The Department of English Language and Literature (DELL) offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs in English. It is responsible for the instruction of undergraduate and graduate English Majors, and focuses on cultivating comprehensive talents with a solid foundation in English, professional knowledge, practical communicative skills, a spirit of innovation, and a spread of knowledge of the humanities, strong social responsibility, and international vision.
DELL offers courses in linguistics, British and American Literature, the culture and Society of English-speaking countries, as well as translation and interpretation. Over half of the courses are designed to provide English majors with holistic instruction in both content and language. Such content-based instruction (CBI) is designed to develop language ability in a natural way by making a dual, though not necessarily equal, commitment to language and content, focusing on the mastery of knowledge of related academic subjects. Students are required to use English as a tool to acquire both knowledge and language competence. Most CBI courses have a strong academic orientation, emphasizing the linguistic, cognitive, and metacognitive (higher-order thinking) skills, as well as subject matter that students need in order to succeed in future educational and occupational endeavors.
DELL grants: (1) Bachelor’s degrees in English Language and Literature, (2) Master’s degrees in English Language and Literature, in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, and in Translation and Interpreting, and (3) Doctoral degrees in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and Foreign Languages and Literature.
DELL is committed to turn out graduates with qualified language competence, a broad range of knowledge, a world-embracing vision, sensitivity and tolerance to cultural diversity, and cutting-edge competitiveness for their future educational and occupational development. Adequate attention is also paid to the cultivation of student integrity, innovation, willpower, and capacity for life-long learning.
Each year, about half of our undergraduates choose to further their education by enrolling in Master degrees programs at foreign universities . Many other graduates prefer to stay in China and enroll in many highly recognized national institutions, such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Beijing Normal University. Only a few choose to immediately enter the workforce after getting their Bachelor’s degrees. Each year for over 10 consecutive years, our students’ average marks and the percentage of “Pass” and “Excellent” performances at the nation-wide Band Four and Band Eight tests for English majors have ranked among the highest among universities in the Mainland.
DELL has 18 full-time instructors, including ten professors and associate professors. Nine of them hold doctoral degrees, and 89% of the faculty have studied and/or worked abroad. Five English native speaker teachers from the US, Canada and the UK and other Anglophone countries constitute an integral part of the faculty. Two of the courses offered have been awarded the designation “Excellent Course” in the Beijing district.
DELL has invited a dozen foreign scholars to serve as guests or visiting professors. It has established many international exchange programs with famous universities world-wide. Over the past three years, a total of 49 students have participated in study-abroad exchange programs in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and Germany.
DELL has been evolving for over 65 years from the original Foreign Language Teaching and Research Unit of the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology established in 1952. The Unit was enlarged and renamed the Foreign Language Division in 1983. Two years later it evolved into the Department of Foreign Languages, which started to enroll graduate students majoring in English Language and Literature. In 1990 the Department was authorized to offer undergraduate courses in English for Scientific Purposes. In 1996 the Department was merged into the university’s School of Humanities. Four years later, it was authorized to grant Master’s degrees in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. 2003 witnessed the establishment of the School of Foreign Studies, of which DELL has been a mainstay. In the same year, DELL was authorized to grant Master’s degrees in English Language and Literature. It was authorized to grant first-level Master’s degrees in Foreign Languages and Literature in 2005, Master’s degree in Translation and Interpreting in 2010 and Doctoral degrees in Foreign Languages and Literature in 2011.