Welcome to the Second Language Acquisition Program
**We are no longer accepting students to the Designated Emphasis or the Graduate Academic Certificate.**
Unfortunately, this specialization has been discontinued due to a lack of faculty in this area. Those students who have already applied to the DE will be permitted to complete their DE. For any questions, please contact Travis Bradley.
What is a Designated Emphasis (DE)?
A Designated Emphasis is a specialization that might include a new method of inquiry or an important field of application which is related to two or more existing Ph.D. programs. A DE acts like a minor for doctoral students.
What is a Graduate Academic Certificate (GAC)?
A Graduate Academic Certificate is a specialization that might include a new method of inquiry or an important field of application which is related to two or more existing graduate programs. A GAC is open to both MA & PhD students since it does not require a dissertation topic integrating SLA.
Why Second Language Acquisition?
Both the DE and GAC allow students to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge of language acquisition. Graduate students at Davis not only teach English to speakers of other languages but also teach foreign languages to undergraduates. Graduate students who more fully understand the process of SLA contribute to improving the overall delivery of undergraduate language instruction. Choosing the SLA specialization allows graduate students the opportunity to integrate theory with the methods
The Second Language DE and GAC are available to students in any graduate program.