News Communication Professional English Course (21st Century Series Textbooks for Journalism and Communication)

Author: Zhan Jiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: This book, as one of the first of its kind in China, is about to be published. As we have been busy working on it for over a year, we feel both relieved and apprehensive, and would like to explain the purpose behind compiling this book. First, its publication aligns with the broader context of China's reform and opening-up, as well as a positive response to the Ministry of Education's strong advocacy for bilingual teaching in higher education across all disciplines. At the dawn of the 21st century, China has become a member of the World Trade Organization, marking a historic step in its path of opening up to the world. This has also placed new demands on various sectors, particularly higher education. In an increasingly open society, if future knowledge workers and professional researchers cannot master English, the world's universal language, they will inevitably fall behind in competition. The mastery and proficient use of English not only mean seamless daily communication and interaction but also, for university students who are about to become pillars of society, signify high-level academic exchange and highly specialized scientific research. The purpose of this book is to guide senior undergraduate and graduate students in journalism and communication to read professional original works directly, thereby consolidating and improving their English skills while studying professional knowledge.
Second, journalism and communication is a young discipline dominated by foreign cultures, making professional foreign language courses particularly important. Although journalism and communication education and research in China have made significant progress in recent years, especially since the mid-1990s, it cannot be denied that as a product of the Western world, most academic and intellectual resources in this field remain outside China. We are concerned to see that, faced with a vast ocean of English literature and the latest research findings, an increasingly large research team has focused most of its efforts on the study of domestic journalism and mass communication, which, while rapidly developing, is still in its "primary stage." The rapid growth of the pioneering journalism and communication sector and the strong desire for advanced culture stand in stark contrast to the relatively closed-off state of journalism and communication teaching and research in China, motivating us to take practical action. While this book cannot fundamentally address the current gaps in the field of journalism and communication academia, its status as one of the first of its kind in China demonstrates a certain attitude and trend, and aims to play a role in broadening the horizons of domestic scholars.
Third, this book is not a systematic academic work, but its rich content and corresponding organizational structure show that contemporary foreign academia has made tremendous progress in research perspectives, methods, and fields, and that the claim that journalism and communication lacks a distinct discipline is likely to become history. We feel both relieved and apprehensive because, during the compilation process, we deeply realize the bright future of our discipline and the heavy responsibilities and limited knowledge of scholars like ourselves. The 18 units of this textbook roughly cover the fundamental categories of the discipline. The three compilers each have their own areas of expertise, forming a small group advantage. We have studied multiple published professional English textbooks from other disciplines (such as law, economics, and political science), absorbing their strengths in selection and organizational structure while also innovating, making this book suitable not only as a professional English textbook but also as a valuable reference book for students and researchers, providing them with first-hand materials. The selection of materials was handled by Zhan Jiang and Li Xinren (who spent nearly a year carefully selecting over 70 articles from a vast body of English literature); the organizational structure, exercises, and reference translations were managed by Li Qingli and Zhan Jiang, with some translations contributed by Li Xinren, as well as Zhan Jinxu and Zhao Gang, master's students from the School of Journalism at Renmin University of China.
The content of the textbook spans several centuries, from classic works on journalism and communication thought—such as John Milton's Of Freedom of the Press (1644) and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (1859)—to contemporary scholars' descriptions of the latest dynamics in journalism and mass communication media. It covers important stages and key works in the history of journalism and communication. The discipline primarily focuses on journalism and communication but also includes related or interdisciplinary fields such as politics, economics, law, cultural studies, and sociology. The authors represent a diverse range of countries, including major Western nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Canada, with varied identities and research fields. There are top scholars in journalism and communication, such as Harold A. Innes, Paul Lazarsfeld, Wilbur Schramm, Marshall McLuhan, Emory and Edwin Emory, and Everett Rogers; political scientists like John Stuart Mill and Thomas Deay; sociologists like Robert E. Park, Robert Merton, and Theodor W. Adorno of the Frankfurt School; key figures in British cultural studies like Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, John Storey, and John Fiske; French postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard; encyclopedic thinkers Jurgen Habermas and German cultural critic H. M. Enzensberger; and even a few prominent political figures, such as former U.S. President Herbert Hoover. The intention is to observe the increasing influence of journalism and communication on society since modern times and the superiority of interdisciplinary research from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Additionally, the textbook includes some contemporary articles written by well-known journalists. Through these over 70 articles, the book aims to present the history and reality, theory and practice, and professional fields and related disciplines of journalism and communication in their original form, enabling readers to become familiar with the basic vocabulary, grammar, expressions, sentence structures, and some classic arguments and famous quotes in professional English. This will lay a solid foundation for them to read and effectively reference foreign research findings in future work and research.