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University of Oregon

Course of study

The Certificate curriculum consists of core requirements in four categories:

(A) Three courses on second language acquisition and teaching (12 credits). [Jump to details]

(B) Language area: Course work on the structure, culture, etc., of the target language (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, or Spanish; 12 credits). [Jump to details]

(C) Internship/practicum (2-4 credits). [Jump to details]

(D) Target-language proficiency. (8-10 credits; often overlaps with BA or major language requirements). [Jump to details]

All courses must be taken as graded, except Supervised Tutoring or Internship/Practicum, which is taken Pass/No-Pass.

NOTE: The following courses are recommended as prerequisites to the SLAT curriculum or as additional preparation for language teaching:

  • LING 301 Introduction to Linguistics (also satisfies Social Science Group 2 requirement)
  • Course work in cross-cultural analysis and communication (e.g., INTL 431)
  • Advanced course work in language-specific teaching methodology. There are some pedagogy techniques specific to certain languages, particularly those with non-alphabetic writing systems. Thus, advanced course work in teaching methodologies specific to the student’s language area focus, in addition to the required courses below, is encouraged.

A. Second Language Acquisition and Teaching

This three-course sequence (12 credits) provides solid grounding in developmental, cognitive and psycholinguistic, and socio-cultural issues in language acquisition, and their implications for effective teaching of the pronunciation, vocabulary, and structure of a language. These courses must be passed with a grade of C- or higher.

  • LING 444 Second Language Acquisition (offered online in Summer term or face-to-face in Fall term)
  • LT 435 Design for Language Learning, previously titled Second Language Teaching Methods (offered online in Summer term or face-to-face in Winter term)
  • LT 436 Design for Learning Language Systems, previously titled Second-Language Teaching Planning (taught face-to-face Fall term)

B. Language Area

The language area requirement is satisfied by taking three (3) courses (12 credits), passed with the grade of B- or higher. These courses provide students with knowledge of the structural aspects of a specific language and an understanding of cross-cultural issues that affect language acquisition and communication generally. As a consequence of these specific learning outcomes, graduates will be able to incorporate language content into more effective teaching. Combinations other than those listed here must be approved by the Certificate Advisor.

Language Requirements (12 credits)
Chinese both of:

  • CHN 480 Chinese Linguistics
  • CHN 481 Chinese Pedagogical Grammar

any one from:

  • CHN 482 History of the Chinese Language
  • EALL 442 Chinese, Japanese, Korean SLA
  • EALL 443 Chinese, Japanese, Korean Pedagogy
English both of:

  • LT 439 Design for Language Learning Pronunciation (subs for LT 441 Teaching English Pronunciation)
  • LING 494 English Grammar

any one from:

  • LING 150 Structure of English Words
  • LT 428 Teaching English Culture and Literature
  • or substitute course approved by advisor
French
  • FREN 320 French Grammar
  • FREN 416 Advanced Writing
  • FREN 425 Translation
German
  • GER 411 Advanced Language Training: Grammar
  • GER 412 Advanced Language Training: Writing

any one from:

  • GER 340 Introduction to German Culture and Society
  • GER 341 Introduction to German Culture and Society
  • GER 413 Advanced Language Training
  • GER 425 Play Performance
  • GER 440 German Culture and Society
  • GER 470 German for Reading Knowledge
  • or substitute course approved by adviser.

Please contact your German SLAT advisor to have one of these courses substitute for GER 413 in your degree guide.

Japanese required:

  • EALL 443 Chinese, Japanese and Korean Pedagogy

any two from:

  • EALL 442 Second Language Acquisition of Chinese, Japanese and Korean
  • EALL 440 Japanese and Korean Phonetics
  • EALL 410 Japanese and Korean Syntax
  • JPN 315 Introduction to Japanese Linguistics
  • JPN 410 Japanese Pedagogical Grammar
Korean required:

  • EALL 443 Chinese, Japanese and Korean Pedagogy

any two from:

  • EALL 442 Second Language Acquisition of Chinese, Japanese and Korean
  • EALL 440 Japanese and Korean Phonetics
  • EALL 410 Japanese and Korean Syntax
  • KRN 315 Introduction to Korean Linguistics
  • KRN 410 Korean Pedagogical Grammar
Spanish any three of:

  • SPAN 308 Comunidades bilingües
  • SPAN 320 Spanish Grammar
  • SPAN 322 Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
  • SPAN 324 Spanish Phonetics
  • SPAN 420 Topic in Spanish Linguistics
  • SPAN 424 History of the Spanish Language
  • SPAN 425 Literary Translation
  • SPAN 428 Spanish in the U.S.
Other languages If you would like to compose a SLAT certificate for other languages taught at UO, contact the SLAT Director, Dr, Keli Yerian at yerian@uoregon.edu

C. Internship/Practicum

The certificate incorporates experiential learning by means of the internship or practicum requirement. At present, practica opportunities have been identified in the American English Institute, the UO Departments of East Asian Languages, Romance Languages, and German and Scandinavian Languages, and in programs in the local 4J public schools. Other possibilities include overseas internships in the IE3 program and UO-sponsored Participatory Learning Experiences (PLEs), with your advisor’s approval. See guidelines for 406 internships.

Choose the appropriate  course from the list below and register for the term in which you will carry out the internship. Students who want to earn the SLAT certificate in more than one language must do an internship in each of the target languages.

The internship experience requires the same amount of work regardless of the number of credits (2-4). We offer variable credit to give students more flexibility in composing their schedules and to potentially reduce the cost of tuition.

  • Chinese, Japanese: EALL 406 Supervised Tutoring (2-4 cr)
  • English: LT 437 Second Language Teaching Practice OR LT 406 Supervised Tutoring (2-4 cr)
  • French: FREN 406 Practicum (2-4 cr)
  • German: GER 406 Internship in German Teaching (2-4 cr)
  • Spanish: SPAN 406 Practicum (2-4 cr)

D. Language proficiency

Recipients of the SLAT certificate must demonstrate a minimum level of proficiency in their target language and in English.

  • International students must have met the English-language graduation requirements of UO: WR 121 and either WR 122 or 123, AND any required sequence of AEIS courses.
  • Students whose target language is English must meet the UO Bachelor of Arts language requirement: proficiency equivalent to two years (203-level) of a non-English language.
  • Students whose target language is other than English must demonstrate language proficiency equivalent to the ACTFL Advanced level. This requirement may be met by passing, with the grade of B- or higher,  three years of college-level study of the second language, OR by passing an oral interview (e.g. ACTFL OPI), OR other means approved by your advisor.

The certificate will be awarded upon graduation from the University of Oregon. Students must apply for the certificate at the same time they apply for graduation. Go to instructions.