business English Program. In 2004, the Department gained the approval from the Ministry of Education to offer Bachelor’s Degree and started to recruit undergraduates in 2005. In 2013, it changed its name to the School of Foreign Studies. In 2018, it began to offer Bachelor’s Degree on Translation.

Building on its academic heritage, SFS has now developed into an institution of four departments, namely the Department of English, the Department of Translation, the Department of College English (for Non-English Majors), and the Department of Second Foreign Languages (including Japanese and Germany). Currently it is offering language courses, such as English, French, Germany and (English-Chinese) Translation, with BA programs designed for sustained learning and interdisciplinary opportunities.

Faculty

We boast of a great team of faculty. With 60 staff members, we have 53 teachers. Among them, five are Professors, seventeen are Associate Professors. We also have four Guest Professors and two or three foreign teachers.

Our faculty has research specializations in linguistics, second-language acquisition, cross-cultural communication, business English, comparative literature, world literature and translation. We also offer unique courses in automotive culture and English for specific purposes. Our faculty places great emphasis on the education of students to active research that not only explores cutting-edge theoretical and applied issues but is also closely linked to educational goals and engages students in the classroom.

Our faculty members have won a series of awards in various national or provincial teaching contests, such as Gold Medal and Silver Medal in FLTRP Cup National Foreign Language Teaching Contest（Hubei District）, Bronze Medal in the National Final, Second Prize in Young Teacher Teaching Contest of Hubei Province.

We encourage our teachers to engage in scientific research and academic publications. Currently, we have five teams focusing on different research areas, including World Literature and Comparative Literature, Translation and Cross-cultural Communication, Applied Linguistics, and Business English. Over the past few years, our teachers have undertaken more than 10 research projects funded by the Central Government, Local Government or Government of Hubei Province. We have also won a Third Prize in Outstanding Teaching Achievements of Hubei Province, and six awards for outstanding research on Humanities.

Teaching and Learning

At present, we offer two undergraduate programs, including BA of English and BA of Translation. We attach great importance to the training of students’ language proficiency, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The number of students who have passed TEM-4 (Test for English Majors-Band 4) and TEM-8 (Test for English Majors-Band 8) has been on the rise steadily.

To improve the students’ practical skill, we have been exploring the teaching mode of integrating education and industry. Over the past few years, we have been working closely with different business and have established more than 10 high-quality training bases, including Transn Company, Hubei Mina E-Commerce Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Motor Company, etc.

We encourage students to participate in various competitions. Our students have won two Second Prizes in the final of the “FLTRP Cup” National English Speaking Contest, a First Prize in POCIB (Practice for Operational Competence in International Business), and dozens of awards in other provincial competitions.

Many of our alumni have been admitted to graduate schools such as Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Sichuan University and Sun Yat-sen University, etc. More importantly, the employment rate of our alumni remained at the rate of 95% for several consecutive years.

We are equipped with up-to-date language laboratories, including 8 multifunctional digital laboratories, 2 cross-border e-commerce training centers, 2 digital classrooms and an interpretation and translation laboratory.

Mission and Vision Statement

We focuse on three areas: linguistics, cultural studies, and language learning and teaching. We train students for careers in teaching, research, and language service industry, and is equipped with a variety of laboratory facilities. We are dedicated to quality teaching and research. We will strive to deliver a first-class undergraduate education focused on the scientific study of language itself, its acquisition, and translation. And We will enhance our strengths in cutting-edge research and graduate course-work in the areas of Language Learning and Teaching, Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies.