Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Your Connection to All Things TESOL at IUPUI

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TESL Certificate Program

The English as a Second Language Program offers a certificate for students who have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and who would like to be trained in teaching English to non-native speakers of English. This certificate serves a variety of students.

• Those who wish to gain experience living and working abroad before completing an MA degree.
• Those who are earning a degree in another field but wish to be trained to teach EFL/ESL (English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language) to facilitate their employment abroad.
• Those who have technical or business expertise and wish to work with ESL students in a professional setting.
• Spouses of professionals working overseas who want employment opportunities in the country where they reside.

Through the required coursework students will become familiar with the major theoretical foundations of teaching English as a foreign and second language. Moreover, they will become acquainted with the ESL/EFL pedagogy and materials. The students will acquire actual teaching experience through practice teaching in authentic ESL or EFL classrooms. The student who completes the Certificate in TESL will be able to teach ESL and EFL to adult and post-secondary learners in the USA and overseas.

Optional Emphasis in English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

While pursuing the TESL Certificate, students may choose to add the optional English for Specific Purposes (ESP) emphasis. ESP focuses on the teaching of English as a second language for occupational and professional purposes to immigrants in the USA. Through the required coursework, students will become familiar with themajor theoretical foundations of teaching English for Specific Purposes. Moreover, they will become acquainted with the ESP pedagogy and materials. They will acquire actional needs analysis and teaching experience through the practice of designing programs as well as teaching in a business or industry setting. The trainer who completes the program successfully will be qualified to teach English for Specific Purposes in the USA.

CERTIFICATE ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND ELIGIBILITY

1. Student must have a bachelors degree from an accredited institution.
2. Student must have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0) or the equivalent. Students with an undergraduate GPA of less than 2.5 may be conditionally admitted on the expectation that they must receive a grade of 'B' or better in English G500, which must be taken as their first class, in order to continue in the program.
3. Student, who are non-native speakers of English, must have a computerized TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of at least 250 (600 on the non-computerized TOEFL).
4. Student pursuing the MA in English may earn either the ESP or the TESL Certificate (not both) as part of their overall MA program.
5. Student pursuing the MA or Ph.D. in a department other than English may also earn either certificate by completing the appropriate coursework.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATE IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (TESL)

Required Courses (17 credits)

• ENG G500 Intro to the English Language (4cr.)
• LING L534 Linguistic Resources for TESOL (3cr.)
• ENG G541 Materials Prep. for ESL Instruction (4cr.)
• LING L532 Second Language Acquisition (3cr.)
• LING L535 TESOL Practicum (3cr.)

Elective Courses (4 credits)

• ENG G625 Intro to Text Linguistics/Discourse Analysis (4cr.)
• ENG G652 English Language Sociolinguistics (4 cr.)
• LING T600 Topics in Applied Linguistics ESP (3 cr.)

Optional Emphasis in ESP

Students wishing to earn the TESL Certificate with ESP emphasis must choose LING T600 as their elective course and complete their TESOL Practicum, LING L535, in an ESP setting.