TESOL (MSc)
Programme Structure
On the MSc TESOL you will complete six courses: four core courses and two courses chosen from a range of options. In addition, you will complete a dissertation of between 12,000-15,000 words, supported by a supervisor who is allocated on the basis of their expertise in the topic chosen by you.
Options are also available from the MEd Inclusive Education: Research, Policy and Practice, the MEd Children's Literature and Literacies programmes.
Core courses
Classroom processes
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is one of the compulsory core courses in the MSc TESOL. It provides a foundation in the principles of teaching and learning English as a foreign language. By a process of observation and reflection on teacher and learner roles, underlying principles will be identified. Students will study approaches to the teaching of language systems and skills, along with the principles of planning a series of lessons.
Descriptions of Language and Applications to the Classroom
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is one of the compulsory core courses in the MSc TESOL . It provides students with an overview of key approaches to describing language. It enables students to consider how these descriptions can be applied to the classroom to provide examples of language forms and functions in use. These descriptions will link with theories of language learning to inform teaching.
Introduction to Educational & Social Research
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is one of the compulsory core courses in the MSc TESOL .This course is an introduction to educational and social research. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with a fundamental level of research literacy. The aims of the course are to:
- introduce students to current concerns in the philosophy and political economy of research
- provide students with experience in reading and critically reviewing research
- prepare students to conduct a research project of appropriate scope
- inform students about the intersections between method, methodology and approaches to enquiry
- ensure that students have the preparation they need for further study of research methods and methodology
- develop understanding of applying enquiry methods to a specific problem.
Developing Professional Practice
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is one of the compulsory core courses in the MSc TESOL. It aims to develop an understanding of key principles in lesson planning and delivery. Students will investigate underlying theories in relation to specific types of lessons and will be encouraged to develop an awareness of differences in contexts and how this can affect planning and delivery.
Optional courses
Students have a choice of two optional courses from the MEd Inclusive Education: Research, Policy and Practice, the MEd Children's Literature and Literacies programmes and the following courses:
Which English? Sociolinguisists and Language Teaching
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is one of the Semester Two options in the MEd cluster. It provides students with an overview of English in the world, its varieties and domains of use. As an introduction to sociolinguistics, it covers issues of language status, norms, standards, models, attitudes, and intelligibility (intercultural communication) and how they relate to language planning and language policy in different contexts.
Language Proficiency, Assessment and Feedback
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This is a Semester Two option in the MEd cluster. It provides students with an overview of theories and practices of assessing language proficiency. The relationship between teaching programmes and assessment is considered, together with a range of testing techniques. The characteristics of formative and summative testing and feedback are identified and their pedagogic implications considered.
Modern Educational Thought
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course explores significant concepts, debates and discourses on theoretical issues that are important for students engaged in the study and practice of education. This course is focussed on central questions around the aims and purposes of education and ways in which modern educational thought plays out in professional practice and/or policy contexts. In addressing these questions, we will take as a starting point the claim that the development of rational autonomy, that is the Enlightenment project, is the central aim of education. Thus the course will begin with key readings in the history of 'liberal' thinking on education. It will encourage a critical reading of texts in the history of modern educational ideas, taking into account critiques of the liberal tradition from positions that include Marxism, postmodernism, communitarianism and feminism.
Advanced Educational Research
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course is required for students who are studying for a research orientated Master's degree. It will look in more depth at the issues of method, methodology and epistemology to which students were exposed in Introduction to Educational and Social Research and includes an element of pragmatic research practice.