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Program-Level Outcomes

Department of Languages and Cultures Mission Statement

Through all its programs, the Department of Languages and Cultures seeks to facilitate the development of intercultural communicative competency among its students so they can lead ethically in the globalized world. Students with intercultural communicative competency can:

  • comprehend and interpret the cultural contexts in which they find themselves,
  • communicate appropriately within those contexts,
  • act as mediators between cultures, and
  • reflect critically on their own cultures.

Learning Outcomes

The Department of Languages and Cultures has five main student learning outcomes, all of which contribute to the development of intercultural and communicative competence. These five areas are taken directly from the ACTFL world-readiness standards for learning languages and are the widely accepted outcomes for world language programs.

  • Interpersonal communication – interact and negotiate meaning in spoken and written conversations in the target language to share information, reactions, feelings and opinions.
  • Interpretive communication – understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed in the target language, on a variety of topics.
  • Presentational communication – present information, concepts and ideas in the target language to inform, persuade and narrate on a variety of topics using appropriate media and adapting to various audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers.

  • Relate cultural practices to perspectives – use the language to investigate, explain and reflect on the relationship between the practices and perspectives of cultures studied.
  • Relate cultural products to perspectives – use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the relationship between the products and perspectives of the cultures studied.

  • Make connections - use the language to think critically and solve problems creatively while building, reinforcing and expanding knowledge of other disciplines.
  • Acquire information and diverse perspectives - access and evaluate information and diverse perspectives available through the target language and its cultures.

  • Language comparisons – use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the nature of language through comparisons of the target language and L1.
  • Cultural comparisons – use the language to investigate, explain and reflect on the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and students’ own.

  • School and global communities – use the language within and beyond the classroom to interact and collaborate in their community and the globalized world.
  • Lifelong learning – set goals and reflect on progress in using languages for enjoyment, enrichment and advancement.
See our program offerings for more information about how you can develop intercultural communicative competence in French, German, Latin, and Spanish.
Contact Us

Marian University
3200 Cold Spring Road
Indianapolis, IN 46222-1997
(317) 955-6000

admissions@marian.edu COMadmissions@marian.edu

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Notice of Nondiscrimination: Marian University does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin, age or disabilities in the selection of administrative personnel, faculty and staff, and students. Placement rates are gathered from data collected from graduates within six months of graduation. Students may make a complaint to the Indiana Commission of Higher Education. Marian University is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg, Indiana.