The University offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in French teacher education and Spanish teacher education. The majors in French or Spanish teacher education include coursework in language, literature and culture, as well as professional education courses and student teaching. Students with prior study of a language or who are heritage speakers should complete a placement exam and are eligible for advanced placement credit after successfully completing one to two courses in the department. Minors are also available in French and Spanish. The department is committed to promoting foreign languages both as a means of communication and as the prerequisite to cultural understanding. Classes with the prefix of FR and SPAN are taught in the target language and promote students' active use of the language in a culturally and communicatively meaningful context. Classes with the prefix FL are taught in English and allow students the opportunity to reflect critically on cultural practices and products of non-Englishspeaking countries and people prior to obtaining advanced proficiency in the target language. Foreign languages taught at Western Illinois University include French and Spanish. Knowledge of other languages and cultures is the foundation for successful interaction with peers, colleagues, supervisors, employees and friends from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. When a person learns another language, he/she steps outside the cognitive framework to which he/she is accustomed in order to understand people, events and processes from a new perspective. Learning languages promotes appreciation and respect for cultural diversity, can increase marketability to employers and graduate schools and opens the door to lifechanging opportunities for study and work abroad.