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Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

M.A.T.

Master of Arts in Teaching Degree in French, German, or Spanish

The M.A.T. in Foreign Languages is a degree awarded by the Graduate School and sponsored by the College of Education and the Department of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures. We have maintained a 100% job placement rate among our graduates for over a decade since the program's inception.

For more information about the M.A.T. degree, please consult the following resources:

I. Purpose of the Program

The M.A.T. program is designed for graduates of liberal arts programs who desire to fulfill requirements for certification in the public school and pursue graduate study in foreign languages and in education. This program is an initial certification program and is therefore only for those who do not already have a teaching certificate.

Students in the M.A.T. program who work as a teaching assistant or lab assistant for their respective programs accumulate (i.e. “bank”) service hours throughout each of their first three semesters so that they may be excused from teaching/lab responsibilities in their final semester, but with full tuition and stipend.  This allows the student to complete his/her full-time student-teaching internship in the greater Columbia public school system during the final semester without having to teach at the university.  

Learning Outcomes:

Language, Linguistics, Comparisons. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) demonstrate an advanced-low proficiency level in the language on the Oral Proficiency Interview, and they seek opportunities to strengthen their proficiency; (b) know the linguistic elements of the language system, recognize the changing nature of language, and accommodate for gaps in their own knowledge of the language system by learning on their own; and (c) know the similarities and differences between the program language and other languages, identify the key differences in varieties of the program language, and seek opportunities to learn about varieties of the program language on their own.

Cultures, Literatures, Cross-Disciplinary Concepts. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) demonstrate that they understand the connections among the perspectives of a culture and its practices and products, and they integrate the cultural framework for world-language standards into their instructional practices; (b) recognize the value and role of literary and cultural texts and use them to interpret and reflect upon the perspectives of the cultures over time; and (c) integrate knowledge of other disciplines into foreign language instruction and identify distinctive viewpoints accessible only through the target language.

Language Acquisition Theories and Instructional Practices. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) demonstrate an understanding of language acquisition at various developmental levels and use this knowledge to create a supportive classroom learning environment that includes target language input and opportunities for negotiation of meaning and meaningful interaction and (b) develop a variety of instructional practices that reflect language outcomes and articulated program models and address the needs of diverse language learners.

Integration of Standards into Curriculum and Instruction. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) demonstrate an understanding of the goal areas and guidelines of the South Carolina standard for World Language Proficiency and they integrate these frameworks into curricular planning; (b) integrate the Standards for Foreign Language Learning and their state standards into language instruction; and (c) use standards and curricular goals to evaluate, select, design, and adapt instructional resources.

Assessment of Language and Cultures. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) believe that assessment is ongoing, and they demonstrate knowledge of multiple ways of assessment that are age- and level-appropriate by implementing purposeful measures; (b) reflect on the results of student assessments, adjust instruction accordingly, analyze the results of assessments, and use success and failure to determine the direction of instruction; and (c) interpret and report the results of student performances to all stakeholders and provide opportunity for discussion.

Professionalism. Successful Teacher Candidates (a) engage in professional development opportunities that strengthen their own linguistic and cultural competence and promote reflection on practice and (b) know the value of foreign language learning to the overall success of all students and understand that they will need to become advocates with students, colleagues, and members of the community to promote the field.

 Questions? Please contact:

Assoc. Director of Teacher Ed. 
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Fax: (803) 777-0454
E-mail: wiskes@mailbox.sc.edu

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