MA International Education (Higher Education)

This unit aims to provide introductory background to the field of TESOL to MA International students who have not got any experience in ‘Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’ but who would like to gain basic level understanding of this area.

The content of this unit includes:

• An overview of reasons for learning English as a Foreign Language
• An overview of approaches and methods for English language education
• Evaluation and development of materials or lesson plans or an assessment tool for English language teaching and learning

This unit aims to provide introductory background to the field of TESOL to MA International students who have not got any experience in ‘Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’ but who would like to gain basic level understanding of this area.

• Evaluate their own language learning experience
• Understand approaches and methods in language learning and teaching and relate them to their own language learning experience
• Evaluate and design materials for language learning and teaching
• Experiment in designing lesson plans for language learning and teaching
• Understand, design and evaluate assessment for language learning

 This unit will involve a variety of lessons and teaching styles. The first part of the unit will include whole-class/group/pair discussion and a number of in-class activities and tasks to explore learners’ past language learning experiences and to draw on these experiences to gain an understanding of methods and approaches in language learning and teaching. In the second part of the unit, learners will be asked to work in groups in workshops to carry out practical applications of their learning. This latter stage will revolve around learners designing or evaluating, either a lesson plan, or language teaching materials, or an assessment instrument and presenting it in a poster session in preparation for their final assignment. In preparation for their poster session learners will be expected to make use of digital technologies where appropriate.  

• Understand approaches and methods in language learning and teaching and relate them to their own language learning experience
•  Relate approaches and methods in language learning and teaching to their own language learning experience

• Evaluate their own language learning experience
• Evaluate and design materials for language learning and teaching

• Experiment in designing lesson plans for language learning and teaching
•  Understand, design and evaluate assessment for language learning

• enhanced skills in academic literacies including academic presentation, information processing (on- and off-line) and online networking;
• enhanced skills in interpersonal and intercultural communication;
• enhanced skills in team work and collaborative practice;
• an appreciation of the value of reflection in professional practice; and
• autonomy and enhanced meta-cognitive strategies with regard to study skills and further professional development.

Feedback available on Blackboard

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., and Snow, M. A. (2014) (Eds) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Cengage Learning: Boston.

 Eisenmann, M.and Summer, T. (2013) Basic Issues in EFL Teaching and Learning. Universitätsverlag Winter: Heidelberg

 Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

 Johnson, K. (2008) An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Pearson Education Limited: Harlow.

 Larsen-Freeman (2011) Techniques and principles in language teaching. New York : Oxford University Press.

 Lightbown, P. M. and Spada, N. (2013) How Languages are Learned.  Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

 Renandya, W. A. and Widodo, H. P. (2016) English language Teaching Today. Springer International Publishing: Switzerland.

 Richard, J.C. and Rodgers, T.S. (2014) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

 Spiro, J. (2013) Changing Methodologies in TESOL. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh.