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Teacher Certification

Master of Arts in Teaching World and Heritage Language Education

Prepare for a rewarding career as a teacher with our Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in World and Heritage Language Education. From drawing up lesson plans to managing the classroom, this MAT program will provide you with a rigorous and thorough foundation in the fundamentals of teaching. Our program pairs intensive coursework with student teaching opportunities to ready the next generation of foreign language education teachers.

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The Master of Arts (MAT) program in World and Heritage Language Education offers students a rigorous course of instruction in teaching specific foreign language areas in grades PK-12. The MAT satisfies the requirements for earning a Pennsylvania Instructional I Certificate and provides students with a Master’s in Teaching upon graduation.

Certification studies are available in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, or Latin. 

Applicants who are native and non-native speakers of the language of certification are ideally required to achieve at least an Advanced-Low rating on the OPI (an Oral Proficiency Interview by an individual certified by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). However, a rating of Intermediate-High will also be accepted as this is the minimum rating required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Native speakers of the language of certification are not exempt from the OPI or the prerequisite coursework in the culture, civilization literature, and structure of their language.

Students who plan to teach Spanish after completing the major should consult with their advisor as well as the World and Heritage Language Education Programs in Pitt's School of Education (soeinfo@pitt.edu / 412-648-2230)