Less Commonly Taught Languages

Offered through the Department of Linguistics

Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) are world languages that are not frequently taught at American universities. LCTLs are generally considered to be all languages except English, French, German, and Spanish.

The Department of Linguistics at Ohio University offers language instruction in Chinese, Japanese, Swahili, Indonesian, and Arabic. Additionally, the department coordinates other less commonly taught languages of Africa and Southeast Asia through its collaboration with the Center for International Studies. These LCTL courses are considered to be of critical need to a variety of students.

LCTL courses offered through the Department of Linguistics are the African languages of Somali, Wolof, and Akan (Twi) and the Southeast Asian Languages of Thai, Khmer, and Vietnamese.

The LCTLs at Ohio University are taught by native speakers of those languages who are qualified language instructors utilizing communicative language teaching. Instruction in these languages is available at the elementary and intermediate levels.

Though LCTL courses can be taken by both undergraduate and graduate students, undergraduates must be aware of the following:

• Undergraduates must be juniors or seniors in good academic standing
• LCTL courses do not fulfill the College of Arts and Science’s language or humanities requirements
• A class permission slip must be obtained by undergraduates from the LCTL Coordinator for the first LCTL course taken