MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL)
Keen to further your own professional development? Our MA TESOL is for ELT practitioners with at least 2 years' teaching experience (if you have less than 2 years' experience, please see our MA TEFL). This programme is designed to provide coherent coverage of a broad range of areas, offering experienced practitioners preparation for more responsible positions in language teaching and testing, teacher training, ELT curriculum and materials development, and further research.
'Lancaster ELT' or 'Lancaster MA' is widely recognised by employers throughout the world as a mark of quality. Many former Lancaster MA TESOL students are now in leading language teaching positions in their home institutions in many parts of the world, as well as in Ministries of Education, curriculum development centres, research posts, and so on. See what former students say about the programme, and learn more about studying ELT at Lancaster.
Course Aims
- To provide a thorough up-to-date orientation to the ways academic thinking and research can inform the theory and practice of TESOL.
- To develop expertise in the use of research procedures for investigating aspects of TESOL professional practice.
- To encourage participants to seek links between their work in the programme and the realities and needs of their home professional situations.
Course Structure
Compulsory Modules
All MA TESOL students take the following modules:
- Trends and Issues in Language Teaching Methodology
- Second Language Acquisition
- Research Methods in Linguistics and English Language
- Dissertation – 12,500 word investigation in professional practice
‘Restricted Choice’ Modules
40 credits must be selected from among these modules:
- Language Test Construction and Evaluation (20 credits)
- Pedagogical Grammar (20 credits)
- Curriculum Design in Language Education (10 Credits)
- Instructed Second Language Acquisition (10 Credits)
- Task-based Language Teaching (20 credits)
- Teacher Development in Language Education (10 credits)
Free Choice Modules
The remaining 20 credits can be freely chosen from any other postgraduate modules including those listed above as ‘Restricted Choice’ modules (subject to any restrictions).
Postgraduate Academic Study Skills
Participants are also strongly encouraged to take the Postgraduate Academic Study Skills module, which provides support in English for Academic Purposes related to the other programme modules and the dissertation.
Key Facts
Director of Studies: Dr Andrea Révész
Programme length: full-time (12 months), part-time (24 months)
Audience: Audience: those possessing at least two years of teaching experience and seeking to upgrade their professional knowledge and skills, both for existing roles and as a preparation for more responsible positions (if you have less than two years' experience, please see our MA TEFL)
Assessment: Coursework and dissertation
Deadline for applications: 30th June
Enquiries: Marjorie Wood
Entry Requirements
Academic: upper-second class degree or higher, in a relevant specialism (language studies or linguistics-oriented ones preferred)
Experience: Foreign language teaching experience of two or more years
English language level (for applicants whose native language is not English):
Our official requirement for IELTS is a score of at least 6.5 overall with at least 6.5 in the reading and writing elements and 6.0 in the listening and speaking elements.
The University also accepts internet-based (iBT) TOEFL scores of at least 93 overall (with at least 24 in the reading and writing elements and 22 in the listening and speaking elements), and Pearson Test of English Academic scores of at least 62 overall (with at least 62 in the reading and writing elements and 55 in the listening and speaking elements). Please see the TOEFL.org and Pearson PTE Academic pages for more information.
If applicants have taken any of these exams in the last two years we can accept their test scores; otherwise we ask that they take the exam again. If, however, they have done their undergraduate studies in Britain, the US or another English-medium educational system and have successfully completed their degree within the past two years they may not need to submit a test score.
What our Students Say
Laura Aza , 2009-10 (Argentina)
I found the MA TESOL programme very useful and thoroughly enjoyable in many respects. It offered a very good balance between theory and practice, a central feature in Tesol. In addition, all the modules dealt with issues of current relevance. I particularly liked the programme because although it was a great challenge for me it articulated with my academic background and my teaching experience. There was plenty to learn but it was not hard to make the connection with what I had studied in my first degree or with my work experience.
Academically speaking, it was a pleasure to attend all the tutors lessons. It was evident that they had vast knowledge and considerable expertise in their specialization area. Yet they never overwhelmed us with too much information and they were extremely humble when answering our queries, however basic they might be.
Florence Muluh , 2009-10 (Cameroon)
I spent a year studying for a MA in the department of linguistics and English language at Lancaster University. The MA TESOL programme which I pursued comprised a series of enriching subject areas in ELT and a combination of approaches which greatly enhanced my understanding of, and elucidated current trends and issues in ELT. I was particularly impressed by the selection of courses on the programme which highlighted and linked aspects of language learning and learning theories to issues in language teaching. This design ensured a deeper understanding and critical appreciation of some of the principles which underlie language learning and teaching and how these influence each other. The ability of the programme to accommodate experiences from different parts of the world was fascinating. Given that no two language learning contexts are the same, such an international approach gave us the opportunity to share and learn from course mates.
Lynn Wilson (United Kingdom)
The programme offers an interesting range of linguistics modules such as discourse analysis, pragmatics, bilingualism and sociolinguistics, as well as excellent modules more directly related to language teaching such as Second language acquisition, researching oral pedagogy, culture and the language learner among others.