School of Foreign Languages, SNU
Founded in 1953, the School of Foreign Languages of Shenyang Normal University has eight departments. These include English Department I (1st-2nd year teaching), English Department II (3rd-4th year teaching), the Russian Department, the Japanese Department, the French Department, the Department of Translation & Interpretation, the Graduate Academic Affairs Office, and the SL Teaching Office. The School also has 3 research institutes—the Institute of English Teaching, the Institute of Japanese Culture, and the Experimental Teaching Center, and 3 administrative offices.
The School of Foreign Languages is the Standing Council unit of Northeast China College English Teaching Research Association, the Member unit of the Central Academic Committee of National Basic Foreign Language Teaching Research Center, the Deputy-Chairman unit of Liaoning Foreign Language Teaching & Research Association, the Council unit of the National Joint Annual Conference of the Deans of the Translation Department, the Deputy-Chairman unit of Liaoning Translators Association, the Expert Member unit of the Translators Association of China, and the Council unit of the Japanese Teaching Research Association of China.
The School of Foreign languages covers 5 languages—English, Russian, Japanese, French and German. It also offers 5 bachelor-degree programs—English (including Teachers Education and Applied English), Russian (Business), Japanese, French, and Translation & Interpretation, and 7 subject areas. Of these programs, the English program is the Program with Distinctive Features at the National Level and Liaoning Provincial Model Program, and the Translation & Interpretation program is the first one of its kind in Northeast China .
The School has 2 master-degree programs (Linguistics & Applied Linguistics in Foreign Languages and the English Language & Literature) and 1 ME program for those who pursue their Graduate English Education on a part-time basis. The Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics programs are divided into 5 sub-programs: English Linguistics, Applied Linguistics in English, English-Chinese Translation, Japanese-Chinese Translation, and Russian Linguistics. English Language & Literature program provides 3 sub-programs: American Literature, British Literature, and Literary Criticism.
Teachers of the School are meticulous and industrious in academic study. They are conscientious and devoted in their work and creative in teaching and research. Now there are 119 faculty and staff members, 101 of whom are full-time teachers, including 10 professors and 29 associate professors. The School is currently being assisted by 8 foreign experts and teachers who come from America , Japan , Russia , and France . At present, the School has a scholar who is enjoying the Special State Council Allowance, a Teacher of Distinction at the provincial level, a Lead Professor at the provincial level, 3 Teachers of Distinction at the university level, 1 Chief Professor, an Academic Leader, and 30 graduate instructors at the university level. The School has an enrollment of 1796 full-time students—1551 undergraduates and 239 graduates. There are also 6 international students from Korea , 174 part-time students who major in the ME program and 293 adult students who study evening university programs.
Over the past 5 decades, the School has always attached great importance to the principle of integrating teaching into research, program development with subject construction, and of advancing research with teaching while facilitating teaching with research. From 2006 to October 2009, the School has undertaken 8 research projects in social sciences sponsored by the Liaoning Provincial Government, 3 educational science planning projects sponsored by the Liaoning Provincial Government, 5 projects sponsored by the Liaoning Association of Social Sciences, 13 projects in humanities and social sciences sponsored by the Liaoning Provincial Educational Department, and 1 key project sponsored by the Shenyang Municipal Government. The School also has 17 educational reform projects, published 41 academic monographs and translations of works, along with 196 academic papers. Among the courses offered, 2 have been assessed as Courses of Excellence and 1 as a Course of Distinction at the provincial level, 2 as Courses of Excellence at the University level, 10 as University core subjects and 4 University Best Courses.
The School provides its students and teachers with a comfortable learning teaching and research environment, with 25 professor offices, 9 language labs, a special room for the training of simultaneous interpretation, a multimedia lab, a digitalized language lab, four multi-functional visual-lingual classrooms, an Internet-and-School-server-connected classroom, an equipment-filled room for teachers to prepare their digital and multimedia lessons, etc., all of which has a total value of more than 4 million yuan. There are 105 academic journals from home and broad, 25,000 books and 4,700 language tapes and disks for teaching and research.
In recent years, the School has taken the lead in the TEM 4 and TEM 8 exams on a national scale. Some students have actively participated in various national and provincial competitions and achieved excellent results. In the 9th “FLTRP CUP” National English Debating Competition, the School team finished second nationally. In the 10th, 11th and 12th “FLTRP CUP” National English Debating Competitions, the School team won the second prize twice and the third prize once. In the annual Shenyang Japanese Speech Contest, students have finished first and second for years on end. In the 2008 National Russian Language Competition, students from the School won the third prize. The annual employment rate for graduates of the School is above 95 percent. The number of School graduates who are enrolled as MA or Ph.D. candidates in national key universities has always been on an increase. The graduates of the School are highly praised and welcomed by all sections of society for their solid academic foundation, a wide range of knowledge, rich expertise and professional devotion.
The School of Foreign Languages places stress on international academic exchanges and cooperation, keeping long-term academic relations with the general consulates in Shenyang and with many universities in the United States , Great Britain, Japan, Russia, Lebanon, Jordan, and others. The School regularly sends key teachers abroad to pursue further academic studies, and outstanding students are also sent to study in the United States , Japan , Russia , and Lebanon , etc.
The School of Foreign Languages has always been committed to social services. It is currently the NEEA test center for IELTS, TOFEL, the International Japanese Language Proficiency Test, the International Korean Language Proficiency Test, PETS (levels1-5), NAETI, Cambridge Young Learners English Tests, and GESE. Based in Liaoning Province , the School is dedicated to provide social services to the whole Northeast Region and the whole country as well.
The School of Foreign Languages has been awarded the title of “Organization in Which Women Made Notable Contributions” by the State Education Commission, the Liaoning Women Federation and the Liaoning Provincial Educational Department. For years the School has also been awarded by Shenyang Normal University with various titles and honors such as “ Model School in Talents Cultivation”, “ Advanced School of the Year”, “Model Branch of the Chinese Communist Party” and “ Excellent School in Teaching Management”.
The School of Foreign Languages will continue to emancipate the mind and carry out the Scientific Outlook on Development. With English language teacher education as its feature specialty and translation & interpretation as its focus, the School will reinforce Japanese teaching and systematically improve the teaching of Russian, French and German languages as well. Under the guidance of the market and with quality and unique features as its basis, the School will promote its core competitiveness, build itself into a first-class teaching and research school in Liaoning Province , and become well known in the country.