Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Guidebook

Welcome to the ASU Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MTESOL) program!  This Guidebookis designed to help students through the program as efficiently as possible. It includes a discussion of the requirements for the degree and a guide for the procedural aspects of obtaining the degree as well as the MTESOL program checklist. It should be used in conjunction with ASU's Graduate Catalog. Since it is the student’s responsibility to comply with all university and departmental requirements and to become informed of their nature and application, it is in the student’s best interest to be thoroughly familiar with this handbook and to consult with the MTESOL director on a regular basis. 

Note: When students list their degree and other credentials on a CV or other documents, it is important that they use the official degree name: MTESOL, Master of TESOL, Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Using a similar but incorrect name such as "MA in TESOL" or "MA in ESL" creates not only confusion but may be interpreted as falsely representing credentials.

Building on the general description of the degree requirements for MTESOL and MTESOL Online, here is a list of specific points students should keep in mind:   

1.  Plan of study.  

It is is in the student's best interest to file an official interactive plan of study (iPOS) with the Graduate College at the earliest possible date, but at the very latest when they reach 50% (5 courses; 15 credit hours) of their program. The iPOS lists the courses to be completed, and the committee consists of the current MTESOL Director as the chair (Dr. Matthew Prior) and the previous Director as the member (Dr. Aya Matsuda). The iPOS also indicates the language selected for the Graduate Foreign Language Examination (Please note that this does not automatically update in the iPOS. MTESOL students on the Tempe campus should contact Samantha Franze, and MTESOL Online students should contact Kira Assad when they have completed their requirement.) The student submits the iPOS electronically.

The Graduate College requires that the student be registered for at least one hour of appropriate graduate level credit in the department in which he or she is pursuing a degree in the semester in which work on the degree is completed, or at any time that the student utilizes university facilities or a professor's time.  This includes registering for at least one credit during the semester that the student applies for graduation.

2.  Required courses.  

The MTESOL program on the Tempe campus is designed to be completed in 3 semesters of full-time study plus a summer course. For example, as the following table shows, a student who starts the program in Fall 2023 could finish the program in Fall 2024, a student who starts the program in Spring 2024 could finish the program in Spring 2025, and so on:

Fall 2023	Spring 2024	Summer 2024	Fall 2024	Spring 2025	Summer 2025	Fall 2025	Spring 2026
LIN510 LIN520 Elective	LIN501 LIN521 Elective	Elective	LIN 584 LIN597 Elective	---	---	---	---
---	LIN520 LIN521 Elective	Elective	LIN501 LIN510 LIN597	LIN584 Elective Elective	---	---	---
---	---	---	LIN510 LIN520 Elective	LIN501 LIN521 Elective	Elective	LIN 584 LIN597 Elective	---
---	---	---	---	LIN520 LIN521 Elective	Elective	LIN501 LIN510 LIN597	LIN584 Elective Elective

This is only an example. The courses can be taken in any order except for LIN 584 Internship and LIN 597 Capstone. LIN 584 Internship cannot be taken in the first semester and is encouraged to be taken later in the program. LIN 597 Capstone should be taken in the final semester or as close to the end of the program.

The MTESOL program through ASU Online offers courses in 7.5 week sessions (session A and session B) within each 15 week long semester (session C). For example:

1st semester session A	1st semester session B	2nd semester session A	2nd semester session B	3rd semester session A	3rd semester session B	4th semester session A	4th semester session B
LIN510	LIN520	elective	LIN501 elective	LIN521 elective	elective	LIN584	LIN597

Please see the MTESOL Online webpage for a table of when courses are offered each semester and session. 

3.  Elective courses.  

3 credit hours of elective courses must be taken from the English department (e.g., LIN511-Phonetics and Phonology, LIN513-Semantics, LIN514-Syntax, LIN515-American English, LIN516-Pragmatics/Discourse Analysis, LIN517-History of the English language, LIN522-Grammar for TESL, LIN523-Language testing and assessment, LIN524-Curriculum design and materials development, LIN584-MTESOL practicum internship(b), LIN590-Reading and conference(c), LIN591-Special topics(d), ENG504-Cross-cultural studies, ENG507-Methods and issues in teaching composition, ENG525-Teaching second language writing, ENG557-Computer-assisted language learning).  

An additional 9 graduate credit hours of elective courses can consist of other LIN or APL courses, or with the director’s approval, ENG/FMS courses, or courses outside the English department (e.g., education, school of international letters and cultures, speech and hearing science, psychology). Potentially suitable choices can be found by searching the ASU course catalog. For outside the department electives, the course catalog can be used to search for courses in bilingual education (e.g., BLE511-Introduction to language minority education, BLE520-ESL for children, BLE522-Literacy/biliteracy development, BLE533-Literacy in secondary BLE/ESL, BLE535-Sociolinguistic issues in bilingual education, BLE537-Language structure acquisition, BLE541-Nature of bilingualism / second language acquisition, BLE561-Parent involvement in language) and international letters and cultures (SLC510-Computer-assisted language learning praxis, SLC515-Second language acquisition, SLC598-Special topicsd).

