Teaching English as a Second Language, MA

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers a graduate program leading to the M.A. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language - MATESL (36 cr.).  The general goal of graduate work in the program is to provide students with a quality teacher education program that will prepare candidates for a satisfying career in language teaching. 

Admission Requirements  

• Transcript showing a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum GPA of 2.75.  If applicant has taken graduate courses, a minimum GPA of 3.0 is required. 
• Three Letters of Recommendation 
• Essay 
• TOEFL score: 89 ibt 

Degree Requirements 

The MA degree requires a total of 36 graduate credit hours, distributed across the required courses below.  This course work includes two teaching practica, a supervised internship and the TESL Professional Portfolio.   

• TSL 560 LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE ESL CLASSROOM  (3 cr.)  
• MCL 510 TEACHING METHODS: YOUNG LEARNERS & BEGINNING LEVEL STUDENTS  (3cr.) 
• TSL 515 ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTENT CLASSROOM  (3 cr.) Or MCL 665 SECOND LANGUAGE CURRICULUM & ASSESSMENT  (3 cr.)  
• MCL 517 SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION  / LIN 517 SPECIAL TOPICS IN LINGUISTICS (SUBTITLE REQUIRED)  (3cr.)  
• MCL 575 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE STRUCTURE  (3cr.)  
• MCL 610 WORLD LANGUAGE METHODS 9-12  (3 cr.)
• TSL 675 ENGLISH GRAMMAR: ANALYSIS & PEDAGOGY  (3 cr.)  
• MCL 690 CULTURE, COGNITION, & SECOND LANGUAGE  (3 cr.)  
• TSL 697 ESL INTERNSHIP  (9 cr.)  
• One Elective:  500/600 level course from Education, Linguistics or related field (3 cr.)  

TESL Website:  https://mcl.as.uky.edu/tesl