Calling Linguistics/Language experts or attendees and knowledgables of Northeast Ohio State U's

College Search & Selection
1

I am looking for a major and school that will best aid my quest for life-long learning of languages. I am open to suggestions for the major, but I am guessing that Linguistics or modern languages will be the best decision. I do plan to learn at least 5 languages at some point in life, mostly difficult ones that aren’t taught in the states.
Anyhow, my problem is that I must, for the next 3 years, attend a school in Northeastern Ohio. Here is a list of all of the four year universities that I am considering, in no order (I have done some thinning out):
• Kent State University
• University of Akron
• Case Western Reserve
• Cleveland State University
• John Carroll University
I will be studying abroad for my senior year in a francophone country. I would like to graduate with:
• Fluent French
• Proficiency in a Southeast Asian Language (preferred) or Spanish (~OK)
• Enough of a linguistics background to teach ESL
• Enough of a linguistics background to be able to learn new languages with limited resources: such as some books and immersion, not any more college.
• A bit of the international business spice wouldn’t hurt.
The only thing that I really care about is the academics and achieving of these goals. Anything else is icing on the cake. Yes, I can easily get into any of these schools. I am first in a class of 1473 and have a 32(.25 :(( ) ACT. Except for Cleveland State, none of these colleges have a full fledged linguistics major, but they usually have some classes in a related department.
For linguistics experts: Is this possible? Will I have a solid enough grasp of linguistics with a couple of languages and classes, or do I need what Cleveland State has, which is a full linguistics program?
For college experts: Which of these schools is the strongest for my needs/goals?
For attendees of languages programs @ these schools: I’d love to hear anything!
This isn’t like the major I’m going to get employed with, its more like the major that launches me into international studies/business.

Thanks so much in advance :wink:

2

I would recommend understanding the language ratings of the ACTFL and ask each dept what their graduation goals are for their graduates. There is a huge difference between mid-intermediate and high-advanced or superior. Proficient is vague.

3

Yes you’re right! If I spend a year in a francophone country, I believe that I will be satisfied regardless of the academics. Know anything about the linguistics @ these places? I will start calling them!

4

You may want to contact a poster named @dfbdfb who is in the field of linguistics.

5

Thanks for the info :wink: Will try him/her!

6

You don’t need a linguistics major to be successful at languages, but yes, there’s some evidence that having some linguistics coursework helps (especially for retention if you’re not in a situation where you’re constantly surrounded by the target language).

I’d be cautious at putting too much stock on study abroad or such resulting in full competence—you’d have to really immerse yourself, being willing to take hard courses and make mistakes (and thus, perhaps, suffer a hit to your grades), which most study-abroad students from the US don’t try for (unfortunately).

Anyway, on to specifics—I didn’t really know much about what the schools you listed have, but after just basically eyeballing them:

Kent State: Doesn’t look to have much in the way of non-Indo-European languages—some lower-level stuff, nothing really advanced (though the do offer a MA in Japanese translation). Most of their linguistics is in graduate-level courses. On the plus side, they actually have a number of translation majors, including a few (including French) at the undergrad level, which might be good for what you want.

Akron: Very, very little in the way of linguistics or languages, particularly less-commonly-taught ones.

CWRU: There’s a cognitive science program, which can easily include a good chunk of linguistics, though not really the applied sort you seem to be after. (Might be worth looking into anyway, though.) The major in communication sciences (offered through the Psychology Department) is probably worth looking at, too, and depending on your overall interests might be the closest to what you’re looking for that I found (though perhaps a bit stronger on the clinical intervention side that what you describe wanting).

Cleveland State: Their linguistics program is a pretty basic one—nothing exciting, but it would give you the basics of what you’re after, I think. I like that they require a less-commonly-taught language, and that fits your stated interests, too, but they offer fewer languages than I’d expect from a place than can require that for any of their majors.

John Carroll is on notice from its accreditor. This is a red flag. No, strike that, it is a wildly waving red flag—particularly since the reasons given aren’t just the occasional paperwork snafus that might catch a college, but things like being out of step with “the institution’s degree programs are appropriate to higher education”.

TL;DR: Akron doesn’t look like it would work, and John Carroll (sorry, any John Carroll fans out there!) looks to be in a bit of a precarious spot right now. Kent State, CWRU, and Cleveland State all look like they have stuff that would work for you, but in very different ways—so it’s probably worth sitting down with each of their course catalogs and going through their offerings carefully.

7

Hi:

I want to suggest that you arrange a visit to the honors colleges at Kent, Case, and Cleveland State. Specifically, ask to spend time in the language departments and with the international business faculty. I suspect that you will find that there is more available than meets the eye. It does not matter if you have already visited these campus. You are essentially asking for private tour, which all three universities will grant you. I’m positive after the “honors” visit, you will know which is the best choice of you and your goals.

8

It’s great to hear from an expert, thanks so much both of you! You have made my decision a lot more clear and I am very grateful! I will call and visit :wink: Thanks for letting me know about John Carroll, I was completely unaware of that!