Program Development and Research Accomplishments
I. Program Development
1. In 1999, SEIB became the first school in China to recruit MA students of ESP.
2. In 2002, SEIB started to recruit PhD candidates of Forensic Linguistics.
3. In 2006, SEIB started to recruit PhD candidates of Comparative Study and Translation between Chinese and English.
4. In 2008, SEIB became the very first school in China approved by the Academic Degree Commission of the State Council to launch the MA degree program on Business English Studies(a Class-two discipline) under the Class-one discipline of Foreign Language and Literature.
5. In 2012, SEIB became the very first school in China to launch the PhD degree program on Business English Studies(a Class-two discipline) under the Class-one discipline of Foreign Language and Literature.
After more than 10 years’ efforts, SEIB has already achieved a steady development of featured programs which are provincially or even nationally leading.
II. Research
1. Accomplishments
For the past five years, SEIB staff have published more than 80 academic research papers oncore journals indexed by SCI, SSCI, CSSCIand have successfully applied for 7 projects supported by National Social Science Foundation, 18 provincial projects and written and translated over 30 books.
2. School-level projects
In 2009, SEIB launched the first tender for School-level research projects. Such a measure has encouraged the research efforts on the projects closely related to the development of SEIB, consolidated SEIB’s academic status in relevant disciplines, contributed to nurturing researchers, and accumulated rich academic results which is the premise for applying for research projects at higher levels and for more MA and PhD programs.
3. Innovative Research Teams
SEIB has three innovative research teams: Forensic Linguistic Research Team, Pragmatic Translation Research Team, and Business English Teaching Research Team. Having formulated specific rules and measures of management, each team bases its research on projects and has achieved considerable research accomplishments. Among them, the Forensic Linguistic Research Team was founded and approved to be a University-level research team in 2012, and so far it has met nearly all the requirements and is expecting a successful completion soon.
In 2013, the Center for Business and Legal Discourse Studies in SEIB was approved as University-level key research center of Humanities and Social Sciences. It is established on the basis of the three older SEIB research centers (i.e. Research Center of Business English,Institute of Forensic Linguistics, and Research Center of International Business). Its goal is to integrate the research staff of SEIB and concentrate research efforts to advance SEIB’s status in the academic community. The Center has built up a platform for cooperative research with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: GDUFS Workshop of the Language and Multi-modal Laboratory.
4. Academic Conferences
SEIB has been an active host of various high-level academic conferences, as a leader in related disciplines. SEIB launched the First National Business English Studies Forum in 2011 and held the National Symposium on Business English Teacher Training, pushing forward teaching and research of Business English.
From July 6th to July 9th, 2015, the 12th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics (IAFL12) was successfully hosted by SEIB, the first time for this Conference to be held in Asia. IAFL 12 attracted a large number of internationally renowned researchers and demonstrated strong academic strength. During the Conference, top forensic linguists received interviews by GDTV and introduced forensic linguistics to ordinary audience across the world through global broadcasting.
Between November 27 to 29, 2015, SEIB is to host the 14th ABC Asia-Pacific Conference, which is dedicated to new theories, new models and new methodologies of cross-cultural business communication, and English as Lingua Franca and its variations in international business, with a view to exploring new perspectives, new theories and new methodologies for Business English Studies, a newly rising interdiscipline. On November 28, SEIB is to hold the Fifth National Business English Studies Forum, pushing forward the academic front this discipline and leading its progress.
III.Research Centers
There are four research centers (or institute), constituting distinctive academic platforms of various research focuses.
1. Research Center of Business English
Founded in 2005, with a view to tapping the staff’s academic potential and exert its advantages in Business English research, this research center sets up three orientations: Business Language, Business Culture and Business English Teaching. After its founding, it successfully held an international symposium on Business English and positively promoted related research in this discipline.
2. Research Center of Forensic Linguistics
Founded in June 2001, the Institute takes forensic linguistic research and postgraduate teaching as its primary tasks, and in the meantime, it actively launches legal English training, practices court interpreting and legal translation, explores assessment of legal interpreters, compiles legal English textbooks and offers legal English consultancy. The Institute has shown a growing influence in the relevant academic community at both home and broad with its ever-increasing strength and achievement in teaching and research.
3. Research Center of International Business
Founded in May 2007, this Center places focuses on international business and business culture, including international accounting standards, international corporate ethics and social responsibility, international financial cooperation, international business strategy, international business law, international business teaching, cultural studies, cross-cultural communication studies, businesscommunication, business negotiation and counseling, and etc. In recent years, through holding academic lectures and forums and applying for academic projects, the Center has achieved positive results in academic exchange and researcher cultivation, and has played an important role in providing counseling service and policy making.
4. Research Center of Intercultural Communication
5. Research Center for Business English Education
