Curriculum: Online TESOL

Asynchronous Courses

All courses in the online TESOL program are asynchronous (no required live class meetings) so you can schedule your weekly coursework around your other personal and professional responsibilities. Your time zone will not affect your ability to complete your coursework so you can study from any location in the world with appropriate technology and internet access.

Courses include various activities, including socially annotated readings, recorded lectures, discussion boards, individual assignments, and peer reviews. Although all coursework is asynchronous, there are many meaningful opportunities for interaction with your professors and classmates.

You can continue working while you earn your online TESOL master’s degree.

Competencies

You will develop the following competencies through your coursework:

• Inclusive learning environments: collaboratively create supportive learning environments considering relevant contextual factors and students’ diverse backgrounds, aspirations, and challenges.
• Language and language learning in context: curate language learning experiences based on a range of theoretical, empirical, and conceptual understandings of second language acquisition and socialization.
• Evidence-based instructional design and practice: plan and enact language learning experiences using strategies and tools appropriate for specific instructional contexts.
• Digital technologies: integrate appropriate technological tools for multimodal learning based on a critical evaluation of a tool’s affordances and student needs.
• Critical assessment and evaluation: design valid and reliable language assessments while identifying and challenging systemic biases and inequities.
• Dedicated professionalism: cultivate professional identities associated with lifelong learning, leadership, and advocacy for learners and language-related matters.
• Critical intercultural communication (CIC): mobilize CIC knowledge, skills, and dispositions across diverse cultural, societal, and institutional contexts relevant to students’ language learning experiences.    

Core Coursework

The curriculum has eight core courses

• Language Systems
• Language in Society
• Teaching and Learning Additional Languages
• Multimodal Curriculum Design
• Core Instructional Strategies
• Classroom Research and Assessment
• Inclusive and Intercultural Teaching Practices
• Social Change and Advocacy

Practicum

You will take two practicum courses after successfully completing the required core courses. The practicums are designed to help you synthesize what you learned in the program as you reflect upon who you are professionally and what you value when it comes to creating a positive and constructive learning environment. 

During the practicum courses, you will engage in a student teaching experience, either in your own classroom (if you are currently teaching) or with an experienced teacher in your local context (if you are not currently teaching). You will receive feedback on your work from a variety of stakeholders, including your practicum professor, classmates, your mentor teacher (if you have one), and the students you teach. 

You will leave the two practicum courses with a professional development portfolio that contains materials for a job search, artifacts representing your pedagogical beliefs and practices, and a professional development plan, to ensure your continued growth and development beyond your master’s program.

Course Schedule

The online MA in TESOL is a part-time program. In general, students take two courses per term—one in session A and one in session B. Each session is seven weeks long. 

• This allows you to complete the degree in 20 months. 

• You can start your program in the summer, spring, or fall term. 

• The course schedule for the next four terms is listed below. Practicum A and B are offered every term. 

• If you are interested in taking a one-off course for professional development or in pursuing a microcredential, contact Jason Martel at jmartel@middlebury.edu.