International College of Chinese Studies
Shanghai Normal University (SHNU) was one of the first universities that provide Chinese language programs to international students in Shanghai. It established the International Students Office in 1965 and began to enroll international students. The Department of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language was found in 1985, which was transformed to the Center of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in 1988. In 1993, the International Cultural Exchange College was found, and became a secondary college of SHNU in May 2002.
In February 2004, on the basis of the International Cultural Exchange College, SHNU formed the International College of Chinese Studies (ICCS) by integrating the undergraduate program of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and the discipline of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (master’s degree and doctoral degree points). ICCS is a comprehensive secondary college that places equal emphasis on both teaching and academic research. It provides international students education, undergraduate education in the major of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (the current name is “Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages”), and postgraduate education (Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, and Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages).
ICCS is the official test center for HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test), the Chinese Language Education Base authorized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the National Language Promotion Base recognized by the Department of Language Application and Administration of the Ministry of Education. Further, it is the National Research and Development Center of HSK (Tourism). ICCS is the key institute in the discipline of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in Shanghai. The Institute of Applied Linguistics is the Shanghai Municipal Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences Research. The project -- “Innovative Talent Cultivation Model of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language” was awarded as the Shanghai Municipal Education Highland (4th Session) and the undergraduate program of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages was selected as the “National First-Class Undergraduate Major”.
