School of Foreign Languages-Beihang University

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School of Foreign Languages

In an age of inter-civilization mutual promotion and technological innovation, the School of Foreign Languages (FLS) at Beihang University stands out with its unique charisma and profound heritage, serving as a bridge that connects the Eastern and Western cultures and links technology advancements with humanity developments. As an integral part of the prestigious Beihang University, the FLS not only shoulders the mission of imparting linguistic/cultural knowledge but also strives to cultivate high-caliber interdisciplinary talents with global competencies and cross-cultural communication capabilities.

The predecessor of FLS was the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Unit, established in 1952 as a constituent of the then Beijing Institute of Aeronautics. In 1985, the Department of Foreign Languages was established and later reorganized into the School of Foreign Languages in 2007. In 1978, it began to admit undergraduates of the English major. In 1988, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council authorized FLS to award MA degrees in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. In 2000, it was authorized to offer a master program in English Language and Literature. In 2005, it was authorized to award MA degrees in the overarching discipline of Foreign Languages and Literature. That same year, the School began to enroll MA students in Russian Language and Literature. In 2009, it received authorization to run an MA program in Translation and Interpretation, followed by the approval of an all-round doctoral program in Foreign Languages and Literature in 2010. In 2011, the School started to enroll doctoral students in both English Language and Literature and Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Subsequently, it established a postdoctoral research station. As it stands now, the School offers undergraduate programs in English, German, Translation, and French, as well as a dual bachelor's degree program in English and Finance (International Finance) aimed at cultivating interdisciplinary talents.

Study

In terms of disciplinary development, FLS continuously restructures and optimizes its disciplines, always taking a leading role at the national level. The overarching discipline of Foreign Languages and Literature has made significant breakthroughs in successive national assessments in recent years, rising to the 10th place in the Soft Science Ranking of Chinese Universities. Leveraging the university's advantages in engineering, the School has re-constructed five key sub-disciplines: Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Foreign Literature Studies, Translation Studies, Area and Country Studies, and Studies in Large Language Model and its Applications, injecting new vitality into traditional elements. The School further strengthens its Research and Development platforms in these academic areas, fostering the growth and cultivation of talents. It systematically establishes a host of specialized teams to effectively leverage the expertise of high-level professionals and lead professors within each discipline in an attempt to improve the quality of education and research. Moreover, it is actively developing a Key Laboratory for AI-based Linguistic Information Processing which utilizes a full range of cutting-edge corpus linguistic and AI technologies to address a wide variety of scientific issues, and a Research Center of International Media Discourse which aims to provide high-quality consultations and policy advice to government agencies. With its unique strengths in Corpus Linguistics and AI research, the School is embarking on a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary studies across Linguistics, Literature Studies, Translation Studies and Particular Regional Studies, therefore, creating unprecedented practical opportunities and environments for engaging students into real research activities at an early stage.

FLS comprises five departments, namely, the Department of English Literature, the Department of Linguistic Science and Engineering, the Department of German, the Department of Russian, and the Department of Translation and Interpretation. It also encompasses three foreign language teaching centers, implementing an integrated reform of undergraduate and graduate education, and featuring a seamless training pathway for foreign language teaching to non-majors. All its undergraduate courses are rated as "First-Class Courses" by the Ministry of Education of China, functioning as backbones for building a solid academic foundation in students.

FLS currently is home to 236 undergraduate students, 192 masteral students, and 65 doctoral students. Committed to developing future talents with vision, inspiration and creativity, the School provides comprehensive support through its dedicated team of academic mentors and career advisors. These professionals offer continuous guidance in addressing both academic and personal challenges, fostering students' moral and intellectual growth. Through its ongoing initiatives "Language Navigation" and "Language and Art," students enjoy a warm, supportive "family culture" for culturation and acculturation.

Faculty

Currently, FLS has a staff of 109, of which 98 are full-time faculty members, among whom 20 hold full professorship and 56 are associate professors, out of whom 14 professors take on the role of doctoral supervisor and 54 associate professors work to supervise masteral students. Notably, faculty members have won nation-wide recognition in research and professionalism, with two professors sitting on the Ministry of Education (MOE) Foreign Language Teaching Advisory Committee, and three professors serving as presidents or vice-presidents for specialized national research associations. In recent years, three academics have been awarded the title of "Distinguished Scholar" and "Excellent Talents in the New Century" in the Ministry of Education Talents Program, and two awarded the title of Teaching Masters for their significant contributions in research and excellence in teaching.

Research

FLS is recognized as one of the nation's leading institutions in the Foreign Languages and Literature disciplines, distinguished by its first-rate scientific research projects. Dozens of research projects, spanning cross a wide range of academic areas in the broad discipline of Foreign Languages and Literature, are under way, sponsored by the national and municipal governments, along with those joint-venture projects from local organizations. Research projects fall into the categories of National Social Science Major Project, National Social Science Key Projects, National Social Science Project, Ministry of Education Social Science Project, Beijing Municipal Social Science Project, among others. Inquires in projects lead to ongoing improvements in both quality and quantity of scholarly achievements and publications. Notably, a number of researchers have been listed as Highly Cited Scholar in China by Elsevier or CNKI. Over the past years, specific studies in Corpus Linguistics, Germanic Literature and Interlanguage Pragmatics have won the Beijing Municipal Governmental Social Sciences Achievement Awards, Chongqing Municipal Governmental Social Sciences Achievement Award, and the MOE Humanities and Social Sciences Achievement Award, among others.

International Cooperation

FLS has established an internationalization framework in the spirit of "university management, school commitment, and faculty/students participation." Through collaborative research projects, student exchange programs, joint PhD initiatives, and study-visit programs, the School has forged partnerships with institutions in the UK, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Japan, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, providing faculty and students with opportunities to pursue their research in prestigious overseas universities and institutions. Leveraging funding from the government and the university, large numbers of teachers and students have gained valuable experience studying and conducting research at world-renowned universities.

Tel: +86-10-82319097
Email：fls@buaa.edu.cn
Address：School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, P.R. China