Please note that some of these courses are only offered in-person on the Tempe campus for MTESOL in-person students and some courses are only offered online through ASU Online for MTESOL Online students.  

(b) The internship involves practical teaching or teaching-related experience. It is a required course, so students must take it one time (for 3 credits); but students also have the choice of taking it more than one time because the internship can be take for a total of up to 9 credits. If a student takes the internship more than one time (i.e., for more than 3 credits), the additional time(s)/credit(s) will count as electives.

(c) This is an independent study course, and can be taken for a total of up to 6 credits (e.g., taken for 3 credits twice). The student chooses a topic to study, finds a professor who is willing to supervise the work, and arranges with the professor a plan for the student to do the work. This course is only available to MTESOL Tempe campus students.  

(d) The topic of this course changes every semester. (For example, recent topics in LIN591 include “English for Specific Purposes” and “Native Speakerism in TESOL”, and in SLC598 include “Issues in syntax” and “sociolinguistics”.)

4.  Pre-Admission Credits.  

With the approval of the program dirctor, students may include a maximun of 12 graduate level credit hours with grades of B or better, provided they are courses appropriate to the program and are not more than three years old. MTESOL required courses that have been taken during a student’s undergraduate studies may be transferred only if those courses were taken within the last 12 units of the undergraduate degree and were not used towards that degree. Credit for pre-admission credit is given when the student files the plan of study.

5.  Graduate Capstone Seminar (LIN597). 

This course will provide students with a culminating experience in which they bring together all the knowledge they have learned in prior courses in a way that is meaningful and relevant to their professional goals.  For example, the course may involve writing a research paper, designing a curriculum (e.g., teaching materials, lessons plans, assessment tools), or developing a professional portfolio. 

6.  Language requirement. 

MTESOL:

The ASU School for International Letters and Cultures (SILC) provides a detailed description of the procedure for the Graduate Foreign Language Examination, which is offered twice a year.  There is also a $100 fee to take the translation test.

Students may also take an approved language course that will also count as elective credit in the program. Students must receive a grade of B or better in the course. Students generally take one of the following: GER 550 German for Reading Knowledge, FRE 550 French for Reading Knowledge, SPA 550 Spanish for Reading Knowledge, or ITA 550 Italian for Reading Knowledge. For further information, follow the link.

MTESOL Online:

Students should consult the Foreign Language tab on the webpage.

7.  Internships and professional development.  

Gaining practical teaching and teaching-related experience can be very important for MTESOL students, and the LIN584-MTESOL practicum internship is an effective way to gain such experience.  Depending on supply and demand, internships may be available in various language programs in the Phoenix area every semester, for example:
- ASU's Global Launch
- ASU Downtown community learning center and Salvation Army Citadel
- ASU workers’ ESL classes 
- Arizona Lost Boys and Girls Center
- Gateway Community College
- International Rescue Committee
- Somali-Bantu Community Center
(Questions about the internship can be directed to the English department’s internship director [Ruby.Macksoud@asu.edu].)

Besides LIN584, other language teaching opportunities may be available on campus. If a student has excellent proficiency in a foreign language, s/he may be able to apply for a teaching assistantship in SILC. Also, ASU’s Global Launch occasionally sends out advertisements for positions.   

Professional development also occurs through conferences, and each spring, there is an ASU linguistics/TESOL graduate student symposium. At this annual conference, an average of 20 linguistics and MTESOL students give presentations on their work. This is an excellent opportunity for MTESOL students to hear what their classmates are working on and to share their own work in an informal setting. Larger conferences such as AZ-TESOL also meet regularly and attending these can be beneficial to a student’s career.

Students may also be interested in non-teaching professional experience, and on-campus employment opportunities may be available. This may include openings in the Center for Asian Studies, the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, SILC’s Latin American Studies, and the Summer Programs Institute. More information on such opportunities is available from the MTESOL director.

MTESOL students can receive information on professional development activities through email. Students are also encouraged to join the Graduate Scholars of English (GSEA). GSEA organizes professional development workshops on topics that may be related to MTESOL studies.

8.  Graduation deadlines.  

All students are required to apply for graduation on their MYASU homepage. The deadline for application for graduation is roughly two months before the end of the semester. Check the Academic Calendar for dates.

9.  Commonly used web sites and email addresses

Graduate Program - English Department
Graduate College
Graduate College Admissions
Graduate College Forms
MyASU
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
ASU's Financial Aid Web site
Graduation Information
ASU Libraries
Registrar forms
Other ASU Forms
Student Health
Testing Services
Global Launch
FAQs

10.  MTESOL program checklist.  

Students can use the following checklist to keep track of the important components of the MTESOL program:

Graduate Plan of Study

Course work (Completion of 30 credits)

Required Courses (18 credits)

LIN 501 Approaches to Research

LIN 510 English Linguistics

LIN 520 Theories Underlying the Acquisition of English as a Second Language

LIN 521 Methods of Teaching English as a Second Language

LIN 584 MTESOL Practicum Internship

ENG 597 Graduate Capstone Seminar

Electives (12 credits)

Foreign Language Requirement: Either a Language course or the Language Examination (for native speakers of English):

Graduation:

Apply for graduation online on your MYASU homepage.