Department of Second Language Studies
Minor in Second Language Studies
Students on Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025 requirements SLSTMIN
Requirements
The minor requires at least 15 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
- Core Course. One (1) course:
- SLST-S 301 Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
SLST-S 301 Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces students to contemporary approaches to second language acquisition. Topics include models of second language acquisition, learner variables, the human capacity for language and its availability throughout the lifespan, developmental stages, and effects of instruction. Students will examine samples of learner language and analyze them on their own terms.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
- Advanced Electives. Two (2) courses:
- SLST-S 302 The Successful Language Learner
- SLST-S 304 Language Revitalization
- SLST-S 305 Second Language Acquisition and Language Instruction
- SLST-S 306 Acquiring New Language Systems
- SLST-S 308 English Grammar and Second Language Acquisition
- SLST-S 312 New Sounds: Foreign Accents and Pronunciation in a Second Language
- SLST-S 319 Special Topics in Second Language Studies
- SLST-S 331 Heritage Language Acquisition
SLST-S 302 The Successful Language Learner
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces students to the best practices for adult second language learners and to research on learner and learning variables underlying these practices.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
SLST-S 304 Language Revitalization
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Half of the 6,000 languages spoken today are endangered. This course explores why languages are at risk and investigates how minority and indigenous languages can be revitalized. Case studies highlight practical solutions currently being used in diverse communities. Students choose a particular endangered language as their focus of study.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 305 Second Language Acquisition and Language Instruction
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Examines impact of advances in psychology and sociology on the definition of best practices in adult second and foreign language instruction.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 306 Acquiring New Language Systems
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Examines the learning challenges associated with the acquisition of new languages in the domains of sound systems, word formation, sentence structure, and sentence interpretation.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
SLST-S 308 English Grammar and Second Language Acquisition
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Introduces students to a formal approach to major structures of English morphosyntax within generative grammar, stressing hypothesis formation and testing. Review of empirical research on the cognitive effects of implicit and explicit grammar instruction.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
SLST-S 312 New Sounds: Foreign Accents and Pronunciation in a Second Language
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Presents phonetic manifestations of foreign accent to describe what factors in a learner language might impact accent and intelligibility when speaking English. Introduces methods for teaching pronunciation to second language learners, and how to measure progress and develop strategies for specific pronunciation difficulties.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
SLST-S 319 Special Topics in Second Language Studies
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Topics dealing with cognitive, social, or educational dimensions of second language acquisition or multilingualism.
- Repeatability
- May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
SLST-S 331 Heritage Language Acquisition
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Examines the nature of bilingual acquisition in childhood, specifically in contexts of minority language populations in the United States. Heritage languages can include immigrant languages, indigenous languages, and colonial languages. Topics covered will include first and second language acquisition, language maintenance, language socialization, and language policy.
- Summer 2025CASE DUScourseSpring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
- Additional Electives. Two (2) courses:
- Additional course(s) from the Advanced Electives list above
- SLST-S 111 Multilingualism and Society
- SLST-S 112 Multilingualism and the Brain
- SLST-S 150 Voices of America and Voices of the World
- SLST-S 204 Language and (In)Tolerance in the US
- SLST-S 205 Language and Identity in Multilingual Contexts
- SLST-S 213 Multilingual Brain and Behavior Research Experience
- COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies (Approved topics: "LANGUAGE HOTSPOTS AND BIODIVERSITY" (TPC 29))
SLST-S 111 Multilingualism and Society
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Study of the many contexts in which individuals and communities regularly use two or more languages in the United States and around the world, with particular focus on different kinds of multilingualism, language change in multilingual contexts, and how multilingualism affects language use and identity.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 112 Multilingualism and the Brain
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Explores the problem of fitting several languages into one mind and how the brain adapts to managing several languages. Examines a range of general cognitive issues linked to multilingualism, such as the need to suppress one language in the performance of another, and their effects on the speaker.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
SLST-S 150 Voices of America and Voices of the World
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Studies the role of social factors in accent perception. Native and nonnative accents feed into social pecking orders, which cause listeners to evaluate speakers in various ways. This course addresses the nature of human accents in their cognitive and psychological dimensions: how social factors impact the learning of pronunciation, how accent affects social acceptance, and how interlocutors' reactions can be improved.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 204 Language and (In)Tolerance in the US
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Explores the roles that perceptions of linguistic differences among groups and individuals play in intolerant behavior on the part of some segments of American society, and the corresponding roles that genuine understanding of these differences can play in promoting tolerance and guiding responses to intolerance.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of ANTH-L 204 or SLST-S 204
- Summer 2025CASE DUScourseSpring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 205 Language and Identity in Multilingual Contexts
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Explores how individuals use language to (co)construct their own and other's identities in multilingual contexts and how various facets of identity affect opportunities for language learning and language use. Readings will focus on a wide range of social contexts, languages, and individuals from diverse gender, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
SLST-S 213 Multilingual Brain and Behavior Research Experience
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Provides an introduction to the scientific method for the study of language and training in language data analysis techniques. Introduces knowledge and skills transferable to careers in the social, cognitive, and behavioral sciences through work with data management tools and software used in quantitative linguistic research.
- Summer 2025CASE NMcourseSpring 2025CASE NMcourseFall 2024CASE NMcourse
COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Specific topics will vary by section and over time, but all versions of COLL-C 104 will meet the objectives of the College of Arts and Sciences Critical Approaches curriculum. The curriculum is intended for freshmen and sophomores, who will learn how scholars from the social and historical studies Breadth of Inquiry area frame questions, propose answers, and assess the validity of competing approaches. Writing and related skills are stressed.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of COLL-C 104 or COLL-S 104.
- Summer 2025CASE CAPPcourseSpring 2025CASE CAPPcourseFall 2024CASE CAPPcourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourseSpring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
- Minor GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
- Minor GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the minor—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
- Minor Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the minor.
- Minor Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed at the 300–499 level.
- Minor Residency. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
Minor Area Courses
-
Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:
- Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
- Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
This program of study cannot be combined with the following:
- Certificate in TESOL and Second Language Acquisition (TESLNAACRT)
Exceptions to and substitutions for minor requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.