World Languages and Cultures Department

College of Arts and Humanities
Ellensburg
Language and Literature Bldg., room 102
Mail Stop 7552
509-963-1218
worldlanguages@cwu.edu
www.cwu.edu/foreign-language
    See website for how these programs can be used for educational and career purposes.

Faculty and Staff
Chair
Volha Isakava, PhD

Professors
Nathalie Kasselis, PhD, Spanish, French
Natalie Lefkowitz, PhD, Spanish, French
Joshua S. Nelson, PhD, Japanese

Associate Professors
Michael Johnson, PhD, French
Eric Mayer, PhD, Spanish
Volha Isakava, PhD, Russian

Assistant Professors
Andrea Herrera-Dulcet, PhD, Spanish
Christina Torres Garcia, PhD, Latino and Latin American Studies
Taralynn Petrites, PhD, Deaf and Sign Language Studies, American Sign Language

Lecturers
Laurie Moshier, DA, German, French
Veronica Muskheli, PhD, Russian
Kyoko Sano, PhD, Japanese
Xiaoyin Zhong, MA, Chinese
Glen Petrites, MA, American Sign Language
Booyoun Kim, MA, Korean

Emeritus Faculty
Elbert Bilyeu
Eva-Marie Carne
Ilda-Marie Easterling
Dinara Georgeoliani
Kelton W. Knight
Margaret N. Lester
Carlos E. Martin
Dieter Romboy
Christian I. Schneider

Staff
Amy Lyn Jenkins, secretary senior

Department Information
The Department of World Languages and Cultures offers BA degrees in French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish and minors in ASL, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Spanish has two streams: Heritage and Second Language Learner.  

For non-majors or minors, the first-and second-year sequences are designed to provide basic proficiency in a world language. The department recommends that all majors include some organized study abroad where their major language is spoken, but there is no requirement for study abroad in any of the programs.

The World Languages and Cultures Department’s Core Values are:

Lifelong Learning; Cross-cultural Communication, and Global Citizenship.

All WLC programs and courses adhere to these values.

Admission to Department Programs

Students planning to major or minor must meet with an advisor in the World Languages and Cultures department for details about admission requirements and to complete an application form.

Departmental Standards
Students in the majors and minors must earn a minimum grade of C+ in each course used for their program/s.

Core Course Requirements
Only courses numbered 200 and above will count toward a major or minor. Students may contact the department to request placement testing if they have prior instruction in any of the languages.   For students with sufficient preparation, the 200-level sequence may be waived through our placement exam or credit by examination.  Please note that Spanish CLEP test scores may be used to complete General Education and/or graduation requirements but may not be used to fulfill course requirements for Spanish majors or minors. Students planning to study abroad must see their advisor prior to departure to ensure the applicability of the proposed course of study. All upper-division classes not listed as requirements are approved electives.

Course Offerings
Frequency of course offering information can be found at the department website: www.cwu.edu/foreign-language or by contacting the department directly.

Programs

• Deaf and Sign Language Studies, BA
• French Studies Major, BA
• Japanese Major, BA (Large Plan)
• Japanese Major, BA (Small Plan)
• Russian Studies Major, BA
• Spanish Major BA, Applied Linguistics Specialization
• Spanish Major BA, Translation and Interpretation Specialization
• Spanish Major, BA

• Global Cultural Training Certificate
• Spanish Translation and Interpretation Certificate

• American Sign Language Minor
• Chinese Minor
• French Minor
• German Minor
• Japanese Minor
• Russian Studies Minor
• Spanish Minor

Courses

• WL 481 - Methods and Materials for Language Teaching (Put on reserve 9/16/19, will go inactive 8/24/22)
• WL 483 - Sociolinguistics
• WL 490 - Cooperative Education
• WL 491 - Workshop
• WL 496 - Individual Study
• WL 497 - Honors
• WL 498 - Special Topics
• WL 499 - Seminar
• WLC 243 - Target Language Discussion Section
• WLC 250 - Language and Power
• WLC 311 - Popular Cultures of the World
• WLC 341 - Spells of Enchantment: Re-interpreting the Fairy Tale
• WLC 347 - Study Abroad
• WLC 381 - Life Hacks for Transfer Student Success
• WLC 427 - Cross-Cultural Competence in a Globalized World
• WLC 482 - Second- and Foreign-language Acquisition
• WLC 487 - Culminating Experience