The Centre for Language Studies was established in 2001 to serve the foreign language needs of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and has today some 100 full-time and part-time faculty members. It teaches twelve different languages - Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese - to app. 2,600 students per semester and thus helps them acquire a very valuable economic and social resource in today's world of growing globalisation and internationalisation. Having produced numerous teaching award winners in recent years, the Centre is firmly committed to excellence in teaching and seeks to maintain, and improve, its high teaching standards by engaging in research and facilitating professional development in foreign language teaching.