Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies

General Information

The foreign language requirement in all programs at Coastal Carolina University can be satisfied by successful completion of three credit hours at the 120 level or above (e.g. ARA 120 or SPAN 120 ), or five credit hours in a foreign language at the 115 level:CHIN 115 , FREN 115 , GERM 115 , ITAL 115 , RUSS 115 or SPAN 115 , FREN 350 , GERM 350 , JAPN 350 , PORT 350 and SPAN 350 courses (language study abroad) cannot be used to fulfill the foreign language requirement in the Core Curriculum. Visit the LIS Department website for complete information on placement and requirements.

Starting a New Language

Students who wish to start a new language (i.e. different from a language they have studied before) should register for a 115 course in all language except Arabic. Students wishing to begin study of Arabic should register for ARA 110 .

Placement in French, German, Italian, Russian, or Spanish (for continuing students)

“Continuing students” refers to first-time college students who intend to continue to study the foreign language they studied in high school. The term does not apply to transfer students who have already completed college-level coursework in the language.

Continuing students who wish to continue with French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish must take the Foreign Language Placement Test that is administered on the web. Please go to www.coastal.edu/flic for instructions about how to take the exam. The test is a placement tool only; its result cannot be used to request academic credit. Any questions should be directed to the Foreign Language Instructional Center (FLIC) at 843-349-2478. Students who wish to continue with Arabic or Chinese should contact the LIS Chair, Dr. Gary Schmidt at gschmidt@coastal.edu.

Retroactive Credit in Languages and Intercultural Studies

Retroactive credit in Languages and Intercultural Studies (LIS) is intended to assist students who are interested in pursuing advanced language study, in particular students interested in a minor or major in the department. Students who have already obtained a degree of proficiency in the language may skip certain lower-division language courses that are required for these programs and, after fulfilling certain conditions, receive actual credit for the courses they have skipped.

The retroactive credit program is based on the fact that CCU elementary and intermediate language courses follow a standard curricular sequence, such that students who demonstrate the ability to succeed in a class above the first-semester level have also demonstrated their mastery of the material for the prerequisite courses.

Retroactive credit can only be granted after completing one or two foreign language classes at Coastal Carolina University and is not given solely on the basis of placement test scores.
Please note also that students cannot obtain retroactive credit based on completion of courses with the LIS prefix, since these are taught in English. Only CCU courses with prefixes of ARA, CHIN, FREN, GERM, ITAL, RUSS or SPAN can be used for the purposes of obtaining retroactive credit.

Students are granted credit retroactively for elementary and/or intermediate language classes by successfully completing a course or courses numbered above 115 in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish at Coastal Carolina University.

Students may not receive retroactive CCU credit for courses taken at other universities, even if the credit is transferable to CCU.
Students must obtain a grade of ‘C’ or better for any course that is applied towards granting retroactive credit.

In order for students to receive retroactive credit in LIS, the following procedure must be followed:

Students must take the CCU placement exam if it is available for the language in which they have prior experience. Students are allowed to take the exam only once, so it is important that they perform to the best of their ability on the test. Students who wish to be placed above the first-semester level in languages for which CCU does not offer a placement exam must arrange an oral interview with an instructor in the relevant language. To arrange an interview, they should contact the LIS Department Office via telephone or e-mail. After completion of the oral interview, the instructor will submit a recommendation for placement to the department chair. Students should take the placement exam before enrolling in a foreign language course at CCU; students who have already completed a foreign language course at CCU are not allowed to take the placement exam but must continue to the next course in the sequence. Please note also that credit is not granted solely on the basis of placement exam results; the placement exam merely determines the appropriate level at which students should begin language study at CCU.

Students must enroll in the course that is indicated by the results of the placement exam that they have taken or by the oral interview they have completed (see above). After students have successfully obtained a grade of ‘C’ or better for a course at the 200-level taken at CCU, they will be granted retroactive credit for all prerequisite courses in the sequence. The following is a list of the typical language sequence: 115, 210, 211. For example, a student who places into a SPAN 211 course and receives a grade of ‘C’ or better in SPAN 211 will be given 8 credit hours for SPAN 115 and SPAN 210 . Please note that retroactive credit will be granted solely on the basis of a student’s first attempt at a class. If a student enrolls in a course based on his/her placement test results and obtains a grade lower than a ‘C’, the student will no longer have the opportunity to obtain retroactive credit.

Students who place into a 300-level language class and complete two classes at the 300-level or 400-level with a grade of ‘C’ or better will receive credit for 115, 210, and 211 (for a total of 11 credit hours).

Credits will be automatically applied toward the student’s academic record after the above requirements have been fulfilled. No letter grade will be granted for retroactive credit; a grade of RC (retroactive credit) will be entered. Grades of RC count towards the 120 hours required for degree completion but they do not count as residency credit.

Foreign Language Minors

Foreign language minors are available to second language learners as well as heritage speakers of French, German, and Spanish. The minor allows both groups to obtain advanced language skills and critical intercultural awareness. At least six credit hours of the minor courses must be taken at Coastal; some of the requirements for the minor may be met through study abroad. Students minoring in a foreign language must earn a grade of ‘C’ or better in each course to be applied toward the minor.

Programs

Majors/Degrees

Minors