SchoolofForeignLanguages,SuzhouUniversityofScienceandTechnology(USTS),wasdevelopedfromtheForeignLanguagesDepartmentofSuzhouRailwayTeachersCollege(whichstartedtoofferanundergraduateprogramforEnglishmajorsin1985)andtheForeignLanguagesDepartmentofSuzhouInstituteofUrbanConstructionandEnvironmentalProtection(whichstartedtoofferanundergraduateprogramforEnglishmajorsin1999).ThetwodepartmentsweremergedintotheDepartmentofForeignLanguagesofUSTSin2001andrenamedastheSchoolofForeignLanguagesofUSTSin2008.Atpresent,thereare102facultymembers,including92full-timeteachers(4fullprofessors,27associateprofessorsand59lecturers).Andamongthem,5holddoctordegrees,11arePh.D.candidates,and57othersholdmasterdegrees.TheSchoolconsistsoftheEnglishDepartment,theJapaneseDepartment,theCollegeEnglishDepartment,andthepostgraduateteachinggroup.TheEnglishDepartmentcurrentlyoffersundergraduateprogramsinthreespecializedareas,namely,EnglishEducation,InternationalBusinessManagementEnglishandAppliedEnglishTranslation,whiletheJapaneseDepartmentoffersundergraduateJapaneseprogramsintheareasofInternationalBusinessJapaneseandInformationTechnologyJapanese.Therearemorethan1,000undergraduatesandabout400adultstudentsintheSchool.AsEnglishisacompulsorycourseforthenon-Englishmajors,theCollegeEnglishDepartmentofferscollegeEnglishcourseformorethan7000undergraduatestudents,andthepostgraduateteachinggroupoffersthegraduateEnglishcourseforabout280postgraduatestudents.TheSchoolhasalreadyformedarelativelystableteachingandresearchteamengagedinsuchareasasLinguistics,BritishLiteratureandAmericanLiterature,Translation,EnglishLanguageTeachingMethodology,Cross-culturalCommunication,BusinessEnglish,aswellasJapaneseLanguageandLiterature,undertakingalltheforeignlanguagesteachingandresearchforboththeundergraduatestudentsandpostgraduatestudentsintheuniversity.Inrecentfiveyears,theSchoolhasmadegreatachievementsinbothteachingandresearch:thepublicationofmorethan500papers(over60papersinthecorejournals)andmorethan40booksincludingmonographs,textbooksandtranslatedbooks,aswellastheaccomplishmentsofmorethan40researchprojectsatdeferentlevels:1NationalSocialScienceFundProject,1NationalBasicForeignLanguageTeachingResearchProject,8PhilosophyandSocialScienceResearchProjectsforCollegesandUniversitiesinJiangsuProvince,over20universityresearchprojects,and18universityteachingreformprojects.TheSchoolhasalsowonsomehonors:2ProvincialQualityCourses,2OutstandingAchievementAwardsinHumanitiesandSocialSciencesforCollegesandUniversitiesinJiangsuProvince,5OutstandingAchievementAwardsinPhilosophyandSocialSciencesofSuzhouCity,over10awardsfromdeferentacademicassociations,5prizesinJiangsuProvinceYoungTeachers’TeachingCompetition,4prizesinYoungTeachers’TeachingCompetitionofUSTS,1prizeinJiangsuProvince’sTeachingAchievements,1firstprizeand1secondprizeforUSTSTeachingAchievements,1ExcellentCoursewarePrizeattheThirdCollegeMultimediaCourseware“SkyClassroomCup”AwardinJiangsuProvince,3prizesatUSTSExcellentMultimediaCoursewareAward,2USTSawardsforqualitycourses,4USTSkeycoursesorcoursemodules.Theteachershavereceivedanumberofgovernmentalawardsfortheirexcellentwork:1“333Project”teacherinJiangsuProvince,1youngormiddle-agedacademicpioneerforJiangsuUniversities’“QinglanProject,”3youngbackboneteachersforJiangsuUniversities’“QinglanProject,”1moralmodelteacherinJiangsuProvince,1awardforagoodmodalreturningfromoverseastoSuzhouCity,and4outstandingyoungbackboneteachersinUSTS.TheSchoolisequippedwithadvancedteachingfacilities,including12setsofPanasonicWE-LL300AACnewmultimedialanguagelaboratories(or560seats),14multimedianetworkclassrooms,3multimediacomputerrooms(147computers),1simultaneousinterpretationroom(with32seats)and1wirelessFMteachingradio.Thereferenceroomboastsacollectionofover10,000booksinChineseandforeignlanguages,morethan70periodicalsinChineseandforeignlanguages,over800boundvolumesofperiodicalsandover300kindsofaudiovisualmaterials.Forthepasttwentyyears,theSchoolofForeignLanguageshasalwaysfocusedontheundergraduateteachingandthequalityofthestudentcultivation,andsogreatachievementscanbeseen:Morethan100graduateshavebeenadmittedtothewell-knownuniversities,suchasPekingUniversity,FudanUniversity,NanjingUniversityandotherprestigiousdomesticandoverseasuniversitiesfortheirpostgraduatestudy.Over2,000graduatesarenowworkinginthefieldsofeducation,business,press,administration,engineering,lawandsomeotherfieldsbothathomeandabroad.TheSchoolleaders,togetherwiththewholefacultymembers,sparenoeffortstocarryouttheteachingandscientificresearch,workingvigorouslyforthefurtherdevelopmentoftheschoolbypromotingthemaster’sprogramintheEnglishLanguageandLiteratureandaimingtoscaleanewheightintheforeignlanguageeducationandresearchinthecomingyears.
