Department of Modern Languages and Literature
California State University, Fullerton

Introduction

In cooperation with the Department of English and the Linguistics Program, the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures offers a Certificate Program for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The program is designed to meet the needs of those students who are now or will be teaching classes in English as a Second Language. These classes may be in the U.S. or in foreign countries. Course work completed for the Certificate may be transferred to the Master’s degree.

Career Opportunities

The typical candidate for the Certificate would normally fall into one or more of the following categories:

• American students who wish to teach English as a foreign language abroad or English as a second language in specified private and public adult school settings in the U.S.

• American teachers who already have a Master’s degree and want to enhance their teaching opportunities at the college level.

• International students who wish to obtain a specialization and then return to their own countries to teach English as a foreign language.

• Students who are obtaining a teaching credential in a major in a related field, but who wish to demonstrate additional competencies for a teaching career.

• Teachers who are already assigned to teach English as a second language but have not had sufficient background or training.

Advisement

An assigned TESOL adviser provides academic and career advisement. Advisement takes place during the instructor's office hours. All students must meet with the adviser within the first semester of graduate course work to develop the study plan.

Admission Requirements

Students who wish to begin work in the department’s Certificate program need to apply for admission within the appropriate filing period to CSU Fullerton and declare their objective as the Certificate for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

Applications may be obtained from the Office of Admissions and Records at any California State University campus. An electronic version of the CSU application is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.csumentor.edu/AdmissionApp/.

The minimum university and departmental requirements include:

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.
  
• A grade point average of at least 2.7 in the last 60 semester units attempted.
  
• A 3.0 grade point average in the major and in good standing at the last college attended.

Specific requirements for the TESOL Certificate program include:

Two years of one foreign language or one year each of two different languages with an average 3.0 GPA. The requirement will normally be waived for students from foreign countries who have studied English as a foreign language.

Completion of Modern Language MLNG) 301--Writing in an intercultural context--with a grade of "B-" or better or with program approval, the EWP with a score of 6 or better.

English 303 with a grade of "B-" or better.

Oral and written proficiency in English to be determined during the student’s first semester in the program. A minimum IELTS score of 7.0 overall OR a minimum TOEFL score of 573 for paper-based, 230 for computer- based, or 89 for the iBT, and a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English or 26 on the speaking section of the iBT (to be verified no later than at the end of the student’s first semester in the program) are required for non-native English speaking applicants who completed their bachelor’s degrees outside of the U.S. in a language other than English.

Application Procedures

CSUF undergraduate students with senior standing apply for admission to the Certificate for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages program by filing an application for readmission to the university as a postbaccalaureate student. Continuing graduate students complete and file a postbaccalaureate/graduate change of academic objective form in the Office of Admission and Records.

Course Requirements

The study plan must include 24 units of committee-approved coursework: 12 units of the core courses, three units of language pedagogy, six units of electives and three units for the practicum. All TESOL students must obtain a minimum of a "B-" grade in each core course and a "B-" (2.7) average in all language pedagogy and elective courses combined.

Core courses (12 units required):

• TESL 500 Fundamentals in TESOL (3)
  
• *TESL 509 Advanced Principles of TESOL: Listening/Speaking Focus (3)
  
• *TESL 510 Advanced Principles of TESOL: Reading/Writing Focus (3)
  
• TESL 527 Second Language Acquisition (3)

Language Pedagogy (3 units required):

• *TESL 515 Pedagogical Grammar and TESOL (3) or
  
• *TESL 520 Teaching Pronunciation and Oral Discourse in TESOL (3) or
  
• TESL 525 Teaching Vocabulary in the ESL/EFL Classroom (3)
  

*In at least one of these courses (or in TESL 560 and 595 with instructor’s permission), each student must complete 20 hours of service learning at one of the sites approved by the TESOL Program.

Electives (6 units required)
With adviser's approval, students choose six units from the list of courses provided below. Other 400- and 500-level courses may also be selected. Complete descriptions of courses can be found in the departmental course listings in the catalog. Prerequisites will be enforced.

Culture

• ANTH 412 Culture Change
  
• ANTH 470 Survey of Anthropological Films (3)
  
• CHIC 450 The Chicano and Contemporary Issues (3)
  
• CHIC 480 The Immigrant and the Chicano (3)
  
• HCOM 420 Communication Theory (3)
  
• HCOM 422 Applications of Intercultural Communication (3)
  
• HCOM 522 Seminar in Intercultural Communication (3)
  
• READ 560 The Sociocultural Context of Literacy and Learning (3
  
• TESL 511 Teaching English Abroad (3)
  
• TESL 545 Teaching Culture in the Language Classroom (3)

Examples of 400- and 500- level American Studies courses (need adviser's approval):

American Humor, The White Ethnic in America, Religion and American Culture, The Shifting Role and Image of the American Male, Southern California Culture, Love in America, Childhood and Family in American Culture, The Search for Community, Visual Arts in Contemporary America, American Minds: Images of Sickness and Health, American Folk Culture, Television and American Culture, the Built Environment, the American West in Symbol and Myth, Women in American Society, Bohemians and Beats: Cultural Radicalism in America, The Culture of the American South, Culture in Turmoil: 1960s America.

Literature

Examples of 400- and 500-level English or American Literature courses (need adviser 's approval):

Introduction to Afro-American Literature, Children's Literature, Literature for Junior or Senior High School. The Development of the English Novel through Jane Austen, The Romantic Movement in English Literature, Victorian Literature, The Development of the 19th Century English Novel, Modern British and American Novels, Modern British and American Drama, Contemporary Drama in English, Traditions of English Literary Criticism, Modern Critical Theory.

