Departmental Mission
The mission of the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Speech Communication is to provide a general, liberal, and professional education to students in languages, literature, grammar and usage, and composition. The programs enable students to communicate clearly, to think critically, to develop an understanding of self and others, and to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of aesthetic principles underlying the study of language, literature, and composition. To this end, the department offers courses in the core to the general student population and specialized courses to its majors, all of which promote student preparedness for both career success and engaged and informed citizenship.
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Undergraduate Program Objectives:
English
- To help students develop the ability to read, think, and write clearly and critically.
- To help students understand and appreciate good writing and literature.
- To help students become aware of the truth, beauty, and wisdom of our culture to the extent that they are able to make value judgments about the society in which they live.
- To prepare students for teaching English and for other career roles in society.
- To provide the necessary courses for all students to fulfill state and university requirements.
- To encourage students to engage in creative and scholarly writing.
Modern Foreign Languages:
- To teach the student the fundamental skills of speaking, reading, and writing in the foreign language.
- To help the student to develop an understanding of and a respect for another culture.
- To give the student an awareness and appreciation of the aesthetic and intellectual history of the target culture and of its present day manifestations.
- To help the student comprehend, analyze and explicate literary works in the foreign language.
- To help the student acquire command of the target language as a tool for written and oral communication.
- To provide for the student’s training so that he/she is capable of teaching and transmitting to others the aforementioned skills, attitudes, and abilities.
Speech Communications:
- To provide comprehensive training in communicative arts.
- To develop comprehensive aesthetic awareness and interaction among students, faculty, and community.
- To present forensic activities.
- To offer practical communicative experiences through laboratory activities, problem solving exercises, internships, and independent study.
Graduate Program Objectives:
- To prepare students for advanced programs of study in English and related areas.
- To prepare well-qualified teachers of English for secondary schools and community colleges.
- To provide an in-service program for teachers of English who serve in secondary schools and community colleges.
- To prepare students for careers in the mass media.
- To prepare for classroom diversity in the sociolinguistics of languages.