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MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

  • Year of entry
    2023/24
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months
  • Year of entry
    2023/24
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months

Study MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at one of the world's best known centres in TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

This course is suitable for graduates already working or just starting a career in the field of English as a second/foreign language and who wish to develop and deepen specialist knowledge and skills in TESOL and related linguistic areas.

It connects theory with practice to build relevant teaching expertise in key TESOL areas, and provides up-to-date, thorough and critical knowledge of the field taught by top researchers and teachers.

This course offers flexibility through a choice of tracks to suit individual needs and experiences using small-group teaching and a wide choice of optional modules are available. The 'Dissertation Track' is suitable for students who already have teaching experience, and is especially recommended for those who wish to pursue further study. The 'Portfolio Track' is designed for those with little or no teaching experience. It involves completing a portfolio based on classroom observations and teaching experience gained during the summer term in our renowned International Study and Language Institute (ISLI).

Our specialist research areas include:

  • testing and assessment
  • second language acquisition
  • intercultural communication
  • second language teaching
  • multilingualism
  • vocabulary studies
  • language teaching and creativity
  • language curriculum design
  • EFL teacher training
  • child language development
  • language and migration
  • world Englishes
  • sociolinguistics.

In the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20, overall, 100% of graduates from English Language and Applied Linguistics are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (based on our analysis of HESA data HESA 2022, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20; includes all English Language and Applied Linguistics responders).

For more information, please visit the English Language and Applied Linguistics website.

Overview

Study MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at one of the world's best known centres in TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

This course is suitable for graduates already working or just starting a career in the field of English as a second/foreign language and who wish to develop and deepen specialist knowledge and skills in TESOL and related linguistic areas.

It connects theory with practice to build relevant teaching expertise in key TESOL areas, and provides up-to-date, thorough and critical knowledge of the field taught by top researchers and teachers.

This course offers flexibility through a choice of tracks to suit individual needs and experiences using small-group teaching and a wide choice of optional modules are available. The 'Dissertation Track' is suitable for students who already have teaching experience, and is especially recommended for those who wish to pursue further study. The 'Portfolio Track' is designed for those with little or no teaching experience. It involves completing a portfolio based on classroom observations and teaching experience gained during the summer term in our renowned International Study and Language Institute (ISLI).

Our specialist research areas include:

  • testing and assessment
  • second language acquisition
  • intercultural communication
  • second language teaching
  • multilingualism
  • vocabulary studies
  • language teaching and creativity
  • language curriculum design
  • EFL teacher training
  • child language development
  • language and migration
  • world Englishes
  • sociolinguistics.

In the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20, overall, 100% of graduates from English Language and Applied Linguistics are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (based on our analysis of HESA data HESA 2022, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20; includes all English Language and Applied Linguistics responders).

For more information, please visit the English Language and Applied Linguistics website.

Entry requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall with no element less than 6.0 (or equivalent).

Entry requirements: Normally a good undergraduate honours degree (2:1 or above), or equivalent from a university outside the UK. Those with other qualifications and relevant work experience may also be considered. For the MA TESOL dissertation track, you normally need a minimum of one year’s relevant work experience. For the MA TESOL portfolio track, no teaching experience is required. Each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score, you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Year 1

Compulsory modules include:

X

Module details


Title:

Academic Practices in Applied Linguistics

Code:

LSMAPAL

Convenor:

PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli

Summary:

Academic Practices in Applied Linguistics is a non-credit bearing, but compulsory, module that is developed in order to provide academic help and support to post-graduate students in DELAL. The module is offered online.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Foundations of Language Study

Code:

LSMFLS

Convenor:

PROF Jane Setter

Summary:

This module aims to familiarise MA students with the phonetic and phonological systems of the English language (General British accent) and to increase the sophistication of participants' understanding of the ways in which the English language can be described grammatically at phrase and sentence level. Participants will be introduced to the major formal and functional units involved in the articulation/production of sounds, syllables, stress, intonation, words and the construction of sentences. Special areas of study in Grammar will be the Verb Phrase (including tense, aspect, modality and valency of the English verb) and the Noun Phrase (including determiners and modification).

