M.A. in TESOL

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

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

See the catalog for more information.

Always check the catalog to verify the most accurate and updated requirements.

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. 

  •  A bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA for the most recent 60 units;   
  • LING 301 - Introduction to Research Methods (3 units)
  • LING 420 - Phonology (3 units)
  • LING 421 - Syntax (3 units)

Nine (9) units in Linguistics; the following courses or equivalent:

  • LING 301 - Introduction to Research Methods (3 units)
  • LING 420 - Phonology (3 units)
  • LING 421 - Syntax (3 units)

Core (24 units):

Students must take all of the following: 

  • LING 486 - Second Language Teaching Methods (3 units)
  • LING 539 - Language Acquisition (3 units)
  • LING 550 - Teaching Second Language Listening and Speaking (3 units)
  • LING 560 - Teaching Second Language Composition (3 units)
  • LING 561 - Second Language Curriculum Development (3 units)
  • LING 562 - Second Language Testing and Assessment (3 units)
  • LING 575 - Literacy and Linguistics (3 units)
  • LING 593 - Practicum in TESOL (3 units)

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 units)
  • LING 533 - Ethnography of Communication (3 units)
  • *  LING 540 - Sociolinguistics (3 units)
  • LING 580 - Linguistic Field Methods (3 units)
  • *  LING 595 - Qualitative Research Methods (3 units)
  • *  LING 596 - Quantitative Research Methods (3 units)
  • LING 620 - Seminar in Syntactic Theory and Analysis (3 units)
  • LING 625 - Seminar in Phonetics and Phonology (3 units)

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 TESOL 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 - Seminar in Bilingualism (3 units)
  • LING 697 - Directed Research (take 3 units) - Research paper in the area of TESOL 

Thesis Option (6 units).

  • ​LING 698 - Thesis (6 units) - Graduate thesis in the area of TESOL