The Department of English offers a 4-year BA program in teacher education. It is committed to cultivating well-rounded, high-quality talents with all-round development, national sentiment and international vision, professional knowledge and humanistic quality, outstanding in linguistic and practical competence. Innovative spirit, cross-cultural competence and self-development ability. Ultimately they can become qualified personnel in English education and research fields in schools or institutions.
Founded in 1960, English (Teacher Education) was listed as one of the first provincial Key Majors in 2003 and rated “Excellent” by the Ministry of Education in a 2006 nationwide appraisal. In 2012 it was recognized as one of the first Superior Majors in Zhejiang Province and became the provincial Superior Major in “13th Five-Year Plan” in 2017. It was approved as First-class Major of Zhejiang Province in 2019, followed by passing the second-level certification of normal majors in Chinese colleges and universities and becoming a national First-class Major. The major is built against the backdrop of the discipline Foreign Language and Literature, which is not only the first provincial Key Discipline of Foreign Languages, but also the first batch of First-class Disciplines in Zhejiang Province. It has been authorized to grant doctorates and master’ degrees in the First-level Disciplines or Foreign Languages and Literature and the master degree program in TEFL. Every year, more than 10 students are eligible to study for master’s degree without examinations.
The Department boasts of a strong teaching and research team. Faculty members hold official academic titles or have won professional honors and awards at various levels, including more than 30 research projects supported by the National Social Science Fund or provincial government, several Excellent Courses at provincial level, the first-provincial level teaching team at institutions of higher education (Comprehensive English Reading Teaching Team), national outstanding teachers, provincial meritorious teachers and so on. It has two first-class undergraduate programs at national level (Practical Classroom English and Comprehensive English 2). Over the past three decades, it has consistently deepened its expertise and research in RICH foreign language education, gaining recognition at different levels, such as the second prize for national-level teaching achievement, as well as special and second prizes for provincial-level teaching achievement.
The graduates uphold leading teaching philosophy, strong professional quality, and sound research capability. Since its foundation, English (TEFL) has always been adhering to the mission of serving foreign language education in Zhejiang Province, cumulating more than 7,500 outstanding graduates in and out of the province. Some of them are engaged in front-line education, winning laurels in the National Young Teachers’ Teaching Competition, the National College Foreign Language Teaching Competition. Others are awarded National “May Day” Labor Medal and Advanced Workers, becoming special teachers, senior English teachers in primary and secondary schools, and well-known principals, some are dedicated to teaching and research, being members of the Foreign Language Instruction Committee of the Ministry of Education for Basic Education, and provincial or municipal teaching researchers; others have become Yangtze River Scholars and political elites, shining in their own fields.
