Course Definitions
As with the other departments of Boğaziçi University, the Turkish Language and Literature undergraduate program consists of required and elective courses. Courses with TKL codes are the required courses of the department. There are also required courses from other departments in our undergraduate program. These courses are: LING 101, PHIL 111, PHIL 112, LING 314 and HIST 235. They cannot be taken as electives in any way.
There are two groups of elective courses: Departmental elective (area elective) and elective. Apart from required courses with TKL codes, the TKL-coded courses that our department offers for the field of Turkish Language and Literature are named “departmental elective,” while courses from other departments of Boğaziçi University are named “elective.” In our undergraduate program, it is compulsory to complete 3 departmental elective courses, the names, definitions and contents of which may differ by the year. Departmental electives can be taken as of the third semester and electives as of the first. In addition to the department’s required courses, students must take the aforementioned 3 departmental electives as well as 5 HSS electives, 1 complementary elective, 2 science electives, and 4 unrestricted electives (see below).
If our students want to complete some of the certificate programs offered by several departments of the university, they can choose their electives from the courses in certificate programs as of the third semester. (Visit http://westlanglit.boun.edu.tr/programs/certificate-programs/)
Elective courses from other departments are classified as “HSS,” “complementary,” “science,” and “unrestricted.”
a) HSS elective (Humanities-Social Science Elective): Course codes in this group are: HIST, HUM, PHIL, PSY, LING, EC, AD, POLS, SOC, ED, TR, CL, EL, AL, FA, LIT, CIN. STS 488 is counted as an HSS elective. In the Turkish Language and Literature undergraduate program, completing 5 HSS electives is a requirement.
b) Complementary elective: All HSS electives and language courses like FR, GER, JP, RUS, etc. are considered to be “complementary electives.” In the Turkish Language and Literature undergraduate program, taking one complementary elective is a requirement.
c) Science elective: Course codes in this group are: MATH, PHYS, COMP, BIO, CHEM, ESC, CE, SCI, STS (partially). In the Turkish Language and Literature undergraduate program, completing 2 science electives is a requirement.
STS 401 and STS 488 do not count as science electives.
| STS 401.01 | Desc. | HISTORY OF SCIENCE |
| STS 488.01 | Desc. | SP.TP.THE AGE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |
d) Unrestricted elective: Apart from required courses or departmental electives, this elective might be any other course offered by any other department (for details, see the restrictions imposed on unrestricted electives and courses not accepted as electives). In the Turkish Language and Literature undergraduate program, completing 4 unrestricted electives is compulsory. Departmental electives can by no means be counted as unrestricted electives.
Before choosing these courses, getting information about them by examining the Boğaziçi University course catalog, talking with the students who previously took these courses, and getting advice from your advisor is crucial for your academic development. From the “Faculties and Schools” section on the university web page you can access the departments you want to choose courses from and examine their undergraduate programs and course definitions. A number of departments have courses open for students of other departments (MATH 101, PSY 101, SOC 101, etc.). However, elective courses from other departments usually have certain quota restrictions. Thus, it will be for your advantage to decide on your elective course list well in advance and to register for these courses early on registration day. If you are interested in another department’s course which is not open for you and you still want to register, the system will reject you; in this case you will have to make a request for consent from the instructor of the course. This can be done through the Registration web page.
The HSS courses with the codes HUM 101 and HUM 102 are important as they will contribute to your general knowledge and also provide you with a comparative perspective on literatures and cultures. You are advised to register for them.
AE courses
Those who pass the Proficiency test with a C grade have to take AE111 or AE 112 (Advanced English) courses for one semester. This course is considered as the HSS course of that semester. Those who pass with a C can take two more AE coded courses (except AE 111 and AE 112) as one HSS and one unrestricted elective. Those who pass Proficiency with an A or a B can take any Advanced English course (except AE 111 and AE 112), once as HSS and once as an unrestricted elective. In short, those who pass with a C can take three AE courses (one as a first-semester required course, one as an HSS, and one as an unrestricted elective) while those who pass with an A or a B can take two AE courses (one as an HSS and one as an unrestricted elective). Those who take either AE 111 or AE 112 cannot take the other.
