Graduate Exams
Graduate Comprehensive Exams (for MA and PhD students in LLC)
Comprehensive Exams for MA, MAT & PhD:
Comprehensive examinations for MA, MAT and PhD candidates are scheduled on the Thursday and Friday prior to beginning classes in the Spring semester.
Make-up exams are held on the first Thursday and/or Friday in April.
Exams generally begin at 9:00am and are held at the Ted Mimms Language Laboratory in the Humanities Classroom Building. Examinees are expected to write their answers on computer, and will be provided one by the lab. Completed exams are then e-mailed as attachments to the graduate director directly from the lab for subsequent distribution to the committee.
If you have any questions, please contact the graduate advisor for your program, or the graduate director, Prof.Maria Mabrey.
Graduate Reading-Knowledge Exams
Arabic | Chinese | French | German | Italian | Japanese | Latin | Portuguese | Russian | Spanish
The Graduate Reading Proficiency Exam is for graduate students who are majoring in other disciplines. FREN, GERM, LATN, and SPAN 615 are designed to prepare students to take the examination(s) that satisfies the basic FL graduate reading requirement. The courses are available on a pass / fail basis only.
Foreign Language and/or Research Methods (from the Graduate Bulletin)
Language and research methods requirements for the Master’s degree vary from program to program and must be approved by the academic program’s graduate director and the dean of The Graduate School. Programs which directly involve language study may have additional language requirements. Satisfying the requirement may entail one or more of the following: successful completion of an intensive reading course in a language approved by The Graduate School (e.g., SPAN 615), successful completion of a course at the intermediate level of language proficiency within six years previous of the award of the degree, or a passing grade on a language reading proficiency examination administered by the USC Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (DLLC).Students should contact DLLC for language course and testing information. Programs which directly involve language study may have additional language requirements.
Students have three opportunities to pass the language course or satisfy the reading proficiency examination. The Graduate School must be notified by the academic program of a student’s successful completion of the language requirement.
In some programs a student is allowed to substitute competency in computer science, statistics, or another research method or competency for a reading knowledge of a foreign language. The requirement may be satisfied by the appropriate course work or examination. Permission for substitution must be approved by the dean of The Graduate School. As with successful completion of the language requirement, The Graduate School must also be notified of a student’s successful completion of a substitution for the language requirement.
With approval of the program and the dean of The Graduate School, English may be accepted as a foreign language for students whose native language is not English and such students should submit the Certification of English as a Foreign Language (G-CIE) form. In cases where it is relevant to a student’s research, American Sign Language may be used to satisfy the language requirement.
The student should make arrangements to complete the foreign language and/or research methods requirements at the earliest opportunity. Certification of foreign language and/or research methods competency for master’s students remains valid for six years, after which it must be revalidated.
Arabic Proficiency Exam will be given on August 20th, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. in HU 308.
Chinese Reading Exam, contact Prof. Tan Ye.
French 615 is generally offered once a year (either Fall, Spring or Summer).
Students need not be enrolled in FR 615 in order to take the exam. Students may prepare for the exam by consulting Edward M. Stack: Reading French in the Arts and Sciences (4th Ed.) and by doing practice translations in their field of study.
The Graduate French Reading Exam is given during finals week in the fall and in the spring. In the week before finals, please contact Prof. Jeanne Garane at garanej@mailbox.sc.edu to sign up for the exam. Please write "French Reading Proficiency Exam" in the subject line.
The field exam is 90 minute translation examination of a 500-word passage (with dictionary) in the individual’s field of specialization. Students can expect that the passage will be similar in linguistic sophistication to English texts germane to the particular field of research.
The graduate reading exam in German requires the translation into English of a 400-word passage. Candidates will have two hours and may use a dictionary and other grammar aid (such as verb charts). Candidates without advanced translation skills are strongly encouraged to take German 615, even if they have studied German previously.
German 615 assumes no previous knowledge of the language. It is generally offered in the Spring semester with at least three scheduled exam dates. Please direct all inquiries to Professor Nicholas Vazsonyi at vazsonyi@sc.edu.
Students may take the scheduled exams even if they are not registered for German 615. Please contact the instructor at least two weeks in advance to reserve a spot.
Schedule of German Reading Exam dates for Spring 2013:
February 21, 12:30-2:30pm
March 28, 12:30-2:30pm
May 7, 12:30-2:30pm
Contact Prof. Pia Bertucci
Contact Prof. Yoshitaka Sakakibara
The next opportunity to take the Latin Reading Exam will be at the end of Summer II during the final exam scheduled for Latin 615. Students who wish to take the exam must take it during one of these times. You should bring a student ID and writing materials. You may consult a Latin dictionary during the test. No electronic devices of any kind are permitted.
Please note that most students do not have enough experience with Latin to pass the Graduate Reading Exam without proper preparation. Students must be prepared to translate into English unedited passages from Classical Latin authors. Students are strongly urged to take the intensive courses offered by the Classics program that will prepare students for the exam. Latin 614-615 will be offered Summer I and Summer II, respectively, 2012. Students who wish to pass the Graduate Reading Exam in Latin should take these two courses.
For information, contact Prof. Hunter Gardner.
Portuguese Reading Exam, contact Prof. Andrew Rajca
Russian Reading Exam, contact Prof. Judith Kalb.
Spanish Reading Examination Information
Students are encouraged to take SPAN 615, generally offered once a year. However, those students that do not take this course have the opportunity to take an examination also offered once a year in April. They may bring a Spanish/English dictionary with them to the examination, but all electronic dictionaries or devices are prohibited. The examination is a 500 word passage in the area of Humanities. Students have 90 minutes in which to render the passage into English and the professor will e-mail the results to them. Students who receive no notification by email should contact the professor within three days of the exam.
To register for the exam, please contact Dee Dee Cronise by email (deedee@mailbox.sc.edu) and send her your name, e-mail address, and major.
You may also contact Dr. Jorge Camacho:
E-mail: Camachoj@mailbox.sc.edu
Next Date, Time & Location of the exam: TBA