The Department has been functioning since 1943. V.V. Nikolayev became its first Head of Department . Eventually, since 1949, Yu.A.Yans became the Head of Department , who gave 40 years of his life to this business. In March 1991, the head of the department became Member of EMC, Cand. Sc. (Education), Associate Professor Mikhail Petrovich Suknov.The Department of Foreign Languages provides teaching of foreign languages for KhNURE undergraduate students, bachelors, specialists, masters as well as post-graduate students and candidates for a Ph. degree of all specialties.
The staff of the department is constantly working on improving practical foreign languages courses, providing their communicative orientation (introduction and implementation of educational curricula on foreign languages in the light of the Bologna Process; providing the process of teaching foreign languages with teaching and methodological materials; publishing activities).
Innovation methods of teaching foreign languages (improving the rational structure of classes on speaking skills development, methods of making up practical tasks on speaking skills development for the first- and second-year students; using electronic teaching aids; applying authentic audio – and videorecordings at foreign languages lessons; modernizing the department learning equipment; adding new tests for a Master course entrance examination on the subject “Foreign Language” into the database; methodology of using teaching materials on the basis of IT technology).
Organization and methodological work is implemented in the form of scientific and methodological seminars; work on PhD theses, published works, reports; consultations for post-graduate students /candidates for a PhD degree, etc. The teachers of the department constantly work on improvement of their professional skills: the department holds seminars on methods of teaching foreign languages, organizes training courses, etc. Contacts with international institutions have become traditional, which helps the teachers of the department increase their methodological arsenal. Within the whole period of existence of the department its staff has been engaged in developing and studying modern technologies of teaching foreign languages and has introduced them into studies.