The Department of World Languages and Literatures offers undergraduate major programs in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish; minor programs in the above languages and in Italian, Persian, Turkish, and Classical Studies; and instruction in the above languages, as well as in American Sign Language, Ancient Greek, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swahili, Swedish, and Vietnamese. Other languages may be offered from time to time.
Foreign Language Secondary Education Program
Advisers: French, S. Walton; German, K. Godfrey; Japanese, S. Watanabe; Russian, W. Comer; Spanish, E. Nunez.
Students who wish to teach a foreign language in Oregon secondary schools must be admitted into the Graduate Teacher Education Program (GTEP) in Portland State’s Graduate School of Education and complete the requirements for an Oregon Teaching License. Admission to GTEP as a foreign-language specialist requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent preparation in a world language taught in Oregon schools and the recommendation of the Department of World Languages and Literatures. For other criteria, please refer to the Graduate School of Education section of this Bulletin.
In order to be recommended by the department, the applicant must have:
- Applied for admission to the Graduate Teacher Education Program in the Graduate School of Education (see Graduate Teacher Education Program).
- Completed a B.A. or B.S. which includes coursework equivalent to the 52 credits required for a major in one foreign language at Portland State University.
- Maintained a 3.00 GPA in the last 40 of the above 52 credits earned.
- Obtained an Oral Proficiency Rating of Advanced High or higher on the ACTFL scale in French, German, or Spanish, or a rating of Intermediate High or higher in Japanese or Russian.
The Department of World Languages and Literatures highly recommends that applicants earn upper-division credits in their chosen language beyond the minimum of 52 required; that they spend time in a relevant program abroad; and that their coursework include as many of the following as possible: Phonetics, General Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Culture and Civilization, Practicum, and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages.