The
Graduate Program
Handbook
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| Section 7. Foreign Language Requirement |
With the approval of their faculty advisor and the Graduate Committee, students may count some graduate work done in other departments toward their degrees in English. However, at least 40 units out of the required 48 units for the MA/PhD program (that is, 10 out of the required 12 courses) and at least 20 units out of the required 24 units for the PhD program (5 out of the required 6 courses) must be taken in the English Department.
This work should have a significant relation to the student’s major interests in English. A student of English Renaissance literature might, for example, take a graduate course in sixteenth-century English history or in sixteenth-century French literature or in Renaissance art history. Such interdisciplinary work may be done at any time in a student’s graduate career. In connection with coursework in other departments, note that, by petition to the Graduate Committee/Graduate Division and after consultation with the committee chair, a faculty member from another department may serve as the third member on the examining committee for the second qualifying exam and/or the dissertation committee. |
7.1 Method 1 —Translation Examination
Language examinations are held twice per year, early in the fall and spring quarters. Students will translate from the foreign language into English passages from the kind of material they will encounter in their professional lives. This will mean the translation of two passages: one of non-fictional prose dealing with a literary topic, the other drawn directly from a literary work (or in the case of Latin, two passages from different authors). The two texts together will normally have a combined total of about 600-700 words. Both passages must be translated in full within the two-hour exam time. A high degree of accuracy will be required. The use of one dictionary is allowed. Candidates wishing to take the examination must notify the Staff Graduate Advisor at least three weeks in advance of the posted date (since arrangements must often be made with faculty in other departments to create and grade exams in particular languages). |
7.2 Method 2 —Coursework
Candidates must pass, with a grade of B+ or better, either one graduate literature course or one upper-division literature course taught in the foreign language. Students choosing this option are required to submit a course syllabus, in advance of taking the course, to the graduate committee. Foreign literature courses taught at another university and/or taken prior to entry into our program may be accepted at the graduate committee’s discretion, with the reservation that no course taken more than two years prior to entry will be accepted. |
7.3 Preparing for the Language Exam
For students who wish to begin a language or review former language skills, the university sometimes offers introductory courses as well as accelerated sequences designed for graduate students. French 11A and B and German 1G and 2G are directed toward the acquisition of reading knowledge, and enrollment is restricted to graduate students. No graduate credit is given for these courses. The following texts have proved useful to students reviewing for examinations on their own:
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French for Reading (Sandberg and Tatham)
German for Reading Knowledge (Jannach)
Italian for You (Lennie and Grego) |
The Staff Graduate Adviser keeps sample language exams. |
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