The history of Enlgish Department can be traced back to 1983 when the Foreign Languages Department of Shenzhen University was founded. In 1997, it was merged with the Department of Chinese Language and the Department of Literature was established. In 2006, the Department of English, The Department of Japanese, the Department of French, the Department of English from the School of Education and the Department of College English Education jointly established the School of Foreign Languages.
The English Department has a team of 46 instructors, all of whom are highly educated, academically qualified, passionate and vigorous, including 14 professors (among them are 7 full-time distinguished professors), 10 associate professors, 8 assistant professors, and 14 lecturers. Thirty-three of them have received doctorate degrees.
The English Department enrolls undergraduate students majoring in English language and literature and English education, and graduate students majoring in English language and literature and linguistics / applied Linguistics. In addition, the department offers the master’s program Teaching English to Speakers of Chinese (TESOC) for international students and another master’s program of English Education, which is jointly organized by us and the School of Education. We aim to cultivate talents who are familiar with the general picture of politics, economics, language, history, and culture of English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and United States; who have basic humanistic and scientific literacy, a solid professional knowledge base, proficient translation and interpretation skills, a broad international vision, and strong cross-cultural communication skills; and who are able to engage in international communication, translation and interpretation, academic research, education and management in sectors of foreign affairs, trade, culture, education, tourism and more.
In order to keep in pace with the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Pilot Demonstration area of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, two minor programs, namely advanced Interpretation and International News and Foreign Affairs, as well as the English drama class, have been established. At the same time, in order to cultivate English talents with an international vision, several students participate an exchange program to study or visit universities in the United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong and other countries or regions every year. In addition, the department attaches great importance to practical training as part of students’ learning experience, and therefore makes full use of the public resources in Shenzhen, an important window for China's reform and opening up. We cooperate with organizations and companies such as China Xinhua News Network, Tencent Game Public Research and Development Operation System, Foreign Affairs Office of Shenzhen, and Shenzhen Daily, so as to establish a high-end internship base for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students. In terms of educational facilities, we own two simultaneous interpretation laboratories, which have enjoyed the largest investment in liberal arts since the founding of the university. The laboratory covers a total area of 254 square meters and is equipped with 14 interpreting booths and 72 audience seats. We also have an advanced English phonetics analysis laboratory and a number of language learning laboratories, which sufficiently meet the needs of teachers and students of the school for digital language teaching and learning.
Scientific research is the heart and soul of universities, and scholarly works are the foundation of an instructor’s career. In recent years, our faculty members have made a series of research achievements. These include research work by Professor Gu Mingdong in comparative literature, Professor Jeroen van de Weijer in phonetics and phonology, Professor Tan Zaixi in translation studies, Professor Peng Xuanwei in systemic functional linguistics, and Professor Zhang Xiaohong in comparative literature and feminist literature, all of which enjoy a great reputation in academia both at home and abroad.
We will continue to adhere to the school motto of “Being fluent in Chinese and other languages, and being well-versed in cultures of the East and West”, so as to cultivate and provide more high-end English professionals for the Guangdong -Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area and the Pilot Demonstration Area of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
