diff --git a/libraries/joomla/language/language.php b/libraries/joomla/language/language.php
index 35e57b901d1cc..968bb15c56728 100644
--- a/libraries/joomla/language/language.php
+++ b/libraries/joomla/language/language.php
@@ -851,85 +851,112 @@ protected function parse($filename)
 			// Restore error tracking to what it was before.
 			ini_set('track_errors', $track_errors);
 
-			// Initialise variables for manually parsing the file for common errors.
-			$blacklist = array('YES', 'NO', 'NULL', 'FALSE', 'ON', 'OFF', 'NONE', 'TRUE');
-			$this->debug = false;
-			$errors = array();
+			$this->debugFile($filename);
+		}
 
-			// Open the file as a stream.
-			$file = new SplFileObject($filename);
+		return $strings;
+	}
 
-			foreach ($file as $lineNumber => $line)
-			{
-				// Avoid BOM error as BOM is OK when using parse_ini.
-				if ($lineNumber == 0)
-				{
-					$line = str_replace("\xEF\xBB\xBF", '', $line);
-				}
+	/**
+	 * Debugs a language file
+	 *
+	 * @param   string  $filename  Absolute path to the file to debug
+	 *
+	 * @return  integer  A count of the number of parsing errors
+	 *
+	 * @since   __DEPLOY_VERSION__
+	 * @throws  InvalidArgumentException
+	 */
+	public function debugFile($filename)
+	{
+		// Make sure our file actually exists
+		if (!file_exists($filename))
+		{
+			throw new InvalidArgumentException(
+				sprintf('Unable to locate file "%s" for debugging', $filename)
+			);
+		}
 
-				$line = trim($line);
+		// Initialise variables for manually parsing the file for common errors.
+		$blacklist = array('YES', 'NO', 'NULL', 'FALSE', 'ON', 'OFF', 'NONE', 'TRUE');
+		$debug = $this->getDebug();
+		$this->debug = false;
+		$errors = array();
+		$php_errormsg = null;
 
-				// Ignore comment lines.
-				if (!strlen($line) || $line['0'] == ';')
-				{
-					continue;
-				}
+		// Open the file as a stream.
+		$file = new SplFileObject($filename);
 
-				// Ignore grouping tag lines, like: [group]
-				if (preg_match('#^\[[^\]]*\](\s*;.*)?$#', $line))
-				{
-					continue;
-				}
+		foreach ($file as $lineNumber => $line)
+		{
+			// Avoid BOM error as BOM is OK when using parse_ini.
+			if ($lineNumber == 0)
+			{
+				$line = str_replace("\xEF\xBB\xBF", '', $line);
+			}
 
-				// Remove the "_QQ_" from the equation
-				$line = str_replace('"_QQ_"', '', $line);
-				$realNumber = $lineNumber + 1;
+			$line = trim($line);
 
-				// Check for any incorrect uses of _QQ_.
-				if (strpos($line, '_QQ_') !== false)
-				{
-					$errors[] = $realNumber;
-					continue;
-				}
+			// Ignore comment lines.
+			if (!strlen($line) || $line['0'] == ';')
+			{
+				continue;
+			}
 
-				// Check for odd number of double quotes.
-				if (substr_count($line, '"') % 2 != 0)
-				{
-					$errors[] = $realNumber;
-					continue;
-				}
+			// Ignore grouping tag lines, like: [group]
+			if (preg_match('#^\[[^\]]*\](\s*;.*)?$#', $line))
+			{
+				continue;
+			}
 
-				// Check that the line passes the necessary format.
-				if (!preg_match('#^[A-Z][A-Z0-9_\*\-\.]*\s*=\s*".*"(\s*;.*)?$#', $line))
-				{
-					$errors[] = $realNumber;
-					continue;
-				}
+			// Remove the "_QQ_" from the equation
+			$line = str_replace('"_QQ_"', '', $line);
+			$realNumber = $lineNumber + 1;
 
-				// Check that the key is not in the blacklist.
-				$key = strtoupper(trim(substr($line, 0, strpos($line, '='))));
+			// Check for any incorrect uses of _QQ_.
+			if (strpos($line, '_QQ_') !== false)
+			{
+				$errors[] = $realNumber;
+				continue;
+			}
 
-				if (in_array($key, $blacklist))
-				{
-					$errors[] = $realNumber;
-				}
+			// Check for odd number of double quotes.
+			if (substr_count($line, '"') % 2 != 0)
+			{
+				$errors[] = $realNumber;
+				continue;
 			}
 
-			// Check if we encountered any errors.
-			if (count($errors))
+			// Check that the line passes the necessary format.
+			if (!preg_match('#^[A-Z][A-Z0-9_\*\-\.]*\s*=\s*".*"(\s*;.*)?$#', $line))
 			{
-				$this->errorfiles[$filename] = $filename . ' : error(s) in line(s) ' . implode(', ', $errors);
+				$errors[] = $realNumber;
+				continue;
 			}
-			elseif ($php_errormsg)
+
+			// Check that the key is not in the blacklist.
+			$key = strtoupper(trim(substr($line, 0, strpos($line, '='))));
+
+			if (in_array($key, $blacklist))
 			{
-				// We didn't find any errors but there's probably a parse notice.
-				$this->errorfiles['PHP' . $filename] = 'PHP parser errors :' . $php_errormsg;
+				$errors[] = $realNumber;
 			}
+		}
 
-			$this->debug = true;
+		// Check if we encountered any errors.
+		if (count($errors))
+		{
+			$this->errorfiles[$filename] = $filename . ' : error(s) in line(s) ' . implode(', ', $errors);
+		}
+		elseif ($php_errormsg)
+		{
+			// We didn't find any errors but there's probably a parse notice.
+			$this->errorfiles['PHP' . $filename] = 'PHP parser errors :' . $php_errormsg;
 		}
 
-		return $strings;
+		$this->debug = $debug;
+
+		return count($errors);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/tests/unit/suites/libraries/joomla/language/JLanguageTest.php b/tests/unit/suites/libraries/joomla/language/JLanguageTest.php
index a1307712f805a..0586983c83950 100644
--- a/tests/unit/suites/libraries/joomla/language/JLanguageTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/suites/libraries/joomla/language/JLanguageTest.php
@@ -780,6 +780,38 @@ public function testParse()
 		);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Test debugFile reports no errors on a good file
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function testVerifyDebugFileFindsNoErrorsInAGoodFile()
+	{
+		$this->assertSame(0, $this->object->debugFile(__DIR__ . '/data/good.ini'));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test debugFile reports errors on a bad file
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function testVerifyDebugFileFindsErrorsInABadFile()
+	{
+		$this->assertGreaterThan(0, $this->object->debugFile(__DIR__ . '/data/bad.ini'));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test debugFile throws an Exception when the file does not exist
+	 *
+	 * @expectedException  InvalidArgumentException
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function testVerifyDebugFileThrowsAnExceptionWhenTheFileDoesNotExist()
+	{
+		$this->object->debugFile(__DIR__ . '/data/not-existing.ini');
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Test...
 	 *