Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
			Description Degree Offered Admission Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Contact Info

Description

The Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is an interdisciplinary graduate program offered by the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education. It provides a strong foundation in language acquisition, use, and pedagogy.

Degrees Offered

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Admission

For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Graduate Catalog. Applicants are encouraged to apply online. Please be sure to submit all requested material by the established deadline(s).

Application Due Dates

All students applying for fellowships or assistantships must apply by the Fall Priority deadline date.

U.S. Applicants

	Program(s)		Fall Priority		Fall		Spring		Summer
	Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages   Feb 1  Jun 15  Nov 1  Mar 15

International Applicants

	Program(s)		Fall Priority		Fall		Spring		Summer
	Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages   Feb 1  Feb 1  Jul 1

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (M.A.)

Degree-seeking students in the TESOL program may elect to follow either a thesis (30 semester hours; 3 credit hours of TSL 6971 plus 27 semester hours) or a non-thesis (36 semester hours) course of study. The thesis option is appropriate for those wishing to pursue a doctoral program in TESOL or for those wishing to research current issues in the discipline. Most students complete the non-thesis course of study so that they can focus more on course work related to specific aspects of TESOL, pedagogy, or education.

All students must take a comprehensive written examination covering the core TSL courses. This examination is normally taken in the second year of graduate work and will be reviewed by members of the TESOL Graduate Committee in their areas of expertise.

Core Courses

The seven core courses provide a strong foundation in the content of the discipline. The electives provide for three distinct areas of interest: linguistics, multicultural education, and research. Students may opt to take their elective credit in one of these areas depending on their interests. A strong research base is available for those students wishing to pursue the thesis option and advanced graduate degrees.

Required Courses—21 Credit Hours

• EDF 6481 Fundamentals of Graduate Research in Education (3 credit hours)
• TSL 5345 Methods of ESOL Teaching (3 credit hours)
• TSL 5525 ESOL Cultural Diversity (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6142 Critical Approaches to ESOL (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6250 Applied Linguistics in ESOL (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6440 Problems in Evaluation in ESOL (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6540 Issues in Second Language Acquisition (3 credit hours)

Thesis Option—9 Credit Hours Electives (6 credit hours)

• TSL 6971 Thesis (3 credit hours)

Non-Thesis Option—15 Credit Hours Electives (15 credit hours)

Elective Possibilities

Linguistics:

• LIN 5137 Linguistics (3 credit hours)
• LIN 6932 Problems in Linguistics (3 credit hours)

Multicultural Education and Pedagogy:

• EDF 6155 Lifespan Human Development and Learning (3 credit hours)
• EDF 6216 Motivation in Learning and Performance (3 credit hours)
• EDF 6886 Multicultural Education (3 credit hours)
• FLE 5875 Computer Application in Teaching Foreign Languages (3 credit hours)
• SPN 5502 Hispanic Culture of the United States (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6940 ESOL Practicum (3 credit hours)

Research:

• EDF 6401 Statistics for Educational Data (3 credit hours)
• EDF 6486 Research Design in Education (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6640 Research in Second Language (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6971 Thesis (3 credit hours)

TESOL:

• TSL 5940 Issues in TEFL (3 credit hours)
• TSL 6350 Grammar for ESOL Teachers (3 credit hours)

Financial Support

Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see Financing graduate school, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.

Key points about financial support:

• If you’re interested in financial assistance, you’re strongly encouraged to apply for admission early. A complete application for admission, including all supporting documents, must be received by the priority date listed for your program under "Admissions."
• You must be admitted to a graduate program before the university can consider awarding financial assistance to you.
• If you want to be considered for loans and other need-based financial assistance, review the UCF Student Financial Assistance website at http://finaid.ucf.edu and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, which is available online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Apply early and allow up to six weeks for the FAFSA form to be processed.
• UCF Graduate Studies awards university graduate fellowships, with most decisions based on nominations from the colleges and programs. All admitted graduate students are automatically considered in this nomination process. To be eligible for a fellowship, students must be accepted as a graduate student in a degree program and be enrolled full-time. To receive need-based fellowship awards, the student must have demonstrated need as determined by FAFSA. Merit fellowship awards are not affected by FAFSA determination of need.
• Please note that select fellowships do require students to fill out a fellowship application (either a university fellowship application, an external fellowship application, or a college or school fellowship application).
• For information on assistantships (including teaching, research, and general graduate assistantships) or tuition support, contact the graduate program coordinator of your major.

Contact Info

Keith Folse, Ph.D. , Assistant Professor
Phone Number: 407-823-0087
teslgrad@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu