TESOL Master's Program: Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.)
The Master's degree in TESOL at Temple University is intended for professionals from a variety of backgrounds and with varied career interests. Some of our candidates are interested in teaching positions not requiring state certification such as jobs overseas, or in business settings, community agencies, college and university English language institutes, parochial or other independent elementary and secondary schools. Others are already certified to teach in a public school system in Pennsylvania and wish to learn how to better meet the needs of English language learners. Still others are from abroad and wish to develop their expertise in teaching English in their native country. The Master's degree program addresses all of these needs.
Please note that the Master's program in TESOL at Temple does not offer teacher certification. Those who are interested in teaching ESL in Pennsylvania public K-12 schools should first enroll in one of the teacher certification programs (the Post Baccalaureate Certification Program or the Graduate Certification Program) and concurrently pursue the ESL certificate program.
Other Resources
- Review the Program Goals for the TESOL Master's Program.
- Check out the Frequently Asked Questions for the Master's Program.
Program Requirements
The Master's degree program in TESOL requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of formal course work and a culminating comprehensive exam. To remain in good academic standing a student must not accumulate more than two grades below B- or one F. In order to take the comprehensive exam and graduate, all students must have at least a 3.0 grade point average and may not have an incomplete remaining on their graduate record.
Students have four consecutive years from the semester of acceptance to complete the Master's degree. Students are expected to be continuously enrolled every fall and spring semester upon acceptance to the program. For any semester a student is not enrolled in courses, a fee of $25.00 is charged by the University and a leave of absence application must be filled out and approved by the TESOL program, the CITE Department, and the Graduate School. The semester of a leave of absence still counts towards the 4-year time limit.
Skills and competencies: The Master of Science in Education degree in TESOL prepares students to teach English as a second or foreign language in a variety of contexts, including K-12 schools, colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, and adult programs in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and the Middle East. The TESOL program offers a strong foundation in linguistics and emphasizes pedagogy that reflects cultural sensitivity and awareness of the language and cultural customs of speakers of foreign languages.
To teach ESL in Pennsylvania public, K-12 schools, you must first have a valid Instructional I or II certificate. The Program Specialist: ESL Certificate has been designed as an “add-on” to these certificates. You can find the application to the ESL Certificate Program at this site.
Required Core Courses (18 semester hours)
- TESOL 8611 (610) - Applied Language Study I (3 s.h.)
- TESOL 8612 (612) - Applied Language Study II (3 s.h.)
- TESOL 8614 (614) - Approaches to Teaching English language learners (3 s.h.)
- TESOL 8616 (616) - Curriculum and assessment in TESOL (3 s.h.)
- TESOL 8618 (618) - Second Language Acquisition (3 s.h.)
- TESOL 8621 (620) - Contexts for teaching and learning language (3 s.h.)
See detailed course description in the Graduate Bulletin.
Department Electives (6 semester hours)
- For Lang Ed/Sec Ed 5427 (427) - Academic Discourses in TESOL (3 s.h.)
- English Education 5641 (621) - Teaching Composition in the Secondary School (3 s.h.)
- English Education 622 - Teaching Literature in Secondary School (3 s.h.)
- English Education 8645 (645) - Seminar in Second Language Writing (3 s.h.)
- English Education 8652 (652) - Issues in English Education (Bilingualism) (3 s.h.)
- English Education 8374 (734) - Data analysis in second/foreign language education (3 s.h.)
- English Education 8736 (736) - Theories of second language learning (3 s.h.)
Other appropriate courses may be included in this category with advisor approval. Each fall, the department will announce which elective courses will be offered during the upcoming academic year.
Electives Outside of the Department (6 semester hours)
Two courses relevant to TESOL may be taken from, but are not limited to, such fields as English, Linguistics, Foreign Language Education, Secondary Education, Educational Media, or Anthropology to fulfill this requirement. Courses may be taken within the College of Education or in other colleges at Temple University.
Admissions Requirements
Candidates must meet the general admission standards of the College of Education and the Graduate School. Multiple criteria are used to determine applicant eligibility, including a baseline undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0. Applicants must take either the Millers Analogies Test (MAT) or Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Non-native speakers of English must also obtain a score of 100 or higher on the TOEFL (iBT) exam.
Submitted application must include:
- Scores on the MAT or GRE exam score (current within 5 years of application date).
- Official copies of undergraduate and graduate transcripts from all accredited colleges or universities attended.
- 3 letters of recommendation.
- A professional goal statement.
- A professional resume.
Complete application should be sent to the Graduate Programs, not to the TESOL Program.
Deadlines
- October 1 for spring admission.
- April 1 for fall admission.
Students are allowed to take up to 9 semester hours prior to official acceptance in the program. In addition, up to 6 semester hours of graduate credit can be transferred into the program from another university provided they are recent, relevant, fit into the program requirements, and meet the approval of the advisor. A “B” grade or higher is required in any course considered for transfer credit.