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TESOL MA

Purposes of our graduate programs in TESOL

BYU's TESOL Graduate Certificate and TESOL MA programs provide professional level preparation for careers in teaching English to speakers of other languages in any of the following areas:

  • Intensive English programs at universities
  • ESL/EFL courses for private companies
    • Community college and university-level ESL courses
    • Adult education ESL programs for immigrants and refugees
  • English as a foreign language (in non-English speaking countries)
  • Supervision/Administration of ESL/EFL programs
  • ESL/EFL teacher preparation

Other TESOL teacher=preparation options

Our graduate programs do not focus on K-12 teacher preparation. That is the purpose of our undergraduate TESOL K-12 minor program sponsored by the Teacher Education Department on campus. Graduate students who desire Utah state ESL endorsement (or graduate-level training focusing on K-12) may wish to investigate the University of Utah's program. Information is available on the web at www.acs.utah.edu/gencatalog/deptdesc/ling.html.

Advising

The thesis or project advisor is appointed when a student is admitted to the MA program. This advisor also serves as the academic advisor for MA students.

Admissions

  • Deadline for application is January 15th (only once a year). Application is made directly to the Linguistics and English Language Department during or after completion of the TESOL Graduate Certificate. Students must complete all TESOL Graduate Certificate course work before they begin the MA program.
  • Admissions decisions are based upon:
    • Performance and GPA in BYU'S TESOL Graduate Certificate courses.
    • General GRE score - required for admission.
    • Program of Study (containing required and anticipated elective courses).
    • Letter of intent (including experience, commitment to the profession, and plans for the future)
    • Brief proposal (500-750 words) of intended thesis research or project addressing its purpose, nature, and feasibility.
  • The number of students admitted to the TESOL MA program depends on its capacity (which is projected to be a total of 15 active students) and the number of students who exit the program.
  • Students admitted to the MA should plan to meet with their committee to identify a timeline for completing their project or thesis and adjust and finalize their program of study.
  • Prerequisite: Completion of the TESOL Graduate Certificate.

Requirements

  • Thirty-six total credits for TESOL MA, including 18 credits from the TESOL Graduate Certificate and 18 credit hours from the core courses and electives listed below.
  • Complete thesis or project and successful defense.

Core Courses (all required)

  • Ling 620, Research in TESOL (3 credits). Offered fall semester of the second year.
  • Ling 640, Language Acquisition (3 credits). Offered fall semester of the second year.
  • Ling 660, Language Testing (3 credits). Offered fall semester of the second year.
  • Linguistics 695, TESOL Seminar (1 credit)
  • Linguistics 699R Thesis credit (6 credits) plus one 2-credit elective OR Ling 698R Project credit (2 credits) plus three 2-credit electives.

Thesis Option

If you are accepted into the MA program to complete a thesis you will take 6-credit hours of Ling 699R (Thesis credit) plus one 2-credit elective course to be approved by your committee chair. The elective course is to be selected from the list below.

Project Option

If you are accepted into the MA program to complete a project you will take 2-credit hours of Ling 698R (Project credit) plus three 2-credit elective courses to be approved by your committeechair. The elective course is to be selected from the list below.

Electives*

Each of the following electives is a 2 credit course. The selection of electives is to be made with the prior approval of the student's committee chair. Most of these courses will be offered winter or spring (on an as-needed basis) according to the Program of Study submitted by the TESOL MA students.
  • Ling 625 Speaking Theory and Pedagogy (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 631 Grammar Theory and Pedagogy (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 655 Culture Teaching (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 672 Reading Theory and Pedagogy (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 673 Writing Theory and Pedagogy (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 674 Listening Theory and Pedagogy (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 675 Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition and Teaching (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 676 Technology in Language Teaching (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 677 Curriculum Development (offered Winter)
  • Ling 678 Materials Development (offered Winter)
  • Ling 679 TESOL Supervision-Administration Internship (offered Winter or Spring)
  • Ling 688R Internship (offered Fall, Winter or Spring)
The following elective courses are offered by Brigham Young University's department of Instructional Psychology and Technology. For information on when they are offered, please contact the IP&T department (422-5097, 150 MCKB).
  • IP&T 560 - Microcomputer Materials Production (3 cr.) Prereq: IP&T 286 or IP&T 515R; CS 103 or equivalent. Designing, programming, and debugging educational applications of microcomputers using a high-level computer language.
  • IP&T 564 - Instructional Design (3 cr.) Identifying instructional problems; specifying objects, instructional strategies, and media; analyzing learning outcomes; developing instructional materials and assessment instruments; validating instructional systems.
  • IP&T 654 - Computers in Educational Measurement (2-4 cr.) Prereq: IP&T 652 Assessing Learning Outcomes or instructor's consent. Types of computerized measurement and assessment methods and item forms, as well as their development, delivery and statistical theory.
  • IP&T 655 - Instructional Print Design and Production (2 cr.) Prereq: IP&T 564 Instructional Design. Applying instructional and visual design principles to produce instructional print materials, using computer-based tools.
  • IP&T 665 - Instructional Visual/Video Production (4 cr.) Rec. prereq: IP&T 515R or equivalent. Designing, producing, and integrating audio, visual, and video instructional materials. Applying digital and other technologies in audio recording and mixing, and photographic and video production.
*Other graduate-level linguistics courses and appropriate courses from other departments may also be used as electives with approval.

Note: Students should plan to meet with their graduate advisor during the first semester of the program to which they have been admitted in order to complete a study list of courses.