Bachelor of Arts in Critical Languages and International Studies - Chinese

University of Texas - Arlington

Part of the Critical Languages and International Studies section, our mission is to promote global competence through the study of the language, literature, and business environments of Chinese.With 1.28 billion people, China is the most populous nation in the world. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by 885 million speakers, making it the world’s most widely spoken first language. In addition to the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, Mandarin Chinese is also widely spoken in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Mongolia. China is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations (over 5000 years old). Today, China is an economic powerhouse-it has the second largest economy in the world and is one of America’s largest trading partners. Indeed, many U.S. companies do business in China, including Motorola, Coca Cola, and Ford.Our innovative curriculum is designed to maximize the success of both language learners and heritage speakers of Chinese who grew up with Chinese at home. Through experiential learning in language classes, as well as in more advanced courses in literature, culture, business, and localization and translation, we train our students to be multilingual and intercultural. In addition to linguistic and cultural competence, students gain valuable skills in critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.