About the Program
This program is currently under revision. Students entering Buffalo State in fall 2009 or later will be held to the new program requirements. Contact the Modern and Classical Languages Department at (716) 878-5414 for full information.
The French secondary education program enables students to earn provisional certification to teach French in New York State secondary schools. Students develop French language skills and study the structure and sound system of French, the literature and culture of French-speaking peoples, and, in the professional education component, the growth and role of the public school, adolescent development and psychology, and the teaching/learning of foreign languages in school settings. The curriculum includes a series of field experiences. Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 (overall and in the major) to student teach.
Students desiring this program may be admitted into the B.A. language and literature program (0709), which functions as a premajor for the B.S. program. Students must apply for admission to the B.S. program by filling out a form in the Modern and Classical Languages Department office (Bishop 122) after they have successfully completed 30 credit hours in French, including two 300-level courses. Transfer students who enter with more than 30 hours in French may apply as soon as they have completed two 300-level courses in French at Buffalo State. No student will be admitted with less than a 2.5 overall GPA or with less than a 2.5 GPA in French courses.
Admissions Requirements
Students may apply for admission to the program when they have successfully completed 30 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.5. Transfer students with more than 30 credit hours may apply when they have successfully completed two French courses at the 300- or 400-level. Applications are available in the department office.
Career Information
Students who major in Spanish or French education are prepared to teach the language in grades 7 through 12 or to accept a professional position that requires knowledge of the language and culture of French- or Spanish-speaking countries. Such positions include positions with multinational corporations or with government agencies that operate overseas. Students also may attend graduate school.
In the past five years, all graduates from the teaching program found work as teachers in middle schools or high schools.
Recent graduates have been hired by companies such as Fisher Price; Mentholatum; various law firms; local school districts, including Buffalo, Depew, Chautauqua, Fredonia, East Aurora, Lewiston-Porter, and Clarence; and school systems elsewhere in New York, California, and Nevada.
Program Requirements
Intellectual Foundations Requirements 39–66 cr
Total Required Credit Hours in French 36 cr
A. Required Courses (27 cr)
FRE 301, FRE 302 French Conversation and Composition
FRE 305 Phonetics and Orthography
FRE 306 The Civilization of France
FRE 307, FRE 308 Survey of French Literature
FRE 309 Survey of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Literature
FRE 415 Advanced Grammar and Composition
FRE 416 Advanced Conversation and Composition
B. Electives (9 cr)
Select three courses from the following:
FRE 303 Translation
FRE 331 French Literature in Translation (if all assignments are completed in French)
FRE 341 Francophone Literature in Translation (if taken in French)
FRE 411 Studies in French Poetry
FRE 412 Studies in the French Novel
FRE 413 Studies in French Theater
FRE 417 Business French
FRE 496 Seminar I
FRE 497 Seminar II
Total Required Credit Hours in Professional Education 24 cr
EDF 303 Educational Psychology
EDF 403 Historical and Philosophical Forces Influencing Secondary Education
EDU 416 Teaching Reading in Secondary Schools
EXE 372 Foundations of Teaching Secondary Students with Disabilities
FLE 200 Field Experience in Foreign Language Education
FLE 316 Teaching Reading in the Second Language in the Middle School
FLE 401 Techniques for Teaching and Evaluating Foreign Languages in the Middle School
FLE 405 Methods and Materials for Teaching Foreign Languages in the High School
Total Required Credit Hours in Student Teaching 12 cr
FLE 407/SED 407 Student Teaching of Foreign Languages in the Middle/Junior High School (6)
FLE 408/SED 408 Student Teaching of Foreign Languages in the High School (6)
All College Electives 0–6 cr
Total Required Credit Hours 120 cr