Foreign Language Department

Department Faculty

Jiewon Beck
Tom Neiles
Brianne Stambaugh

Department Goals

To aid students in:

gaining knowledge and appreciation of languages other than English; that is, their linguistic structure and the cultures and literatures that make use of these languages;
achieving an appropriate level of proficiency in each of the five language skills: understanding, speaking, reading, writing and cultural knowledge;
reaching some understanding of language as an important aspect of our being created in the image of God, and as a basic means of expressing God’s love and salvation in a meaningful and personal way.

For General Education

For the general student, the department provides the core courses which incorporate cultural awareness, vocabulary development, structure and functional conversation. Interested and qualified students are encouraged to continue foreign language study in areas such as conversation, literature, history, and culture and linguistics.

For the Major Field

For French, German Studies or Spanish majors, the department offers a variety of courses in culture, conversation, literature, structure and writing taught in the foreign language. Majors and minors are immersed in a world view which often differs from that of the dominant American cultural perspective and which incorporates both past and present developments in both the Francophone, German and Hispanic cultures. Majors in French, German Studies or Spanish can lead to career opportunities in which a liberal arts education is desirable, such as linguistics, business, missions, government, theology, art history, teaching, travel, journalism, or law. All courses at the 300 level and above are conducted entirely in the foreign language.

Core Foreign Language Requirement

Proficiency in one year of an elementary-level foreign language is required for the core curriculum. All students who have already begun French, German, Russian or Spanish language studies in high school are expected to sit for a language placement examination at the beginning of their first semester of enrollment. Students demonstrating proficiency at a level of at least 102, the second semester elementary language, either through the placement examination, transferred college credit, AP or IB scores will have met this core requirement. Only international students for whom English is a second language should contact the Foreign Language Department chair to request exemptions other than those listed above. A few major programs (such as music or biblical studies) have more specific language requirements. Consult the department requirements. Students who have taken the high school AP level of a foreign language with a score of 4 or better are not permitted to enroll in 101, 102, 201 or 202 of the particular language.

Transferable credit of foreign language coursework completed BEFORE enrolling at Covenant will be accepted. Once a student enrolls at Covenant, online, correspondence, or independent study language courses will not be approved to satisfy the core requirement of two semesters of the same foreign language study. Only traditionally taught classroom language courses from regionally accredited programs will be accepted to satisfy this core requirement.

Study Abroad

One semester of prior-approved study abroad is required for all foreign language majors. Any student electing to study abroad for a semester or summer in an approved program of study is encouraged to do so after the intermediate level in order to profit more effectively from the experience. Typically, a student takes four courses during the study abroad semester. A minimum of five (5) 300-400 level courses (not including 492) must be taken on the Covenant College campus for those students desiring a major; a minimum of two (2) 300-400 level courses must be taken on the Covenant College campus by students desiring a minor. Students are reminded that no online coursework is accepted by the foreign language department.

A study abroad student typically continues enrollment at Covenant College, paying Covenant tuition and the study abroad fee and receiving financial aid or scholarship monies in a normal fashion as though studies were continued on campus. However, with approval from faculty advisor and the study abroad office, a student may choose to temporarily de-enroll from Covenant College requesting a leave of absence for the semester of study abroad at a program not listed in the consortial or contractual programs, losing their financial aid and scholarships, and paying the fees of the program on their own. Maclellan Scholars are allowed to utilize their Maclellan Program monies during a study abroad term. Once the student returns to Covenant with credit gained from the overseas program, the aid and scholarship packages will be reinstated as closely as possible, according to federal guidelines, to their previous amounts before the semester abroad. See Off-Campus Studies under Degree and Core Curriculum Information section for more details on programs and policies.

Students planning on a major or minor in French, German or Spanish are reminded that the 100 and 200 level courses do not count toward the major or the minor.

Teacher Certification

Foreign Language Pre-MAT

Students who are interested in teaching in French, German or Spanish for grades P-12 should complete a BA degree with a major in French, German Studies or Spanish, and then enroll in the one-year Master of Arts in Teaching at Covenant College. It is recommended that the Education Minor be completed. Three of the courses in the minor, EDU 121 Introduction to Teaching , EDU 222 Educational Psychology and EDU 361 Education of Exceptional Children , are required for admission to the MAT. For information about certification, see Teacher Certification under the Education section of the catalog.

For more information, contact:

mat@covenant.edu
800.677.3626
706.419.1406
www.mat.covenant.edu

For French majors, these courses must be taken:

For German majors, these courses must be taken:

For Spanish majors, these courses must be taken:

Programs

Major

Minor

Courses

American Sign Language Courses

Arabic Courses

French Courses

German Courses

Greek Courses

Hebrew Courses

Spanish Courses