Graduate Studies
Master's In Foreign Languages & Cultures
Program Description
The Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures offers a Masters program in Foreign Languages, with an emphasis in Spanish. Within this program, we offer Spanish and Spanish American literature courses, starting in the Middle Ages and up to contemporary production, as well as seminars on foreign language pedagogy, teaching with technology, and applied
linguistics. Most of our students receive financial assistance for their first year of study in the form of a Teaching Assistantship that provides for full tuition waiver and a bi-monthly stipend. This TA can be extended for a second year based on the students satisfactory academic and teaching performance. The program is designed to allow the students to complete their M.A. in two years.
We strongly encourage the professional and academic advancement of our graduate students and, for that purpose, we offer scholarship support that allows them to attend professional conferences, and/or study abroad during the summer. Several reimbursed internship opportunities in adult-teaching are offered through the Extension programs in Wenatchee and Walla Walla, and there are other opportunities for assisting individual professors during the academic year.
To encourage and facilitate quality performance in all their activities, we provide students with semi-private offices, including computer stations and easy access to our Language Learning Resource Center, in one of the most beautiful buildings in the University, Thompson Hall, which is included in the National Register for Historical Buildings and was remodeled recently to become a state-of-the art teaching and working facility.
Overall, our students complete their program prepared to pursue a career in education in the K-12 systems, or in community colleges, or to pursue doctoral studies at any university of their choice. We have been very successful in placing our students in some of the top programs in the nation, including Yale, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Univ. of California-Berkeley, and many others.
We invite you to come and see what WSU and the M.A. in Foreign Languages and Cultures can do for you!
For more information, please contact:
TOPDr. Vilma Navarro-Daniels
Graduate Studies Advisor
Thompson Hall Rm124-C
Foreign Languages and Cultures Department
P. O. Box 642610
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-2610
Application Requirements
- a completed copy of the "Application for Admission to the Graduate School." You may apply online at the Graduates School Website (click for link). If you apply online, we will receive a copy of your application from the Graduate School.
- a completed "Application for Fellowship and/or Assistantship." (part of the online application)
- official transcripts from all the institutions you have attended. Transcripts sent to the Graduate School must be originals that are sent directly from the institution in a sealed envelope.
- a TOEFL score (required if English is not your native language.) The score should be sent to the Graduate School. This requirement is waived if you hold an undergraduate degree from an American college/university.
- three current letters of recommendation sent to this department
- brief (3-5 min.) tape recordings of two informal dialogues between yourself and a native speaker, one in Spanish and one in English; sent to this department.
- samples of something you have written in English and in Spanish. It may be a copy of a term paper or a narrative on any topic, and should be at least two pages in length.
You must be admitted to the Graduate School before we can accept you into our program, but you may submit your application materials to us in the meantime. Once you have gained admission to the Graduate School, and should there be a vacant Teaching Assistant position available in the program, then we can consider your application for a Teaching Assistantship. Admittance into the program does not necessarily mean you have or will be awarded a TA.
Please send all the requested materials to:
Dr. Vilma Navarro-Daniels
Graduate Studies Advisor
Thompsoh Hall Rm. 124-C
Foreign Languages and Cultures Department
P. O. Box 642610
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-2610
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Graduate Teaching Assistantships
For more information on Teaching Assistant duties, contact:
Íñigo Serna
Teaching Assistants Coordinator
Foreign Languages and Cultures Department
P. O. Box 642610
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-2610
If you are admitted to our program and offered a TA, you will need to provide proof of your eligibility to work before we can actually appoint you to the position. This applies to both permanent and temporary appointments. To verify your identity and work eligibility, you need to do the following:
- Complete Form I-9- The University is required, under the Immigration Reform control Act of 1986, to complete Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 for all employees. We will provide you with this form when you arrive on campus. Since TAs need to take a special course the week before the semester starts (see Schedule of Activities), this will provide sufficient time for the Form to be processed.
- Identity Verification- at the time you complete Form I-9, you must present the following documentation to the departments representative: one document from List A or one document from List B and List C:
List A: U.S. Passport; Certification of Naturalization; unexpired Foreign Passport with attached Employment Authorization; or Alien Registration Card with photograph.
or
List B: State-issued drivers license or a State-issued I.D. card with photograph, or information, including name, sex, date of birth, height, weight, and color of eyes; U.S. Military Card; other documentation that establish identity.
and
List C: Original Social Security Card; a birth certificate issued by the State, county or municipal authority bearing a seal or other certification; or unexpired INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) Employment Authorization form.
