A strong focus on languages has always been a forte of Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University, one of its aims is to provide a comprehensive education for people actively involved in the international trade. To achieve this purpose the Department of Business Foreign Languages was created in 2001.

This Department provides undergraduate and graduate programs with strong theoretical grounding in the disciplines of Economics for students of the School of Economics and the School of International Economic Relations and Tourist Industry.

The Faculty of our Department is represented by 2 Professors: the Head of Department, Doctor of Philology, Full Professor Iryna Shevchenko, Doctor of Philology, Full Professor Lev Minkin; 6 Associate Professors, Ph.D. in Linguistics: Olena Gorina, Iryna Zmiyova, Iryna Saprun, Natalia Startseva, Nadezhda Semchenko – Ph.D. in Pedagogy, Victoria Kassyanova – Ph.D. in Psychology, 5 Senior Lecturers – Tetiana Bilyovska, Nadezhda Bezvesilnaya, Olexandra Goldina, Natalia Olijnyk, Tetiana Skrypnyk and proficient Lecturers: Iryna Golub, Inna Davydenko, Maxim Karpusenko, Maria Leschukova, Yaroslava Litovchenko, Alina Ponikaryova, Maria Soboleva, Maria Slyunina, Natalia Ugnenko. Many of them are graduates of the Research Exchange Programs of the US, French, German and British Universities.

The Department of Business Foreign Languages offers the undergraduate and graduate programs for students majoring in Economics, International Economics and Tourism. As part of the degree programs, students take English for Special Purposes and can choose French or German as their second foreign language to study. Where applicable, beginner and bridging courses help students to reach the competence levels required to study their selected language(s) successfully. All courses are discussion and training format with 1 Exam. The students are expected to be ready for each lesson. There is much opportunity for class discussion and participation in case studies.

Non-spesialised and concentration courses designed to meet the needs of students with broad interests in the study of language.

Undergraduate programs for students majoring in Economics:

• A COURSE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES (ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH) is taught to students of the Department of Economics within 2 years. Students choose English, German or French according to their level of knowledge. There is a combination of content-based teaching with recognition of the pivotal role that discursive and intercultural elements play in business.
• Graduate programs for students majoring in International Economics, International Economic Affairs and Tourism:
• A COURSE OF BUSINESS ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE is taught to students of the School of International Economic Relations and Tourist Industry for 5 years (10 semesters). It develops students’ communicative abilities in the sphere of economics and tourism in their chosen language of study and their skills of understanding other cultures through the study of language, civilization, thereby enlarging their understanding of the human condition within a given context and in the global environment.
• A COURSE OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (GERMAN, FRENCH) involves effects of variation in second language educational, social and usage environment, level of learner cognitive and brain development, motivation, and language transfer.
• A COURSE OF BUSINESS TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING is offered to students of the School of International Economic Relations and taught for 5 semesters for BA and MA, comprising translator’s internship (8th semester) and Final State Exam in ESP and Translation for Business (10th semester).

The Department provides a postgraduate program for students majoring in a foreign language who wish to pursue graduate work in business and prepare for a long-term career in international business.

It also provides a Doctoral Program in Germanic Linguistics (speciality 10.02.04).

The Department of Business Foreign Languages is engaged in research work in philology, the methods of foreign language teaching and psychology.

The teaching process focuses on three key areas:

• communicative competence (in text production & reception, negotiating, presenting, etc.);
• competence in Language for Special Purposes, including the terminology of selected business and economic fields;
• intercultural competence, i.e. the ability to interact successfully with English (French, German) - speaking cultures and economies.

The research activities focus on three key areas:

• business discourse, i.e. the analysis of language use in various business settings, at both the micro-level of the enterprise and macro-level of the economy as a whole;
• business and economic terminology;
• cultural studies and language learning.

In all three, the Department contributes actively to the international academic community through papers in journals, book publications, and regular participation in conferences as presenters, chairs and organizers.

The syllabus and curriculum of the courses taught are based on the communicative approach and presuppose systematic and complex use of technical equipment (audio, video, multimedia); they are significantly oriented at the self-guided work of the students.