Dr.Mona Banibaker
Head of Modern Languages Department
Overview
The department of Modern Languages was founded in the academic year 1984/1985 because of the desperate need of Jordanian society to qualified graduates of French language and other supportive languages such as Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian. In addition, the department meets the students of other faculties at the university who wish to study certain courses in modern languages.
The department offers BA in French language and minor specialization in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian for the students of Arabic, English, Translation and all the departments in the Mass Communication Faculty. Elective courses in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Korean, Chinese, and Russian are offered for all university students to give them the chance to learn new languages and cultures.
An M.A. program in French linguistics has been established in the academic year 2010/2011 in cooperation with Nant University. Another agreement with the Francophone University agency has been signed to foster collaboration with Francophone University in the Middle East region.
The number of the academic staff in the department is 12 members distributed as follows:
French instructors: (1) full professor, (2) associate professors, (1) assistant professor, (5) lecturers, (1) full time lecturer working according to the agreement between Yarmouk University and the French Embassy.
German instructors: (1) Full professor.
Italian instructors: (1) full time lecturer working according to the agreement between Yarmouk University and the Italian Embassy.
The department also has (1) teaching assistant and (1) lab technician.
Currently, the department has 262 students. A scholarship is annually granted to study at Leon University in France for one semester. The department offers also a number of Extracurricular activities in cooperation with a number of European embassies in Jordan particularly the French embassy in Amman which hold the Francophone week every year.
Vision
Making the department a leading distinguished model nationally and regionally in teaching foreign languages; providing the labor market with qualified and competent graduates to work in different fields such as teaching foreign languages, tourism, journalism and Media; Cooperating with local, Arabic, and international universities, and diplomatic bodies.
Mission
- Providing graduates with the adequate knowledge to learn modern languages and the necessary principles of conducting scientific research.
- Building bridges with other departments, faculties, and universities locally, regionally and internationally.
- Building students’ personalities to enable them for creativity, challenge, self-learning, teamwork, and openness to other cultures.
- Qualifying students to work in different relevant areas.
- Fostering relations with local, regional, and international institutions.
Goals
- To establish a Master Program coincides with the linguistic and academic needs of the students.
- To revive the teaching of German, Russian, Italian and Spanish as major, minor or double major specializations.
- To improve the academic performance of the teaching staff in the department through participating in workshops and training courses.
- To achieve linguistic excellence for students through participating in the short-term scholarships and the cultural and linguistic activities held by the department.
- To introduce new languages to the department.
- To promote cultural relationships with local, regional and international universities.