MA-TESL
The English Language Institute administers the University of Delaware’s graduate Masters Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (MA-TESL) program. The two-year cohort program is one of 21 masters and doctoral programs offered by the University’s prestigious School of Education, housed in the University’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). The MA TESL program is interdisciplinary with courses taught by faculty from the School of Education, the English Language Institute, the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature.
Effective ESL and bilingual teachers must be able to translate their understanding of language and culture into classroom practice that allows their students to learn English effectively and thereby become successful participants in the target language community. To that end program curriculum has been structured to provide a solid knowledge foundation in second language acquisition; effective instructional methodology; assessment, the role of culture; ESL lesson, syllabus, and curriculum design; and command of the syntax, phonology, semantics, and morphology of the English language. At its heart, however, the MA-TESL is a professional degree, designed to give students many opportunities for experiential learning by applying what they learn through observations, practice teaching sessions, material development, and conference participation.
Graduates of the program are highly qualified ESL and bilingual professionals who meet the growing need for certified teachers in US public schools classrooms as well as ESL and EFL language instructors in universities and language institutes in the U.S. and abroad.
The MA-TESL is fully accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).