The Department of Foreign Languages ​​is one of the oldest departments of  Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. It was  founded in 1968 and has a 56-year history. The teaching staff of the Department  teaches   foreign languages  ​​(English, German, French)   to the  first-year bachelor’s degree and master’s degree  students  of  all specialties  at 12 faculties of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

The Department of Foreign Languages ​ holds an annual  international scientific and methodological conference.    More than 250 scientists, researchers, PhD  students and master's degree  students from near and far abroad take part  in this conference. Currently, the total number of  the scientific papers  published in the SCOPUS database by the teachers  of the Department is 20. The number of  the scientific papers  published over the past 5 years in the  journals included in the list recommended by the Committee for Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan is 41. The teachers of the Department  published  "Teaching Foreign Languages ​​in the Modern Kazakhstani Educational Paradigm" collective monograph  dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Al-Farabi KazNU.

Within the framework of  the program of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan to attract foreign scientists Professor Christopher Korten from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland) was invited to deliver   the lectures for the  lecturers  and the  young scientists of the Faculty of Philology. Within the framework of an international internship at universities included in the top 300 according to QS WUR and the top 500 according to THE WUR,  the senior lecturer Aliyarova L.M. completed an internship at the University of California, San Diego,  the USA.   The  Department has already  signed  the memorandums of cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), the University of California (San Diego, USA) and Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University (Turkey).

The teachers of the Department  have developed   2 MOOCs and 11 SPOCs which were launched  on the official online educational platform of the University (open.kaznu.kz) for master’s degree  and bachelor's degree  students of the University. The Department also has the KazNU TOEFL Center ​​for the preparation and the  administration of the international English language exam TOEFL ITP, accredited by the International Company Educational Testing Service (ETS) Global. Every year  more than 100 people   pass this international exam at the Center.