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). The MA TESOL programme offers a preparation for more responsible positions in language teaching and testing, teacher training, ELT curriculum and materials development, and further research in language education. A wide range of MA TESOL modules in specific language education areas are on offer.

'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

Core modules: 40 credits - ALL of these must be taken

Restricted choice modules

A minimum of 40 credits must be selected from among these items
(please note that some modules may not be available in any given year)

Freely chosen modules: 40 credits

  • Choosen from any other modules on offer in the Department, including those listed above.

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.

Dissertation

A dissertation (60 credits) of 12,500 words is also undertaken. This comprises a report on a small-scale empirical investigation of an aspect of TESOL professional practice.

Key Facts

Director of Studies: Alan Waters

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)

Entry requirements:

  • Academic: upper-second class degree or higher, in a relevant specialism (language studies or linguistics-oriented ones preferred)
  • Foreign language teaching experience of two or more years
  • English language level (for applicants whose native language is not English): minimum IELTS 6.5 (with at least 6.0 in Reading and Writing) / paper-based TOEFL 580 / CBT 237 / or equivalent

Assessment: 6 x 5,000-word essay or equivalent (120 credits) + 12,500-word dissertation (60 credits)

Deadline for applications: 30th June

Enquiries: Marjorie Wood

What our Students Say

Laura Aza , 2009-10 (Argentina)

<h3>Laura Aza , 2009-10 (Argentina) </h3>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)

<h3>Florence Muluh , 2009-10 (Cameroon) </h3>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.