AR 201 and PER 201 cannot both be taken as electives. Only one of AR 201 or PER 201 can be taken as a departmental elective. But if the course’s continuation is taken (e.g. AR 202 after AR 201, or PER 202 after PER 201), the continuation also counts as a departmental elective.
ENGL 111 and ENGL 112 (Expository Writing), offered by the Department of Western Languages and Literatures, can only be considered unrestricted electives.
AE 221 and AE 222 (Critical Reading), offered by the Advanced English Unit, do not count as HSS electives, but may be taken as unrestricted electives.
TID 211 and TID 212 (Turkish Sign Language), offered by the Department of Linguistics, count as language courses, but may only be taken as complementary or unrestricted electives.
If the contents of an HSS elective course (HIST, HUM, PHIL, PSY, LING, EC, AD, POLS, SOC, ED, TR, CL, EL, AL, FA, LIT, CIN) do not conform with the contents of HSS courses as sought by the Department of Turkish Language and Literature, the adviser may not accept the course as an HSS elective. If a course in the HSS group teaches a living or dead language, or the subject in question is offered as a computer and/or software application, the course will not be accepted as an HSS elective.
PA courses
PA-coded courses, offered by the Department of Fine Arts, can only be taken once and only as an unrestricted elective. However, as most of these are two-credit courses only, two of these courses might be considered as a single course. If you want to take more than two PA courses, it will be wiser to take them as non-credit (NC).
PE courses
PE courses, offered by the Department of Physical Education, are not accepted as electives. Taking them as non-credit (NC) courses would be a better option.
TR 101 (Turkish for Translators) and TR 221 (Turkish Writing Skills II), offered by the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies, cannot be taken as electives, because their contents are similar to those of departmental courses. (TR 103 [Public Speaking], though, may be taken as an unrestricted elective.)
ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 (Introduction to Literary Scholarship), offered by the Department of Western Languages and Literatures, also cannot be taken as electives, because their contents are similar to those of departmental courses.
HIST 498 and HIST 499 (Readings in Ottoman Texts), offered by the Department of History, cannot be taken as electives, because their contents are similar to those of departmental courses.
Departmental electives may not be taken as unrestricted electives.
Just as some university courses may be continuations of other courses that need to be taken first, some courses may be almost impossible to pass without having successfully completed certain foundational courses on that subject. To improve comprehension of courses requiring prior knowledge, and to increase the rate of success, some compulsory course prerequisites have been instituted. Although some courses do have prerequisites, in order to facilitate irregular students’ course choices and to prevent possible delays in graduation, prerequisite requirements are waived in some cases. Taking these circumstances into account, attention must be paid to taking continuation courses or courses requiring prior knowledge.
|
Prerequisite Courses
|
Prerequisite
|
|
|
TKL 102
|
TKL 101
|
|
|
TKL 204
|
TKL 102
|
|
|
TKL 205
|
TKL 102
|
|
| TKL 206 | Consent of the instructor | |
|
TKL 213
|
TKL 102, TKL 103, TKL 104
|
|
|
TKL 214
|
TKL 102, TKL 103, TKL 104
|
|
|
TKL 215
|
TKL 102
|
|
| TKL 216 | TKL 215 | |
|
TKL 217
|
TKL 102
|
|
|
TKL 301
|
PHIL 111, PHIL 112
|
|
|
TKL 302
|
PHIL 111, PHIL 112
|
|
|
TKL 313
|
TKL 204, 205
|
|
|
TKL 314
|
TKL 204, 205
|
The credit of a course is its weekly hours. For example, the credit of a three hour (per week) course is three and the credit of a four hour course is four. In order to graduate after four years of education, students have to complete a certain number of credits. The minimum amount for the students of Turkish Language and Literature is 141 credits. Credit load per semester may vary. You can see the number of credits required to be taken each semester in the undergraduate program of the department.
According to Boğaziçi University Undergraduate Program Regulations, students in their first and second semesters have to take all their courses when they are first opened. These students cannot drop required courses during their first and second semesters, and they cannot take extra courses except non-credit ones. The required credit amount to be taken during the first and the second semester in the Department of Turkish Language and Literature is 16 for each semester. According to the regulation stated above, students cannot take more or less credits than the amount stated. After the first two semesters, students with a GPA of 2.50 or above can take 6 to 8 more credits than the standard credit amount of the semester in which they are registered only if their advisors approve and there is not any conflict.
