TESOL-MALL MA programs
The TESOL-MALL MA Program has thesis and non-thesis tracks for graduation.
Generally, an MA degree with thesis is considered to be a more advanced degree than a non-thesis MA. Students looking for greater recognition of their degree or who may be considering doing a Ph.D. in the future should take the thesis track. The following guidelines describe the requirements for each graduation track.
Thesis Track
This program consists of three basic components: coursework, the formation of a thesis committee, and the M.A. paper.
Course work
Required credits: A minimum of 24 credits (8 classes) of course work is required, including mandatory courses:
A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 for work done at the University is required for graduation and to maintain good academic standing.
M.A. (thesis) committee composition
All M.A. TESOL-MALL candidates are assigned an initial adviser upon admission to the program. Prior to or during the third semester, the student must select and meet with his/her thesis advisor to discuss coursework and a preliminary topic for the M.A. paper. All thesis committees will have three members with a minimum of two from the Department of TESOL-MALL. The chair of the committee must be a faculty member of the Department of TESOL-MALL. Once the M.A. TESOL-MALL candidate and his/her thesis advisor have completed the TESOL-MALL program of graduate study and agreed upon a preliminary topic of the M.A. paper, the candidate must select and meet with the two other members of his/her committee, and get their consent to be on the committee.
M.A. paper (thesis)
The student will develop their thesis research with the support, advice and consent of their thesis advisor. Then, upon approval of his or her thesis advisor, will submit copies of the final draft of their M.A. paper to all three committee members, typically during the fourth semester, and two weeks prior to the anticipated defense date. In consultation with his or her committee, the student will set a date, time, and venue for the oral examination of the M.A. paper. During the oral examination, the student should present his/her paper to the faculty and other students in a formal manner.
Program Calendar for a TESOL-MALL thesis track
Semester 1
Non-thesis track
This program consists of three basic components: coursework, and portfolio examination. Students must choose a faculty advisor by the end of their third semester to supervise their portfolio. The portfolio will be examined by a TESOL-MALL faculty committee for approval.
Coursework
Non-thesis track students must complete 27 credit hours of courses (9 classes) with TESOL 501: Issues in TESOL being the only required course. Students must also take a minimum of one course in all three strands of the program: TESOL, CELT, and MALL. Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to graduate.
Portfolio
Non-thesis track students will complete a portfolio of the work they have done in the program under the supervision of their advisor. The portfolio will be submitted to a TESOL-MALL faculty committee for examination and approval.
The Program Calendar for a TESOL-MALL non-thesis track mirrors the program for thesis track except that the students will be completing a portfolio rather than a research based thesis paper.
TESOL-MALL Portfolio Guidelines and Checklist
The list of items below represent the elements of your portfolio. The following instructions will guide you through the process.
• Cover page. You may choose to be creative with the cover sheet—or just plain-old-dry-academic style. However, the cover page must include your name, your advisor’s name, the years you studied at TESOL-MALL, your hometown and nationality, and the date submitted.
• Table of contents that outlines all of the items that you have included in your portfolio.
• Label the five main sections of your portfolio [you can use commercial tabs or separators]:
◦ Introductory reflection on your experiences at TESOL-MALL,
◦ TESOL coursework,
◦ MALL coursework,
◦ CELT coursework, and
◦ A summary reflection on changes in your goals and plans based on your experiences at TESOL-MALL.
• Each coursework section should contain at least two work products from each content strand. The three content strands include courses that start with those letters -- TESOL, MALL, and CELT. While students need only include two items form each strand a total of nine work products is required.
• A work product is something you produced as a student in TESOL-MALL (almost always as an assignment for class), for example, a class (powerpoint) presentation, a literature review, an annotated bibliography, a research project, or a lesson plan. We need to see at least five different genres of work products.
