在比较文学中，学生需要用两种外语展示能力。核心知识领域的两个学习成果包括，我们的研究生具有“展示与其专业相关的高级外语写作和口语流利能力”，以及阅读外语学术著作的能力。 ）与他们的第二个主要领域和/或次要领域相关”，并“展示了对跨文化的相互了解以及跨时空的文学和文化多样性的知情欣赏。”此外，学习成果之一在教学法领域，研究生的能力包括“培养学生批判性思考能力和用外国语和英语写作的有力论据的能力”。
As described on the web site for Applied Linguistics at UCSB, Applied Linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of research and instruction that provides theoretical and descriptive foundations for the empirical investigation and solution of language-related issues, especially those of language education (first-language, second-language, foreign-language and heritage-language teaching and learning), but also issues of bilingualism and biliteracy, language policy, language assessment, translation and interpretation, lexicography, rhetoric and composition.<br><br>In Comparative Literature, students need to demonstrate competency in two foreign languages. Two of the learning outcomes in the area of core knowledge include the ability of our graduate students to demonstrate advanced written and oral fluency of a foreign language relevant to their major field, and the ability to read scholarly works in the foreign language(s) relevant to their second major field and/or minor field as well as demonstrate an informed appreciation of cross-cultural interconnections and diversity of literatures and cultures across time and space. In addition, one of the learning outcomes in the area of pedagogy includes the ability of graduate students to foster in their students the ability to think critically and construct cogent arguments in their writing, in a foreign language as well as English. Training in applied linguistics is one of the rigorous ways to help fulfill these learning objectives.