1. Faculty
The Center for Postgraduate English Language Education at the School of Foreign Studies was founded in 2000. After 21 years of development, a highly academic, dedicated, and hugely experienced teaching team has been assembled with 21 staff members, including 3 professors, 14 associate professors, 2 lecturers, and 2 assistant professors. Sixteen of thecenter staff have PhDs.
2. Educational Objectives
The Center offers courses for non-English postgraduatesfrom Schools and Colleges across four campuses:iHarbor, Xingqing, Yanta, and Suzhou. Cultivating new-century personnel with intercultural communication competence and skills isour objective for public foreign language teaching for postgraduates. Using its expertise in teaching, our Center has designed and implemented a series of teaching reforms, including graded teaching, module curriculum, construction of three-dimensional teaching platforms, and small-size English practice classes for postgraduates. Based on these reforms,our teaching staff has madegreat achievements in teaching that have been highly praised by graduate students and supervisors of different colleges and have had nationalinfluence.
3. Curricula
At present, the Center provides 18 English courses: China Overview (for overseas students), English for Academic Purposes (EAP-I), English for Academic Purposes (EAP-II), Oral English for Practical Communication, TED Speech and Academic English Listening and Speaking, Learning English by Watching Films, Appreciation of Chinese Classical Poetry in English Translation, English Poetry Appreciation Practice, and Logical Thinking and Academic Debate. The introductory(foundation-level) EAP courses integrate the advantages of network learning with traditional classroom teaching. The instructional classroom teaching module is the principal approach, supplemented with network self-study. The traditional teacher-centered teaching mode has been successfully transformed into student-centered independent language learning that has largely fostered teaching and learning, giving full play to students’ initiative in English learning. Based on course content, all application-oriented courses are taught in flexible and diverse small-size classes, prioritizing the leading role of practice in postgraduate English learning.
4. Features
For a prolonged period, the goal of the university to establish a “Double first-rate university” has been our obligation while adhering to the principle of cultivating versatile and application-oriented personnel with integrated knowledge, open-mindedness, and innovation. The Center has actively explored and practiced the educational concept that “the objective of postgraduate English teaching is to cultivate personnel with innovative and application-oriented English language competence”.
To meet this objective, a range of efforts and reforms have been undertaken in the last decades, including curricula design, textbook compilation, teaching modes, teaching evaluations, independent learning, and the cultivation of innovative capability. The Center's inspiring and cooperative teaching team attaches great importance to the overall development of teachers. In the past 21 years, our teaching staff has made great achievements in teaching and academic research, including publications of 62 textbooks, 22 monographs and translations, and 135 papers, of which 73 were issued in important journals; 3 state-sponsored projects, 19ministry and province sponsored projects, 32 department and university-sponsored projects, and 21 enterprise sponsored projects. Total funding for various projects exceeds 5 million RMB. Since its establishment 21 years ago, the Center has created a positive, cooperative, and harmonious cultural atmosphere. Our teaching has been highly rated and praised by students and other teachers as among the most approachable, enthusiastic, productive, and inspiring on the campuses.
Meanwhile, the Center has also made a wide range of achievements in teaching reform and academic research. The dual incentive mechanism of equal emphasis on teaching and academic research has created a gratifying promising situation. The Center has been awarded honorary titles such as "Advanced Group" and "Advanced Department-level Party Organization" by the School of Foreign Studies many times.
5. Contact Us
Dean: Guangyi Feng
Vice-dean: Wenxia Shi
Tel: 029-82666969
Offices: Room 701-713, Yifu Building, School of Foreign Studies
5th Floor (East) Hanying Building, iHarbor Campus
Website: http://202.117.216.254:8080 (English Forum for postgraduates)
