Head

Assoc. Prof. Gergana Furkova, PhD

Room 166 Phone: (+359 2) 9308 346

Founded in 1976.

The Department of Western Languages was founded in 1976, initially staffed with people from the Departments of English, French and German Studies. These lecturers took on the teaching of foreign languages (a university requirement for foreign language educ ation in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) to all students of Sofia University.

The academic staff now numbers 25 lecturers – 11 in English, 6 in German, 5 in French, 1 in Italian and 2 in Spanish. Four of them are associate professors and 11 have doctoral degrees. The research areas are oriented towards app lied linguistics, mainly in the areas of lexicography, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics.

The Department of Western Languages offers FLSP courses for students of all facu lties at Sofia University. English, French, German, Italian and Spanish are taught as first and second foreign languages. The courses are included in the cu rricu la of the respective facu lties and are designed in acc ordance with the specific needs of their students.

The proficiency level of each student is established up on enrolling in a course with a test following the criteria of the Common European Language Proficiency Framework. To complete each course students pass an achievement test, which is used as a placement test for the next level. Covering at least two successive levels is compulsory. Their grade for the highest level taken is recorded in their diploma. In some faculties the number of contact academic hours reaches 720 hours for students who have sat for an entrance exam in the respective foreign language.