| University Undergraduate Advising Handbook | |
SCHEDULING FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES
Any student may schedule any foreign language by following the University's foreign language placement policy. Some students are required to schedule a foreign language to meet either major or bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree requirements. University Park majors requiring a foreign language are listed.
When a student is required to take a foreign language, this requirement is listed in the Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin under the requirements for the major, or—if the degree is a B.A.—the heading "Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements" is listed.
Although a foreign language is not a requirement for General Education, a foreign language course at the twelfth-credit level or higher (e.g., GER 003) may be used as a General Education substitution.
Foreign Languages Offered
Placement Policy
Accelerated Courses
Latin Courses
Determining High School Background for Placement
Exemption from Foreign Language Requirement
Proficiency Certification and Credit by Examination
Language Assistance
Courses in the following foreign languages are offered at Penn State:
Arabic Latin (see placement policy below) Chinese Portuguese French Russian German Spanish Classical Greek Swahili Hebrew Ukrainian Hindi Italian Japanese Korean
Less commonly taught languages may be in the Schedule of Courses under the course abbreviation LANG (less commonly taught language).
The Placement Policy for Penn State Foreign Language Courses provides an explanation of this policy, which has been approved by the Interdepartmental Council on Languages and Literatures. A student who has questions about his/her language placement should contact the department offering the language of interest. There are two exceptions to this policy, accelerated language courses and Latin (below).
Students enrolling in accelerated language courses are not required to follow the language placement policy. These courses are offered in a few languages during the academic year: French 111 and 112, Italian 010 and 020, and Spanish 010 and 011. Accelerated courses are also offered by Penn State's Summer Intensive Language Institute.
The Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (CAMS) has developed a Latin placement guide and also offers a Latin Placement Exam and answers to this exam. Questions about placement in Latin courses should be directed to the CAMS Department.
Determining High School Background for Placement
Advisers can use the eLion Admissions Information application to check a student's high school background in foreign languages. The same information is available to authorized advisers on ISIS screen AUOG. On AUOG, next to "FLCR," the number of years of study is listed, and the language studied is indicated by: F (French), G (German), H (Hebrew), I (Italian), L (Latin), R (Russian), S (Spanish), and/or O (other). For example, if a student studied French for three years and Arabic for two years in high school, the following would be listed in the FLCR field: 3.0 F, 2.0 O.
If a student who completed high school in May 2001 or later did not complete at least two units of the same foreign (world) language at the high school level, he/she must make up this deficiency (see World (Foreign) Language Admission Requirement).
If you have questions about a student's foreign (world) language background, contact Undergraduate Admissions.
EXEMPTION FROM FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
A student who is competent in a foreign language (either as a native speaker of that language or as a native English speaker) can become exempt from a foreign language requirement by contacting the department offering that language to request proficiency verification.
PROFICIENCY CERTIFICATION AND CREDIT BY EXAMINATION
Students who are proficient in a foreign language may be able to earn credit by exam or non-credit proficiency certification. Credits can only be earned or certified as allowed by the foreign language placement policy. For example, a student who earned four units of high school Spanish places into SPAN 003. He/she may earn credit by exam or seek proficiency certification for SPAN 003 but not for SPAN 001 or 002.
The College of the Liberal Arts provides information about Proficiency Certification and Credit by Examination for students and advisers.
For additional information, contact the appropriate language department or the School of Languages and Literatures (427 Burrowes Building; 814-863-0589).
Tutoring in many languages is available from Penn State Learning.
The University may make changes in policies,
procedures, educational offerings, and requirements at any time. Please
consult a Penn State academic adviser for more detailed information.
This page is part of the University Undergraduate Advising Handbook, which is maintained by the Division of Undergraduate Studies, DUS@psu.edu.
Reviewed: August 2011
Last Update: April 2012