1. History

The history of the College of Foreign Languages at Jiangxi Normal University (JXNU) can be traced back to the Department of Foreign Languages that was founded at National Chung Cheng University in 1946. It was renamed the Department of Foreign Languages during the following periods: from 1949-1953 at Nanchang University, at Jiangxi Teachers College from 1953-1983, and at Jiangxi Normal University from 1985-1993, successively. The name “the College of Foreign Languages” has been formally acknowledged at JXNU since 1994.

2. Academic Programs

As the first authorized institution to confer master’s degrees in Jiangxi Province, the College is composed of three departments: the Department of English, the Department of Japanese and the Department of Translation and Interpreting. There are undergraduate programs in English Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature and Translation Studies, and the department also offers six postgraduate programs. They are:

·English Language and Literature,

·Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics,

·Cross-cultural Studies,

·English Language Teaching Methodology

·Master of Education in English

·Master of Translation and Interpreting

In addition to these, a doctoral program in Modern Language Theory and Application was granted in 2013.

English Language and Literature has been ranked as a provincial key discipline in Jiangxi Province since 2004, and was recognized at the national level as a specialized major in 2008. The program was ranked excellent in the National Master Degree Assessment and Evaluation in 2005, and in the English Education Evaluation and Assessment enacted by The Ministry of Education in 2007. According to the Chinese University and Disciplines Evaluation Report (2010-2011), the program was listed as one of the “five-star” majors for two successive years, ranking in the top 5% among all universities providing an English Language and Literature major in China.

3. Teaching Staff

The College enjoys tremendous faculty strength with a 144-member full-time faculty, including 122 teachers, among which, there are 10 professors, 45 associate professors and 73 lecturers. Amongst these, 32 have doctorate degrees (including PhD candidates), one is listed in the “Ganpo Talents, the 555 Project”, one is a candidate for the “Baiqianwan Talent Project in the New Century” on the provincial level, one is a “Renowned Teacher of Jiangxi Province”, three are “Young and Middle-aged Academic Leaders among University Teachers in Jiangxi”, and another three are “Young and Middle-aged Key Teachers of Jiangxi”. Within this faculty, two are PhD supervisors and 23 are MA supervisors.

Great importance has been attached to the academic development of all teachers within the School, and by supporting visits to and/or further study abroad, the School has established close academic bonds with several foreign universities. Due to the “going out actively and inviting extensively” policy, quality academic connections with international academia have been carefully developed. Research results from teachers of the School appear in several top journals and have had profound influence in the field. The School has won a name for excellence in both teaching and academic research and is known nationwide for its leading role in the area of foreign language related education and research.

4. Teaching and Academic Research

The College of Foreign Languages has five academic research centers: the Modern Linguistic Research Center, the Foreign Literature Research Center, the Second Language Acquisition Research Center, the Translation and Cross-cultural Studies Center and the Foreign Language Education Research Center.

The college has been highly praised for its achievements in both academic research and teaching. From 2011 to 2016, nine projects have been supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China, four by the Humanities and Social Science Project (The Ministry of Education), and more than 70 others by different provincial funds. Two of the research results were reviewed and won Second Prize, the Jiangxi Social Sciences Award, and three won the Third Prize. One textbook edited by teachers of the School was awarded the Second Prize of Excellent Textbooks Edited by General Institutes of Higher Education of Jiangxi, three were awarded the Third Prize and two groups were awarded the Second Prize for Teaching Achievements of Jiangxi. More than 80 academic papers have been published by top journals at home and abroad, and more than 150 have been accepted by other journals. Ten academic monographs, two translated books and another five textbooks were published at the same time. In the past five years, six teachers won special awards for their outstanding performance in the SFLEP National Foreign Language Teaching Contest (Jiangxi Division), with three winning the First Prize. One of the teachers won the First Prize in the National Foreign Language Teaching Contest, and two won the Second Prize. 

