Teaching English as a Second Language

Graduate Certificate

The graduate certificate in TESL is intended for individuals who have already completed a bachelor's degree.  Those who have also obtained a teaching certificate may use the graduate TESL courses to lead to an add-on license or endorsement to teach ESL in the K-12 schools, but it is not necessary to be  a teacher in the K-12 schools or to have that goal to enroll in the certificate program.  Bachelor's degree holders who wish to work at a private language center, in the Peace Corps, in missions, etc. may choose to obtain the certificate without pursuing K-12 licensure.

All TESL Certificate students will complete the core of 20 credits.  Those who wish to obtain licensure in the K-12 schools may need to meet additional requirements, such as more than the 2 credits of practical TESL experience or the study of a foreign language, depending upon the state where licensure will be sought and the background of each individual student.

Admission Information

Admission to the graduate courses in TESL is obtained through the Graduate Studies Office.  Contact Karla Wenger for full information on what must be submitted.  You may access the Graduate Studies Office web site from the right side bar.

There are two statuses that students can use to gain admission to TESL courses.  One is graduate special student status.  A student in this status may enroll in any selected course for which he/she meets the prerequisite requirements, but only a limited number of courses taken in this status may later be applied to obtaining the full certificate.  The second status is admission as a certificate student, where the intention is to obtain the full certificate by completing the 20 credits.  It is possible to switch from graduate special status to certificate student status, but the decision should be made before the limit on courses has been reached.

Since the program is still new, we are only able to enroll students in special student status for the Fall 2007 semester.  Even students with the intention of completing the full certificate will need to initially enroll in the graduate special status and then switch to certificate status if they wish to begin in Fall 2007.

Certificate Requirements (20 credits)

TESL 551 English Structures (3)
LANG 557 Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching (3)
TESL 670 Designing ESL Courses (3)
TESL 654 Pedagogical Grammar (3)
TESL 625 Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts of Language and Literacy (3)
TESL 675 Assessment in TESL (3)
ED 694V Internship (2)

Licensure Requirements (optional)

ED 694V Internship (1-10) (additional internship credits may be necessary depending upon state where licensure is sought)
Foreign Language Study (1 year college level study or equivalent required for MN license)
Check with individual state boards for other requirements related to licensure in other states.

Electives (optional)

TESL 690 Special Topics (1-4)

Course Descriptions

For a fuller description of what each course entails, click here.