Language Examinations
The following departments and programs have language requirements: Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology; Greek, Latin and Classical Studies; French; History of Art; Mathematics; and Russian. For details see Faculty Rules Governing the MA and Ph.D. Degrees.
Deadlines for Faculty wishing to submit examinations to the GSAS office for third party evaluation:
Semester I - October 17, 2011
Semester II - March 13, 2012
Note: Examinations received after these deadlines will be held until the next reading period.
Language proficiency is tested by written translation examinations, which are set and administered by the six departments named above. Students should consult their department chair or graduate advisor about fulfilling their language requirement(s) and about scheduling their exam(s). Every exam is read by two faculty members in the student's department or a related discipline. If the department readers find the examination unsatisfactory, the chair or graduate advisor should inform the student of this outcome. If the examination is satisfactory, it is submitted to the GSAS office for distribution to a third reader in the appropriate language department.
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences sets one two-week period each semester during which language department faculty read foreign language examinations. Students and graduate advisors should take note of the scheduled reading periods and take care that examinations are taken and read by the department faculty beforehand. No examinations will be read by language faculty outside the reading periods.
Two faculty members from each department grade each examination Pass or Fail. Only those examinations receiving two votes of Pass should be forwarded to the GSAS for review by the language faculty. In the event that both departmental readers judge an examination to be marginal, it may be forwarded for an opinion of the language faculty. In general, the vote of the language faculty member is final. In the event of a departmental challenge to this verdict, the outcome will be determined by the Dean. Students will be notified of the verdict of the language faculty reader by the GSAS as soon as it is received.
Passages to be translated are selected by the faculty of the student's department or program. Examinations are two hours long and should require translation of no more than 700 words. The word count should be indicated at the bottom of each passage to be translated. Departments should specify which translation tools students are permitted to use (i.e., bound dictionaries, online dictionaries, no tools at all), and these specifications should be uniform for all examinations within that department. Students must be explicitly informed of these specifications in advance of any examination.
Departments should determine when and where language examinations may be taken, and convey this information to students in a timely manner. Examinations may be set as often as a department wishes. There is no limit to the number of times a student may take an examination.
