Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Distance Learning) MA

University of Portsmouth

Overview

Develop your abilities as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages, or kickstart your TESOL career, on this flexible Master's in Applied Linguistics and TESOL.

You may already be an established TESOL practitioner (or ELT, EFL or EAP) with a minimum of three months full-time teaching experience, looking to advance your skills and become an expert in your field. If not, as long as you've completed initial ELT, TESOL or TEFL teacher training, you can still apply for this course and do an extra module to build up your practical teaching skills.

On this course, you'll apply contemporary TESOL theory to the classroom. Guided by our expert teaching team, you can apply your learning to the context of teaching you currently work in or aspire to, whether that's in the private or state sector, teaching adults, primary, secondary or higher education.

You'll use a global perspective to critique your own approaches to teaching, conduct your own research into teaching techniques, and explore lesson planning and course design.

You can study in a way that fits around your existing professional and personal commitments by choosing between full-time, part-time, campus-based or distance learning options.

When you graduate, you'll have a deeper understanding of TESOL and how best to get results as an expert practitioner.

Eligibility

This course accepts UK, EU, and international students.

What you'll experience

• Take your TESOL knowledge and teaching skills to postgraduate level
• Choose to study in a way that suits you and your professional life, from on campus or distance learning, full-time (1 year) or part-time (2 or 3 years), and a September or January start
• Reflect on your classroom practice in order to improve the way you teach
• Learn to effectively plan and design a syllabus, courses and assessment methods, and choose to build a portfolio of lesson plans supported by critical reflection
• Analyse research into how people learn languages and the implications that has for the classroom
• Explore linguistic theory, unpick the hidden systems and bias in the use of language, and conduct research into teaching techniques

Careers and opportunities

As a TESOL practitioner with a postgraduate qualification, you'll have the specialist knowledge to stand out to employers at institutions such as universities, language schools and private schools in the UK and overseas.

Graduates of this course have gone onto areas such as:

• teaching English as a second/foreign language
• teaching ESOL in the UK
• teaching other languages, applying skills learning on this course
• educational management and/or leadership
• teacher training
• materials writing
• curriculum development
• editing
• publishing
• advertising

During your course you'll have expert career support from your tutors and our Careers and Employability Centre – which you can access for up to 5 years after you graduate.

Course structure

This Master's degree will take:

1.year (full-time study)

2.or 3 years (part-time study)

Full-time study

The full-time course lasts 1 year whether you study on campus or by distance learning.

If you study full-time, you can expect:

• Up to 6 hours of teaching time every week (lecture, seminar or workshop) for each module you study, held over no more than 3 consecutive days in a week wherever possible.
• 24–30 hours of independent study each week.

Part-time study

• If you study part-time on campus, your course will be 2 years, while if you study part-time by distance learning, you can choose to complete the course over 2 or 3 years.

Studying part-time, you can expect:

• All core material available online at all times so you can create your own study schedule around work or other commitments.
• 12–15 hours of independent study each week.