The English Department was founded in 1993, initially offering the major of Foreign Trade English. It is one of the first four majors established by the university. In 2004, the Foreign Trade English major was upgraded to an undergraduate program with the approval of the Ministry of Education. Currently, it is a university-level brand major for industry-education integration, a key cultivation site for provincial-level research and reform practice in new liberal arts, and one of the first batch of provincial-level first-class undergraduate majors. The course “Translation I” has been recognized as a national first-class undergraduate course. Over more than 30 years of its educational journey, the department has developed an “English + Specialization” talent cultivation model, covering three orientations: English Language and Literature, Cross-border E-commerce, and Translation. Against the backdrop of new liberal arts development, the English Department has continuously deepened university-enterprise cooperation and industry-education integration. It has established the Alibaba International Station Digital Trade School, Alibaba International Station Talent Research Center, Cross-border E-commerce Training Center, Commodity Sales Live Broadcast Center, as well as a number of domestic and overseas internship and training bases. It has provided a large number of application-oriented and outstanding English talents with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor skills for fields such as education and teaching, cross-border e-commerce, translation, and foreign affairs.
As one of the first batch of provincial-level first-class undergraduate majors, the English major takes “all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor” as its core, focusing on the three orientations of English Language and Literature, Cross-border E-commerce, and Translation. It is committed to cultivating international talents with solid language proficiency, profound humanistic literacy, and interdisciplinary practical capabilities. The employment rate of its graduates has remained steadily above 98% for many years. The major boasts a strong teaching faculty, with 25 full-time teachers currently. Among them, 60% hold senior professional titles (including 4 professors and 11 associate professors), and there are 4 teachers holding the doctoral degree, 1 foreign teacher, and 9 enterprise mentors. We try to ensure that the teaching content is highly aligned with the actual needs of the industry.
The faculty members are dedicated and responsible, with rich teaching experience, high professional quality, and the ability to integrate ideological and political education into teaching. They also attach great importance to the in-depth integration of intellectual education and moral education, and have achieved remarkable results in curriculum development, teaching competitions, textbook compilation, research project applications, academic paper publications, and student guidance. In the past five years, the faculty has completed more than 60 research papers, published 2 monographs and 28 textbooks; successfully applied for over 40 research projects of various types, including 2 National Social Science Fund projects, 1 Provincial Social Science Fund project, 2 Provincial Teaching Reform projects, 4 Industry-University Cooperation Collaborative Education projects of the Ministry of Education, and 1 Cultivation Project for New Liberal Arts Research and Reform Practice; nearly 40 teachers have won 20 teaching competition awards, including 12 provincial and above-level awards such as the First Prize in the 3rd Jiangsu Province University Teachers’ Teaching Innovation Competition and the Second Prize in the National Final of the First National University Foreign Language Curriculum Ideological and Political Teaching Competition. In terms of student guidance, 9 graduation theses guided by the faculty have been awarded Excellent Undergraduate Graduation Theses of Jiangsu Provincial Universities; the teachers of the department have guided more than 80 College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program projects and led students to win over 900 provincial and above-level awards in academic competitions, including the National Third Prize in the Reading Category of the “FLTRP · Guocai Cup” “Understanding Contemporary China” National College Students’ Foreign Language Proficiency Competition, the National Third Prize in the National Final of the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Cup National College Students’ Intercultural Competence Competition, the Second Prize in the National Final (Live E-commerce Category) of the 15th National College Students’ E-commerce “Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship” Challenge, and the Third Prize in the China E-commerce Host Competition (East China division).
Through the in-depth integration of professional education and ideological and political education, students have significantly improved their ideological and political literacy while enhancing their language skills. In the past five years, outstanding student representatives have emerged from the English major: students such as Mi Xiaoyan, Li Linrui, and Jin Hongrui have won the National Scholarship; students like Han Yuqian, Zhu Han, Mi Xiaoyan, and Guo Qian have been awarded the title of Jiangsu Provincial Merit Student; students such as Jiang Jiayun, Song Chaoyue, Chen Wenjing, Chen Xin, and Jin Hongrui have obtained the title of Jiangsu Provincial Excellent Student Leader; and students Pan Jiayu and Chen Wenjing have received the title of Jiangsu Provincial Excellent Graduate. In addition, classes such as 116011B, 117011E, 12019011B, 12020011F, and 12021011E have been awarded the title of Jiangsu Provincial Advanced Class.
The department has a well-developed practical education platform. Relying on various off-campus internship bases, on-campus training platforms, and an extracurricular activity guidance center, it regularly carries out various practical training activities such as language services, summer social practice, and various English competitions. At the same time, it has jointly built internship and training platforms with enterprises including Alibaba, Jiangsu Sunyu Information Technology Co., Ltd., Translation Institute of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, Nanjing Hanhai Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., and Fushibo (Rizhao) Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park, effectively improving students’ practical abilities. In terms of further study and international development, the department has launched “Undergraduate-Master’s Continuous Study” and “Dual Degree” study-abroad programs in cooperation with the University of Hawaii (USA) and the University of Central Lancashire (UK). Moreover, the postgraduate admission rate has always been among the top in the university (10%-15%), creating a dual channel for students to pursue further study and employment.