Based on the language of your choice, this major seeks to:

• Enhance your ability to function effectively in an increasingly important commercial language locally, throughout the United States, and abroad.
• Develop your geographic literacy and cultural understanding of the French, German and Spanish-speaking worlds, as these are essential to being able to conduct business successfully in the second language.
• Discuss the cross-cultural communication skills used frequently in the world of business--of special importance to managers and leaders who must make informed decisions.
• Develop your ability to conduct business in French, German or Spanish successfully.
• Develop greater cross-cultural awareness and understanding.
• Develop the following language skills for professional business purposes: speaking, listening comprehension, reading, writing, and translation/interpretation.

Skills Communication

Advanced language proficiency in the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Collaboration

Students use their native and acquired languages to learn from and work cooperatively across cultures with global team members, sharing responsibility and making necessary compromises while working toward a common goal.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Students frame, analyze and synthesize information as well as negotiate meaning across language and culture in order to explore problems and issues from their own and different perspectives.

Information Literacy

Students access, manage and effectively use culturally-authentic sources in ethical and legal ways.

Media Literacy

Students evaluate authentic sources to understand how media reflect and influence language and culture.

Technology Literacy

Students use appropriate technologies when interpreting messages, interacting with others and producing written, oral and visual messages.

Flexibility and Adaptability

Initiative and Self-Direction

Students set their own goals and reflect on their progress as they grow and improve their linguistic and cultural competence.

Social and Cross-Cultural Skills

*Students understand diverse cultural perspectives and use appropriate socio-linguistic skills in order to function in diverse cultural and linguistic contexts.

Productivity and Accountability

Leadership and Responsibility

Students leverage their linguistic and cross-cultural skills to inspire others to be fair, accepting, open and understanding within and beyond the local community.

This program provides a basis from which many different personality types can excel. Since you are able to choose your own business focus, you have the ability to craft your pathway to different types of jobs. Depending on your business focus, this major is for students who:

• Are energized by people, enjoy a variety of tasks, a quick pace, and enjoy multitasking.
• Like working alone or in small groups, prefer a more deliberate pace, and like to focus on one task at a time.
• Are realistic and like to focus on details, prefer to apply common sense and past experience to come up with practical solutions to problems.
• Focus on possibilities, are big-picture thinkers, who easily see patterns, who value innovation, and seek creative solutions to problems.

With Samford University’s Language and World Trade major, you can:

• Tailor a program to your language of interest.
• Choose an internship using both your language and business skills.
• Learn a third language in that part of the curriculum is choosing a third language.
• Choose business courses that support your future career goals.

Market Ready

This program provides students with a solid foundation in the vocabulary and discourse used in French, German or Spanish when dealing with different types of companies. This program is uniquely positioned to help the student enter the market place at both the international level as well as the national level in that the course work trains the students to work with international clientele as well as employees/colleagues of different cultures. With a focus on international business and cross-cultural communication, the courses prepare the student to engage in positions of management; banking and accounting; marketing; finance; entrepreneurship; the modern business office and communications; and human resources.

Career Opportunities

• Insurance
• Finance
• Consulting
• Management
• Interpreting
• Translating
• Accounting
• Teaching

Internships

• Viajes Colón in San José, Costa Rica
• Vocero News in Kenner, LA
• UNIGES, Madrid, Spain
• Women’s Missionary Union, Birmingham, AL
• American Behavioral, Birmingham, AL
• Cahaba Valley Health Care, Birmingham, AL
• Multicultural Resource Center, Birmingham, AL
• Paisano Newspaper, Birmingham, AL
• World Reach, Birmingham, AL
• Not Forgotten, INC., Birmingham, AL
• Centro Linguistico Conversa, San José, Costa Rica
• Guau Group, S.A., Córdoba, Argentina
• Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
• Birmingham Health Care, INC., Birmingham, AL
• KeySys Consulting, Birmingham, AL
• Panorama Public Relations Strategic Hispanic Marketing, Birmingham, AL
• New English Center, Seville, Spain
• FAES, Madrid, Spain
• Foundation Marketing, Birmingham, AL
• Department of State, US Embassy, Madrid, Spain
• Latin American Association, Atlanta, GA
• Henry Davis Foundation, Ecuador