Schools

School of Foreign Languages

Formed by the incorporation of the School of Foreign Languages of the former Changsha Railway Institute, the School of Foreign Languages of the former Central South University of Technology and the Foreign Languages Department of the former Hunan Medical University, the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) of Central South University (CSU) boasts a history of more than 40 years as a distinguished academy. With 260 faculty members (among them 17 professors, 83 associate professors, 28 with doctorates and 3 with postdoctoral research background in other prestigious institutes as well as 6 doctoral supervisors and 38 postgraduate supervisors), SFL has secondary discipline doctoral degree program in English Language and Literature, first discipline master’s degree program in Foreign Languages and Literatures and 6 secondary discipline master’s degree programs, namely Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in Foreign Languages, English Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, Comparative Literature and World Literature as well as Curriculum and Teaching Methodology. What should be stressed is that Foreign Language and Literature is the key discipline in Hunan Province. Furthermore, while hosting two provincial research bases of humanities and social sciences（i.e Hunan Province Translation Base and Hunan ASEAN Cultural Research and Exchange Center）, SFL is authorized as one of the first nine academic institutions offering MTI program (Master of Translation and Interpreting).

SFL is composed of English Department (National-level specialty as well as reform pilot unit of English major of the Ministry of Education and Hunan Province), French Department (the first in technology institutes), Japanese Department, Spanish Department, Department of College English Studies, MTI Education Center, Modern Education Technology Center for Foreign Language, Foreign Language Training and Testing Center, Institute of Comparative Studies of English and Chinese, Cultural Exchanges and Translation Research Institute, Institute of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Institute of Comparative Literature and World Literature, Research Institute of English Literature and Culture as well as Institute of Foreign Language Education, awarded as College English Teaching Reform Demonstration Unit by Ministry of Education. Besides Hunan Higher Self-examination Center for English Major, two national-level associations (namely China Association for Comparative Studies of English and Chinese and China Comparative Literature Association and Translation Research Center) are also based in SLF.

At present, the faculty preside over 6 national social science projects, 1 national natural science project (the first in Hunan), 7 humanities and social sciences projects granted by Ministry of Education as well as 63 projects of provincial social science, teaching reform and education planning. Over the past three years, nearly 400 papers were published in core journals at home and abroad, among which there were 92 indexed in CSSCI, 4 in SSCI and 5 in A & HCI. Moreover, the School published 15 monographs, 34 translation works (among them 18 published in People's Literature Publishing House and Foreign Languages Press). We also  publish Foreign Language and Translation, a journal with over two-decade continuous publication and the only comprehensive academic journal on foreign languages in central southern  China .                              

We are always world-wide oriented. During 2012-2015, the number of graduates and undergraduates participating in international exchange programs reaches 58, and the number of teachers in overseas visiting and training programs 65. At the same time, SFL has achieved exchange and cooperation with universities in the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Spain and other countries, while introducing overseas doctors (or doctors graduated from colleges and universities in HK, Macau and Taiwan) and internationally renowned scholars for visiting and collaborative research. The past three years has witnessed 16 teachers present in various international conferences, including one winner of Diversity Award (awarded by International Society for Autism Research), the only one in Hunan currently.

SFL enjoys advanced teaching and research facilities. There are superior databases in Chinese and foreign languages featuring free access and mobile learning via campus network and Chinanet-CSU respectively. In addition, great improvement has been made in foreign language self-learning facilities by introducing "CSU Online English Learning" (an integrated platform of English teaching and learning), digital language laboratory (48 sets) and self-learning center (with 521 transparent computing terminals), as well as updating e-reading room, library (with a total collection of cataloged 80,000 volumes), language laboratories and translation and interpretation laboratories (225 square meters). Since 2012, SFL has shown its leading position in terms of teaching and research facilities with the application of the man-machine-dialog-oriented transparent computing systems.