The WRD department offers a Graduate Certificate in TESOL, which may be completed by students in an existing DePaul graduate program or by students who wish to complete only the Certificate. Made up of courses in the programs of Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse, Bilingual-Bicultural Education, English, and Modern Languages, the Certificate prepares students to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult learners in the United States and abroad. The Certificate may also be attractive to faculty at non-U.S. institutions who wish to come to the U.S. for education in working with second language learners.
Course Requirements
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Theory | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF TEACHING ESL AND WLE | ||
| THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS/CURRENT RESEARCH SECOND/FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION | ||
| FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION | ||
| SPECIAL TOPICS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND CULTURE (when topic is relevant) | ||
| SECOND, WORLD AND HERITAGE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION | ||
| TOPICS IN LANGUAGE (when topic is relevant) | ||
| Methods | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| TEACHING ESL WRITING | ||
| TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE | ||
| TOPICS IN TEACHING WRITING AND LANGUAGE (when topic is relevant) | ||
| Sociolinguistics | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| GLOBAL ENGLISHES | ||
| SOCIOLINGUISTICS | ||
| SPECIAL TOPICS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND CULTURE (when topic is relevant) | ||
| Language Structure | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| STRUCTURE OF MODERN ENGLISH | ||
| HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE | ||
| STYLISTICS | ||
| TOPICS IN TEACHING (Grammar for Teachers) 1 | ||
| TOPICS IN LANGUAGE (when topic is relevant) | ||
| PEDAGOGICAL GRAMMAR | ||
| Field Experience | ||
| 20 hours of field experience working with adult language learners. Field experience will be arranged individually with the Coordinator of the Certificate program. | ||
- 1
ENG 478 counts for TESOL credit only with this subtitle.
Students completing the Master’s in Bilingual-Bicultural Education can complete the Certificate program by taking their Theory and Sociolinguistics courses in BBE and their Methods and Language Structure courses in WRD; they must complete all requirements for the BBE program to receive the Master’s degree. Students in the Master of Arts in English (MAE) may complete their Language and Structure requirement in English; any two additional courses form the list above will count for credit in both MAE and the TESOL Certificate. For Students in the MA in WRD, a maximum of two courses (8 credits) from MOL or BBE may be counted as credits toward the MA in WRD degree.
Students who are concurrently completing any other graduate degree program at DePaul must work with their program director/advisor to determine if TESOL Certificate courses will count toward their degree requirements.
Admission Requirements
Applications are accepted at any time, and students may begin the program at the start of any academic quarter. The program is open to both non-degree seeking students and students concurrently enrolled in a DePaul graduate degree program. All applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree.
There are two processes for applying to the program, depending on the status of the applicant.
Current graduate students in any DePaul program should write a personal statement of 300-500 words describing their interest in the certificate, prior experience in TESOL or related fields, and professional goals for pursuing the certificate. Email the statement to the TESOL Coordinator, Professor Jason Schneider.
Applicants who are not currently enrolled as DePaul students should apply online, and be prepared to submit the following:
- an LAS graduate admission online application
- transcripts from all schools attended
- a personal statement of 300-500 words describing their interest in the program, prior experience in TESOL or related fields, and professional goals for pursuing the certificate