5. Talents Training

The College of Foreign languages serves as a vital training base for language talents in Jiangxi province. Currently, there are about 1700 undergraduates, over 300 full-time graduates and more than 300 part-time EMA students in our college. We have given constant prominence to undergraduate education and have taken bold actions in its reforms. The course “Intensive Reading” was acclaimed as a Jiangxi Provincial-level top quality course in 2009. Our English major was included as one of the pilot Projects of Jiangxi Higher Education Institution Reforms in 2013. In recent years, our students’ scores on the CET4 and CET6 tests have achieved top-ranking in Jiangxi. In addition to this, every year, on average 90% of English majors and Japanese majors pass the TEM 4 tests and over 70% of our English majors pass the TEM 8 by the time they graduate. Our college also puts emphasis ondeveloping well-rounded students through social practice work. From our Alumni Li Jiayu, who won Second Place in 2002 in the CCTV Cup English Speaking Contest, to Ai Lisha, who wonFirst Place in 2004, our students have been demonstrating their excellence over the years in various contests ranging from public speaking, to FTLRP debate, to TAC translating and interpreting. The employment rate of our graduates stands at around 95%, which has been secured with the help of our alumni whose outstanding language proficiency and teaching skills have been widely recognized among employers.

6. Social Service

In line with the directive given by the Teachers Training Division of the Ministry of Education to encourage undergraduates of Teacher Training Colleges to do teaching practice in rural primary and middle schools, JXNU launched the “Red Earth” Teaching Practice Program. It is an innovative teacher training model oriented towards modernizing elementary education, especially in rural areas. It aims at improving trainees’ practical teaching abilities and stepping up our support for rural education reform within Jiangxi Province. Nearly 200 of our English majors have participated in “Red Earth” and contributed their due share to ESL teaching in Jiangxi rural primary and middle schools.

The National Primary and Middle School Teachers Training Program (NTTP) is an important measure taken by the Ministry of Education and Finance in 2010 in order to enhance teachers’ abilities, especially those in rural areas. In response to this call, our department has helped in the on-going training of almost 2000 primary and middle school teachers who attended the NTTP and Jiangxi Teachers Training Program since 2010. In the meantime, we have sent nearly 800 undergraduates to rural primary and middle schools to replace those teachers during their training period. It is a testament to our efforts in improving the qualifications of Jiangxi ESL teachers.

7. International Cooperation

The College of Foreign Languages encourages international cooperation in various forms. One example of this was the Connie Speech Class, which was a creative form of international cooperation. The class was initiated in 2000 by Connie Gibson, with the aim of training students in public speaking and critical thinking. Connie is a well-known speech educator dedicated to training students in this area. She won the Lu Shan Friendship Award of Jiangxi Province in 2002 and the National Friendship Award in 2004. In 2011, she also won the Special Contribution Award granted by the FLTRP Cup National English Speech Contest.

Our students are encouraged to study abroad, and have opportunities for short term visits or longer term exchanges with other countries. We have close cooperation with several universities around the world, including the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of York, the University of Glasgow and National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan.

We have a variety of international cooperation programs with Japanese universities and institutions as well. Since 2003, we have signed Cooperative-Cultivation Agreements with several Japanese universities, such as Okayama University, Kagawa University, Gifu Keizai University and Fukuyama University, and this has given about 1/3 of our Japanese majors the opportunity to study in Japanese universities for anywhere from a year to two and a half years. In 2015, Jiangxi Normal University collaborated with the Japanese International Exchange Fund Cultural Center in establishing the “Window of Communication in Nanchang” between China and Japan. The Center regularly donates a large number of resources and cultural products like magazines, books, and videos to our school. Presently, there are over 1000 Japanese books and 100 kimonos. Students obtain a clear picture of Japanese society and culture through various culture-related activities held by Jiangxi Normal University, such as the tea ceremony, flower arranging, and reading Japanese newspapers and magazines. Besides these activities, the project regularly sends students to participate in summer camps and other free short-term visits to Japan. In cooperation with the Japanese International Exchange Fund Cultural Center, the institute has offered a series of China-Japan exchange activities to undergraduates, Nanchang citizens, Japanese college students, and other overseas students. Teachers are encouraged to “go global”, and now they have many chances to attend international conferences and take part in government-sponsored overseas study.