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Director of the Division and Graduate Program Coordinator: Numa Markee
3070 Foreign Languages Building
707 South Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-1506
E-mail:
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 linguistics, 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
language 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 Program
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 40 graduate hours 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. The 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 language 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.
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