Objectives
Program Requirements
Admission Requirements
Graduation Requirements
Curriculum

Objectives

English has become the most widely used language in the world today, particularly in the areas of science, commerce and education. Tens of thousands of students in developing countries are required to learn English in school. Thousands more study English in order to pursue careers or educational programs demanding English language skills. Refugees and immigrants to the United States desire English to survive and to establish themselves in their new homeland. There is thus a considerable demand for qualified teachers of English both here and abroad.

The Certificate in TESOL is designed to enable post-baccalaureate students to develop both a solid academic foundation in second language pedagogy and practical skills in teaching English in crosscultural situations.

Program Requirements

The TESOL graduate programs require nine units of foundational work in language, culture, and Bible. Students who enter without such a background are required to take three units each of Introduction to Linguistics, Intercultural Communication and Bible (or their equivalents).

The Certificate in TESOL requires 18 semester units of prescribed course work, beyond the foundational units, with at least nine units taken while in residency. Practice teaching is required.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the qualifications specified in the Admission to the School of Intercultural Studies section. In addition to these, foreign applicants who are non-native English speakers must demonstrate both spoken and written proficiency in English through an oral interview and by submitting their TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) results. The TOEFL must have been taken within the past five years. A score of 600 paper / 250 computer with a TWE score of 5 is normally required for admission to the graduate programs in the department. Non-native speakers are also expected to demonstrate oral English proficiency by means of an interview with a faculty member.

Because teachers and applied linguists are expected to have a high degree of competence in written English, all new graduate students, both native and non-native English speakers, are required to take the department’s Writing Proficiency Exam. If the results of the exam indicate that additional work in written grammar and composition is needed to enable a student to perform at the level expected for this field, he or she will be expected to do independent supplementary work on writing or to take and pass one or more writing courses available on campus, including special studies courses, SS 500 or SS 501, described below.

All graduate programs in the department require as a prerequisite a minimum of three semester units of acceptable Bible or theology coursework at the upper division or graduate level in addition to the specified foundational units. Foundational units may be taken concurrently with regular program courses but should normally be completed by the end of the first year.

Students normally begin their program in the fall.

Graduation Requirements

All students must successfully complete all required coursework with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 to qualify for graduation. No TAL course with a grade less than a B (3.0) will be counted for the Certificate or M.A.

The Certificate in TESOL and the Certificate in Linguistics are usually completed within one year by full-time students, but part-time students may have up to four years to complete it.

Curriculum

Foundational Units

(May be taken concurrently with program courses.)

Certificate in TESOL

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