MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Overview & facilities

The MA TESOL is for teachers of English as a foreign - second - additional language who wish to enhance their professional development and further their careers in teaching or associated English Language Teaching industries. The course will build on your previous teaching experience and professional training to develop your systematic understanding and critical awareness of the trends and debates in modern ELT pedagogy and, where appropriate, Applied Linguistics. Throughout the masters course you will be encouraged to consider how insights gained from your own personal experiences as teachers and learners of foreign languages relate to the issues and debates in both ELT pedagogy and Applied Linguistics.

There are four strands to the course, which are studied concurrently throughout the year. These strands are a methodology and second language acquisition strand; a course design and evaluation strand; a language analysis strand; and a research methods strand. The concurrent study of these strands allows for links to be made from the content of one strand to its accompanying strands. The syllabus content and sequencing of each strand has been consciously designed to link in with the other strands to facilitate these connections.You are encouraged to actively pursue these links in order to increase their depth and breadth of understanding in the field.

After successfully completing the taught course, you will progress to the dissertation stage of the MA. This is an extended piece of independent research, which is the culmination of the your academic development on the course. The research topic chosen for the dissertation may draw on any of the topics studied in the taught modules and should be tailored to your own personal and professional research interests.

Blended learning

This course is delivered by blended learning: a combination of distance learning, i.e. through online materials that can be completed at home or from wherever you choose, with a short intensive study period of four weeks during the summer holiday (July - August).

Programme start dates

The two year part-time programme starts in October 2012.

The one year full-time programme starts in January 2013.

Content & modules

Students attending the programme are expected to attend 100% of the classes. They are also expected to contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of the course by giving class presentations, participating in micro-teaching and generally preparing for and participating in the seminar discussions.

The assessment procedures contain varied formative and summative assessments. They include take home tasks, discursive essays, a reflective report, an oral presentation, a 2-hour exam and various research projects. Each module has more than one assessment form associated with it, so allowing students several opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities in the quality of their work. The assessment culminates in a dissertation proposal and a dissertation, an extended piece of individual research in an area of the student's choice. Over the duration of the course, students will write a combined total of approximately 18,000 words (excluding the exam and oral presentation) for their assignment plus 16,000 words (+--10%) for the dissertation.

Modules

• Year 1

  Course Design and Evaluation in ELT (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module introduces students to the key concepts and necessary considerations in course and syllabus design. The relationship between course and syllabus design and the design of assessment and evaluation procedures for specific courses will be explored. Course design and assessment procedures for adult and child general purpose English GPE courses, specialist English courses for specific and academic purposes will be examined Specifically the module aims: - To develop students systematic understanding of the relationship between language course design, course content and evaluation procedures. - To develop students systematic understanding of the philosophical principles underlying different testing / evaluation systems and the ways these systems impact on students, educational institutions and wider society. - To promote students critical evaluation of the purpose and design of teaching materials, language tests and other evaluation procedures. - To develop students systematic understanding of classroom practice and the pedagogical reasoning behind the everyday choices teachers make in terms of lesson planning, materials selection and exploitation. - To equip students with the necessary skills and understanding to design a principled course and set of teaching materials for a specified general purpose or specialist teaching context, explain the rationale behind the proposed course / materials with reference to relevant theories and to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their own work. - To equip students with the necessary critical understanding to design principled and effective language tests or other evaluation procedures for specific teaching/ learning contexts and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their own work. - To develop students critical thinking skills in the evaluation of the pedagogic theories underpinning these teaching and evaluation choices and develop the students abilities to justify the reasons underlying their pedagogic choices.

  Dissertation (60 Credits) - Compulsory

  The module aims: - To facilitate the students competence in self-directed, extended research in an area of professional interest that draws on their previous learning or teaching experience, their studies on the taught part of the MA programme and which may help to give wider possibilities in the development of their future career.

  Empirical Investigation of Language (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module introduces students to three of the main forms of empirical language investigation and their relevance for language descriptions in ELT: investigation and analysis of spoken language, investigation and analysis of written language, and corpus linguistics. The module aims: - To explore systematically and critically evaluate the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive approaches to language - To investigate empirically the organisation and structure of spoken language through the application of various analytic tools and research conventions to raw language data - To contrast the underlying organising structure of spoken and written discourse - To deepen students understanding of the subtlety and complexity of leixal relations and lexico-grammar through the findings of systematic and empirical investigation using corpus research - To critically evaluate how the findings of linguists in these areas can inform classroom practice

  Grammar Analysis for ELT (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module builds on students declarative knowledge of English grammar by contrasting different pedagogical grammars and examining their usefulness for ELT. Materials for teaching English pedagogic grammar will be evaluated. The module aims: First, To develop students systematic and declarative knowledge of pedagogical English language description and develop the students critical awareness of the limitations of such pedagogical language descriptions. Seondly, To deepen students critical evaluation of teaching materials designed to improve language students command and understanding of language structure. Thirdly, To deepen students systematic understanding of their own language awareness and language learning awareness in order to better appreciate and cater for future students learning needs.

  Research Methods in TESOL and Applied Linguistics (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module introduces students to research methods in Applied Linguistics and ELT. The first half of the module addresses the question of what Applied Linguistics is. Research paradigms and the nature of research data in Applied Linguistics and ELT quantitative, qualitative, attested and attributed data are explored. The role of evidence and the interpretation of evidence in building a coherent argument are examined. The role of statistical investigation into data is examined. Published research papers in the field are evaluated. The second half of this module introduces students to Action Research as it is used in ELT to explore the efficacy of classroom practice and promote teacher development through an investigation of teacher knowledge. The role of Action Research in continuing professional development CPD is highlighted. The final quarter of this module is spent on designing robust dissertation proposals which conform to accepted good research methods design.

  Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching Methodology (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module introduces students to key studies in SLA and explores how the insights gained from SLA have impacted on the methodology of ELT. Implications of SLA research for the future methodological trends and classroom practices in ELT will be explored. This module aims to develop students systematic knowledge of the major theories and empirical investigations put forward to explain the development of how humans learn to communicate in a new language and the kind of mental representations of language knowledge developed in learning a second language. The module explores how this body of knowledge has influenced theories of language teaching. The module will provide students with a systematic understanding of the development of general purpose ELT as a discipline and facilitate students critical evaluation of past teaching / learning experiences in order to place these in a principled methodological context so contributing to a systematic awareness of personal and career development. The module aims to develop students abilities to critically evaluate competing theories of SLA and teaching methodologies and to critically evaluate research methodologies and research findings in these areas.

There are four main strands to the programme. The first strand - Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching Methodology, combines a study of the history of teaching methodology with the study of Second Language Acquisition. The development of ELT as a discipline is examined for its pedagogic, social/cultural and linguistic trends and how these trends are manifested in classroom practices. These classroom practices will then be examined in the light of SLA research findings in order to see how insights from SLA may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of various teaching methodologies and classroom practices.

The second strand  - Course Design and Evaluation in ELT, is pedagogic in focus. It encourages students to look beyond the day to day choices they make in terms of classroom practice to consider the wider social and practical implications of course and syllabus design and student assessment/evaluation. The relationship between course and syllabus design and the design of assessment and evaluation procedures is explored within the context of societal and institutional demands and personal goals. Different frameworks for different client groups in different working contexts are examined, for example, adult and child general purpose English (GPE) courses, specialist English courses for specific and academic purposes. Links will be made between this module and ELT 4121 Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching Methodology to encourage students not only to see the relationship between SLA and classroom practices but also to see the relationship between classroom practice and the broader social, educational and institutional implications of course and assessment design.

The third strand of the course is Research Methods -Research Methods in TESOL and Applied Linguistics. This module introduces students to types of research paradigms and the scope of research topics in the field of TESOL and Applied Linguistics. The nature of research data is explored and the role of evidence and the interpretation of evidence in building a coherent argument are examined. A focus on Action Research enables students to see how they can participate in researching their own teaching/learning contexts whilst the evaluation of published research helps students to develop their own critical analysis.

The fourth strand of the course is the language study strand. This focus is very much on the analysis of real language data and its relation to pedagogic grammar. This strand is made up of two 15-credit modules (Empirical Investigation into Language Structure and Use and Grammar Analysis for ELT). The first module looks at empirical investigation of language data and so links with the content of the Research Methods module concerning types of data. The second module looks at how language knowledge is presented as pedagogic grammar. The contrast between idealized pedagogic grammars and the reality of empirical language data are examined. The implications for classroom practice of this contrast are explored. The language strand in the MA TESOL makes strong links with the ELT Methodology aspects of the module - Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching Methodology and the content of - Course Design and Evaluation in ELT. In this way the design of the MA TESOL provides a comprehensive view of common core principles in the field of ELT whilst allowing students to develop their own particular research interests. The focus on research methods and the broader aspects of course design and evaluation allows students to see the day to day methodology and language concerns of teaching in their wider context. As well as providing a good knowledge base, the MA programme facilitates the development of students' critical faculties in the evaluation of data analysis, research design and argument.

Entry & applying

Entry requirements

We welcome applications from graduates with a good honours degree, or equivalent qualification, in an appropriate subject. We also consider candidates with other relevant qualifications and individuals with a minimum of three years' work experience. Those without formal qualifications need to demonstrate relevant work experience and the ability to study at postgraduate level.

Qualifications accepted

For a comprehensive list of qualifications accepted by Middlesex, see further information under entry requirements

English language requirements

You must have competence in English language and we normally require Grade C GCSE or an equivalent qualification. The most common English Language requirements for international students are IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL (paper based) 575 or TOEFL (internet based) 90 with specified minimum scores for each component. For details of other equivalent English language requirements that Middlesex accepts see international entry requirements

Applying

Applications for postgraduate study should be made directly to the university. You will need to fill in an application form and return it to the appropriate admissions office. UK and EU students should apply directly to the London office. Non-EU international students can apply to our international admissions office in London, or use our network of regional offices across the world to assist you with your application. Apply now

Fees & funding

The tuition fee for MA TESOL for the academic year 2012/13 is as follows:

UK/EU Students

Full-time students: £7,500
Part-time students: £63 per taught credit

Find out about our flexible payment plans for UK/EU students, and how they can help you spread the cost of your course.

International Students

Full-time students: £10,600
Part-time students: £93 per taught credit

Careers & placements

Graduates of this programme and its sister programme, MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics, have gone on to work in universities and other Higher Education institutions in the UK, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia; in colleges of Further Education in the UK as ESOL specialist teachers; as state school English language teachers in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus; as private school language teachers in Cyprus and Pakistan. Some MA graduates have set up their own language schools.Past students

Lianna Kolaniou

After graduating from Middlesex with first class hons in BA TEFL and English Language and British Culture in 2001, Lianna decided to remain at Middlesex and do her MA.  Lianna says “The MA was the most challenging yet rewarding educational experience I've had so far. The tutors never hesitated in providing guidance and support throughout the course whilst encouraging us to mature academically.”
After completing the MA Lianna returned to Cyprus where she set up the English Language Learning Centre, an afternoon school providing private lessons to students at various levels. The ELLC is now its 7th year and has since expanded to accept more students.