Introduction

Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University is a broad and dynamic program offering students expansive choice from first year to postgraduate levels. In languages, apart from reading and writing, great emphasis is also put on oral and aural abilities. In literatures, our students study a broad span of Western literature from the Bible to contemporary novels. Students will gain knowledge of critical approaches to literature and refine skills which are indispensable across the specturm of working life.

The faculty of the Department is composed of 83 experienced full-time teachers and 28 part-time teachers, of which 85 have Ph.D background and 25 are with M.A. Degree. All faculty members take a genuine interest in instructing their students and dedicate themselves to individual academic research. The Department has also been working closely with international academic institutions. In the past it has played host to many renowned scholars -- Ihab Hassan, David James, Ronald Tavel, Porter Wood, etc., who lectured or researched for various durations. The Department will continue the international academic cooperation and exchange for the purpose of fostering students for advanced study and strengthening the Department's academic research.

History

National Taiwan University traces its origin to the Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University established in 1928 by the Japanese. After Taiwan was restored to the Chinese in 1945, the Division of Arts and Political Science of the University was divided into the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Law. In 1947, the Department of Foreign Literature was inaugurated as one of the departments of the College of Liberal Arts and renamed as the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature in 1955. The Graduate Institute of the Department was established in 1966, and the Ph.D program in Comparative Literature was subsequently added to the Graduate Institute in 1970. From 1976, the Language Laboratory of the Department was reorganized as the Audio-visual Center of the College of Liberal Arts to provide audio-visual teaching aids for a variety of courses and subjects. The faculty members of the Department are to take charge of utilizing the Center's facilities to acquaint students of this University with English oral-aural ability and also with other foreign languages.

The Department offers a four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures. In addition to knowledge of specialized courses, namely, the required courses in European, English and American literatures, English as a Foreign Language, Linguistics, and a second foreign language, the students are also encouraged to be acquainted with other related knowledge from courses offered campuswide.

The Department has made considerable achievements in carrying out various kinds of academic activities. In addition to the faculty colloquia held regularly, the Department has hosted several international and national conferences, such as "The Fourth National Conference on English and American Literature," the first and the second "International Conferences on the Translation of Chinese Literature," "The Literature/Film Conference," "The First German Language and Literature Conference," and "The 21th Comparative Literature Conference." The Department regularly publishes two scholarly journals: NTU Studies in Language and Literature (in English) and Chung-wai Literary Monthly (in Chinese); both enjoy high prestige domestically and overseas. The Department also had the honor of organizing two Nobel Laureates, Derek Walcott and Wole Soyinka, to speak in our University in year 2002.

For the past forty years, the Department has been proud to contribute to Taiwan's education and culture by graduating many distinguished scholars, writers, and cultural workers. The Department not only plays a significant role in introducing Western literature, philosophy and thought into Taiwan's society but is renowned for offering students solid foreign language programs. The Department will continue to strengthen the teaching of foreign languages so as to make independent the French Department, the German Department, and the Spanish Department. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is anticipated to be reorganized as the Department of English Language and Literature then, and it is hoped that through the cooperation with these newly established departments, the inauguration of the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures can be facilitated to enhance Taiwan's language education programs.