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Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

DEPARTMENT OFFICE
King Hall D1054
Phone: (323) 343-4230
FAX: (323) 343-4234
Website: www.calstatela.edu/academic/mld/

LANGUAGE LABORATORY
King Hall D1041
Telephone: (323) 343-4236

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures offers programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish, as well as minors in Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. In addition, classes are periodically offered in other languages such as Arabic, Armenian, German, Italian, Latin, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese. The Department also offers a Master of Arts degrees in Spanish.

The Faculty

Professors: Gaston Alzate, Gretchen Angelo, Pablo Baler, Chisato Koike, Paola Marin, Sachiko Matsunaga (Chair), Elena Retzer, Alejandro Solomianski, Qingyun Wu, Toshiko Yokota.

Associate Professors: Namhee Lee.

Assistant Professors: Hsin-fu Chiu.

Emeriti: Alfred F. Michael Atlee, Abdallah J. Beddawi, Dale Carter, Joseph A. Chrzanowski, Domnita Dumitrescu, Alfonso Gonzalez, Kylie Hsu, Kazumitsu Kato, G. Grant MacCurdy, Alfredo O. Morales, Françoise M. Pasques, Elba Torres de Peralta, Hildebrando Villarreal.

Advanced Placement Credit

Course and unit credit are granted for a score of 3, 4 or 5 on Advanced Placement Language and Literature Examinations. Students should consult the department for more information.

Placement Examinations

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures administers placement examinations to assist students in determining their level of language proficiency.

Sequence of Classes

Prerequisite courses must be completed prior to enrollment. Prerequisites appear in course descriptions in this catalog. Exceptions may be approved by departmental petition for qualified students having compelling reasons. Petitions should be filed prior to registration.

Reading Examinations

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures administers Reading Examinations in selected languages. Students in graduate programs needing to verify proficiency in a language other than English must enroll in ML 9010, in the semester in which it is to be taken.

Limitation on Language Credit

Equivalent courses taken at the college level may not be repeated for credit toward a degree. A student with one year of high school language would normally be expected to enter 1002; a student with two years of high school language would enter 2001; with three years, 2002, and so on. However, it is recognized that special circumstances may make it advisable for some students to start at higher or lower levels. Therefore, the department will allow certain students who have studied a language other than English exclusively at the high school level to depart from the equivalency formula specified above after consultation and with the recommendation of a properly designated adviser.

Students who completed their secondary education in a foreign country where a language other than English is spoken natively may not receive credit for elementary language and Lower Division conversation courses in that language.

Limitations on Credit for “Non-Traditional” Courses

A total of six units of the following courses may be applied to major programs in the department: FREN 4990, JAPN 3950, KOR 3950, ML 3990, ML 4960, and SPAN 4990. Exceptions may be made only in extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of the departmental adviser and chair.

Assessment

Majors in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures must demonstrate the skills and knowledge appropriate to their baccalaureate degree. This is done by means of assessment procedures that include completion of required and elective courses, evaluation of language proficiency and content knowledge upon enrollment at the Upper Division level and, at the exit from the program, completion of ML 4000. For more information, students should contact the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures prior to enrolling in Upper Division courses.

Programs for this Department

Undergraduate Major

• Chinese, B.A.  
• French, B.A.  
• Japanese, B.A.  
• Spanish, B.A.  
Undergraduate Minor

• Minor in Chinese   
• Minor in Francophone Studies  
•Minor in French  
• Minor in Japanese  
• Minor in Korean   
• Minor in Spanish  

Graduate Major
• Spanish, M.A.  

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