After Form I-9 is completed, it takes 10 days to 2 weeks for the form to be processed. Your name cannot be placed on the payroll until this form is processed so we encourage you to fill it out as soon as possible.
Summary Of Requirements For An M.A. In Foreign Languages & Cultures
| 1. Course work | 42 hours min.; 30-39 graded other than S/F or P/F. [1] Students entering in the Fall, with a two-year TA appointment, must take 39 graded credits. Students entering in the Spring with a 1 year appointment, must take 30 graded credits. Students participating in the UDLA graduate student exchanged may transfer 6 graded credits hours on that semester, instead of the 9 required by the program. This will lower their required graded credit hours to 36. Students must take all graduate courses offered by the department in a given semester, unless permission has been granted by the graduate and/or M.A. committee advisors to take an outside course. Students must carry a load of 12 graded (other than P/F) credits their first semester, and 9 graded (other than P/F) credits the next three. These credits will be increased to 18 credits per semester with the addition of non-graded credits: Span 542, Span 600, and/or Span 702. Coursework load for thesis, non-thesis, or Second Foreign Language tracks students, is the same. |
| 2. Maximum hours permitted in supporting courses | 10 hours |
| 3. Bibliography, methodology of research | ForL 597 |
| 4. M.A. Research Paper (non-thesis option) | 25 pages minimum, plus notes and bibliography. May be a paper already submitted for a course. The committee must agree that this paper demonstrates familiarity with methods of scholarly research. |
| 5. Thesis track (optional) | 50 pages minimum, plus notes and bibliography |
| 6. Second Language track (optional) | Four courses (101-204) of a language taught in the department, other than Spanish, or a 400-level literature course in the second foreign language. |
| 7. Written exams | Four two-hour written exams* chosen from the following options:
* If you chose the thesis option, or if you choose to study a second foreign language, you need only take exams B, C, and D. For students doing both things (theses and second foreign language, the written examinations requirement remains the same. |
| 8. Oral examination All requirements listed above must be completed before the oral is taken, with the exception of ongoing courses. All incompletes must be removed, as well. |
1 to 1 hours. (Thesis option: half of the oral exam will be about thesis.) The oral will cover the reading list, coursework, or general area of interest indicated by written exams or research paper. |
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Spanish Faculty & Instructors
Dr. Eloy González, Chair DFLC
Thompson Hall, Rm 110
(509) 335-4135
eloygonz@mail.wsu.edu
Dr. Francisco Manzo Robledo
Thompson Hall, Rm 224C
(509) 335-4612
franman@wsu.edu
Dr. Ana María Rodríguez-Vivaldi
Thompson Hall, Rm 101-F
(509) 335-6173
amrodriguez@wsu.edu
Dr. Vilma Navarro-Daniels, Graduate Studies Advisor
Thompson Hall, Rm 124-C
(509) 335-8672
navarrod@wsu.edu
Dr. Michael Hubert
Thompson Hall, Rm 124B
(509) 335-4151
mdh49@wsu.edu
Íñigo Serna
Thompson Hall, Rm 17
(509) 335-7091
iserna@wsu.edu
Michael Owens
Thompson Hall, Rm 15
(509) 335-6618
michael_owens@wsu.edu
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Helpful Contact List for Graduate Students
Cynthia Davis |
Vilma Navarro-Daniels |
Laurie Heustis |
Carlos Sánchez-Martín |
Help Desk (for Students) |
Cecil Williams |
Jody Carter |
Alice Smethurst |
Anne Smith |
|
LLRC = Language Learning Resource Center
IP = International Programs Office
DFLC = Department of Foreign Languages & Cultures
IT = Information Technology Department
CUB = Compton Union Building
[1] The Graduate School requires a minimum of nine graded hours per semester for graduate students on half-time appointment as TAs. The minimum for all 500-level hours per semester is 12. According to the Graduate School, in the final semester of the
degree program the minimum of graded credits hours may be reduced to 6, but our program still requires 9.
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