The Washington State University Pullman Catalog

Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

The online catalog includes the most recent changes to courses and degree requirements that have been approved by the Faculty Senate, including changes that are not yet effective.

Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

forlang.wsu.edu
Thompson 110
509-335-4135

Professor and Department Chair, J. Hughes; Professors, J. Grenier-Winther (Vancouver), C. Lupke, F. Manzo-Robledo; Associate Professors, M. Hubert, X. Liu, V. Navarro-Daniels, A. M. Rodriguez-Vivaldi; Clinical Professors, J. Bonzo, W. Cao, S. Davis, M. Previto; Instructors, R. Abo, J. Burrows, O. Borges, G. Gamez, C. Gulam (Vancouver), K. Jennings, H. G. Lee, M. Lee-Lopez (Vancouver), S. Lopez-Lopez, K. Niimi, M. Shaheen, M. Sileoni, E. Smith, I. Webber; Visiting Instructor, X. Lin; Director, Language and Learning Resource Center, J. Martin; Academic Program Manager, L. Heustis.

To support and enhance the university’s stated goal of promoting global leadership, the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures is in the unique position to provide WSU students with the linguistic proficiency and intercultural competence that will allow them to become true and effective global leaders.

The department offers courses of study leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages and Cultures (Chinese Language and Culture, French, Japanese, and Spanish), Profession Second Major (Spanish, French, Japanese, and German), and Master of Arts in Foreign Languages and Cultures (Spanish). Language minors are available in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Language/cultural minors are also possible in Film Studies, French Area Studies, German Area Studies, Global Studies, and Latin American Area Studies. Languages of Arabic, Korean, Russian (Pullman) and elementary Latin (Vancouver) are also offered.

The department also advises in degree areas of General Humanities-International Studies in the major concentration areas of Latin American Area Studies, Germanic Area Studies, French and Francophone Area Studies, and European Area Studies. (See Liberal Arts, General Studies-International Studies.)

In the case of the French and Spanish majors, the program outcomes promote linguistic proficiency and intercultural competence:

  1. Linguistic Proficiency 
    Students can demonstrate an Advanced Low level of proficiency (as defined in ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines) in the target language in speaking, writing, listening and reading.
    • Speaking: Students are able to handle a variety of communicative tasks. They are able to participate in most informal and some formal conversations on topics related to school, home, and leisure activities. They can also speak about some topics related to employment, current events, and matters of public and community interest.
    • Writing: Students are able to meet basic work and/or academic writing needs. They demonstrate the ability to narrate, describe and express viewpoints about familiar topics in major time frames with some control of aspect.
    • Listening and Reading: Students are able to understand short conventional narrative and descriptive texts (spoken and/or written) such as descriptions of persons, places, and things, and narrations about past, present, and future events with a clear underlying structure though their comprehension may be uneven. They can understand the main facts and some supporting details. Comprehension may often derive primarily from situational and subject-matter knowledge.
  2. Intercultural Competence
    Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of other cultures and their products. By the time they graduate from our program, they will be able to:
    • Recognize and describe the historical, social, economic, and political forces that shape society in the target culture
    • Analyze and critique the products of the target culture (film, literature, art, popular culture, media, etc.) within their context, including conducting basic research tasks
    • Examine the validity of one’s own cultural beliefs, behaviors and norms by contrasting and comparing them with those of the target culture
    • Perceive and value cultural diversity and reinterpret the place of the self as an identity culturally situated in the global context

The major in Chinese language and culture provides students with a broad range of skills that enable our graduates to become leaders in fields related to Chinese, the most spoken language in the world. The major includes study of at least four years of Chinese language, at least three courses on Chinese and/or East Asian culture taught in English, and three area studies courses taught in other disciplines, such as philosophy, political science, history, art history, international business, or others. Study abroad in an immersion program in China or Taiwan is strongly recommended. Up to eighteen credits from study abroad may be counted toward the major, depending on the length of the program and the amount of contact hours.

A student who graduates with a Chinese major should be able to speak, understand, read and write Chinese at an advanced level of proficiency. Students should be able to speak with confidence on a broad range of daily topics such as ordering food in a restaurant, going to the bank and the post office, taking various kinds of transportation, and shopping. Students should also be able to express their opinions on a wide variety of subjects such as politics, culture, society, and to talk about themselves, their families, and their backgrounds with Chinese while also asking the same of their Chinese interlocutors. Students should be able to develop relationships with others entirely with the use of Chinese. Students should be able to discuss some topics, such as those related to a second specialization, with sophistication and accuracy, utilizing a broad vocabulary.

Such students should also possess a broad knowledge of Chinese and East Asian society. Students should have some knowledge of important events, phenomena and trends in Chinese history, and they should have an understanding of at least some literary and philosophical texts. They should have a good understanding of China in relation to its neighbors and in the world. They should also have the skills to interpret emerging issues and events related to China. A student who graduates with a major in Chinese, especially if that is combined with a double major in a subject such as international business, engineering, political science, hospitality business management, communication, or another subject, can expect to fare more competitively in the job market or in applying to graduate or professional school than if he or she had not studied Chinese. Chinese is one of the most practical languages to study today, as China’s presence in the global marketplace as well as its position with respect to issues of national security and international stability is second only to the United States.

Students who wish to pursue an international career should (1) select a major or minor in a foreign language, (2) select a second major in another professional field, (3) choose courses in the second professional field that focus on international issues, (4) choose University Common Requirements (UCORE) courses that focus on international studies, and (5) spend a semester or more in a study abroad program, ideally a program that offers an internship in the student's professional field.

Recognizing the need for students to reinforce, in a practical way, knowledge gained in the classroom, the department sponsors a wide variety of supplementary activities. The Chinese House, a living group where only Chinese is spoken and where conversational activities are supervised by a resident native speaker. McCroskey International House promotes cultural awareness and understanding built on personal contact and the exchange of ideas and opinions between people of diverse nations, races and religions. Visiting lecturers, language tables, foreign film showings, and other cultural events supplement the classroom experience.

State-of-the-art technology and multimedia facilities in the classroom and at our Language Learning Resource Center enhance the learning experience.

The Japanese Program offers students a choice between a standard Japanese Language and Culture Major and a Japanese for the Professions Major (additional major only).  The Japanese Language and Culture degree option prepares students to enter the teaching profession and/or continue their study of the language at the graduate level.  Japanese for the Professions offers a skills-based, proficiency-oriented additional major that prepares students to communicate in Japanese in professional settings.  Both majors focus on both language proficiency and intercultural proficiency to provide students entering today’s global, diverse workplace with the communication skills necessary to work effectively within and across different language communities, increasing their employability.  Study abroad in Japan is highly recommended.  Up to eighteen credits from study abroad may be counted toward the major, depending on the length of the program and the number of contact hours.

Students interested in Japan but who do not wish to pursue a major in Japanese can opt to minor in Japanese or major in Asian Studies with an emphasis on Japan.  The Japanese minor complements a range of majors and professions and creates greater opportunities to study, work, and travel abroad.

Teacher Training Program

Students preparing to teach should consult the catalog listing of the Department of Teaching and Learning for certification requirements and for teaching majors and minors. Those who intend to major in foreign languages and education should begin the study of the major language in the first year and of the minor language, if any, not later than the beginning of the second year. Students are also required to take FOR LANG 440 and 441.  Teacher training is available in the language programs of French, Japanese, and Spanish.

Preparation for Graduate Study

Students who contemplate graduate work in Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures should present an undergraduate degree similar to those described in the schedule of studies of Spanish. Complete details on graduate programs are available from the graduate studies advisor and on the departmental website, http://forlang.wsu.edu.



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