ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

Director of the Division and Graduate Program Coordinator: Numa Markee

Correspondence and Admission Information: Director, Division of English as an International Language, 3070 Foreign Languages Building, 707 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-1506; E-mail: deil@uiuc.edu

URL: www.deil.uiuc.edu

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM

The Division of English as an International Language offers a program leading to the degree of Master of Arts in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (MATESL).

ADMISSION

MATESL program applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree. An undergraduate major in linguisti cs, English, a foreign language, or education is generally recommended, though other majors are also acceptable. Applicants must present a grade point average of at least 3.0 (A = 4.0) for the last 60 hours of undergraduate work. Two years of coursework in a foreign language or the equivalent are also required. All non-native speakers of English entering the MATESL program must also have a score of 600 or higher on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and at least a 40 on the Test of Written English (TWE); these scores are required of students beginning their graduate work with the division as well as those transferring to the division from elsewhere. Also, at the beginning of their first semester on campus, all non-native speakers of English entering the program are required to take the University's English as a Second Language Placement Test (EPT). The results achieved on the latter test will determine whether the student will have to take one or more English languag e courses in addition to the other course requirements in order to receive the MATESL degree. Because what constitutes good writing tends to vary from culture to culture, most international students in the MATESL program are required to take a course in advanced composition, unless they can demonstrate their ability to write effectively in some other way.

Graduate Teaching Experience

Experience in teaching is considered a vital part of the graduate program.

MASTER OF ARTS IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

The program leading to this degree requires candidates to complete a minimum of ten units of coursework and either a written comprehensive examination or a thesis. Usually candidates can meet all degree requirements in two years.

The MATESL program offers two separate curricula or tracks. One track is designed for candidates whose principal interests are in language pedagogy and related research. T he other track encourages candidates to concentrate more heavily on applied research in various aspects of English studies, such as those listed below under faculty specializations. A detailed description of the two tracks is available upon request.

The Division of English as an International Language does not offer a doctor of philosophy degree. Instead, work at the doctoral level with a specialization in applied linguistics or other ESL-related areas of interest can be carried out through the Department of Linguistics or the interdisciplinary program in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE). Members of the graduate faculty of the Division of English as an International Language are available to serve on doctoral committees. Faculty specializations include neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language testing, contrastive discourse, lexicography of English, stylistics, language processing, reading, literacy, pragmatics, computers in second languag e acquisition and learning, methodology of language teaching, curriculum design, and English in the world context. Applicants interested in working toward a doctorate in linguistics should write to the head, Department of Linguistics, 4088 Foreign Language Building, 707 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801. Those interested in SLATE should write to Susan Gonzo, Chair, SLATE, 3070 Foreign Language Building, 707 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801.

FINANCIAL AID

Financial assistance is not usually awarded during a MATESL candidate's first semester. Exceptions to this policy are sometimes made when an applicant has had extensive experience in teaching English as a second language or has an outstanding academic record. A limited number of University fellowships are available for exceptionally qualified candidates. Teaching assistants teach students in the division's ESL program and in the Intensive English Institute.