Damascus - The Higher Institute of Languages in Damascus seeks to upgrade the status of language teaching as to enrich academic life.
The Institute grants post-graduate certificates and degrees of specialization in language teaching, organizes training courses and runs normative tests in various languages taught at the Institute.
The Institute, established in 2002, was turned under Decree No. 384 in 2006 into a higher institute granting qualitative certificates in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, as well as English and French to keep pace with modern developments.
Besides Arabic for non-native speakers, the Institute teaches English and French, in addition to departments teaching Aramaic, German, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Persian and Japanese.
The departments of Arabic, English and French grant Diploma, MA and Ph.D. degrees.
Dean of the Institute Nawwaf Makhlouf told SANA that students of 53 nationalities from European, American, African and Asian countries study Arabic at the Institute.
He added that the curricula taught at the Institute include theories of language teaching, academic writing, language and media and language and cultural globalization.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2011