Language and Linguistics

• ANTH 416 Anthropological Linguistics (3)
  
• FREN, GRMN, JAPN, SPAN 466 Introduction to French, German, Japanese or Spanish Linguistics (3)
  
• JAPN, SPAN 468 Japanese/Spanish-English Contrastive Analysis (3)
  
• LING 406 Descriptive Linguistics (3)
  
• LING 412 Sociolinguistics (3)
  
• LING 417 Psycholinguistics (3)
  
• LING 442 Changing Words (3)
  
• LING 505 Phonological Analysis (3)
  
• LING 507 Grammatical Analysis (3)
  
• LING 508 Theories of Syntax (3)
  
• READ 514 Linguistics and Reading (3)
  
• SPAN 467 Spanish-English Bilingualism and Language Contact (3)
  
• TESL 515 Pedagogical Grammar in TESOL (if not taken as core course) (3)
  
• TESL 520 Teaching ESL/EFL Pronunciation and Oral Skills (if not taken as language pedagogy course)(3)
  
• TESL 525 Teaching Vocabulary in the ESL/EFL Classroom (3)

Testing, Technology and Research

• ANTH 401 Ethnographic Field Methods (3)
  
• EDEL 511 Survey of Educational Research (3)
  
• EDEL 515 Problem Solving Strategies Including Logo (3)
  
• EDEL 518A Issues in Instructional Design of School Software (3)
  
• EDEL 518B Multimedia Instruction and Development in the Classroom (3)
  
• EDEL 519 Advanced Technology in Education (3)
  
• EDEL 522 Web Design and Instruction (3)
  
• EDEL 551 Assessment Across the Curriculum (3)
  
• EDEL 590 Practicum: Elementary School Teachers and Computers (3)
  
• EDSC 504 Advanced Instruction Proficiency in Secondary Educational Technologies (3)
  
• EDSC 524 Assessing Student Learning (3)
  
• EDSC 535 Survey of Educational Research (3)
  
• LING 501 Research Methods and Bibliography (3)
  
• PSYC 461 Psychological Testing (3)
  
• PSYC 465 Advanced Psychological Statistics (3)
  
• READ 516 Diagnostic-Prescriptive Teaching of Reading (3)
  
• READ 520 Technology in Reading (2)
  
• TESL 530 TESOL Research Methods (3)
  
• TESL 532 Technology in Second Language Learning (3)

Elementary Education

• EDEL 434 Methods and Inquiry for Teaching English Learners (3)
  
• EDEL 500 Bilingual Multicultural Curriculum (3)
  
• EDEL 521 The Study of Teaching (3)
  
• EDEL 528 Reading/Language Arts in Early Childhood Curriculum (3)
  
• EDEL 529 Graduate Studies: Learning Theory for Classroom Use (3)
  
• EDEL 530 Graduate Studies in Elementary Education: Second Languages (3)
  
• EDEL 531 Graduate Studies in Elementary Education: Integrated Language Arts (3)
  
• EDEL 536 Curriculum, Theory and Development (3)
  
• EDEL 541 Psychological and Sociological Foundation of Bilingual Education (3)
  
• EDEL 542 Current Issues and Problems in Bilingual-Bicultural Education (3)
  
• EDEL 552 Family, Community and Professional Partnership (3)
  
• EDEL 553 Models of Teaching (3)
  
• READ 508 Teaching Reading/Language Arts in Today's Elementary Schools (3)

Secondary Education

• EDSC 410 Teaching English Learners in Secondary Schools (3)
  
• EDSC 522 Family, Community and Professional Partnerships (3)
  
• EDSC 536 Curriculum, Theory and Development (3)
  
• EDSC 540 Graduate Studies in Teaching English Learners (3)
  
• EDSC 550 Instructional Strategies (3)
  
• FLED 442 Teaching Foreign Languages in the Secondary School (3)

Adult/College Education

• ENGL 402/402S Theories, Response to Written Composition(2)/Tutor Supervision (1)
  
• ENGL 590 Writing Theory and Practice for Teaching Associates (3)
  
• READ 507 Reading and Thinking in the Content Areas (3)
  
• READ 581 Remediation of Reading Difficulties (4)

Culminating Experience (3 units required)

TESL 596 TESOL Practicum (3). The practicum is to be taken at the end of the program. Prerequisites are TESL 500, 509, 510 and 527. The core and language pedagogy courses must be completed with an average of "B-" or better in order for students to enroll in the practicum.

Special Features and Programs

The program has a collaborative exchange program with the Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Students may complete coursework towards their major, including the teaching practicum, while studying abroad in Brazil. Depending upon experience, some students may also be able to work while they are there. The application deadline is about five months prior to the semester abroad: October 1 for Semester I at UFMG (spring at CSUF), and March 1 for Semester II at UFMG (fall at CSUF).

Students may also apply to the American Language Program (ALP), Business Resource Center, the English Writing Center, and the University Learning Center for part-time work on campus.

The use of technologies is an integral part of our program.

Student Activities or Professional Development

The TESOL Club invites all TESOL Certificate students to participate in club activities that may include speakers, conferences, dining out, and holiday celebrations. Students have also collaborated with faculty members on classroom and school-based research projects.

Last updated 10-15-2007