General Description

The Master of Arts degree programs in Foreign Languages provides concentrations in French, Spanish and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). 

One of our primary aims is to serve the needs and interests of foreign language teachers in North Carolina and, through them, their students. In this era of critical teacher shortages, this program allows teachers to keep teaching while they upgrade their linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical skills. Because of its ongoing close professional relationship with teachers, its awareness of the need for graduate course material that can be applied to classroom realities, its state-of-the-art foreign language technology center, as well as the strong scholarly qualifications of its faculty, the NC State Department of World Languages and Cultures is uniquely qualified to provide this service to the state. We will offer most of our graduate courses in the late afternoons, evenings or in intensive summer sessions. Later on, we intend to offer some of our courses via distance education. In working with teachers we will emphasize practical classroom applications of subject matter and instruction in the use of the latest technologies.

Program Requirements and Curriculum

• Admission requirements include a B.A. degree, a GPA of 3.0 or above, and proficiency in the target language. (Note: Students whose BA is not in the language of the program to which they are applying should consult with the DGP. They may be required to have 6 hours of 400-level or higher courses in that language, with a minimum grade of B or higher, prior to submitting their admissions application
• A minimum of 24 hours of credit toward the degree must be taken at NC State. (Some of those 24 hours may be earned via inter-institutional credit).
• Any transfer courses must have been completed within the last four years prior to enrolling in the program.
• Up to six hours of 400-level classes may be accepted (with the approval of the Director of Graduate Programs). These courses must be in an area other than the student's major field of study, and must be taken as a graduate student (i.e. 400-level courses cannot be transferred into the program).
• Courses in the program will be of three types: 1) Teaching methodology courses taught in English; 2) Content courses in literature/culuture, linguistics, and pedagogy according to the concentration. 
• All students will submit a Culminating Project.
• All students will submit an assessment portfolio.

Administration and Accreditation

The M.A. in Foreign Languages is currently administered by Dr. Jim Michnowicz, Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, along with the FLL Graduate Programs Committee. The DGP reports to the Department Head, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Dean of the Graduate School. The MA program is fully accreddited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.