Undergraduate Bulletin > Romance Languages

Department of Romance Languages

including French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish

College of Arts & Sciences

2321 Moore Humanities and Research Administration

336/334-5655

www.uncg.edu/rom

Faculty

Carmen T. Sotomayor, Professor and Head of Department

Professors Campo, Fein, Smith-Soto

Associate Professors Chesak, García-Bayonas, Grossi, Hontanilla

Assistant Professors Cabello, López-Alemany, McFadden, Pereira

Visiting Assistant Professors Landry, Varona

Lecturers Beal, Bender, Brabeck, Cobb, Daughton, Deasy, D'Empaire-Wilbert, Dola, Filipski, Freeman, Hill, Horley, Hortal, Jones-Worden, López, Lunsford, McLin, Moratto, Pérez, Rankin, Schilke, Taylor, Troncoso

Mission Statement

Romance Languages is one of the departments of the College of Arts and Sciences. Its primary mission is to provide a variety of courses and programs on language, linguistics, literature, and culture culminating in the Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts degrees in French and Spanish. The Department takes very seriously its role preparing majors to apply their liberal arts education to future career goals. To that end, the program places particular emphasis on oral and written communication in the target language, reading and literary analysis, and a thorough grounding in cultures of the French-speaking world, Spain, and Latin America. We also work closely with the School of Education in preparing teachers for the public schools of North Carolina, especially in the areas of K–12 teaching licensure in French and Spanish. Beyond campus, the Department enthusiastically contributes to the University's mission "linking the Triad and North Carolina to the world through learning, discovery, and service," and supports the UNC Tomorrow initiative.

The Department of Romance Languages offers a variety of programs in language, literature, and culture of four of the major Romance areas: French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Students may begin the study of any of these at the elementary level or continue it at the intermediate level.

Students with special learning needs may qualify for the Modified Foreign Language Program in Spanish. Registration in the program requires written permission from the Department of Romance Languages. Contact the department for further information or read detailed information available at www.uncg.edu/rom.

Intermediate proficiency is expected for further work in French or Spanish. According to the student’s interests, he or she may then begin the study of literature, culture, or develop language skills in composition and conversation. Native or near-native speakers must consult with an appropriate departmental advisor before signing up for courses in the Department of Romance Languages. Students cannot receive credit for lower-level courses after taking and receiving credit for higher level ones.

The Department’s goals are three-fold:

To provide practical training in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing a foreign language.
To promote those values in the liberal arts tradition that derive particularly from the study of language, culture, and literature: increased understanding of language itself as structure and process, and the enlightening encounter with cultures and modes of thought different from one’s own.
To prepare students interested in becoming French and Spanish teachers by providing a range of courses and experiences in their prospective field.

In addition to the Bachelor of Arts degree, the department offers the Master of Arts in Romance Languages with concentrations in French and Spanish. Students interested in a Master’s of Education degree in French or Spanish should contact the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education in the School of Education. The department also offers a 15-hour Post-Baccalaureate certificate in Advanced Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultural Studies. The certificate is designed for professionals who may have a bachelor's degree in a field other than Spanish, but who are able to demonstrate linguistic and analytical skills in Spanish equivalent to completion of 21 undergraduate semester hours above the 200 level. For additional information, see http://www.uncg.edu/rom/.

Special facilities and features include language clubs, the possibility of study abroad, and French and Spanish honor societies. Achievement in Romance Studies is recognized by means of annual awards to outstanding juniors and seniors.

Language Placement Test

Students with one or more years of high school French or Spanish who wish to continue the study of that same language at UNCG must take the Language Placement Test. Incoming transfer students returning to the study of French or Spanish begun in high school, but not previously pursued at the college level, must also take the Language Placement Test. The test is administered at SOAR orientation sessions during the summer and before the beginning of each semester. The test may also be taken during the year on an individual basis, by appointment, in the Romance Languages Department office. Students should call the department at 336/334-5655 to schedule their appointment.

Students with one year or more of Italian or Portuguese in high school, or with previous knowledge of these languages, must contact the course instructor or a departmental advisor before registering for courses in these languages.

Notice: Placement test scores will be valid for one year after the test is taken. The test can be taken only twice within a year and with at least a six-month interval between attempts. After a student has registered for any of the courses in a language program, he or she cannot take the placement exam again. Once a student has begun the lower-level sequence (101–204/241) she or he cannot retake the placement exam in order to place out of any of the remaining courses in the sequence.

Students in need of additional advising or with concerns regarding the placement results are asked to make an appointment with a designated faculty member.

A student who scores at the interview-stage level and is planning to continue in the language at the 300 level, must consult the Director of Undergraduate Study for French or Spanish or other designated faculty member before registering for any other course in the language. The advisor will interview the student in order to determine his or her placement at the 300 level or recommend courses at the intermediate level to reinforce the student’s background in the language.

If a student who scores at the interview-stage level does not plan to continue study in the language, the Department of Romance Languages will confirm the student’s Language Placement Test scores with the University Registrar's Office, and the student will be considered as having met the foreign language requirement at UNCG.