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Overview - Year-by-Year Breakdown - Description of Courses - About the Program Director
The Master of Arts degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL) is designed for those interested in teaching English as a foreign language to children and adults in a variety of educational settings. The MA TESOL program is a practitioner-oriented degree that combines a comprehensive coverage of theory and practice of foreign language learning and teaching. An interdisciplinary program, it aims to equip teachers of ESL/EFL with solid knowledge of second language acquisition theory, the structure of English, pragmatics, teaching methods and principles, as well as to provide practical training in curriculum development and design, assessment, educational research, and computer assisted language learning. This program also prepares students planning to pursue Ph.D. programs in TESOL.
Who the MA in TESOL is for:
What you will be able to do with the MA in TESOL:
Degree requirements
Tuition
€ 3590,00 yearly
The structure of a typical course will require students to read materials supplied by the university, study related materials, and perform personal research on selected topics. Confirmation of learning may be determined via papers, projects, quizzes or exams.
MA in TESL, TEFL or TESOL? What is the difference?
While these three degrees are very similar and prepare graduate students for teaching English in various educational settings, including universities, there is a slight difference in the intent of each degree.
Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) programs are designed for those who wish to teach English to the immigrants in an English-speaking country, such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain. It’s been a popular degree in the USA, and it usually encompasses linguistics and teaching courses, as well as cultural courses about the USA.
Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is a popular degree outside of the USA and is geared towards those who want to teach English in countries where English is not their primary language.
Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), which is a relatively new degree in the field of applied linguistics, is becoming very popular among employers in the USA and abroad. It usually combines both TESL and TEFL and puts the speaker of other languages in the center of the teaching philosophy, thus determining the focus of the linguistics, methodology, and research courses offered by MA TESOL programs.
The courses identified as core must be taken. Core courses are 7.5 ECTS/3US (with the exception of ESL504, which is 10ECTS). Choose ESL510A or ESL510B (20ECTS each one) as your final course.
Course Number | Course Name | Core or Elective? |
Year 1 | ||
ESL501 | General Linguistics | Core |
ESL502 | Second Language Acquisition | Core |
ESL503 | TESOL Methods and Principles | Core |
ESL504 | Pedagogical English Grammar | Core |
ESL505 | Pedagogical English Phonology | Core |
ESL506 | Vocabulary Teaching and Learning | Core |
ESL507 | TESOL Assessment | Core |
ESL508 | Curriculum Development and Course Design | Core |
ESL509 | Research Methods in TESOL | Core |
ESL510A (Capstone Option 1) | TESOL Portfolio | Elective |
ESL510B (Capstone Option 2) | Thesis in TESOL/Applied Linguistics | Elective |
ESL503 presents an introduction to and a critique of current and traditional methodologies of teaching English to speakers of other languages. Participants will study the rationale behind each method in terms of language learning and classroom application.
Participants will study the sound system of the English language with a focus on practical application in teaching pronunciation. The topics include articulation of segmental phonemes, syllabic structure, word accent and prosodic features, such as stress, rhythm and intonation, variations at the word and utterance levels, problems of 15 language groups, and techniques and strategies in pronunciation class.
Contents of the TESOL portfolio:
1. A statement of teaching philosophy. This should include reference to theory, practice and plans for future professional development (no more than 1,000 words).
(b) An assessment rubric or specifications for an assessment rubric developed for a specific EFL learner population. This could take the form of a test or detailed guidelines for evaluating a written task. If you choose to develop a test, an evaluation component for the test should be included;
(c) A short practically oriented paper on a topic covered by an elective class. The focus should be on developing something useful for the job-search process. For example, a proposal for criteria for an EFL program evaluation.
3. A series of lesson plans for (at least) 450 minutes of instruction. The population for whom the plan is intended should be described and all materials should be attached. (The population description and the plan should not exceed 2,500 words.)
4. A reflective statement about the lesson plans, explaining design choices and, if possible, evaluation of the plans’ implementation and any proposed modification to the plans.
The MA TESOL Program Director’s Bio
Olena Crawford holds a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine (graduated with honors in 1992). She has extensive experience in EFL teaching to school-age children as well as adult learners in various international educational settings. Having lived in South Africa, Singapore, and the USA, Ms. Crawford studied variations of world Englishes, giving her an extra edge in her TESOL pedagogy. Her multilingual background as a native speaker of Ukrainian and Russian, nearly native English speaker, and a learner of Belorussian and Spanish helps her deeply analyze foreign language acquisition process and apply her personal foreign language learning experience in her teaching. After graduating from the university and teaching for 4 years in several language schools to Ukrainian and Russian speakers in Kyiv, Ukraine, she took a creative break from teaching and engaged in the profession of filmmaking. From 1995 till 2003, she lived in South Africa where she worked as a producer, film editor and writer on several wildlife television series and feature productions in Sub-Saharan Africa. While working in the film industry, she got passionate about technology and web design. When she returned to teaching English college courses and ESL after settling in the USA, Ms. Crawford embraced online teaching and has created and delivered several online and hybrid courses (including Writing and Inquiry, Technical Writing, Argument Based Research, Early British Literature courses for the Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Technical Tutorial courses for the Horizons University in Paris, France). She’s been a passionate education professional that always tries to stay on top of the current research in the areas of applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and teaching methodologies. She is a member of International Association of TESOL, Carolina TESOL and AAAL. As an MA TESOL program director for Horizons University, Ms. Crawford is looking forward to sharing her passion for EFL teaching with her students.