THOMASIANS MAY soon specialize in the Spanish or French language as the UST Department of Modern Languages is planning to launch a degree program to allow them to keep pace with global trends and to boost cross-cultural understanding.
The four-year undergraduate program is part of the department’s ongoing efforts to bolster its performance in the local and international sphere, according to its chair Royce Randall Lim.
“The Department is planning to offer a BA (bachelor of arts) program in Modern Languages with a focus on European languages (Spanish and French). Students will have the option to choose between these two specializations,” Lim told The Flame.
“The department aims to offer this program starting in the academic year 2028-[2029].”
Housed under the Faculty of Arts and Letters, the Department of Modern Languages offers general education courses in foreign languages across the University’s academic units. Among these are Spanish, a required subject for all Artlets students; Mandarin and German.
Immersive experiences on language learning are also being mapped out by the department to further enhance its cultural programs. Such initiatives include partnerships and collaborations with global organizations, which Lim believes are central to the department’s growth as they provide opportunities for students to gain work experience abroad.
“It (Modern Languages department) is committed to strengthening international partnerships and forming new collaborations with global organizations to create more opportunities for student engagement,” the department chair said.
Stronger global partnerships sought
UST’s modern languages subject recently broke into the latest QS World Subject Rankings within the 301-350 bracket, being the sole narrow subject the University secured a rank for under Arts and Humanities.
READ: UST regains medicine rank, makes debut in modern languages in latest QS World Subject Rankings
With an overall score of 60.0 out of 100, the subject area performed best in employer reputation (61.7), an indicator that weighs a university’s employability across its respective subjects. It obtained a score of 50.6 for academic reputation, which reflects a school’s research quality, strategic partnerships and innovation. It was, however, not evaluated in citations per paper and h-index, which measure a subject’s research impact based on the citation count of scholarly outputs.
Lim said such results could be attributed to the Modern Languages department’s cultural projects on language learning and the increase in its partnerships and collaborations this academic year.
“The strong employability of graduates who studied Spanish, along with the department’s cultural initiatives and partnerships, likely played a significant role in its recognition,” Lim said.
“It also aims to expand its research efforts, encouraging both faculty and students to actively contribute to global conversations in foreign language education and cultural studies,” he added.
This academic year, the department has collaborated with international language and cultural centers Goethe-Institut Philippinen and Alliance Française de Manille. Its project with the Philippine-Italian Association and Società Dante Alighieri Manila will also debut this March.
A two-day conference for Spanish Language teachers in the Philippines will likewise take place in UST in October this year, with the Department of Modern Languages as the host.
“[T]he department will continue to improve its Spanish courses to keep pace with global trends,” Lim said.
“This recognition (from QS) is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our faculty and students, who continually strive for excellence in the Spanish language.” F
