Master of Arts - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

This Master of Arts degree program is designed to prepare professionals of both competence and conscience in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The program consists of 36 credit hours and aims to provide the students with a solid theoretical foundation and the necessary professional skills in TESOL at different levels of education (elementary, secondary, tertiary, and adult literacy) and in different milieus (English as a Foreign Language and English as a Second Language). It will equip the students with the linguistics knowledge, cultural understanding, and pedagogical training essential in the various aspects of TESOL, including, among other things, curriculum design, material development, methodologies, classroom procedures, and assessment.

Graduates with this Master's degree may find employment in teaching English as a Second Language in the U.S. or English as a Foreign Language overseas in various educational settings. Many of our graduates are teaching in colleges and language schools.

Graduate Application for Admission

Degree Options
The TESOL program also offers a TESOL certificate. This certificate requires 18 credit hours in TESOL core courses. It is designed primarily for American students who do not want to pursue a master's degree but desire credentials in TESOL that will aid them in gaining employment in TESOL overseas. The required courses for the certification are:
TESL 5013: The English Language: Structure and Usage
TESL 5103: Studies in Linguistics
TESL 5423: Theory and Methods of TESOL
TESL 5513: ESL/EFL Assessment
TESL 6363: Language and Culture
TESL 6873: TESOL Practicum

Academic Entrance Requirements
GPA of 3.00. Students with a GPA slightly below 3.00 may be admitted on a probational basis.

Scholarships
Limited tuition waiver scholarships are available. Please apply through the Graduate Admissions Office. Students with good GPA and excellent recommendations are encouraged to apply.

Study Abroad Opportunities
Study abroad programs with possible scholarships are available in countries such as China, Korea, and Taiwan.

Internships
The course TESOL Practicum serves as a type of internship where students observe, tutor and/or teach at various sites including intensive ESL programs, public school ESL, literacy programs and church-operated ESL classes.

Faculty

Dr.Dilin Liu, Professor and Program Director
Ph.D. Oklahoma State University
E-mail: dliu@okcu.edu

Areas of Expertise: English Grammar, language assessment, language and culture/sociolinguistics, Second language acquisition, TESOL methodology

Recent Publications:

Grammar Teaching in Teacher Education. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Inc. (2002, co-edited with Peter Master).
"The acquisition of the article the by nonnative speakers of English: An analysis of four nongeneric uses." Studies in Second language Acquisition, 24(2002), 1-26.
"Writing cohesion: Using content lexical ties in ESOL." English Teaching Forum, 38.1 (2000), 28-33.
"Multiple-site practicum: Opportunities for diverse learning and teaching experiences." TESOL Journal, 9.1(2000), 18-22.
"Acquisition of culturally-loaded words in EFL." Foreign Language Annuals (Quarterly Journal of American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), 32 (1999(, 177-187
"From Rosalynde to As You Like It: Shakespeare's Celebration of Blood Order." In R.F. Willson (Series Ed.) and P. Rollins and A. Smith (Vol Eds.). Studies in Shakespeare: Vol. 12. Shakespeare's theory of blood, character, and class: A festschrift in honor of David Shelley Berkeley. (pp 61-76). New York: Peter Lan. 2001. (Co-authored with A. Govindon).
"Training non-native speaker TESOL students: The challenges for TESOL teacher education in the West." In G. Braine (Ed.). Non-native educators in English langauge teaching (pp. 197-210). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaun (1999)
"Ethnocentrism in TESOL: Teacher education and the neglected needs of international TESOL students," The ELT Journal: An International Journal for teachers of English to speakers of other languages, 52 (1998), 3-10

Research and work in progress:

  • A completed book manuscript entitled Metaphorical Language, Culture and World View: The Case of American English and the Chinese Language.
  • In the process of compiling a book entitled The 200 Most Frequently Used Idioms based on a corpus analysis involving three corpuses: Corpus of Spoken Professional American English, Media American English, and College lectures.
  • A book length study on the most difficult words for intermediate and advanced ESL students. It's based on data that I have collected over the last ten years.

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Dr. Terry Phelps, Professor and Director of Learning Enhancement Center
Ph.D. University of Oklahoma
E-mail: tphelps@okcu.edu

Areas of Expertise: Grammar, writing, and writing instructional strategies
Research and work in progress: A grammar book

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Sharon Brickman, Visiting Assistant Professor
ABD, University of Oklahoma, M.A. Austin Peay State University
E-mail: sbrickman@okcu.edu

Areas of Expertise: Reading (Reading specialist certification), Instructional system design

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Eric Meyer, Instructor
M.Ed. Oklahoma City University
E-mail: emeyer@okcu.edu

Areas of Expertise: Phonology, TESOL Methodology, Practicum
www.ou.edu/cas/hr/faculty.html