Characteristics and Advantages of the Major
Backed by the disciplines of economics, law and management at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, English major aims to equip students with strong language skills and high competence in English communication, and features linguistics, literature and translation. English major belongs to the first-tier discipline of Foreign Language and Literature. Graduates from English major will receive a B.A. degree.
The faculty has made great efforts in the research of teaching, and as a result, four Excellent Courses at the provincial and university level have been created: English Literature, American Literature, Translation Theory and Practice and Basic English. English major features the orientation of Language and Translation, and offers courses such as English Interpretation, Introduction to Translation , Translation Text Research, Drama Reading, Poetry Appreciation, Film and Culture, Introduction to English Linguistics, Modern English Structure, and Translation Language Research.
The English major has 27 faculty members at the present, including 7 professors and 12 associate professors. All of the faculty members have received master’s degrees and 18 of them are Ph.D. holders. More than 90% of the members have overseas working or studying experience.
The research areas of the faculty cover English literature, language and culture, and translation studies. Over the past 5 years, the faculty members of English major have published over 400 articles in academic journals, among which over 40 articles are published in core journals of A&HCI and CSSCI; during the same period of time, the faculty members have published 26 monographs, translated works, teaching materials and reference books. Currently, they are hosting 3 National Social Science Fund projects, 7 projects sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 23 provincial research projects and 53 university research projects, with the total research grant amounting to 1.51 million RMB.
Unlike the general emphasis on British and American novels in domestic English literature field, the research of our faculty features English drama, film & television literature, English poetry and African English literature with fruitful results including series of articles and multiple books, and the faculty members have been invited repeatedly to deliver speeches on academic conferences both at home and abroad.
The teaching and research group pays a lot of attention to international communication and has established exchange relationships with over 10 overseas universities including State University of New York, Macaulay University, Tamkang University, and Hamburg University. Renowned scholars are invited regularly to deliver lectures and conduct academic exchanges. Over the recent years, our faculty has held a number of overseas and domestic academic conferences, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan translation workshops and cross-strait interpreting contests, which provides a platform for the faculty members and students to broaden academic horizons.
Education
Combining elite education with the training of applied talents for the 21st century, English major aims to train professionals who have solid language skills and relevant cultural background and who are capable of undertaking research and practical work related to language and culture. Students are trained to have high competence in research and decision making, organizing and management, oral and written expression. Students are also trained to acquire knowledge and process information independently. In order to expand students’ horizon and create supportive academic atmosphere, experts and scholars from home or abroad are invited to deliver English lectures. English activities, such as English Debating Competition and English Short Drama Competition, are also organized for students. In the 4th and 5th Cross-Strait Interpreting Contest, Zhao Le and Zhang Qiaoyuan received the first prize. Wang Lingyue was selected to participate in Taiwan Interpreting Contest and made it to the top seven. In National English Competition for College Students, Zhao Wenjia and Yan Beibei obtained the first and second prize respectively. In Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Association of our school made it to the final round and received awards for three consecutive years. In 2012, Shakespeare Association won 6 prizes, including Best Director Award, Outstanding Actress Award, Best Actor Award, Best Costume Design, Most Popular Award, and the 3rd Group Award. Luo Lu joined “Today’s Traditional Chinese Painting: Hubei Universities and Colleges Students Three-People Group Debate” on behalf of our university and received the first prize.
Career Prospect of Graduates
The passing rate of TEM-4 at our school has stayed over 90% and the passing rate of TEM-8 has stayed between 88.5% and 98% (the national average rate in 2015 was 40.6%).
English major began to enroll students in 1994 and has had a history of 22 years. It has witnessed an employment rate of over 97% consecutively. The majority of the graduates work in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan in the fields of foreign language and foreign affairs, international trade and investment, banking and security and international legal affairs. On recommendation or through unified national graduate entrance examination, many students pursue their postgraduate study in top domestic universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Fudan University and Shanghai International Studies University. Some pursue their postgraduate study in other disciplines, such as economics, management and law. Some went abroad to pursue their master’s or doctoral degrees in other countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong.