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Bengali Language & Literature

What Bengali Language & Literature Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Bengali Language & Literature develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Bengali Language & Literature graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Bengali Language & Literature emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Foreign Language — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.1 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Sociology and Anthropology — Importance 2.8 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills emphasized by a Bengali Language & Literature program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Bengali Language & Literature careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Bengali Language & Literature graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Getting Information	3.9 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	3.8 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.7 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	3.7 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	3.7 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Bengali Language & Literature professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
DOC Cop	Information retrieval or search software	—
iParadigms Turnitin	Information retrieval or search software	—
Learning management system LMS	Computer based training software	✓
Collaborative editing software	Word processing software	—
Calendar and scheduling software	Calendar and scheduling software	—
American Sign Language ASL browser	Dictionary software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Bengali Language & Literature graduates include:

• Spanish Professor
• Modern Languages Professor
• College Professor
• Arabic Instructor
• French Professor
• Adjunct Spanish Instructor
• Professor
• English for Speakers of Other Languages Teacher (ESOL Teacher)
• Instructor
• Swahili Teacher
• Chinese Language Professor
• German Instructor
• University Faculty Member
• Italian Teacher
• Spanish Teacher

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Bengali Language & Literature graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	44.6%
Bachelor’s degree	26.8%
Master’s degree	21.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	3.1%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	1.7%
Post-master’s certificate	1.4%
Postsecondary certificate	0.5%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.07
Hindi Language and Literature	16.0701
Punjabi Language and Literature	16.0705
Sanskrit and Classical Indian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0702
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	16.0799
South Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0700
Tamil Language and Literature	16.0706
Urdu Language and Literature	16.0707
African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.0201
Albanian Language and Literature	16.0404
American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	16.1001
American Sign Language (ASL)	16.1601

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.