Academic Catalog 2024-2025

Spanish

College of Arts and Humanities
Department of Modern Languages

Program Description

The Spanish Language has become an important global language and those who hold a degree in Spanish are of an invaluable asset in California, across the country, and the world. Over 534 million people worldwide speak Spanish as a first and second language. More than 41 million people in the U.S. speak Spanish. The US Census Bureau reports that the population of Latino origin is expected to jump to 119 million by 2060.

Moreover, the employment opportunities for Spanish majors continue to grow with both the passage of Proposition 58, which removes restrictions on bilingual education programs for California and the Global California 2030 Initiative which calls for the expansion of the teaching and learning of world languages and the number of in more than one language over the next 12 years.

Spanish Programs

The Department of Modern Languages offers students a Spanish major with two concentration options: Linguistics or Literature. Both options prepare students who intend to teach Spanish in high schools and students who plan to continue their studies in graduate school either in the academic fields of Spanish Linguistics, Romance Linguistics, Spanish Literature, and Latin American literature. Additionally, the B.A. in Spanish also provides opportunities for employment to those who want to become:

  1. academic counselor,
  2. criminal justice administrator,
  3. customs inspector,
  4. importer/exporter,
  5. international marketing representative,
  6. international student advisor,
  7. interpreter or translator,
  8. language consultant
  9. lawyer,
  10. librarian,
  11. NGO employee, etc.

Additionally, the Department offers four Minors in Spanish:

  1. Spanish Culture,
  2. Spanish Grammar and Writing,
  3. Spanish Linguistics and
  4. Spanish Literature.

These minors complement and enhance all majors. It is particularly useful to students majoring in business, in the public and health service fields, in paralegal work, criminal justice, etc. 

Due to the passage of Proposition 58, the most urgent need for majors in Spanish is in public-school teaching, from K-12. For students who plan to teach at the elementary level and who are majoring in Liberal Studies, the Spanish program offers a Spanish option and the Bilingual Authorization. The Spanish option in Liberal Studies provides an in-depth study of Spanish. This option is particularly helpful for those potential elementary teachers who intend to seek bilingual certification.

The Bilingual Authorization is an additional program that students of the Multiple and Single Subject Credential Programs can add to their teaching credentials. This Bilingual Authorization permits candidates and teachers to teach in a K-12 bilingual immersion setting. The Subject Matter Preparation Program in Spanish (also known as the Single Subject Waiver Program in Spanish) is designed for students who plan to teach the Spanish language at the secondary school level. Additionally, the Spanish Subject Matter Authorization is designed for teachers who would like to teach Spanish in middle school.

Academic Advisement 

The Department of Modern Languages is eager to provide all its students with the advisement they will need to continue their studies in a modern language. An advisor is vital in choosing the Spanish course best suited to the background and needs of each student. Students must see an advisor upon admission, upon completion of 60-semester units, and during the first semester of the senior year.

Preparation

High school students who plan to major or minor in Spanish are encouraged to take at least two years of Spanish in high school. Students who have taken AP Spanish, French or Japanese may receive credit for some lower-division courses.

Community college transfer students planning to take upper-division Spanish courses at CSU Dominguez Hills should have completed four semesters of college-level Spanish successfully. All students are required to take SPA 280. Those who have taken fewer than four semesters of Spanish in a community college will be placed at an appropriate level by means of advisement.

Student Organizations

Sigma Delta Pi: Membership in our Nu Psi Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish National Honorary Society, is open to students who have completed at least 18 upper-division semester units in Spanish including at least one upper-division course in literature or culture, and who have a 3.0-grade point average in all classes, including a 3.0-grade point average in all Spanish courses. Sigma Delta Pi seeks to honor those who seek and attain excellence in the study of Spanish language, literature, and culture; to honor those who strive to make Hispanic contributions to modern culture better known in the world in general; to encourage college students to acquire a greater interest in and deeper understanding of Hispanic culture, and to foster friendly relations and mutual respect between Spanish speaking nations and other peoples of the world. Students interested in applying for membership should consult the Department of Modern Languages chair.

Graduation With Honors

An undergraduate student may graduate with Honors in Spanish provided that the following criteria are met:

  1. A minimum of 36 units in residence at CSU Dominguez Hills;
  2. A minimum grade point average of at least 3.5 in all courses used to satisfy the upper division requirements in the major.