Romance Languages - French MA Program
General Description of the Program
The Romance Languages - French MA program is part of the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, offering advanced two-year training in French and Francophone Language, Literature, and Culture, as well as in linguistics and language teaching. Most MA students are funded through a teaching assistantship, which allows for a substantial tuition reduction and a monthly stipend. Graduate students have the possibility to apply for a summer assistantship at the study-abroad program in Reims, France. Students who have completed the MA program have been admitted to top Ph.D. programs across the United States. Others have gone on to teach in high school, work in government administration, or succeed in international companies.
Teaching Assistantship in French at TTU:
Graduate students accepted to the MA program in French may be offered one of the following assistantships:
TA1s are teaching assistants who are part of a formal mentoring and training program and do not yet have full independent responsibility for a class. Typically, first year Master students in French come in with the status of TA1 and work toward becoming ready to teach their own independent section in their second year, or in the summer following their first year.
TA2s are teaching assistants who are part of a formal mentoring and training program, and also have full independent responsibility for teaching their own sections, under guidance and direction of the French Language Program Director (LPD).
GPTIs are Graduate Part Time Instructors who are still part of the mentoring and training program, however who have typically completed one year of graduate study, the first-year mentoring and training program, and who have responsibility for their own independent course sections.
The first year mentoring and training program consists of the following professional development activities:
- Enrollment in FREN 5305/LING 5322 - Practicum in Language Teaching: Teaching Methods
- Weekly studios with the Language Program Director to learn about best practices and approaches to: assessing student learning, designing instructional activities to foster language development and interculturality, supporting students with special needs, navigating and optimizing use of teaching and learning tools
- Apprenticeship in teaching through tutoring activities
Contacts
- CMLL Graduate Program Coordinator: Carla Burrus
- French Graduate Advisor: Dr. Lucas Wood
Admission
To gain admission into the MA program in French requires a certain proficiency in French language and culture, usually acquired through taking courses toward the major in French. Students who have completed a major in other areas may be considered if they have the requisite competency in French and demonstrated motivation to work on the MA degree in French. Decisions on admitting students are made after taking into account a broad range of personal and academic experiences that the student brings to the program.
You will need to apply to the Texas Tech Graduate School.
For information regarding the admissions process to CMLL, please do not hesitate to contact Carla Burrus, CMLL Graduate Program Coordinator.
The Program
The French MA Program at Texas Tech maintains a focus on literary studies and pedagogy while integrating a large scope of cultural material and a variety of theoretical frameworks. Courses are taught in the following areas: Medieval literature; 16th-, 17th-, 18th, 19th-, 20th- and 21st-Century literatures; French Civilization; Cinema; Literary Theory; Teaching Methods and Francophone literatures (African, Caribbean, Quebecois and French “Immigrant” literatures). It is a vibrant program that benefits from an experienced team of cross-disciplinary professors. Faculty members encourage intellectual inquiry and critical thinking through several collaborative endeavors.
The French Program at Texas Tech offers an intensive, hand-on, practical teaching Methods course to our Graduate Part-Time Instructors and Teaching Assistants, thus assuring solid, communicative-based instruction in our undergraduate courses. It assures that all new instructors in our department receive training and practice in effective teaching.
MA students in French receive thorough training and constant guided supervision in their own teaching of lower-level French courses, thus assuring a high quality of instruction and practice. All applicants to the MA are encouraged to apply for a teaching assistantship and funding, which is allocated on a competitive basis.
The graduate advisor formulates a degree plan with respect to the interests of the student and availability of French faculty. MA students have the possibility to do a master's thesis in the following periods and areas: Medieval Studies, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, 21st Century, Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition, Francophone Literature, Literary Theory, and Cinema. Courses are listed on the TTU website and in the Texas Tech University Course Catalog.
Resources and Links
Research Resources
- Texas Tech Library: Your first place to look with several thousand titles in French. Check the catalog.
- Interlibrary Loan at the Texas Tech Library: Excellent service. Will order books from any library that has them. Fast, courteous and efficient.
Databases
- JSTOR: Excellent source of academic articles. Also on the TTU Library homepage. Search on campus without a login.
- Google Books: A great source to research and preview book (and sometimes read whole books).
Other Research Resources
- Humanities Librarian: Ian Barba, ian.barba@ttu.edu; his Library Website has great links to help you find what you need.
- Lexique des Termes Littéraires
- Archive.org: Vast collection of etexts and ebooks, videos, etc., many in French
- Project Gutenberg: Many ebooks in French
Career Development & Recent Graduates
Graduates of our MA Program leave with solid training in French Literature, Culture, Film and Linguistics, skills useful to any career field. In addition, our graduate students are provided a valuable opportunity to gain experience in communicative language teaching and are provided with careful training and supervision to assure their success in the classroom. Our graduates' training and experiences make them highly competitive candidates for jobs in government, business and education or for graduate study beyond the MA level. In recent years, many of the graduates of our MA Program have continued their education in French programs at highly-ranked universities, including:
- Indiana University
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Purdue University
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of California – Davis
A partir d'ici, tout est possible.
From here, it's (all) possible.