Foreign Languages School, ZUEL

　 Established in January 2003, Foreign Languages School is composed of the former Legal English and Business English departments. The School now offers undergraduate programmes in two languages: English (with majors in Legal English and Business English) and Japanese (with a major in Business Japanese). The School also offers an MA programme in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. In order to meet the social demands on language specialists, our school has always aimed to follow the integrated cultivation guiding principle of a multi-channel, multi-level and multi-mode model. The School intends to develop its academic strengths by taking advantage of our university’s core disciplines of economics, law and management; and to therefore foster students with an international, integrated and applicable outlook. Our undergraduate programmes have been given priority along with the steady development of the master’s programme. We also actively participate in international education, business English, vocational education and adult education.

　 The teaching and research departments within our school include the English Department, the College English Faculty, the Japanese Teaching and Research Department, the Specialist Languages Teaching and Research Department, and the Foreign Languages and Cultures Research Centre. The School’s administrative and support units include the Office of Communist Party Committee, Committee of the Communist Youth League, Student Affairs Office, Language Laboratory, the School Library and the Language Training Centre. The number of teaching and administrative staff at our school is 177，which includes 157 full-time teachers, comprising 7 professors, 63 associate professors, 48 lecturers, and 36 assistant lecturers. Four of our teachers hold PhD degrees, with seven others currently pursuing that degree. Seventy-nine of our teachers have been awarded MA degrees, and more than 50 have teaching or studying experience from abroad. In recent years, thanks to the Double Million Project (a teacher training project sponsored by our university), many young and middle-aged teachers have had the opportunity to further their studies and pursue master’s degrees abroad as well as in Hong Kong and Macao. We have also recruited tens of applicants with study experiences from abroad, and they mainly specialise in TESL, Law, International Business and so on. Our school, therefore, has a team of learned scholars from a wide spectrum of age groups, who have credentials in areas of English literature, linguistics, business English and legal English. Naturally, our school’s teaching staff has gained an excellent reputation in the field of foreign language teaching both in Hubei and all over the country.

　 Currently there are 574 students enrolled in our school, of which 491 are English majors, and the remaining 83 major in Japanese. Our undergraduate English programme started in 1994 and we have since cultivated 10 groups of graduates. Their employment rate is above 95%. Most of our graduates work in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan. They are mostly involved in work that concerns foreign languages, business and law, and some have started their own businesses. Each year, many of our graduates pass the Postgraduate Entrance Exam, and some are recommended by our school to the most prestigious universities in the country, such as Beijing University, University of International Business and Economics, Fudan University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Shandong University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Some students may pursue their master’s degrees in other fields such as economics, law and management. Some of our graduates further their studies in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, France and other countries.

　 Our undergraduate English programmes have distinctive characteristics and a great educational reputation. Our Foundation English Course for English Majors has been awarded the academic title of Excellent Course by the university. Over the years our students have passed TEM4 and TEM8 at the rates of 90% and 88.5-95% respectively. In order to enhance our programmes’ interdisciplinary applicability, in addition to Business English and Legal English and other conventional courses, our students are encouraged to obtain a second major as part of their BA degree, in, for example, Finance, Accounting or Law to broaden their knowledge and enhance their employment prospects. Our school also invites noted scholars to give guest lectures in order to broaden our students’ horizons and sustain a vigorous academic environment. Further more, English-language events, such as debates and plays, are held at our school on a regular basis.

　 Our College English course receives special attention from both the School and the university since all university students must take this course. In order to improve the quality of teaching, our school has been advocating English teaching reforms and study of the theories of teaching. At our School, traditionally rigid, homogenised teaching models have been reformed to become more diverse, flexible and suitable to individual learners’ different levels of skill, needs, ability and style. The crediting system has been designed to help the students’ to pass CET4 promptly, so that they can further their non-compulsory studies. In terms of teaching methods, our students are provided with traditional classroom instruction as well as computer-assisted teaching, made accessible through language laboratories where the students can also develop their skills privately. Our students are also offered a variety of extracurricular activities such as participation in the Shakespeare Drama Society of ZUEL, English FM radio, English newspaper, English Speaking Contest, English Singing Competition, Imitation Show, General Knowledge Quiz, Vocabulary Quiz, Listening Contest, Interpretation Contest, and so on. As a result of the joint efforts by the heads of the School and the staff, the College English Faculty has made remarkable achievements in teaching among universities in the Hubei Province. Our students often come out ahead in various tests at provincial and national levels. Among our students each year are grand-prize, first-prize and second-prize winners in the National English Contest for College Students, CCTV Cup English Speaking Contest, and the College English Speaking Contest of Hubei Province. Our College English Faculty has been awarded the Excellent Teaching Achievement Prize by Hubei Education Bureau and the university in recent years. The College English course has been awarded Excellent Course at university level.

　 Our school has been offering an MA degree in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics since 2005, and currently holds 35 MA students. Their fields of specialisation include Legal and Business English Studies, Linguistic and Cultural Studies, Studies in ELT and Communications, Translation Theory and Practice. This programme has an outstanding teaching and research staff, consisting of experienced senior professors and promising associate professors who have been involved in the research and teaching in this field for many years. At present, our MA teaching team includes seven full-time on-campus supervisors, six part-time off-campus supervisors, and 12 teachers including foreign and visiting lecturers and professors.

　 Our school attaches great importance to international academic communication. Each year distinguished scholars from all over the world including Britain, the USA, Australia and Hong Kong are invited to give lectures at our School. In addition, we have established extensive academic communication and cooperation with foreign universities and institutions such as the French International Education Department, Saint Mary’s University in Canada, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and American International Education Foundation (AIEF).

　 The heads of our School and all our staff aim to construct and develop disciplines with distinctive characteristics through educational reforms. We will continue to optimise and adjust the structures of our disciplines and programmes, and enhance the overall level of teaching and research with the aim of building our university into a comprehensive training base for foreign language specialists. Our university aims to be a highly internationalised institution in central China, and to become better known for its distinctive features of high quality research and training. We are committed to cultivating students who will develop our society, economy and culture.