The School of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou University was formerly known as the Foreign Language Department or College English Department of four institutions in Guangzhou, namely, Guangzhou Teachers’ College founded in 1978, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Education College, and South China Construction College (West Campus). The new Guangzhou University, established in 2000 by merging the above four institutions, approved the official establishment of the School of Foreign Studies in July, 2001 based upon the layout of the University’s disciplines and majors. The School has developed into one of the largest schools in the University, with a well-structured, dedicated, and highly capable team of 119 people, among whom are 105 full-time faculty members (including 11 professors and 27 associate professors) and 14 professional staff. There are currently 1,209 full-time undergraduate students and 170 postgraduate students.
The School consists of five departments: the English Department, the Oriental Languages Department, the Western Languages Department, the College English Teaching Department, and the Postgraduate Teaching Department. There are three undergraduate programs (majors): English, Japanese, and French, with the English program covering three directions: English Teacher Education, International Business, and Translation. The postgraduate education involves three academic master programs: Foreign Languages and Literature as a first-level academic discipline, English Language and Literature as a second-level academic discipline and Curriculum and Pedagogical Theory (English Education) as a second-level academic discipline, and two professional master programs: Education (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), and Translation and Interpreting (English Translation).
Based on the “Pearl River Delta” region and facing both domestic and overseas markets, the School adheres to the fundamental mission of “Fostering Virtue and Cultivating Talents” and strives to cultivate quality, innovative and practical foreign language talents with solid foundation, strong adaptability, and broad international vision to serve local economic and social development and major national strategies. In 2006, the College English Teaching Department was awarded “Demonstration Site for College English Teaching Reform” by the Ministry of Education; in 2008 the English program was rated “excellent” in the undergraduate teaching assessment by the Ministry of Education. The English program has become a national first-class undergraduate program, with five provincial practical teaching bases and several provincial first-class undergraduate courses and model courses with ideological-political elements, such as Introduction to Linguistics, and English Pedagogy. Over the past five years, 212 students in our school have won awards in national English competitions, including second prize in the 2021 “FLTRP·Guocai Cup” National English Writing Competition and many others.
In recent years, the School has made significant progress in academic research, obtaining funding for over 10 projects from the National Social Science Fund and the Ministry of Education Fund. Dozens of high-quality papers have been published in prestigious international SSCI- and A&HCI-indexed journals, and domestic CSSCI-indexed journals. Additionally, the School’s think tank outcomes have been adopted by influential publications like Internal Reference of Xinhua News Agency and Internal Reference of People’s Daily, receiving endorsements from leaders at both central and provincial levels. The School has won Second Prize of the CTTI (Chinese Think Tank Index) 2023 Think Tank Award and First Prize of the 10th Guangdong Provincial Social Science Achievement Award.
With years of relentless efforts, the School has emerged as a pivotal institution in the “Pearl River Delta” region and even South China, boasting a reputation for its robust faculty, comprehensive academic disciplines, distinctive specialties, outstanding research achievements, and its commitment to nurturing high-quality foreign language talents.
