Enhanced near band-edge (NBE) emission was observed from composite structures fabricated from a PVA coated ZnO (PVA-ZnO) nanoparticle thin film embedded with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The enhancement is attributed to the resonant coupling between the bandgap transition of the semiconductor and the surface plasmon (SP) of MWCNTs. Moreover, the PVA-ZnO/MWCNTs/PVA-ZnO composite structures show faster transient response, which is due to the carrier transportation process in the composite structure. Reductions are observed for both photocurrent to dark current ratio and intensity of photoresponsivity, demonstrating a tradeoff between the time transient response and the detectivity.