Portland State University
Home
 
 
 
Japanese Degrees

Major or Minor in Japanese
TJFL (Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language) Certificate
Master of Arts in Japanese
Master of Arts in Teaching with Initial License

Major or Minor in Japanese

Faculty Advisors: Laurence Kominz, Suwako Watanabe & Patricia Wetzel

A major or a minor in Japanese is offered through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Portland State. The Department is located in 393 Neuberger Hall. To set up an appointment to speak with an advisor, contact any of the faculty listed above. In addition to meeting the general University degree requirements, the candidate for a B.A. in Japanese must meet the departmental requirements listed below. All courses must be graded C or above with a minimum GPA of 2.50.

Requirements for a major in Japanese:

 

Upper division credits in language, literature, or culture ...........40
Advisor-approved courses outside of JPN.................................12
Minimum total ................................................................................ 52

Requirements for a minor in Japanese:

Upper division credits in language, literature, or culture............ 20
Linguistics requirement....................................................................4
Minimum total..................................................................................24

You are encouraged to consult an advisor as soon as possible after declaring Japanese your major, and whenever you have questions regarding requirements.

Back to top

Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (TJFL) Program

Faculty Advisor: Patricia Wetzel

The TJFL certificate program is designed to familiarize participants with principles of instructional methods in teaching Japanese to speakers of languages whose orthography is not kanji-based. It is designed to fit into the programs of majors in a wide variety of fields, including Japanese, education, linguistics, speech, and the social sciences. Candidates may enroll as postbaccalaureate students or while complenting undergraduate degree requirements in another field. Depending on their levels and backgrounds, students choose their courses, with an advisor's approval, from these areas:

  • Theoretical and applied linguistics .........................................................16
  • Japanese area studies (literature, art/history, geography, etc.) ..........16
  • TJFL Methods (JPN 477 - 478).................................................................8
  • Total.............................................................................................................40

Participants should demonstrate Japanese proficiency at the ACTFL intermediate-high level (or above). Students whose proficiency is lower may be provisionally admitted; they will need to study Japanese while taking other courses in the Certificate program. Non-native English speakers must submit evidence of proficiency in English (TOEFL score of 580 or above).

Back to top

Master of Arts in Teaching with Initial License

Faculty Advisor: Suwako Watanabe

The M.A.T. with Initial License program represents a unique partnership between the School of Education and the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures. Enrollment in this program is limited to practicing educators (those already teaching in Oregon secondary schools, but who are not yet licensed).

Admission to the Program Applicants for admission must meet the University admissions requirements as well as the following departmental requirements:

  1. A Bachelor of Arts degree or its equivalent in the major language, with a minimumm GPA of 3.0 in all coureswork
  2. Oral and written proficiency: Advanced Plus on the ACTFL/ETS scale, or 2+ on the FSI scale.
Degree Requirements
A candidate for the M.A.T. in Foreign Languages must:
  1. Complete a minimum of 50 graduate credits, of which 35 must be taken in residence after admission to the degree program.
  2. Demonstrate reading competence in a second foreign language.
  3. Submit two research papers: one in the area of language or language pedagogy, the other in literature.


© Portland State University 1994-2006
give to PSU