Penn State World Campus:
Earn entry-level English language teaching qualifications online from a respected North American university! As the online campus of Pennsylvania State University, Penn State World Campus provides quality distance education programs to students from the U.S. and around the world, including our online Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). This program is designed for students who are interested in teaching English in postsecondary or adult English language programs in the United States or abroad.
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Online Graduate Certificate in TESOL:
Th
e online curriculum is comprised of 4 introductory graduate-level courses containing integrated practical field experiences that enable students to gain essential skills and knowledge for teaching adult English language students in diverse contexts in the United States or around the world.
Entry Requirements:
You only need to have completed a Bachelors degree with a minimum GPA of 3.0 from an accredited university in order to apply to the program. No prior teaching experience is required.
Program Duration:
Students may take as few or as many courses as they want per semester. If you plan to study part-time, we recommend you take no more than 2 courses per semester. The certificate program can be completed in as few as 2 or 3 semesters (9–12 months).
Graduate-Level TESOL Courses (3 credits each):
- Focus on English: Teaching Form, Meaning and Us: Develops an understanding of the various domains of the English language as relevant for adult English language learning and teaching.
- Focus on Learners: Identity, Community and Language Learning: Explores how individual identities shaped by cultural differences, social positioning, institutional roles and structures influence adult English language learning and teaching.
- Focus on Classrooms: Planning and Supporting Language Learning: Develops a critical awareness of one's teaching practice and highlights instructional planning and classroom interactions with adult English language learners.
- Focus on Instruction: Teaching and Assessing Language Learning: Develops an understanding of and ability to use effective teaching and assessment practices that support adult English language learning.
All candidates must complete a capstone experience in which they create a professional TESOL e-portfolio that demonstrates skills and competencies acquired in the required course work.
Practical Teaching Practice / Observation:
You are responsible for identifying a place or set of places where you can tutor, teach, observe, or interview non-native speakers of English in your area. Universities, public schools, places of worship, and community resource centers (such as the library or YMCA) often have English classes of some type. To experience the practical application and reflection of the theoretical concepts that are addressed in your online classes, you may be required to do one of the following: teach and/or observe an ESL class, tutor a private student, or interview a group of non-native English speakers.
Pathway to a MA in TESL:
The graduate-level certificate in TESOL is designed to be a "stand-alone" program but it can also serve as a "step-up" program into the Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language (MA TESL) offered on-campus at Penn State. The courses are taught by the same faculty and all 12 graduate credits can be applied to the MA TESL program. If you choose to enter the master's degree program, you will only have 2–3 semesters of on-campus learning.
For further information on our distance education TESOL program, please email us via our Contact Us page.
