MA Program

Course Requirements

* These requirements can also be completed at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities.

Students admitted to the M.A. TESOL program are required to complete 36 credits of
coursework (37 for students who choose the thesis option described below). Up to nine graduate credits may be transferred from other accredited institutions toward the fulfillment of these credits with approval from the program director. Thus, the program requires that a minimum of 27 credits be completed in residency. Students may pursue Plan A (the thesis option) or Plan B (the non-thesis option). Students wanting to continue their studies toward a Ph.D. degree should consider the thesis option. 

Required Courses: Each of the courses below is three credits. The first two courses are taken in the first semester and serve as a foundation for the remainder of the curriculum.

  • LLT 822 Interlanguage Analysis 
  • LLT 895 ESL Classroom Practices

Additional Required Courses

  • LLT 807 Language Teaching Methods 
  • LLT 808 Assessment for Language Teaching and Research
  • LLT 809 Teaching Second Language Reading and Writing
  • LLT 846 English Structures and Functions
  • LLT 860 Introduction to Second Language Acquisition 
  • LLT 872 Research Methods for Language Teaching and Foreign/Second Language Learning
  • LLT 896 Practicum in TESOL 
  • Course on Language in Context. This requirement can be met by one of the following: LLT 855 (Language Identity and Ideology in Multilingual Settings), LIN 471 (Sociolinguistics), ANP 420 (Language and Culture), or COM 828 (Cross-cultural Communication).

Electives: 

Students not writing a thesis will choose two electives. Students writing a thesis will choose one
plus four thesis credits (LLT 899). Electives include any of the LLT courses including the
following:

  • LLT 813: CALL: Technology-mediated Language Learning and Teaching
  • LLT 818: Eye Tracking in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism
    (recommended only for student continuing for a Ph.D.) 
  • LLT 821: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition 
  • LLT 823: Introduction to Corpus Linguistics for Second Language Studies
  • LLT 841: Special topics
  • LLT 842: Teaching and Learning Vocabulary in Another Language
  • LLT 870: Instructed Second Language Acquisition
  • LLT 856: Identity and Ideology in Multilingual Settings
One course outside of the LLT courses may be chosen with the approval of your advisor. It is possible to take LLT 896 a second time for credit as an elective. Students who are writing a thesis will use thesis credits (LLT 899, 4 cr.) as their elective and complete a program of 37 credits. 

Thesis Option

There are two master’s degree plans available: Plan A (thesis), Plan B (non-thesis). 

For more information, please see the MA Handbook.