Founded in 1923, the Department of English Language and Literature was selected for development as both a Specialty Program of Fujian Province and a National-level First-class Undergraduate Program. It is one in the first batch of pilot departments for MTI.

At present, the department has a full-time faculty of 38, including 12 professors (five doctoral supervisors), 12 associate professors, 14 assistant professors, and one foreign teacher. The department has developed strong academic disciplines in foreign literature and linguistics, with distinctive strengths in translation and interpreting, and emerging focuses on comparative literature and cross-cultural research, and a robust momentum in developing the disciplines of national and regional studies.