Assessment Method:

Practical 50%, Class test 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Research Design Methods

Code:

LSMRDM

Convenor:

DR Erhan Aslan

Summary:

This module aims to introduce and discuss in broad terms the more frequently used research designs and research techniques in English language teaching and Applied Linguistics. It describes and exemplifies the nature of academic research in general, and the features that are seen as desirable in such research. It outlines different types of, and approaches to, research in the field and describes the main elements of a research study in terms of questions, hypotheses (where relevant),and variables (where relevant).

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Second Language Learning Principles

Code:

LSMSL

Convenor:

PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli

Summary:

This module aims to review and evaluate general theories of learning; to consider the implications of learning theories for second language (L2) learning and teaching; to outline the development and relationship of different theoretical accounts of the first and second language learning process; to review and evaluate research into important factors in second language learning connected with the learner and the circumstances of learning; and to consider the practical implications of this research into factors in second language learning.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Code Module Convenor
LSMAPAL Academic Practices in Applied Linguistics PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli
LSMFLS Foundations of Language Study PROF Jane Setter
LSMRDM Research Design Methods DR Erhan Aslan
LSMSL Second Language Learning Principles PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli

Optional modules include:

X

Module details


Title:

Approaches to Discourse Analysis

Code:

LSMADA

Convenor:

DR Sylvia Jaworska

Summary:

This module aims to introduce and apply the key methodological frameworks for the description and analysis of discourse, including spoken and written language in use. We will consider a range of analytical approaches in the description of authentic language, relating features of text to the context in which the language is produced and understood. We will also consider the applicability of these approaches to study discourse in a variety of social and educational contexts.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Practical 20%, Set exercise 10%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Corpus-based approaches to language description

Code:

LSMCBL

Convenor:

DR Sylvia Jaworska

Summary:

Corpus-based approaches have had an enormous impact on the descrption of language in use. The analysis of language patterning and frequencies across large quantities of text can reveal features of language use that may not be easily accessible otherwise. The module aims to introduce students to the tools and methods of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and the application of CL as a tool for the analysis of language use in a variety of registers and discourse contexts. Students will be offered a comprehensive training in the use of specialist software for the analysis of language in corpora (large electronic text compilations), and will gain a hands-on experience in creating, annotating, analysing and summarising corpus-data for their own research purposes

Assessment Method:

Assignment 60%, Portfolio 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Child Language Development

Code:

LSMCL

Convenor:

DR Fraibet Aveledo

Summary:

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of language development in normal children, together with the experience of encoding child language data and using a computer program to analyse it. It thus affords a benchmark and a system of analysis for interpreting abnormal language development.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Report 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language Teaching Portfolio

Code:

LSMDIP

Convenor:

DR Tony Capstick

Summary:

The course aims to provide an opportunity for students to relate theory of second language learning and teaching to practice. Through the observation of classroom events, the detailed analysis of a language learner, the development of lesson plans and delivery of teaching (in micro-teaching sessions), students will acquire basic knowledge of how to evaluate, adapt, plan and deliver a lesson or part of a lesson, and of how to analyse the language of a learner.

Assessment Method:

Portfolio 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Dissertation

Code:

LSMDIS

Convenor:

DR Erhan Aslan

Summary:

Drawing on the content of other relevant modules on the programme and the work done for the Research Design module, this module enables students to design, conduct and write up an original research study.

Assessment Method:

Dissertation 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Intercultural Communication

Code:

LSMIC

Convenor:

DR Erhan Aslan

Summary:

In this module, students will explore how people of different discourse systems or groups communicate with one another in various face-to-face and digitally-mediated contexts. Specifically, students will gain an understanding of how assumptions and values that have been constructed or adopted within a specific culture group influence the ways in which people successfully communicate with each other as well as experience miscommunication. Students will become familiar with a variety of topics in intercultural communication as they engage in hands-on analyses of intercultural encounters.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Project 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language Curriculum Design

Code:

LSMLCL

Convenor:

PROF Clare Furneaux

Summary:

This module aims to: review the principal approaches to the design of language curricula; examine relevant factors in specifying a syllabus; analyse teaching materials in the light of syllabus requirements; consider the processes involved in implementing curriculum innovation; and contextualise language curriculum design within the educational system and philosophy of which it is a part.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 20%, Class test 80%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language and Migration

Code:

LSMLMG

Convenor:

DR Tony Capstick

Summary:

In this module students will explore the role of language in migration by focusing on the multiple and complex ways that migration has been sustained and constrained through language use for centuries.

