BA Program Learning Outcomes
Upon graduating from the BA in SLS, students will manifest the skills, understandings, and dispositions necessary to be exceptional language professionals:
Students will be able to:
- demonstrate critical thinking and awareness of issues within the context of their professional work and social practice
- demonstrate an understanding of the value bases of their professional work
- understand and interpret the history of second and foreign language study and its contemporary issues
- critically evaluate and make use of research into the learning, use, structure, and pedagogy of second languages
- develop and apply sound frameworks to the assessment and evaluation of institutions and agents involved in second language instruction, planning, and policy
- show an understanding of local language issues of Hawai‘i and the Pacific in their professional work
- support minority language students’ development of academic and/or professional literacies.
Additional program goals: Upon graduating from the BA in SLS, students will be prepared to:
- apply for admission to graduate programs in second language studies, applied linguistics, or related fields.
- improve the quality of teaching and learning of second, foreign, and heritage languages, in the state of Hawai‘i, domestically, and abroad.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Bachelor of Arts degree program in Second Language Studies is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of scholarship and application in the learning and use of second languages. The program addresses theory, research, and practice in acquisition, utilization, and teaching of additional languages, including coverage of formal and informal learning contexts as well as standard and pidgin/creole varieties of language.
This program, in accord with the values of SLS graduate degree programs, takes the broad view that plurilingual and pluricultural societies stand a much better chance (thank those imposed with monolingualism) of getting along and getting important cooperative work done; that language mediates the human experience; that linguistic communication in and across languages enables understanding and appreciation, conflict resolution, and the negotiation of values.
The BA in SLS meets local, statewide, national, and international needs for the development of second language specialists who both understand the nature of second language learning and use in diverse circumstances, and who are able to act upon related challenges that emerge at the interface between second language learners/users and the variety of social and educational settings in which they live and act. Graduates of the program contribute locally in the commercial English language education market, in K-12 and tertiary/post-secondary public/private language teaching and research, and in social services for child and adult immigrants. Many graduates work nationally and internationally as language educators, in materials publishing, and at non-profit and governmental organizations. The BA in SLS also serves as an excellent preparation for entry into graduate programs in a variety of language-related domains.