Founded in 1972, the Department of English is one of the earliest of its kind in China. It was designated as a National Distinctive Program in 2010 and recognized as a pilot reform program by both Hunan Province and the Ministry of Education in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Its primary discipline, Foreign Languages and Literature, is a Flagship Discipline of Hunan Province. The program was selected as a Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Program in 2019 and a National First-Class Undergraduate Program in 2020. It also hosts the Hunan Provincial Demonstration Base for University-Industry Cooperative Education and the Hunan Provincial Translation Research Base. The department offers Ph.D. and Master's degree programs in the discipline of Foreign Languages and Literature, as well as one of the first authorized Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) programs in China, covering both interpreting and translation.

More than 80% of the existing faculty members hold senior academic ranks, and over 60% have doctoral degrees. The department enrolls more than 500 undergraduates and nearly 400 master's and doctoral students. In recent years, faculty members have secured more than 10 national-level projects and over 60 provincial-level projects, as well as more than 10 projects funded by the Ministry of Education, including two industry-academia collaborative education projects and one project on course-based civic education. The faculty has also published more than 500 high-quality academic papers, and one faculty member was recognized by the Ministry of Education as a Distinguished Educator for Course-based Civic Education. Under the guidance of the faculty, students have won more than 20 Grand Prizes and over 40 First Prizes in national competitions.

This program offers a complete and integrated training system spanning undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. The training objectives are: to cultivate senior English professionals who uphold the core values of socialism, possess deep love for their country and people, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, maintain a sound worldview, outlook on life, and values, demonstrate a pragmatic spirit, profound humanistic qualities, and excellent professional competence, and achieve comprehensive development in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education, preparing them to contribute to the great task of national rejuvenation; to cultivate highly competent English professionals with outstanding expertise and versatile competencies, a strong sense of patriotism, a broad international perspective, and well-developed professional ethics and teamwork.

This program requires students to have a firm political direction, good ideological character and sound personality. They are expected to possess comprehensive humanistic knowledge, a strong sense of responsibility toward national development, systematic and integrated knowledge of English language and literature, interdisciplinary skills, and professional competence. Students are trained to develop strong logical thinking, critical awareness, creativity, and the ability for independent, lifelong, and collaborative learning. They are also equipped with cross-cultural communication skills and the ability to conduct research using emerging digital technologies. Graduates are mainly employed in foreign affairs, foreign trade, culture, education, communication, finance, Internet and other fields and industries, engaged in translation, teaching, scientific research, management, international exchange and communication, finance and other professional related jobs.

This program requires students to have a clear political orientation, strong moral character, and well-rounded personalities. They are expected to possess broad humanistic knowledge, a strong sense of responsibility for national development, systematic knowledge of English language and literature, interdisciplinary competencies, and professional competence. Students are trained to develop strong logical reasoning, critical awareness, creative thinking, and capabilities for independent learning, lifelong learning, and collaborative learning. They are also equipped with cross-cultural communication skills and the ability to conduct research using digital technologies. Graduates are mainly employed in foreign affairs, foreign trade, culture, education, communication, finance, Internet, and other fields and industries, engaged in translation, teaching, scientific research, management, international exchange and communication, and related professions.

At present, the program has established a complete, modular, systematic curriculum framework consisting of a broad disciplinary foundation, core courses, specialized modules, and internship and practical training components. At the same time, it also offers English minor courses for the whole school. The core courses of this program are: Outline of Chinese Culture, History of World Civilization, Introduction to English Literature, British Literature, American Literature, Introduction to the English Translation of Chinese Classics, Basic Interpretation, Translation Theory and Practice, General Linguistics, Introduction to English for Science and Technology.