introduce

Department of Graduate English

The Division for Graduate English Teaching and Research, formerly the Department of Graduate English, currently has a faculty of nine, including four associate professors, four lecturers, and one international faculty member. Together, they form an experienced and forward-looking teaching team. The Division is responsible for public English instruction for master’s students and direct-entry doctoral students across the University. Some faculty members also teach courses offered by the Department of English, the Center for Translation Education, and other academic units. Several serve as graduate supervisors and contribute to the education of students in academic degree programs in Area Studies and Foreign Languages and Literature, as well as those pursuing the professional Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) degree.

Within the overarching framework of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the Division has developed a differentiated curriculum system serving both academic and professional degree programs. English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses are offered to academic degree students across a range of disciplines, including engineering, the natural sciences, medicine, and the humanities. Courses such as English for Academic Communication, English for Scientific Paper Writing, and English Academic Writing are designed to strengthen students’ academic listening and speaking skills, academic reading and writing proficiency, and ability to communicate effectively in intercultural academic settings. English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) courses, including English for Engineering Applications and English for Professional Communication, are offered to professional degree students in different fields, with a strong career orientation and an emphasis on practical language competence. With clearly defined objectives and distinct emphases, the two strands embody a differentiated and targeted approach to graduate English education.

In its teaching practice, the Division actively promotes task-based and project-based learning through a blended model integrating online and face-to-face instruction. Case studies, group discussions, presentations, and practical writing tasks are incorporated throughout the curriculum. Assessment places greater emphasis on formative evaluation, supplemented by summative assessment. Authentic tasks—including simulated international academic conferences, engineering projects, and professional communication activities—are used to evaluate students’ learning outcomes. The Division also conducts online language proficiency assessments through a paperless examination platform supported by a self-developed question bank containing tens of thousands of items, enhancing both the quality and efficiency of teaching and assessment. Committed to integrating research with teaching and allowing each to inform the other, the Division has compiled and published a number of textbooks, including English for Academic Communication, English for Engineering Applications for Emerging Engineering Graduate Students, and Practical English for the Workplace, providing strong support for curriculum development.

In recent years, the Division has actively aligned its work with the University’s development of Emerging Engineering Education and ongoing reforms in graduate education. It has steadily advanced curriculum optimization, new textbook development, and examination question-bank construction, deepening its teaching reforms and achieving increasingly visible results. Looking ahead, the faculty will remain committed to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, working together with dedication and innovation to deliver higher-quality public English education for graduate students and contribute to the University’s cultivation of high-level talent and continued international development.