Catalan Language and Literature

Degree programme objectives

The degree in Catalan Language and Literature is the entrance to the countries where Catalan is spoken. Through these studies, students can acquire knowledge about the Catalan language, culture and literature, at the same time that get the capacity of establishing connections between Catalonia, its language and literature, with the rest of the Romance languages and literatures. Apart from the lessons on practical language and specialized linguistic disciplines like phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax, students receive courses on culture, reality and literature of the Catalan-speaking countries, i.e. Catalonia, Valencia, eastern Aragon, Andorra, Balearic islands and Alghero.

The degree cultivates both language skills and skills required in the fields of communication and communication technology, in translation or in government, and develops analytical skills, autonomy and creativity. By systematic training in the combination of practical language, professional linguistics and literature students will also learn the basic principles of standard written and oral expression in Catalan and Czech.

Study plans

Catalan language and literature

full-time, single-subject

Catalan language and literature

full-time, major

Catalan language and literature

full-time, minor

Catalan Language and Literature

combined, single-subject

Admission Procedures
Admission to Bachelor's and long-cycle Master's degree programmes in 2025/2026
Submission deadline until midnight 28/2/2025

Information on entrance examinations designed for this degree programme
This programme is accredited in Czech and requires students to have a native-speaker or C1 knowledge of Czech or Slovak.

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the oral Field of Study Examination. Applicants may also be admitted based on other criteria, see Admission without the Entrance Examination. The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations.

You can file your e-applications for studies from 1 November to 28 February.
Field of Study Examinations will be held from 22 April to 27 April.
The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations. Applicants applying for the major study plan and minor study plan in a combined study must comply with the conditions for admission into both plans.
Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this degree programme, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination
This examination is intended to check the applicants’ knowledge of the given field of study. It is done in the form of an oral interview.

Basic description of the Field of Study Examination:
The objective of the oral interview is to determine the applicant’s motivation for studying in this programme, general knowledge of the facts of life and institutions of the Catalan countries, and level of language thinking.
Length of the oral interview: 15 to 20 minutes.
Thematic topics of the interview:
- motivation;
- basic information on the Catalan countries and Catalan language;
- life and institutions of the Catalan-speaking countries;
- language analysis of a sentence in Czech.
  Admission without the entrance examination
  You may be exempt from the entrance examination based on at least one of the following criteria:
  1. language certificate level B1 or higher;
  2. secondary school results from profile subjects of Czech (Slovak) language, English, basics of social sciences and a fourth subject chosen by the applicant from the subjects offered by the faculty: Chinese, history, French, music, information technology, Italian, Latin, maths, German, Russian, Spanish.
  Secondary school results may be applied for an exemption from the entrance examination by those applicants whose average grade was 1.5 or higher in each of the four profile subjects. The total average result in all subjects is not taken into consideration. Secondary school seminars are also disregarded. The average grade of each profile subject is calculated based on the results of the last four years of study in the following way: the mid-year grade is calculated from the final year, whereas the final grades are calculated from the previous three years. It is also necessary that applicants have studied each of the profile subjects for at least two years during the last four years.
  Enter your grades in your e-application. Then print the grades out and let your secondary school certify them with a stamp and a signature. Upload the scan of the certified grades into your e-application. You can also upload officially certified school reports or any other documents certifying your school results.
  Please upload the officially certified documents directly to your e-application in the section Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination no later than 28 February.
Recommended reading for the examinations under this field
- David Utrera Domínguez, /Cultura y civilización catalanas/, Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014.
- Michael Eaude, /Catalonia: A Cultural History, /Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008
- Catalunya blogspot
Evaluation criteria valid for the applicants applying for a place on this degree programme
- Total number of points in the Field of Study Examination: 100
- Limit for successfully passing the Field of Study Examination: 60

Studies

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Objectives
The degree in Catalan Language and Literature is the entrance to the countries where Catalan is spoken. Through these studies, students can acquire knowledge about the Catalan language, culture and literature, at the same time that get the capacity of establishing connections between Catalonia, its language and literature, with the rest of the Romance languages and literatures. Apart from the lessons on practical language and specialized linguistic disciplines like phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax, students receive courses on culture, reality and literature of the Catalan-speaking countries, i.e. Catalonia, Valencia, eastern Aragon, Andorra, Balearic islands and Alghero.
The degree cultivates both language skills and skills required in the fields of communication and communication technology, in translation or in government, and develops analytical skills, autonomy and creativity. By systematic training in the combination of practical language, professional linguistics and literature students will also learn the basic principles of standard written and oral expression in Catalan and Czech.
Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:
- communicate, orally and in written form, in Catalan at the level C1 according to CEFR /B1 (minor).
- be able to perform linguistic analysis of texts from all the linguistic points of view and disciplines
- analyze literary texts
- study literary history in basic interdisciplinary contexts and cultural contexts
- understand the society, politics, culture and history of Catalonia and other Catalan speaking territories
- translate from Catalan into Czech and from Czech into Catalan
Occupational Profiles of Graduates
A graduate of this study is capable of writing and speaking in Catalan and has social, political, cultural and historical knowledge of Catalonia and other territories where Catalan is spoken. The graduate also has knowledge of another Romance language and other Romanesque areas -of his own choosing. In addition to working in the field (translating, editorial, journalism...), graduates are qualified to work in professions that require the ability of independent and critical thinking and good communicative competences in both their mother tongue and Catalan.
Practical Training
Even though the study does not require mandatory internships, students have the opportunity to participate in a number of practical tasks during their bachelor's studies, for example in the organization of the department's cultural and professional events. Those interested can also travel to language or cultural institutions in Catalonia or elsewhere in Europe as part of practical Erasmus internships.
Goals of Theses
The standard bachelor's thesis range from 72,000 to 90,000 characters, including footnotes, title sheets, content, and literature. Students work with published texts, but they must approach them analytically and critically to be able to formulate their own comments, opinions, conclusions and cite correctly. The thesis is written in Catalan, and it demonstrates the student's ability to work adequately and appropriately with the language and the consulted materials.
Access to Further Studies
A graduate of a Bachelor's degree program can (after fulfilling the conditions of admission) continue a master's degree in humanities-based study programs.