Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
February 28, 2024
Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages
(This degree elevation was approved by the CSULB Academic Senate on December 7, 2023, approved by the President on December 11, 2023, and the CSU Chancellor’s Office on February 14, 2024.)
Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
This program is designed for students interested in teaching English to speakers of other languages and who wish to pursue further graduate study or obtain a terminal degree. The program provides a broad foundation in language acquisition and second language teaching methods. This is not a credential program for public school teaching.
A GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 semester units or 90 quarter units attempted, excluding lower division and extension coursework taken after the degree. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Completion of the prerequisites is not a requirement for admissions. Total units: 33 – 42 units
Prerequisites (0 – 9 units)
Units may be substituted or waived by the Graduate Advisor. These prerequisites can be taken after admission. The graduate advisor may require these after admission if it is determined that the student has not taken these or similar courses previously.
- LING 301 Introduction to Research Methods (3)
- LING 420 Phonology (3)
- LING 421 Syntax (3)
Core (24 units):
Students must take all of the following.
- LING 486 Second Language Teaching Methods (3)
- LING 539 Language Acquisition (3)
- LING 550 Teaching Second Language Listening and Speaking (3)
- LING 560 Teaching Second Language Composition (3)
- LING 561 Curriculum Development (3)
- LING 562 Testing and Assessment (3)
- LING 575 TESOL Grammar, Vocabulary, and Literacy (3)
- LING 593 Practicum in TESOL (3)
Electives (3 units):
Students taking the Thesis Option must take one course marked with an asterisk (*). Students taking the Comprehensive Research Paper Option may select one course from any of the following. Please consult with the Graduate Advisor for the appropriate elective.
- * LING 501 Corpus Linguistics (3)
- LING 533 Ethnography of Communication (3)
- * LING 540 Sociolinguistics (3)
- LING 580 Field Methods (3)
- * LING 595 Qualitative Research (3)
- * LING 596 Quantitative Research (3)
- LING 620 Seminar in Syntactic Theory (3)
- LING 625 Seminar in Phonology (3)
Culminating activity (6 units):
Students must complete one of the following options. Both the Comprehensive research paper Option and the Thesis Option require original empirical research on a linguistics topic. The thesis requires three advisors and is completed over two semesters. In addition, the expectations concerning data collection and analysis for the thesis are higher than they are for the comprehensives paper. The comprehensives paper requires two advisors and is completed over one semester.
Comprehensive research paper Option (6 units).
- LING 650 Bilingualism (3)
- LING 697 Directed Research (3)
- Research paper in the area of TESOL
Thesis Option (6 units).
- LING 698 Thesis (6)
- Graduate thesis in the area of TESOL
Academic Plan Code: LINGMA04PB (Concentration Code: 01) CIP: 13.1401 (Non-STEM)
CSU Code: 15081
Career: Graduate
College: 28, College of Liberal Arts Department: Linguistics
Delivery: Hybrid
