A student
may elect to pursue, in addition to one of the regular
degree programs in Science or Engineering, the special
(non-degree) program in Technical Translation and
thereby earn a supplemental Certificate of Proficiency
in Technical Translation in German. Successful
completion of this program satisfies all requirements in
HSS courses for graduation in most degree programs.
Rationale
Engineers now clearly need to learn a foreign language
and learn it fluently if they are to participate in and
benefit from the international trade in technology.
George Burnet, past president of the American Society
for Engineering Education, writes, "We are finding that
the engineer's realm of activity is rapidly becoming
international. The world-wide commitment to technology
transfer and development involves engineering practice
and education in many ways." Sylvia Porter, nationally
known syndicated columnist, writes, "A full 43 percent
of the chief executive officers who have assumed their
positions in American's 100 largest corporations since
1973 have had overseas experience." Howard H. Irvin,
senior vice- president of Borg-Warner Chemicals (and a
Rose graduate) says, "Just think how much the world has
shrunk in recent decades, how often we come across
people from other countries whom we expect to speak our
language; yet, how much could we put them at ease in
conversation or negotiation if we could speak or at
least understand their language. I know that many a
business deal has come to fruition because of our
ability to communicate in someone else's tongue and many
have failed because of our lack of being reasonably
fluent in their language."
Scientists have always needed to learn a language to
unlock the world library of information and the need is
still with us. Not all ideas or information are in
English. In chemistry, for example, 4.2% of the research
indexed in the 1987 Chemical Abstracts was published in
German and 14.3% was published in Japanese that year.
The fact that there may be some valuable idea or piece
of information locked in some foreign language is the
reason most doctoral programs require a foreign
language.
Students who are considering graduate study should
carefully consider the advantage of studying a foreign
language at the undergraduate level when, as it has been
shown, it is easier to learn a foreign language.
Students who complete this long and difficult program
may become professional technical translators, roving
international engineers, cross-cultural sales
negotiators, transcultural scientists, international
intelligence analysts or agents, worldwide business
trouble-shooters, intercultural technology transfer
specialists, or multi-national corporate executives.
Since our program concentrates heavily on the written
language, on reading and on logical analysis, graduates
of the program will also find themselves particularly
well prepared for any career that requires the ability
to think and write well.
Certificate Requirements
- A
student must have a 3.0 GPA in the foreign language
and in his major, as well as permission of the
instructor, in order to enter the third year courses.
Exceptions may be made by the instructor in charge of
the program.
- A
student must complete all the technical courses
required by one of the Institute's degree-granting
programs.
-
Instead of the Humanities and Social Science courses
required in ordinary B.S. programs, the student must:
-
earn at least 12 credits in HSS courses other than
courses in foreign language. Of these 12 credits, at
least 4 credits must be earned in Humanities (HU
prefix) and at least 4 credits must be earned in
Social Sciences (SO prefix). RH131, Freshman
Composition, is NOT required for students in the
certificate program and may NOT be counted toward
the 12 HS credits.
-
Successfully complete the third and fourth year
courses in German (GE311, GE312, GE313, GE411,
GE412, GE413). See the Humanities section of this
catalogue for a description of the courses.
Commentary
Students should note that:
- A
student in the technical translators program is not
required to take RH131 Freshman Composition; a student
who drops out of the program, however, must take it.
- A
student in the technical translators program must take
any named humanities or social science course required
by the student's major program. (For example, SL151
Principles of Economics is required in a number of
regular B.S. programs.) These courses, however, may be
used to fulfill the HSS general education requirement
(3.1 above).
- In
order to fulfill all the requirements of the
certificate program, some students in some curricula
may have to take more than the minimum number of
credits required for graduation.
- Due
to scheduling requirements of some regular degree
programs, a student may also have to carry an overload
in some terms. This means a student will have to
maintain a better-than-average grade point average.
See student handbook for details.
- A
student who presents an acceptable score on a
nationally recognized placement examination (such as
the AATG exam) taken in high school, or who qualifies
through the Foreign Language Examination administered
during Freshman Orientation week, will be permitted to
enroll in the appropriate level of German as
determined by the foreign language faculty. A student
who successfully completes a quarter of more advanced
language at Rose-Hulman with a grade of C or better,
will be granted 4 hours of Credit by Examination for
each quarter of language by-passed. (Note: a minimum
of two terms of college language must be completed in
order to receive Humanities credit.)
- A
student is strongly urged, but not required, to spend
at least one summer studying in an approved program
for foreigners in Germany. Some small grants may be
available to help defray expenses.
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