Undergraduate Programs

BACHELOR OF ARTS (EUROPEAN LANGUAGES)
Approval: 155th UPD University Council | 02 September 2019

BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:

The BA (European Languages) (BA EL) program was instituted in 1976.  In 2002, it underwent a major revision that involved the institution of new courses, changes in course descriptions, and deletion of courses. Under the revised program, students must choose either Plan 1 or Plan 2.  All students major in one of the following European languages:  French, Italian, German, or Spanish (FIGS).  Students in Plan 1 study another European language:  German, Russian, Italian, French, Portuguese, or Spanish (GRIFPS).  Students in Plan 2 study another non-EL discipline:  English, Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Filipino, Panitikan ng Pilipinas, Speech Communication, Theater Arts, Art Studies, Social Sciences, Philosophy, Theory in Fine Arts, Reading, Teaching in the Early Grades, Language Teaching, Communication Research, and Tourism.

In 2012, the program was again revised to incorporate the hybrid GE program of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.  In the past several years, much has occurred in the field of language learning that compelled us to update our curriculum in order to remain relevant and effective.  An ad hoc Curriculum Revision Committee was formed in 2013 followed by four curriculum revision workshops from 2014 to 2017 aimed at evaluating our program and discussing changes to the curriculum through Academic Program Improvement (API) grants.  In these workshops, we considered not only the current teaching trends in foreign language pedagogy but also feedback on the program collated from various stakeholders.  While the department continued working on its program revisions, a fast track version of the program, which adopted the 2017 UP General Education program, was approved in 2018.

The present curriculum was created to integrate the BA (European Languages) program into the academic framework of the University by instituting and revising several courses.  The BAEL program objectives are the following:

  •  distinguish different critical lenses through which they understand themselves, other cultures and the world;
  •  design and implement undergraduate research work and understand their role as contributors to the production of knowledge;
  •  apply their knowledge and skills in foreign language education, literary and cultural studies, and translation studies, which they will need as professionals in their chosen field; and
  •  demonstrate B2 language proficiency in order to linguistically and pragmatically communicate with various nationals.  At this level, students can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization, express him/herself fluently, use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes, and produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects.

There were five major factors that influenced our approach to the curricular revisions of 2019:

  1. The adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) as an international standard for validating an individual’s language ability;
  2. The realization of the ASEAN economic integration, which enabled increased mobility of faculty and students within the region and more rigorous benchmarking of courses and programs;
  3. Recent developments in foreign language pedagogy with a three-pronged source: other academic institutions (local and international), reflexive pedagogy at the department level, and student feedback;
  4. Increased fluidity in online and offline spaces, which has fostered global interaction and the generation of more professional opportunities for language experts, facilitated extensive language contact, and transformed the consumption of information.
  5. The revision of the UP General Education program as a result of the nationwide implementation of the K-12 Basic Education Program.

To browse the curriculum and view course descriptions, see link below: https://upddel.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/bael-curriculum-2019.pdf.

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