The specific mission of the Applied Foreign Languages Department is to promote foreign languages education at the University of Pitești.

In 2008, based on a set of rules and principles derived from the European policies and the European and national quality standards, a process of reform is launched in this field. This reform started with reflection and systematic analysis, at the level of the department, followed by a series of actions meant to implement the reform and contribute to the achievement of the desired objectives:

• Raising awareness of the partners in the education process – teaching staff, students, the decision-making factors at the level of the university – regarding the importance of studying foreign languages and the emphasis on the strategies for increasing the quality of linguistic competences. Results: proceed from 2 semesters of studying foreign languages to 4 semesters (112 hours) at the Bachelor’s Degree level;
• Raising awareness regarding the effort in obtaining a high level of linguistic competence: i. stimulate collaboration and international mobilities; ii. Develop study programmes in foreign languages and international programmes with joint diploma/degree; iii. Increase the number of joint supervision of doctoral studies; iv. contribute to the professionalization of study programmes- knowledge of foreign languages increases the value of graduate students on the internal and external markets. Results: the introduction of foreign languages disciplines at Master’s level; accreditation of a new Master’ Degree programme in foreign languages and of two new Bachelor’s Degree programmes in foreign languages.
•  Promoting plurilingualism and controlling the tendencies of monolingualism by discouraging potential stereotypy and clichés such as: ‘we don’t want grammar’; ‘we want English, we don’t want French’ etc.

• Cooperation with partners, beneficiaries from non-philological faculties, with the purpose of defining specific linguistic needs and establishing didactic objectives;

• Revising contents in accordance with the necessities and objectives of the new vision;

• Modernization of foreign languages teaching-learning methods (the use of audio-video devices);

• Revising of didactic material;

• Unification of foreign language teaching at the level of the university: the 1^st year of study – general language and professional language; the 2^nd year of study – specialised language in accordance with the specific domains of the beneficiaries (economic and business language; legal and administrative; technical and scientific language; medical language; foreign language for public communication).

In the process of promoting foreign languages in university, the Applied Foreign Languages Department has also undertaken other strategic actions with positive effects:

• The University of Pitești joined AUF (Francophone University Agency) (2008), the department contributing to the permanent management of the relation UPIT-AUF and to the constant promotion of AUF opportunities;

• In 2009, LOGOS Foreign Languages Centre was founded, in response to the demand of internal and external extra-curricular foreign languages services; joining Eugen Ionescu scholarships programme under the management of AUF and providing assistance to foreign trainees in the laboratories of the university;

• Involving students from non-philological faculties in scientific communications sessions in the area of foreign languages, resulting in the publication of volumes of selected articles, both printed and in electronic on-line format hosted by the AUF site (Bulletin scientifique des Langues Etrangères Appliquées).

The Applied Foreign Languages Department stands out for the constant effort of the teaching staff who permanently seek to make the study of foreign languages a pleasant, motivating and productive activity thus adding a major dimension to the quality of educational services provided by the University of Pitești.