The Applied Linguistics (APLNG) Minor is a program of study for undergraduate students at Penn State. This minor prepares students to understand the complexity and multiple dimensions of language in human interaction. The APLNG Minor includes an introduction to the study of language use, culture, and social interaction from a variety of perspectives and to the role that English plays in globalization.
The minor is a suitable and complementary program for undergraduate students in many major fields, including social sciences, psychology, linguistics, cultural and global studies, education, and international business and science. Students who obtain a minor in APLNG may also choose to find teaching positions in private language institutes or as private language tutors in the United States and abroad and well as through organizations such as the Peace Corps and the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.
Please contact Penn State Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring Office for more information about these and other programs.
Requirements for the Minor
The minor consists of 18 credit hours. A grade of C or better is required in every course used to satisfy the requirements for the minor.
Prescribed courses (12 credits)
- APLNG 200 (GH, IL) Introduction to Language, Culture, and Social Interaction
- APLNG 290N (GH, GS) Critical Approaches to Applied Linguistics
- APLNG 412 (TM-A) Teaching Second Language Writing
- APLNG 491 (TM-A) Theory: Second Language Acquisition
Additional Courses (6 credits)
Students will choose 6 credits from a list of courses that include the following:
- APLNG 220N (GH, IL, GS) Multilingual Lives: Stories of Language and Culture Learning
- APLNG 210 (GH, IL) Global English
- APLNG 230N (GH,GS, IL) Language and Social Justice
- APLNG 260N (GH, GS) Language and Technology
- APLNG 280N (GH, GS, IL, TM-A) Conducting International Comparative Research
- APLNG 320N (GH, GS) Language, Ideology, and Propaganda
Admission Requirements
To apply for the APLNG Minor:
- You can declare a minor AFTER you have a third-semester classification or AFTER you have been accepted to a major.
- Use LionPATH to declare a minor. Select ‘Update Academics’ to complete the process.
If you have additional questions about the program, please contact the Coordinator, Deryn Verity, dpv3@psu.edu