LLC Honors Program

DLLC Honors Program

The Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures maintains an honors program to provide qualified students in each of the department’s majors (French & Francophone Studies, German, Spanish & Hispanic Studies, and East Asian Languages & Cultures) with an opportunity for advanced research in a seminar atmosphere. In order to graduate with honors in LLC, students must take 2 honors courses and complete a 3-credit thesis.  For specifics on the course requirements for each language (French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese) contact the DLLC Honors Program Director, Dr. Jean-François Fournier (fournierj@appstate.edu).

Junior and senior level honors courses carry full credit toward the appropriate departmental majors, or for non-majors full elective credit. Students must earn a grade of ‘B’ (3.0 grade points) or higher on all honors coursework taken to fulfill any honors requirements.  “The minimum GPA in honors coursework upon graduation is 3.45. Due to the cumulated nature of this requirement, students must earn a grade of ‘B’ (3.0 grade points) or higher on each honors course taken to graduate with honors.”

To graduate with honors, a student must take 9 semester hours of honors courses in the appropriate concentration, including the senior honors thesis: CHN 4510, FRE 4511, GER 4510, JPN 4510, SNH 4511.

Students must earn a minimum overall average GPA of 3.45 in coursework taken to fulfill any honors requirements. Admission to the program is by invitation. Students must have a minimum overall GPA of at least 3.20 for admission to LLC departmental honors.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Jean-François Fournier
DLLC Honors Program Director
LS Dougherty Hall 210 K
fournierj@appstate.edu
(828) 262-2307

LLC Honors Contract

The honors contract is used to request honors credit in a regular course by developing a plan to do additional, honors-level work in that course.

Students pursuing departmental honors only should complete the DLLC Honors Contract in consultation with the course instructor and the DLLC honors program director. 

Students pursuing both university and departmental honors should access the contract form through the Honors Course Forms page (click on "Honors Contract Application"; you will need to log in using your App State ID and password to access the application). 

Earning Honors Credit Abroad

Students taking courses abroad have the option of counting their semester abroad for 3 credit hours in replacement of one honors contract. This option is valid for one and only one contract. The second contract is still to be fulfilled within the department at Appalachian State. Students taking courses abroad in English do not receive honors credits for one contract. The attribution of 3 credit hours requires a ratio of at least 50% of the hours taken in the language of the student's concentration (Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, French, German) during one semester spent abroad. Faculty-led programs also allow for completion of 1 honors contract counting for 3 credit hours. Contracts earned abroad are added to the honors block in DegreeWorks once students have returned to Appalachian State and their coursework has been processed.

LLC Honors Thesis Guidelines and Instructions

To graduate with departmental honors from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, students must complete a departmental honors thesis.

Credit hours and grades: Students must complete at least 3 semester hours of thesis credit to graduate with departmental honors. Students also graduating with university honors should consult their departmental honors director about enrolling in thesis hours in their department. Students may split thesis credits over multiple semesters in whole numbers (1-3 hours at a time; we cannot do .5 hours of credit).

Students should plan to enroll in at least 1 hour of thesis credit in the semester in which they will defend their thesis. If a situation arises where a student is unable to finish their thesis and defend, then a grade of Incomplete should be issued until the student is able to finish the thesis and successfully defend their project. Per university policy, incomplete grades automatically become an F grade if not completed in one academic (fall/spring) semester. Thesis hours are graded on an A-F grading scale by the thesis director/mentor.

Thesis mentoring: The thesis director (or thesis mentor) must be a DLLC faculty member at the assistant, associate or full professor rank who is willing to work with the student over the time specified to complete the project described in the attached prospectus. The second reader can be a member of the community with relevant experience or another Appalachian State faculty member from a different department/discipline from the thesis director. Family members are not eligible to serve on thesis committees.

In order to enroll in a thesis course (CHN/FRE/GER/JPN/SNH 4510 or 4511), students should complete a Special Course Approval Form, which can be accessed through the Honors Course Forms page, as well as the Departmental Honors Thesis/Project Application Form.

DLLC Departmental Honors Thesis Defense

Graduating with departmental honors requires a thesis defense.

Scheduling the Defense

Students are responsible for scheduling their thesis defense on a date and time agreed upon by their thesis committee (director and second reader) prior to its final approval. Students must reserve a room that is large enough to accommodate additional attendees other than their committee, and one that has appropriate technology needed by the student to conduct the presentation. Students may reserve a room in LS Dougherty Hall by contacting the DLLC administrative assistant, Cindy Trivette (trivetteca@appstate.edu).

The defense should take place at least one to two weeks prior to the first day of exams to allow time for any recommended changes or additions requested by the committee upon completion of the defense. In addition to scheduling the defense date, students should also provide a copy of their thesis to the committee (director and second reader) for review at least two weeks in advance of the defense.

Publication of Defense Information

Once the defense date is confirmed, students must email the DLLC Honors Program Director Dr. Jean-François Fournier (fournierj@appstate.edu) with the time, date, building, and room number so that it can be placed on the departmental events calendar.

