TESOL Graduate Certificate Program
(Admission suspended until further notice)
The Adult/University-Level TESOL Graduate Certificate Program is designed to meet the needs of graduate non-degree students or graduate students concurrently enrolled in a UWM master's or Ph.D. program who wish to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults or university-level students abroad. Requirements for this program are very similar to those for the "Adult/University-Level TESOL Certificate Program," which accepts undergraduate students and post-baccalaureate special students, but training in the graduate certificate program is more rigorous, and up to 12 of the 21 credits earned can be applied (concurrently or subsequently) to the English Department's M.A. program in English Language and Linguistics (Plan D).
Admission
Students who wish to apply to the program should submit the following materials to the TESOL Certificate Program Coordinator in the Department of English:
- Adult/University-Level TESOL Graduate Certificate Program application form (available from the English Department Graduate Studies office).
- Transcripts of all college-level academic work, with evidence of a GPA of 2.75 or better.
- A statement of purpose.
- Two letters of recommendation from persons knowledgeable about the applicant's recent academic and/or work experience.
- Applicants who are not native speakers of English should also submit scores of least 550 on the TOEFL or 6.5 on the IELTS exam, and 45 on the TSE.
Credits and Courses
Students are required to complete the six courses (18 credits) plus teaching internship (3 credits) outlined below.
- Foundation Courses, 6 credits
- English/Linguis 400 (Introduction to English Linguistics) or Linguis 350 (Introduction to Linguistics)
- English 403 (Survey of Modern English Grammar) Required Certificate Courses, 12 credits:
- English 404 (Language, Power, and Identity)
- Linguistics 420 (Introduction to Second Language Acquisition) or English 402 (Theories of Language and Literature: Second Language Acquisition)
- English 565/Linguistics 565(426) (Introduction to Adult/University-Level TESOL)
- English 567 (Materials for ESL Instruction)
- Teaching Internship, 3 credits:
- English 569 (Internship in Teaching ESL to Adult Learners)
The Foundation Courses may be taken for either graduate or undergraduate credit. If taken at the graduate level, they will count toward the Certificate GPA. All remaining courses must be taken for graduate credit. NB: Students are not allowed to enroll for both U and G courses in a single semester, so Foundation Courses taken in the same semester as Required Certificate Courses must be taken at the G level.
Students who previously have taken any of the required courses at the graduate level while enrolled in other programs at UWM may transfer the credits earned into the certificate program, so long as the courses have been taken within the last five years. Students who have taken comparable courses at other institutions may be allowed to transfer in up to 6 credits of course work, upon approval by the certificate program coordinator. Students who have completed any of the required courses for undergraduate credit must substitute courses at the graduate level, selected in consultation with the certificate program coordinator.
The teaching internship is completed at one of the internship institutions affiliated with the Certificate Program. The site of the internship may be chosen by the student, but must be approved by the Certificate Program staff. The student is expected to complete between 40 and 60 hours of supervised teaching over a period of four to eight weeks. Students receive the certificate upon completion of all the required coursework and the teaching internship with a GPA of 3.0 or better.
There is a time limit of three years from initial enrollment for completion of the certificate.
Intensive Option
Students who wish to complete the certificate program as quickly as possible should discuss with the program coordinator the possibility of enrolling for the "intensive" option. Under this option, students are able to complete the program in eight to ten months by enrolling in the required courses as follows:
- Last 4- or 6-week summer session: English/Linguis 400 or Linguis 350.
- Fall Semester: English 403, English 404, Linguistics 420, English 565 or Linguistics 565 (426), and English 567.
- First Mini-Session of Spring Semester: English 569 (Teaching Internship).