established in 1999, the college of foreign languages and cultures (cflc) at xiamen university (xmu) has its roots in the university’s original department of foreign languages, one of the university’s first academic departments.
for nearly a century the department has counted among its faculty a host of notable scholars and alumni across a broad spectrum of both academic and professional disciplines:
• zhou bianming (linguist)
• lin yutang (writer and linguist)
• hong chen (linguist)
• yu kwang-chung (poet and translator)
• cai yueshi (industrialist)
• h. t. tang (industrialist)
•zhu dezhen (ceo)
•li xiaojia (ceo)
at present, the cflc comprises five departments:
• english language and literature
• foreign language education
• japanese language and literature
• european languages and literatures
• french language and literature
these departments offer five bachelor’s degree programs:
• english
• japanese
• french
• russian
• german
seven master’s degree programs:
• english language and literature
• foreign linguistics and applied linguistics
• japanese language and literature
• french language and literature
• russian language and literature
• master of translation and interpreting (mti) in english
• master of translation and interpreting (mti) in japanese
three phd programs:
• english language and literature
• japanese language and literature
• foreign linguisticsandapplied linguistics
in addition, cflc hosts a first-level postdoctoral research center for foreign languages and literatures and a number of research institutes in the areas of:
• foreign languages and literatures
• japanese language education
• bilingual lexicography
• bilingual linguistic and cultural studies
• european studies
the college also operates four foreign language testing and training centers. in the most recent academic ranking of chinese universities compiled in 2012 by
china
’s ministry of education, xmu was rated tenth for the strength of its foreign languages and literaturesprograms, a status shared with:
•tsinghuauniversity
•beijingnormaluniversity
•universityofinternationalbusiness&economics
•fudanuniversity
•shanghaijiaotonguniversity
•sichuaninternationalstudiesuniversity
as of 2016, cflc is home to 157 faculty members:
• 26 professors (nine doctoral supervisors)
• 42 associate professors
• 27 international scholars and lecturers
the faculty boasts two members who have been named on the ministry of education’s list of “new century support plan for outstanding talent”; seven have been have been named on the list of “new century support plansfor outstanding talent” at the provincial and university level, and one faculty member who has been recognized as a “new century talent” at the provincial level.
in addition to teaching, many faculty members have distinguished themselves in academic research. since 2003, they have published:
• 784 papers
• 170 monographs
• numerous book translations
• numerous textbooks
• several dictionaries and glossaries
from 2005 to 2015, the cflc completed:
• 19 research projects financed by the national government
• 55 research projects funded by ministries and provincial governments
• 9 projects funded by the european union
currently, the college has an enrollment of 1,261 students:
• 26 phd students
• 202 master’s degree students
• 1,033 bachelor’s degree students
furthermore, the college offers foreign language courses to more than 13,500 students in other colleges and departments at xmu.
the college has long been committed to international academic exchange and cooperation. cflc has partnered with more than twenty institutions in the
united kingdom
,
ireland
,
france
,
japan
,
russia
, hong kong, and
taiwan
. exchange programs include a “3 1” bachelor’s degree programs (three years at xmu and one year at a partner institution) and a “2 1” master’s degree programs (two years at xmu and one year at a partner institution).
over the years, students in the cflc have performed exceptionally well on all nationwide foreign language proficiency tests, earning scores significantly higher than the average score of both higher-education institutions and comprehensive universities nationwide. in 2014, for example, more than 96% of the 107 second-year students in the english language program successfully completed the test for english majors – level 4 (tem-4), more than 45 percentage points higher than the national average and more than 30 percentage points higher than the average of comprehensive universities.
graduates from the cflc have undertaken productive careers in foreign affairs, foreign trade, finance, journalism and education, playing a significant role in cross-culture communications and other related fields with their language skills and cross-cultural experience.
