Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach languages and literature courses in languages other than English. Includes teachers of American Sign Language (ASL). Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Active Learning
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Foreign Language
- English Language
- Education and Training
- History and Archeology
- Philosophy and Theology
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Administrative
- Geography
What the work involves
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as how to speak and write a foreign language and the cultural aspects of areas where a particular language is used.
- Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (73.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (31.9%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (24.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 76% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 95% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 86% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 65% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 52% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 73% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 97% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 12.79%
- Contact with others about half the time: 16.43%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.1%
- Constant contact with others: 41.69%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 47.5%
- Fairly important: 31.67%
- Important: 7.36%
- Very important: 11.77%
- Extremely important: 1.7%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 24.29%
- Important: 11.81%
- Very important: 38.07%
- Extremely important: 25.83%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.4%
- Very little freedom: 11.32%
- Limited freedom: 0.77%
- Some freedom: 34.72%
- A lot of freedom: 52.79%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 42.72%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.65%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.61%
- Every day: 13.02%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 4.91%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.74%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 35.19%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.95%
- Every day: 1.21%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 18.77%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 52.47%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.82%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.54%
- Every day: 1.4%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 48.33%
- Fairly serious: 25.74%
- Serious: 25.73%
- Very serious: 0.2%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 25-1124.00 · SOC 25-1124 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8