The Language Center (TLC), SAS-NB, in collaboration with the Graduate Programs in Comparative Literature, French, German, Italian, Literatures in English, and Spanish

(Approved December 2020)

Justification and Goals/Objectives

Being aware of the constantly shifting focus of methodologies of language teaching and the increasing demands of an unstable job market, TLC and the PhD programs in languages and cultures recognize the importance of increasing the teaching preparedness of our PhD students. These students ably compete with candidates of peer institutions on the job market in research pursuits. Recognizing the teaching preparation of our PhD students should enhance their chances for job placement.

The CWLT is a program devised for PhD students of Comparative Literature, French, German, Italian, Literatures in English, and Spanish as described below. This certificate should make our candidates stand out in comparison to those of other institutions, quantify the positive attributes of their teaching for prospective employers, and provide students with a teaching dossier to complement their research/academic portfolio. The certificate supports doctoral students as they prepare to teach at the post-secondary, i.e., university level, and in no way serves as licensure.

Learning objectives – students will be expected to:

  • transform theory into practice, applying varying teaching techniques to real literature and theory, linguistic inquiries and analysis, comparative studies, and related academic topics;
  • acquire skills to allow them to transform theory into appropriate practice for both in-person and remote teaching venues;
  • visualize ways in which their teaching can be improved with guided study in methodologies, via practice, observations, and teaching reviews; and
  • produce a professional portfolio packet suitable for a job search.

Requirements

Certificate in World Language Teaching (CWLT) for PhD students in Comparative Literature, French, German, Italian, Literatures in English, and Spanish, and administered through The Language Center (TLC)

PhD students eligible to pursue the CWLT must take three (3) graduate-level courses of three (3) credits each and receive a grade in each course of at least B+.

  1. At least one of the following two core methods courses:
    1. Teaching of World Languages (16:617:501)
      1. offered every Fall semester;
      2. taken normally during the first term of teaching; and
      3. designed to hone teaching skills (at the postsecondary level) in languages other than English.
    2. Teaching of English as an Additional Language (16:617:521)
      1. offered every Spring semester; and
      2. designed to hone teaching skills (at the postsecondary level) in English as an additional language.
  2. An additional graduate course in either language pedagogy or an interdisciplinary course of relevance to language teaching:
    1. both core courses listed in 1a and 1b above may be taken, which would fulfill this requirement;
    2. courses a) may be language specific or language neutral, b) can be found in departments of languages, philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, or in schools such as the Graduate School of Education, and c) must be approved by the appropriate Graduate Program Director (GPD) with guidance from TLC;
    3. a non-exhaustive list of possible elective courses for which the TLC administrators and the appropriate GPD will consider appropriateness and review syllabi in advance of students taking the classes; this list includes (in no certain order):
      • 15:253:520 Principles of Language Learning: Second/World Language Acquisition
      • 15:253:522 Bilingual-Bicultural Education
      • 16:195:501 Introduction to Literary Theory
      • 16:195:502 Comparative Literature: The Discipline and the Profession
      • 16:350:511 Comparative Racialization
      • 16:350:594 Literary and Political Cultures of the Global Sixties (1960s)
      • 16:350:608 What is World Literature?
      • 16:350:660 Afropolitanism
      • 16:420:511 Methods of Language Teaching
      • 16:470:501 Teaching of College German
      • 16:470:510 Literary Theory Methodology
      • 16:470:513 Analysis of Literary Texts
      • 16:560:506 Applied Linguistics in Italian
      • 16:560:668 From Theory to Action: Strategies to Teach a Second Language Effectively (awaiting approval by SGS)
      • 16:570:511, 512 Approaches to Literature (Italian)
      • 16:615:610 Formal Methods (Linguistics)
      • 16:617:512 Linguistic Theory and the Study of Literature
      • 16:730:570 Philosophy of Language
      • 16:830:602 Psycholinguistics
      • 16:940:562 Teaching Hispanic Literature
      • 16:940:578 Language Learning and the Brain
      • 16:940:582 Bilingualism Theory
      • 16:940:583 Second Language Acquisition
      • 16:940:587 Bilingual Language Development
  3. A language teaching portfolio (Teaching Portfolio Project - 16:617:599):
    1. builds on courses that students have taken and taught;
    2. includes class observations, teaching evaluations, letters, articles/publications on teaching, awards for teaching, remote/online teaching experience, etc.;
    3. incorporates a statement of teaching philosophy, syllabus/syllabi, unit and lesson plans with goals and objectives, assessment and evaluation rubrics, remote/online teaching methods employed, choice of CMS, etc.; and
    4. is overseen by each GPD or her/his designee with guidance from TLC.