Graduates in English Education will be able to:

• Demonstrate ability to enhance academic performance and support for implementation of the school district's student achievement goals
• Demonstrate competence in content knowledge appropriate to their teaching position.
• Demonstrate competence in planning and preparing for instruction.
• Use strategies to deliver instruction that meets the multiple learning needs of students.
• Use a variety of methods to monitor student learning.
• Demonstrate competence in classroom management.
• Engage in professional growth
• Fulfill professional responsibilities established by the school district.

Bachelor's graduates in Literary Studies will be able to

• Demonstrate knowledge of the nature of literature and the roles it plays in culture and the expression of culture.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the relevant working language of the discipline of literary study and the ways literature is defined, described, and classified.
• Analyze and interpret important literary texts written in English, particularly British and American literature
• Demonstrate knowledge of literary study as a discipline that makes use of specialized terminology and involves specific multiple intellectual perspectives, various analytical strategies, research, and writing.
• Situate literature in historical, theoretical, aesthetic, social/political, ethical, and other contexts.
• Demonstrate knowledge of skills in reading, writing, speaking, and research that are fundamental to the disciplined study of literature
• Demonstrate knowledge of language as constantly changing and fundamental to cultural expression.

Graduates in Rhetorical Studies will be able to:

• Understand the history and major theories of rhetoric as an intellectual field, with particular emphasis on the relationship of rhetoric to democratic government, philosophic views of language, and the ethical and cultural dimensions of discourse.
• Make persuasive written, oral, and visual arguments, including those for networked electronic environments.
• Demonstrate the learning skills (e.g., research, analysis, synthesis) and rhetorical competencies (e.g., presentation, collaboration, production, assessment) essential to disciplines where success depends primarily on effective discourse.
• Investigate the nature and practice of discourse: develop heuristics, identify arguments and evidence, analyze rhetorical situations, address ethical issues, recognize discourse restraints, analyze culturally significant documents, and justify rhetorical decisions.
• Function as productive citizens and life-long learners.

Graduates in Technical Communication will be able to:

• Demonstrate comprehension of specific ways in which the discipline of technical communication has emerged in the latter twentieth century, in the United States and internationally.
• Understand, analyze, and act upon humane and ethical issues, especially as they entail decisions facing technical communicators in an increasingly complex, technological society.
• Apply their historical and theoretical understanding necessary of the discipline to assess the impact of specific technologies upon communication within complex organizations.
• Synthesize their strategies for problem-solving and their skills in rhetorical analysis in designing, composing, and evaluating technical documents, including those for electronic, networked environments.
• Integrate oral, written, and visual skills to produce effective technical communication in the contemporary workplace.Master's graduates in literature will be able to
• Demonstrate knowledge of literature written in English and its traditions, schools, and movements, from various historical periods
• Demonstrate knowledge of origins and major movements of modern and postmodern literary criticism.
• Demonstrate knowledge of literature's cultural and historical contexts, with particular reference to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and linguistic difference as cultural phenomena.
• Demonstrate knowledge of primary and secondary research in the field, and discipline-specific research skills.
• Write persuasive expository prose about literary texts and contexts by applying close-reading, theoretical and critical methodology, and historical and cultural contextualization.
• Speak persuasively, in both formal and informal styles, about literary texts and their contexts.

Master's graduates in Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication will be able to:

• Demonstrate comprehension of specific ways in which the disciplines of rhetoric, composition, and professional communication have developed.
• Analyze the appropriateness of specific technologies for meeting communication goals in the workplace or the classroom.
• Employ critical thinking skills to solve communication problems within complex organizations and institutions.
• Collaborate in designing, composing, and evaluating academic and professional documents, including those for networked environments.
• Apply written, oral, visual, and electronic skills to produce effective communication in a variety of academic, professional, and civic contexts.
• Reflect on their professional practices in a variety of contexts.

Master's graduates in TESL/Applied Linguistics will be able to

• Demonstrate how language is structured and used and apply this knowledge to their curricular emphasis.
• Apply principles of second language acquisition and development.
• Undertake research on second language learning, teaching, and use in academic, professional, and vocational contexts.
• Understand how context - cultural, societal, political, community, situational - affects language use and learning, and apply this understanding to their curricular emphasis.
• Understand principles and methods in second language teaching and plan and modify instruction plans in relation to second language learning principles and learner variables.
• Use and apply a variety of technological materials in their curricular emphasis.
• Teach and work effectively in the classroom.

Ph.D. graduates in Applied Linguistics and Technology will be able to

• Synthesize fundamental issues and concepts in applied linguistics.
• Use computer technology for constructing and implementing materials for teaching and assessing English.
• Conduct empirical research and engage in critical analysis to evaluate computer applications for English language teaching and assessment.
• Engage in innovative teaching and assessments through the use of technology.
• Evaluate multiple perspectives on the spread of technology and its roles throughout world, particularly as they relate to English language teaching.

Ph.D. graduates in Rhetoric and Professional Communication will be able to:

• Comprehend fundamental issues, theories, research methods, and concepts in rhetoric and professional communication.
• Effectively use a variety of media (including oral, written, visual, and electronic) for designing and implementing communication in professional environments.
• Analyze and critique communication in a variety of professional contexts.
• Synthesize multiple perspectives on the value and use of rhetoric and professional communication.
• Design and conduct research that makes a significant contribution to rhetoric and professional communication.