Students will be introduced to a range of theories from sociolinguistics, sociology and education studies and learn to apply these theories to different contexts of migration across the world.

Among the topics covered in the module are multilingualism and mobility, globalization and language policy etc.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Class test 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language in Professional Communication

Code:

LSMLPC

Convenor:

DR Sylvia Jaworska

Summary:

This module introduces students to the key aspects of professional communication and the role of language within. Drawing on a range of theoretical and analytical approaches such as conversation analysis, pragmatics, critical discourse analysis, critical metaphor analysis, genre analysis, communities of practices and multimodality, students will investigate language use across a variety of professional contexts including online and offline environments. These will include service encounters and various aspects of health and business communication. Students will evaluate professional communication in different genres and workplace contexts, and analyse critically the role of language in negotiating and maintaining identity, agency, and power in professions.  

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Issues in Language Skills Teaching

Code:

LSMLST

Convenor:

MRS Suzanne Portch

Summary:

This course examines key aspects of second language teaching theories, methodologies and practice, in relation to the development of second language skills, with particular reference to integrated communicative and task-based teaching approaches.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Sociolinguistics

Code:

LSMSOC

Convenor:

DR Christiana Themistocleous

Summary:

The module aims to introduce students to the relationship between language and society and the study of language as a social phenomenon. Students will become familiar with diverse areas of sociolinguistic enquiry.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language Testing Principles

Code:

LSMTP

Convenor:

PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli

Summary:

This module aims to familiarise participants with the basic concepts, issues and methods of language testing.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Introduction to Speech and Language Pathology

Code:

PLMISLR

Convenor:

DR Arpita Bose

Summary:

In this module students are introduced to a range of speech and language deficits found in adults and children; to relate these findings to their knowledge of linguistics and normal speech and language processing. 

Assessment Method:

Exam 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Language Processing

Code:

PLMLPR

Convenor:

DR George Pontikas

Summary:

This module addresses the nature of language processing in children and adults and considers evidence from both typical and atypical populations.

Assessment Method:

Exam 75%, Assignment 25%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

Multilingualism and Impairment Across the Lifespan

Code:

PLMML

Convenor:

PROF Ludovica Serratrice

Summary:

This module addresses child language development and outcomes in a bilingual setting as well as language impairment in bilingual or multilingual individuals, children and adults.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Project 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

X

Module details


Title:

NEUROSCIENCE OF LANGUAGE

Code:

PLMNL

Convenor:

MR Daniel Fryer

Summary:

This module introduces students to current research in the cognitive neuroscience of language.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 75%, Oral 25%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Code Module Convenor
LSMADA Approaches to Discourse Analysis DR Sylvia Jaworska
LSMCBL Corpus-based approaches to language description DR Sylvia Jaworska
LSMCL Child Language Development DR Fraibet Aveledo
LSMDIP Language Teaching Portfolio DR Tony Capstick
LSMDIS Dissertation DR Erhan Aslan
LSMIC Intercultural Communication DR Erhan Aslan
LSMLCL Language Curriculum Design PROF Clare Furneaux
LSMLMG Language and Migration DR Tony Capstick
LSMLPC Language in Professional Communication DR Sylvia Jaworska
LSMLST Issues in Language Skills Teaching MRS Suzanne Portch
LSMSOC Sociolinguistics DR Christiana Themistocleous
LSMTP Language Testing Principles PROF Parvaneh Tavakoli
PLMISLR Introduction to Speech and Language Pathology DR Arpita Bose
PLMLPR Language Processing DR George Pontikas
PLMML Multilingualism and Impairment Across the Lifespan PROF Ludovica Serratrice
PLMNL NEUROSCIENCE OF LANGUAGE MR Daniel Fryer

These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £10,500

New international students: £21,350

Tuition fee information

The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information, including information for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government's guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Graduates from this course enter the following careers worldwide: teacher training; university research, teaching and leadership; testing and assessment; directing, managing and teaching roles within language teaching institutions worldwide including state (governmental) and private sector; translation and interpreting, publishing in the language industry.

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Related Subjects


  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • Linguistics

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