Curriculum

Requirements for Admission

Applicants must comply with the Murray State University requirements (see Graduate Admissions). Additional requirements for uncon­ditional admission are as follows:

• an undergraduate major in English or a modern foreign language or approval by the TESOL Advisory Committee;
• at least 6 semester hours in one modern foreign language or demonstrated proficiency at that level (permission may be granted to complete this proficiency during the program; for non-native speakers, language may be English);
• for non-native speakers of English, an English language proficiency test score from one of the examination systems must be met:
  
  • Cambridge English Examination score of C1/B2 or higher,
  • Duolingo English Test overall score of 115 or higher with each subcategory at the same or higher level.
  • GTEC minimum overall score of 1250,
  • IELTS score of 6.5 with no band lower than 6.0,
  • Kaplan English Certificate Advanced Level,
  • PTE overall score of 55,
  • TOEFL score of 20 for each section of the iBT,
  • A previous degree earned from an accredited US institution, or
  • Successful completion of Level 6 of the MSU ESL program with a minimum score of 527
• Students from the following countries or who have graduated from the following colleges or universities are not required to submit English proficiency scores: Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, British Islands, Cameroon (University of Buea and University of Bamenda), Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, and United Kingdom.
• Conditional admission may be granted for non-English speaking students if they meet one of the following language proficiency scores:
  • Cambridge English Examination score of B2 or higher,
  • Duolingo English Test overall score of 105,
  • GTEC minimum overall score of 1190,
  • IELTS score of 6.0 with no band below 5.5,
  • Kaplan English Certificate High Intermediate Level,
  • PTE overall score of 51,
  • TOEFL iBT minimum of 18 for each section
  • Successful completion of an in-house language exam (decided on a case-by-case basis),

Must also meet all other conditions for admittance to be considered for conditional admission by the TESOL Advisory committee. Under these conditions, students will have their English language skills assessed by the director of the TESOL program immediately after they arrive on campus to determine if further classes are needed to develop English language proficiency. After assessment, the students may be assigned to full-time language study in the English as a Second Language Program, may be permitted to take graduate-level classes on a conditional basis along with further designated language study, or may be permitted to begin graduate study without further restrictions.

• • All students must submit an internship proposal by the end of the semester before they will enroll in that class. Students must meet the specified guidelines indicated below for each internship before proposals will be considered. Each proposal must be approved by the TESOL Committee. Note that the default internship course will be TSL 690: Internship: Teaching Focus. Only students who have met very rigorous requirements, as noted below, will be allowed to enroll in an optional Internship course.

 

Note: Admission to the program does not guarantee graduation. Students are expected to hold to the ethical standards expected of the teaching profes­sion, and unethical conduct, such as violations of the MSU Academic Honesty Policy, may result in dismissal from the program.

 

Graduation Requirements

Other Degree Requirements

Formal evaluations during the course of the program will include submission of a summative portfolio and will include a one-hour oral exit examination.

Optional Internship Focus

The default internship course will be TSL 690: Internship: Teaching Focus. Only students who have met very rigorous requirements, as noted below, will be allowed to enroll in an optional Internship course.

TSL 691 Internship: Research Focus*

*Note that permission to enroll in this course as a substitute for TSL 690 requires teaching experience; TSL 610; approval by the TESOL Committee based on a superior score of the TSL 610 final project and research proposal, using an external rubric; and recommendation of TSL 610 professor.

TSL 692 Internship: Materials Design Focus*

*Note that permission to enroll in this course as a substitute for TSL 690 requires teaching experience; TSL 615; approval by the TESOL Committee based on a superior score of the TSL 615 final project and materials proposal, using an external rubric; and recommendation of TSL 615 professor.

Program Requirements

Complete all of the following

• Core Program Requirements:
  Complete at least 1 of the following:

  • TSL600 - Methods and Materials for Second Language Teaching (3)
  • TSL601 - Methods and Materials for Online Language Teaching (3)

• Complete the following:

  • TSL609 - Foundations of Second Language Acquisition (3)
  • TSL610 - Research Applications in Language Education (3)
  • TSL615 - Curriculum Design in Second Language Teaching and Learning (3)
  • TSL623 - Testing and Evaluation in Second Language Teaching (3)
  • TSL634 - Language and Culture (3)
  • TSL653 - Second Language Integrated Skills Seminar (3)

• Limited Electives (not previously taken as part of the core):
  Complete at least 2 of the following:

  • TSL600 - Methods and Materials for Second Language Teaching (3)
  • TSL601 - Methods and Materials for Online Language Teaching (3)
  • TSL605 - Teaching Second Language Literacy (3)
  • TSL620 - Computer Assisted Language Learning (3)
  • TSL680 - Practicum (3)
  • TSL695 - Special Topics (3)

• Complete at least 1 of the following:

  • TSL690- Internship: Teaching Focus¹ (3)
  • TSL691- Internship: Research Focus (3)
  • TSL692- Internship: Materials Design Focus (3)

Grand Total Credits: 30