Undergraduate programs

The Department of World Languages and Literatures offers undergraduate major programs in French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish (please note, applications are not currently being accepted for the undergraduate major programs in Arabic or Chinese); minor programs in the above languages and in American Sign Language, Arabic, Italian, Modern Hebrew, Persian, and Classical Studies; and instruction in the above languages, as well as in Chinese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Vietnamese. Other languages may be offered from time to time.

Degree Maps and Learning Outcomes

Admission requirements

World Language B.A.

World Language Minor

Classical Studies Minor

Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies

Intercultural Competence for the Workplace

World Language Pedagogy Certificate

Certificate of Advanced Proficiency in Russian (CAPR)

Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (TJFL) Certificate

Foreign Language Secondary Education Program

Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (TJFL) Certificate

This program is designed to familiarize participants with principles of instructional methods in teaching Japanese to speakers of languages whose orthography is not kanji-based. It is designed to fit into the programs of majors in a wide variety of fields, including Japanese, education, linguistics, and the social sciences. Candidates may enroll as post-baccalaureate students or while completing undergraduate degree requirements in another field.

Admission requirements

  1. Admission to Portland State University.
  2. Japanese proficiency at the ACTFL Intermediate High level.

Students whose proficiency is lower may be provisionally admitted; they will need to study Japanese while taking other courses in the certificate program.

Course requirements

To qualify for the TJFL certificate, the student must complete 16 credits in theoretical and applied linguistics (through the departments of World Languages and Literatures or Applied Linguistics), 16 credits in Japanese area studies (literature, history, anthropology, etc.), and 8 credits in TJFL Methods (Jpn 477, Jpn 478).

Courses

Linguistics

16

Area Studies

16

TJFL Methods

8

Total Credit Hours: 40

All courses used to satisfy certificate course requirements must be graded C or above.