Before taking the first qualifying exam, English graduate students must demonstrate their working competence in one of the following foreign languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Latin. If possible, students are advised to select a language that has particular relevance to their individual areas of concentration. By petition, other languages (e.g., Bengali, Chinese, Persian, etc.) may be substituted in cases where the language has clear relevance to the student’s intended program of study, and if the student and/or department can find an appropriate examiner. In addition, a student may petition the DGS, who will consult faculty specialists as appropriate, to have their native language (if other than English) fulfill the foreign language requirement when it applies to their program of study. Please note that computer coding languages do not count toward this requirement.

The department urges students to give early consideration to their foreign language requirement, and to confer with both the DGS and their faculty advisor about how to determine the “relevance” of a given language with regard to their research and teaching. Depending on their field of study, additional language training may also be helpful for a student’s scholarship, and in some cases may even be expected by colleagues in their field. Therefore, the language requirement for the PhD in English at UCSB should be considered as a bare minimum, rather than as an indication of all the foreign language training a particular student may need.

The requirement may be fulfilled in one of two ways:

1. by passing a written translation exam, or
2. by passing (with a grade of B+ or better) either one graduate literature course or one upper-division undergraduate literature course taught in the foreign language.

Language examinations are held twice per year, early in the fall and spring quarters. During the exam, students will translate two foreign-language passages into English. These passages represent the kind of material they will encounter in their professional lives: one passage of non-fictional prose dealing with a literary topic, and the other drawn directly from a literary work (or in the case of Latin, two passages from different authors). The passages together will normally have a combined total of about 600-700 words. Both passages must be translated in full, by hand and with a high degree of accuracy, within the two-hour exam time. The use of one paper dictionary (provided by the student) is allowed but not required. Since arrangements to create/grade exams must often be made with faculty in other departments, students wishing to take the language exam must notify the Staff Graduate Advisor at least three weeks in advance of their exam date.

For students who wish to begin learning a language or to review former language skills, the university sometimes offers introductory courses as well as accelerated sequences designed for graduate students. French 11A and B and German 1G and 2G are directed toward the acquisition of reading knowledge, and enrollment is restricted to graduate students. Note that no graduate credit is given for these courses, nor do they satisfy the coursework option of the English Department’s foreign language requirement. However, these courses are not housed within the English department, and it is not guaranteed that they will be offered in a given quarter, so students should be proactive in planning ahead. In the past, some graduate students have also found it helpful to create informal reading/language study groups with their peers.

The Staff Graduate Advisor keeps sample language exams for reference; you may contact them directly to request access.

Candidates must pass, with a grade of B+ or better, either one graduate literature course or one upper-division literature course taught in the foreign language. Students choosing this option are required to submit a course syllabus, in advance of taking the course, to the DGS and the Graduate Committee. Foreign literature courses taught at another university and/or taken prior to entry into our program may be accepted, at the discretion of the DGS and the Graduate Committee, with the reservation that no such course taken more than two years prior to entry into this program.

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