Core modules
Pathway 1 (students with less than the equivalent of two years’ full-time teaching experience)
Foundations of TESOL Methodology
This module provides a solid foundation in TESOL theory and practice. It explores both historical and contemporary developments in TESOL in order to give you a broad understanding of the field of English language teaching. Through such exploration, you are encouraged to reflectively engage with and develop your own beliefs about language learning and teaching, particularly in relation to educational contexts you are familiar with and/or will return to as a practising teacher.
And
Foundations of TESOL Professional Practice
This module is designed to complement the ‘Foundations of TESOL Methodology’ module which principally focusses on developing critical awareness of English language teaching approaches and methods. Approaches and methods will be further explored in this module, particularly through actual classroom teaching practice. For this, you will plan and design your own lessons in a collaborative environment with input from peers and tutors. More specifically, the module involves an action research style project which encourages you to reflect critically through observation and analysis of your own and your peers’ teaching, as well as through the research you do in relation to your own teaching.
Pathway 2 (students with more than two years’ full-time teaching experience)
Innovating in TESOL Methodology
TESOL is a forward-looking field, and new ideas and practices are constantly promoted. But what kinds of change have most value, and how can innovation be brought about most appropriately by teachers, in their own contexts? This module takes account of international differences in teaching context by showing how innovation can be placed in the hands of teachers themselves, on the basis of appreciation of needs in their own context. Thus, the module aims, in the first instance, to enhance teachers’ abilities to consider innovation in TESOL from a critical perspective in relation to their own teaching contexts.
The module also shows a way forward with reference to reflective practice, exploratory action research and innovation management, helping teachers explore their situation more deeply, evaluate new ideas and bring about change successfully. The module will consist of three phases: a first phase in which critical awareness regarding innovation is developed, a second phase in which students learn about and implement exploratory research as a basis for innovating in practice, and a third phase in which they learn about how to manage and evaluate innovation and incorporate this knowledge in a plan of action.
And
Curricula and Materials Design
This module will enable you to investigate aspects of published material including skills and language work, use of IT and considerations of critical pedagogy. You will work in collaboration or alone to produce material that could be used in a stated context for language teaching or language teacher education. You will also provide an academic rationale for this material you have produced.
Plus both Pathway 1 and Pathway 2 take the following core modules:
Sociolinguistics of English as a Global Language
This module introduces you to key concepts in sociolinguistics, as reflected particularly in contemporary debates surrounding the nature of ‘language’ and ‘standard language’, multilingualism/bilingualism, and what it means to communicate ‘effectively’ and ‘appropriately’. Aspects of lingua franca communication, intercultural pragmatics and related issues of learner and teacher identity will also be addressed. On this basis, key challenges in the teaching of English as a global language in a classroom environment will be explored.
SLA Insights for TESOL Practice
This module explores areas of second language acquisition (SLA) research that are relevant to TESOL practice. It considers how SLA is affected by individual learner characteristics as well as social-interactive processes in the classroom, and focuses specifically on features of SLA that can be positively shaped by teachers.
Spoken Interaction
This module aims to develop skills in the collection, transcription and analysis of spoken interaction. You will focus on capturing samples of speech for analysis and teaching purposes; exploring the relationship between context and the construction of talk; understanding different approaches to the analysis of spoken interaction; applying conversation analysis to spoken interaction; and identifying the main features of classroom interaction. As well as learning how to capture spoken data and transcribe it, you will choose an area of analysis for your assignment. Students report that spoken interaction analysis tools are often helpful with dissertation research.
Approaches to Written Discourse
The module aims to teach you to understand, critically evaluate, and use a wide range of contemporary approaches suitable for the analysis of written discourse (in the broad sense) as linked to social setting, and to understand the pedagogic implications of such analyses.
Research Methods in TESOL
Designing and undertaking a small-scale research project independently is a core part of the programme. This module will take you through the process of writing a well-structured MA dissertation. It will encourage you to engage with and critically evaluate research in the broad field of TESOL, and familiarise you with different approaches to ethical research.
The module will cover a range of data collection methods and analytical options relevant to TESOL contexts. You will be encouraged to undertake research relevant to your own interests after formulating focused/answerable research questions. The module will also address questions about how to present an appropriately structured, clearly articulated proposal.
Dissertation
The dissertation will give students the opportunity to put theory into practice and design a small-scale study that is meaningful and relevant in their professional contexts. More specifically, it will encourage students to reflect critically on issues and debates within TESOL and identify a topic for further research. It will provide students with an opportunity to explore this topic in depth, to develop a critical literature review, a suitable methodology and an appropriate approach to data analysis.
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Specialism in Classroom Motivation
- Specialism in Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning
- Specialism in Drama and Literature for TESOL
- Management and Leadership in TESOL
- Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in TESOL
- Teaching and Researching Young Language Learners
- Using Corpora for TESOL
- Assessment in TESOL
- Practical Teaching Methodology
- English Medium Instruction
- Researching TESOL Histories
- Continuing Development for TESOL Teachers
