Option A Minor in Second Language Acquisition
Ph.D. Minor in Second Language Acquisition
Prerequisites, Requirements, and Electives

The Option A Minor in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) offers graduate students both a theoretical and a practical background in the increasingly important area of SLA. After completing the minor, students will be prepared to understand research in SLA and to develop teaching curricula based on principles of second language learning and teaching.

Student must come to the SLA minor with a minimal background in second language acquisition and learning methodology, and in linguistics, obtained through the listed prerequisite courses or their equivalents.

For all students, the minor includes a course in theory which explains the research process in second language acquisition and introduces students to current research paradigms (English 711). Students also choose three courses from the approved SLA list below. The courses may be taken in any appropriate sequence. The chair of the committee will assist students in registering for English 711.

The total for the minor is thus the prerequisites plus four courses (12 cr.). In order to help students apply general principles of SLA to the specific foreign language(s) they are studying and/or teaching, one of the four required minor courses beyond the prerequisite may be in the home department.

Students wishing to minor in SLA should first contact the relevant SLA committee member in their department who will refer them to the chair of the SLA minor program. Students declaring the minor are required to meet with the chair of the SLA Minor Committee before registering for SLA minor courses.

The chair of this committee rotates among all the faculty members on the committee

A. Prerequisite Courses: At least one in methodology and one in linguistics.
Courses Fulfilling the Prerequisite in Methodology
African 575 - Methods of Teaching African Languages
East Asian 622 -Teaching of Chinese
East Asian 623 - Teaching of Japanese as a Foreign Language
English 334 - Introduction to TESOL Methods
French/Italian 820 - College Teaching of French
German 720 and 722 - College Teaching of German and Theory of Teaching German
Slavic 818 - Methods of Teaching Slavic Languages
Spanish 545 - College Teaching of Spanish

Courses Fulfilling the Prerequisite in Linguistics
Linguistics 301 - Introduction to Linguistics: Descriptive and Theoretical

OR ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING COURSES
African 501 - Structure and Analysis of African Languages
African 571 - Structure of and African Language
East Asian 431-432 - Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
East Asian 434 - Introduction to Japanese Linguistics
English 324 - Structure of English
German 650 - History of the German Language
Italian 340 - Structures of Italian
Linguistics 309 - Grammatical Variability
Portuguese 340 - Portuguese Phonetics
Slavic 704 - The Structure of Russian
Spanish 543 - Spanish Phonology

B. The required course which provides an introduction to the research process in second language acquisition is English 711 - Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Note that this course is taught only in the spring semester. Students declaring the SLA minor are encouraged to notify the SLA Minor chair of their intention to take English 711 as early as possible so that a slot in the course may be reserved.

C. The elective courses: Students are required to take three courses from the following list. Students select courses for a balanced program according to individual interest. All courses must be approved by the SLA Minor Chair who will monitor the overall coherence of each student's minor program, with input from the student's departmental SLA advisor. Other courses can be considered but require preapproval by the SLA Executive Committee.

Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) 630* - Workshop in School Program Development
Curriculum & Instruction 715 - Design of Research and Curriculum and Instruction
Curriculum & Instruction 917* - Seminar: Design of Research & Evaluation in C & I
Education 700 - Rehabilitation Psychology Research
Educational Psychology 760 OR 761 – Statistical Methods Applied to Education I OR II
Educational Psychology 763 - The Design and Analysis of Research in Educational Psychology
English 332 – Global Spread of English (Instructor and SLA advisor consent required.)
English 333 - Second Language Acquisition
English 710 - Discourse Analysis
English 713* - Topics in Contemporary English Linguistics
English 715 - Advanced Second Language Acquisition
English 905* - Seminar in Applied English Linguistics
French/Italian 821 * /** - Issues in Methods of Teaching French and Italian
German 727* - Topics in German Applied German Linguistics
German 960* - Seminar in German Linguistics
German 970* - Advanced Seminar in German Linguistics
Sociology 544 - Introduction to Survey Research
Spanish 544 - Applied Spanish Linguistics for Teachers
Spanish 815* - Seminar in Language: Modern Spanish

*Topics courses. Students should see the chair of the SLA Minor committee for approval of topics appropriate for the minor.
**Courses must be taken for a total of 3 credits, in one or multiple enrollments.

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE PH.D. MINOR IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION