Our Approach

In providing students with the highest quality instruction, our faculty aims to help students:

• develop a high degree of proficiency in the four basic linguistic skills of listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking a language;
• gain knowledge and understanding of the cultures where the language is spoken through readings, research, and the use of contemporary and historical cultural materials, including literature;
• increase understanding of cultural differences and global and national interdependence through course work and study-abroad opportunities;
• acquire skills for critical analysis, cogent and articulate communication, and research;
• prepare for graduate study or employment in various fields, including teaching at all levels; and
• in the case of teacher education, develop proficiency in the art and science of teaching through courses in the theory and methodology of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures instruction, classroom observations, training in the latest instructional technology, and supervised practice.

The objectives listed above are attained through classroom instruction, advising, and out-of-class activities (such as language clubs, study-abroad experiences, and student teaching).

The Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures upholds the ideal of the teacher/scholar and maintains that scholarly research is inextricably linked with and essential for effective teaching at the university level.

In order to produce research of the highest quality in such fields as cultural studies, linguistics, literary studies, and pedagogy, our professors:

• give scholarly papers and presentations at local, regional, national or international conferences
• publish their research in local, regional, national, or international publications
• apply for funding support from both internal and external sources.

With respect to service, our department seeks to provide expertise and advice as appropriate in areas directly and indirectly connected with Languages, Literatures & Cultures and to lend individual and institutional support and leadership in a wide variety of venues. These venues include the university itself and its governance at the Department, College, and University levels, the public arena at the local, state, national, and international levels, the Illinois educational community through outreach to teachers of Languages, Literatures & Cultures at all levels, and academic professional organizations.