Additionally, students should share with the Honors Program Director the following information, which may be posted on department website:

  • Title of thesis
  • Name of thesis director
  • Picture of student (.jpg)

Format of and language(s) used during the Thesis Defense

  • Introduction (1-2 minutes): The thesis director will offer a brief introduction of the student and their project in English.
  • Presentation (15-20 minutes): The student’s presentation of the thesis will be conducted in the language in which the thesis is written. (If the thesis is written in English, the student will accomplish the presentation of their work in this language. If the thesis is written in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, the student will do the presentation of their work in this language). The precise length and format of this presentation is decided in consultation with the thesis director.
  • Q&A, part 1 (10-15 minutes): The director and second reader will pose questions to the student and offer comments in English. Questions from faculty can then be addressed by student in English or in the target language.
  • Q&A, part 2 (5 minutes): Following the presentation, the committee may invite the public to ask questions, or they may ask the public to wait until the committee has completed their examination.
  • Deliberation (5 minutes): Once the questioning and defense of the thesis has ended, the student and the public are excused so that the committee may deliberate on the outcome of the defense. The committee determines if the student has "passed" or "failed" the defense.
  • Results: After deliberation, the student is invited back and informed of the outcome. Assuming a "pass," the student will then be instructed as to any remaining work, corrections, changes that the committee require before they accept the thesis in its final form. Results of deliberations will be delivered in English.

Thesis Grade

The thesis director alone is responsible for assigning a grade for the thesis, and this does not need to occur until grades are due at the end of the semester, thus allowing time for any changes the student must implement. If there are substantial changes required before a passing grade can be assigned, it is possible to assign an incomplete, though this will delay graduation.

Submission of the Final Thesis

The University Library is no longer collecting hard copies of theses. Theses will be included in the NC Docks Digital Archive. The Honors College only needs your departmental honors theses if they are to be included in NC Docks. Click here for instructions on how to submit your thesis.

Theses in Cases of Multiple Majors and Honors

1. Format of the thesis for students majoring in DLLC and in another department.

 If a student has two different majors (one in DLLC and one outside of DLLC), the following options will be accepted for the theses:

  • 2 separate and independent projects, each counting for 3 credits and produced under the direction of each department. In this case, the student will follow the requirements according to their major track for their thesis done within DLLC. (Please see below). 
  • 1 longer project counting for 6 credits and meeting the requirements of both departments. This type of project is intended for students who wish to explore in a single comparative project themes and questions in both majors. Each of the two required readers shall be the director (or guiding figure) in their major field of reference. One of these two readers should also serve as administrative director for the project.
    • This project can be written in English, if the linguistic requirements allow this option for the major track (Chinese, French, German, Japanese). Length of the thesis is 80-100 pages.
    • This project can be written in the target language (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish).
      • French, German, Spanish: Length of the thesis is 35-40 pages.
      • Chinese, Japanese: Length of the thesis is 20-25 pages.

2. Format of the thesis in cases of multiple honors for students doing University Honors and LLC Departmental Honors (one major). 

A 3-credit thesis will be written in the target language (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish) following the requirements. The director should be a DLLC faculty member. The second reader can be a faculty member at Appalachian, or a faculty member with relevant expertise from another university/institution (local or international).

Specific Thesis Requirements by Major Track

East Asian Studies

Option 1: One academic article written in English on a specific topic or area connected with the target language.  

  • Article should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and Chinese/Japanese
  • MLA style
  • 6000/6500 words

 Option 2: One substantial paper written in Chinese OR Japanese on a specific topic or area connected with the target language. 

  • Paper should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • Paper should offer an argument and not be simply descriptive
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and Chinese/Japanese
  • 2500/3000 ideograms for Chinese, at least 10,000 characters for Japanese

French

Option 1: One academic article written in English on a specific topic or area connected with the target language.  

  • Article should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and French
  • MLA style
  • 6000/6500 words

Option 2: One substantial paper written in French on a specific topic or area connected with the target language. 

  • Paper should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • Paper should offer an argument and not be simply descriptive
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and French
  • 6000/6500 words

German

Option 1: One academic paper written in English on a specific topic or area connected with the target language. A summary of the paper in German will be required to consider the thesis complete.

  •  Article should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and German
  • MLA style
  • Paper: 6000/6500 words
  • Summary: 2000/2500 words

  Option 2: One substantial paper written in German on a specific topic or area connected with the target language. 

  • Paper should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • Paper should offer an argument and not be simply descriptive
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and German
  • 5000/5500 words

Spanish

One substantial paper written in Spanish on a specific topic or area connected with the target language. 

  • Paper should actively engage in a dialogue with recent research in the field.
  • Paper should offer an argument and not be simply descriptive
  • List of Works Cited.
  • Primary sources in the target language
  • Secondary sources in English and Spanish
  • 5000 words minimum