Words from the Chair
Dear Freshmen:
Welcome aboard! On behalf of the English Department, I extend my heartfelt welcome to you all.
College life is a brand new start for most of you. It is essentially different from the high school life you’ve grown used to. You are allowed considerable latitude to live a life you want it to be. You are no longer asked to fit yourselves into something you don’t want. Put differently, it’s time that you form your judgement and exercise your free will.
Departmental History and Features
Chronology:
- The Department of Foreign Languages was founded in July, 1954 with the reactivation of the University in Taiwan.
- In 1976, the Department of English Language and Literature became independent of the Department of Foreign Languages.
- In 2001, the Graduate Program of Comparative Literature was founded.
- In 2011, the Graduate Program was renamed the Graduate Program of the English Department.
The Objective of the Department
The objective of the Department of English Language and Literature is to develop students’ language ability with basic training courses focusing on practical English. All literature courses and basic linguistic courses are offered to cultivate students’ life-long appreciation of humanistic traditions and cultures as well as elevating their overall knowledge of English language.
Educational Goals
The curriculum is designed to improve students’ listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating abilities so that they are equipped with language aptitude and specialties in related fields for future careers. The main goal of the department is to fulfil both cultural and social functions of college education with English teaching in both language and culture.
Departmental Features:
- The faculty members and administrative staff conscientiously devote themselves to improving the quality of their teaching and concern themselves with a wide range of matters with regard to students' learning and creating a positive learning environment.
- The curriculum is rich in content and open in perspective.
- We have a systematic set of translation courses in which practical drills are highlighted and a rich offering of courses in the field of etymology unique in Taiwan.
- Administrative work and meetings are conducted bilingually and all full-time faculty members, including ten foreign-born instructors offer "English Corner" counseling to work with our students in English on an individual basis.
