French, B.A.

French (B.A.) 180 units

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Program Description

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Cal State East Bay offers courses of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in:

• French, B.A. 
• Spanish, B.A. 

Academic Minors are offered in:

• French Minor 
• German Minor 
• Italian Minor 
•  American Sign Language Minor 
• Spanish Minor 
• Chinese Language and Cultural Studies Minor 

Elementary courses are offered also in Japanese that will be counted for future Japanese Language and Cultural Studies Minor in the semester system. All programs have been designed to provide students with the cultural understanding and the academic knowledge necessary for future pursuits in the teaching of foreign languages and literatures, for graduate work in the same fields, or for professional interpreter careers. Students may utilize other languages, literatures, and cultural study courses offered in the department as part of a Special Major in various area studies.

With the growing involvement of the United States in international business, the increasingly multicultural character of American society itself, and the approval of the California Non-English Languages Allowed in Public Education Act (Senate Bill 1174), also known as Proposition 58, the importance of foreign languages in nearly every kind of occupation is considerable. The majors and minors in modern languages, cultures, and literatures, therefore, may lead to teaching and interpretation careers and represent direct, practical assets in other fields such as business, industry and commerce, civil service, law, library science, media, science, health services, social work, travel, and tourism.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating with a French, B.A. or a Spanish, B.A. from Cal State East Bay will be able to:

1. express themselves with sufficient accuracy and clarity to carry on conversations in French or Spanish with native speakers and to give oral presentations appropriate to the Undergraduate level;
2. express themselves in the written language with a fair amount of sophistication, integrate research information into written assignments, giving adequate credit to the sources of information used, demonstrate critical and creative thinking while applying analytical and qualitative reasoning to address complex challenges and everyday problems
3. be familiar with the major writers, periods, and genres of French literature (France and other French speaking regions throughout the world: Africa, The Caribbean, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland) or, Spanish and/or Spanish American literature (Spain, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and other Spanish speaking regions throughout the world). Students should be able to relate the works and genres to the socio-historical context in which they developed; and
4. demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge of the cultural diversity of literatures in the French or Spanish-speaking world while developing an appreciation of the French or Spanish (and/or Spanish American) cultural contributions to the body of universal culture such as literature, art, music, cinema, and history.

Career Opportunities

• Teaching
• Business
• Industry and Commerce
• Law and Law Enforcement
• Library Science
• Mass Communication
• Health and Social Services
• Travel and Tourism
• Translation and Interpretation
• Government Service

Features

The department faculty come from a wide variety of national and academic backgrounds and have traveled extensively in the countries those languages they are teaching. Slides, films, dramatic performances, potluck dinners and other activities provide the opportunity for students to interact with one another and with their professors. For those who wish to further their interest in a foreign culture and language, the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures offers clubs. Foreign Language Clubs include the Chinese Cultural Club, French Club, the Japanese Cultural Club, and the Spanish Language Club.

For those who wish to accelerate their learning of another language, the department offers a summer quarter intensive program in Spanish which covers one year’s work in one summer quarter. Both Chinese and Japanese programs offer elementary level intensive online courses. The Blackboard Language Lab is another useful feature of the department. In the Blackboard Language Lab students can listen to audio files or connect to online streaming which help to improve their pronunciation, fluency, and comprehension. In addition, students are encouraged to take advantage of the CSU International Programs. They can take courses in a variety of universities abroad and apply them towards a degree at Cal State East Bay.  The department language programs support the prerequisite language requirements for CSU IP programs in Chile, China, France, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and Taiwan.  More information see: https://csuip.calstate.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Abroad.Home

Preparation

For students to enroll at the proper level of language instruction, the department recommends the following guideline: one year of high school foreign language instruction equals one quarter of Cal State East Bay instruction. Students are expected not to repeat credit already earned in high school unless significant time has passed since the initial instruction. The department offers placement exams to facilitate student placement. Students should contact the department before enrolling in a lower division language class.

Students in foreign language majors, minors, and options may have lower division language requirements waived for those courses below the level at which they enroll.

Advanced Placement

A student who has successfully completed the advanced placement course in a foreign language or literature in high school and has a score of 3 or better on the Advanced Placement Examination will receive 8-12 units of credit equivalent to two or three courses of a foreign language as listed below.

If you have completed the French Language examination with a score of 3 or better, you will receive 12 units of credit equivalent to MLL 1101, MLL 1102, and MLL 1103. If you have completed the Spanish Language examination with a score of 3 or better, you will receive 12 units of credit equivalent to MLL 1401, MLL 1402, and MLL 1403. If you have completed the Spanish Literature examination with a score of 3 or better, you will receive 8 units of credit equivalent to MLL 3411 and MLL 4455.

Course Descriptions

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Use this link to see all Course Descriptions  available throughout this catalog.

Other Undergraduate Degree Requirements

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In addition to major requirements, every student must also complete the University requirements for graduation which are described throughout this catalog. These include the General Education-Breadth requirements; the second composition (ENGL 1002 ) requirement; the cultural groups/women requirement; the performing arts/activities requirement; the U.S. history, U.S. Constitution, and California state and local government requirement; the University Writing Skills Requirement; and the residence, unit, and grade point average requirements.