World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Roger Pieroni, Chair

Ananth, Campbell, Da, Diaz, Ekida, Goldberg, Hedgepeth, Heine, Lyons, McBreen, McCullough, McRae, Mistron, Morris, Neely, Nogueira, Novella, Pettigrew, Prestes, Rice, Thomas

Courses in the department are designed to meet the needs of all students and to develop communication skills and appreciation of cultures and literatures. The major is offered for those preparing to teach world languages, for students wishing to develop proficiency in the languages, for students preparing for international careers, and for students planning for graduate study.

The major in Foreign Languages has four concentrations-French, German, Japanese, and Spanish-and leads to either the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Minors are offered in Arabic, French, German, Humanities, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish and courses in Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Kurdish, Latin, Portuguese, and Russian are available.

The Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures coordinates interdisciplinary minors in Early Modern European Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistic Studies, and Portuguese Studies. Interdisciplinary minors are open to all students in the University. (See Interdisciplinary Majors and Minors  section for more information.)

The department participates in several Study Abroad programs. Contact the department or MTSU Office of Education Abroad for additional information.

Accelerated Bachelors/Masters (ABM) Program

High achieving students who intend to pursue a master’s degree in Foreign Languages (French) may apply to participate in the Accelerated Bachelors/Masters (ABM) Program. The program allows undergraduate students an opportunity to complete the requirements for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a compressed time frame. Participating undergraduate students may count up to 12 graduate credit hours toward both degrees and obtain a non-thesis master’s degree in the same field within 12 months of completing the bachelor’s degree or obtain a thesis-based master’s degree in the same field within 18 months of completing the bachelor’s degree. For more information about the ABM program, see the Graduate Catalog.

Teacher Licensure

Students seeking a license to teach a world language in secondary schools (grades 7-12) must complete (1) a major in the language they intend to teach; (2) FL 4500 - Introduction to Teaching Foreign Languages ; (3) a minor; and (4) the Secondary Education minor. Each student must pass an oral interview in the target language at the high intermediate level.

Minor Requirements

Students must take a 15-18 hour approved minor acceptable for a B.A. degree.

Secondary Education Minor Requirements

Students must contact their Secondary Education minor  advisors for approval of appropriate courses.

Advanced Placement Credit

A student scoring 3 or above on the Advanced Placement Exam for French, German, Latin, or Spanish of The College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) will receive 6 credit hours (1010 and 1020). In addition, a student possessing knowledge of French, Spanish, German, or Latin resulting from high school study, family background, or foreign travel may earn up to 12 hours lower-division credit on the basis of a placement examination, provided the student does not already have college credit in the language for which he/she is seeking placement credit and provided the student successfully completes one course in the language at MTSU.

Students may make arrangements to take the placement test in the Media Lab, Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building 303B.

NOTE: No student is permitted to take 1010, 1020, 1040, 2010, and 2020 in a world language out of sequence without the permission of the instructor. Similarly, no student who has successfully completed an upper-level course will be permitted to enroll in a lower-division course in the same language without the permission of the instructor.

Procedures for World Language Credit through Placement Testing/Study Abroad

For further information, see Procedures for World Language Credit through Placement Testing/Study Abroad.  

Class Attendance Policy

The instructor can at his/her own discretion drop a student after two class meetings if the student fails to attend the first two class meetings.

Graduate Study

The department offers the Master of Arts in Teaching degree and an Accelerated Bachelors/Masters degree in the French concentration. Requirements for these degrees and a list of the courses offered for graduate credit are published in the Graduate Catalog.