MA in Applied English Linguistics: Foreign Language Requirement
Each MA candidate is expected to demonstrate reading competence in one foreign language by one of the following methods:
- The equivalent of a third and fourth semester reading course in college with neither grade lower than B;
- An examination approved by the English Department.
Information concerning the time and place of such examinations is regularly included in the Department's Graduate Student-Faculty Committee (GSFC) Newsletter. A student must fulfill the foreign language requirement before sitting for the comprehensive MA examination.
Nonnative speakers of English may offer English as the language which satisfies this reading competence requirement. Native speakers of English may choose French, German, Russian, or Spanish as their foreign language without any special permission from the MA (AEL) advisor. However, if students wish to offer a language other than one of these four, they must petition the MA (AEL) advisor to do so.
Students enrolled in the program leading to the MA (AEL) degree should recognize that the purpose of this requirement (reading competence) is distinct from the purpose of the prerequisite for admission to the degree program. All students in this program are required to have the experience of learning a second language, including its spoken form; if students have not satisfied this prerequisite prior to admission, they will be required to take four semesters of language study concurrently with courses leading the M.A, degree. Also, all students in this program are required to demonstrate reading competence of one foreign language.
Often, the same language may serve to satisfy both the prerequisite and the
reading competence requirement, but this may not necessarily be the case. If a
student has satisfied the prerequisite by study of a language other than those
listed above, the student may be required to demonstrate reading knowledge of
French, German, Russian, or Spanish in order to satisfy the Foreign Language Requirement
for the MA degree.
(rev. 8/2005)
