Delaware State University
Department of English and Foreign Languages
Executive Summary of Curricular Changes
Effective fall 2007
At its October 29, 2007 meeting, the Curriculum Committee of the Department of
English and Foreign Languages approved the following changes to the Foreign
Languages Program curricula:
BA Program in French
Old Curriculum
New Curriculum
1.
2.
16-100 is a 1st semester Freshman course
FL 333 (same as 01-204) is a fall course
it is a 2nd semester course
is offered as 01-204 in spring
3.
Has Junior Year 2nd Semester Abroad courses not listed in DSU catalog
Study Abroad negatively affected course sequencing
Study Abroad had a fixed list of courses
Had FL 311
Has DSU-listed courses and electives
Course sequencing has been corrected
Study Abroad courses listed as electives
Has 08-403, instead.
4.
5.
6.
Old Curriculum Study Abroad Courses: Advanced Grammar, Classical French Grammar, 18th Century French Literature, 19th
Century French Literature and Contemporary French Literature.
Rationale for deleting Study Abroad Courses:



Advanced French Grammar and Classical French Grammar not only overlap in their content, but they are unnecessarily
tedious, redundant and old-fashioned courses that do not prepare 21st century students in any way;
French 403 (The French Novel) is a synthesis of works of literature in French from the 17 th to the 20th centuries. Including
it in the syllabus (which makes academic and intellectual sense) makes it redundant for students to take the rest of the
Study Abroad courses;
It is the purpose of the department to give students more flexibility as they study abroad.
BA Program in Spanish
Old Curriculum
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
New Curriculum
16-100 is a 1st semester Freshman course
it is a 2nd semester course
FL 333 (same as 01-204) is a fall course
is offered as 01-204 in spring
Had Junior Year 2nd Semester Abroad courses not listed in DSU catalog
Study Abroad negatively affected course sequencing
Study Abroad had a fixed list of courses
Has FL 311
Has DSU-listed courses and electives
Course sequencing has been corrected
Study Abroad courses listed as electives
FL 311 has been replaced by electives
Old Curriculum Study Abroad Courses: Advanced Spanish Grammar, Spanish Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Hispanic
Literature: Poetry and Drama, and Contemporary Spanish Literature.
Rationale for deleting Study Abroad Courses:



Advanced Spanish Grammar is also unnecessarily tedious, redundant and old-fashioned. In addition, it does not prepare
21st century students academically, in ways other courses cannot;
Not only do the next two courses overlap with the last course, but their contents would have been covered in courses such
as 10-307, 10-304 and 10-308, thereby making them redundant for students;
By replacing these courses with electives, we give students more flexibility as they study abroad.
BA Program in French/Spanish Education
Old Curriculum
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Did not mention Praxis II
Multicultural Ed and Global Societies
Did not include 12-112
Summer Study Abroad had fixed courses
Required no Linguistics class
New Curriculum
mentions Praxis II in the appropriate place
Multicultural Ed / Global Societies
Includes 12-112, instead of FL Elective
Summer SA consists of Electives/Ind. Study
requires General Linguistics
Rationale for the changes mentioned in 3-5 above:




12-112 is required of our English Education majors, it makes sense to require it of our Foreign Language majors, especially
in view of its pedagogical worth;
Having students select their own Study Abroad courses gives them the kind of flexibility that would help make their
experience abroad very enjoyable;
Language Structure is at the heart of Linguistics. Knowledge of language structure should be an integral part of the
knowledge base of a well-prepared teacher. Therefore,
It makes intellectual sense to add General Linguistics to the curriculum, especially since the course is taught in the
department, once a year.
These changes were further presented to the Curriculum Committee of the College of the
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences on November 8, 2007. They were unanimously
approved.
I hereby respectfully submit all changes to the Faculty Senators for their consideration.
Thank you for your support.
Abdul-Aziz Malik Diop, Chair
Department of English and Foreign Languages