• The introduction section reflects on the circumstances that brought you to TESOL-MALL, your expectations for the program, what you hoped to learn and do, and things along those lines. You should also introduce the sections of your portfolio. [around 500 words]
• For each of the content strands, please begin with a short description of what you now know to be the focus and content of that strand of the program in a paragraph or two. [between 150 and 300 words]
• After each work product in a content strand, please provide a reflection on that project. [each will be between 150 and 300 words] Things you might reflect on therein include:
◦ Why did you select this piece?
◦ How did this piece expand/change your understanding of TESOL, yourself, your students, or some other element of our profession?
◦ How will you use this piece and what you have learned from it in your future work in TESOL?
• Finally for the summary reflection summarize the materials you have collected, and write about your future opportunities in TESOL, how you intend to reshape or expand your career, and how your experiences TESOL-MALL will aid you along that career path. [around 500 words]
The TESOL-MALL MA Program has thesis and non-thesis tracks for graduation.
Generally, an MA degree with thesis is considered to be a more advanced degree than a non-thesis MA. Students looking for greater recognition of their degree or who may be considering doing a Ph.D. in the future should take the thesis track. The following guidelines describe the requirements for each graduation track.
Thesis Track
This program consists of three basic components: coursework, the formation of a thesis committee, and the M.A. paper.
Course work
Required credits: A minimum of 24 credits (8 classes) of course work is required, including mandatory courses:
- TESOL 501: Issues in TESOL,
- TESOL 501W: Writing for Academic Purposes,
A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 for work done at the University is required for graduation and to maintain good academic standing.
M.A. (thesis) committee composition
All M.A. TESOL-MALL candidates are assigned an initial adviser upon admission to the program. Prior to or during the third semester, the student must select and meet with his/her thesis advisor to discuss coursework and a preliminary topic for the M.A. paper. All thesis committees will have three members with a minimum of two from the Department of TESOL-MALL. The chair of the committee must be a faculty member of the Department of TESOL-MALL. Once the M.A. TESOL-MALL candidate and his/her thesis advisor have completed the TESOL-MALL program of graduate study and agreed upon a preliminary topic of the M.A. paper, the candidate must select and meet with the two other members of his/her committee, and get their consent to be on the committee.
M.A. paper (thesis)
The student will develop their thesis research with the support, advice and consent of their thesis advisor. Then, upon approval of his or her thesis advisor, will submit copies of the final draft of their M.A. paper to all three committee members, typically during the fourth semester, and two weeks prior to the anticipated defense date. In consultation with his or her committee, the student will set a date, time, and venue for the oral examination of the M.A. paper. During the oral examination, the student should present his/her paper to the faculty and other students in a formal manner.
Program Calendar for a TESOL-MALL thesis track
Semester 1
- Meet with your initial (academic) advisor
- Register for classes on the first day
- Begin coursework.
- Meet with your academic advisor and prepare for the coming semester(s)
- Continue coursework
- Meet with your advisor
- Decide if you are going to write a thesis
- If you choose the thesis option:
- Select a thesis advisor (depending on your decision, you may need to fill out paperwork to change advisor)
- Meet with your thesis advisor to establish your course of study and discuss your M.A. paper topic
- Decide on a preliminary topic for your M.A. paper
- Invite two additional faculty members to serve on your M.A. committee.
- Submit thesis proposal for MA Candidacy to thesis advisor by the end of the semester.
- Complete coursework
- Keep your thesis advisor informed of the status of your M.A. paper
- Submit your first complete draft of your M.A. paper to your advisor for review and feedback. Revise as needed
- Distribute a second draft of your M.A. paper to committee members for review and feedback
- Revise your M.A. paper as needed
- Prepare your M.A. paper using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
- Submit final version of M.A. paper to thesis advisor.
- With thesis advisor’s approval, distribute copies of the final version of thesis to other committee members.
- Sit for your oral examination of M.A. paper (oral defense of your thesis).
- Make revisions of thesis as required by your thesis committee.
- Submit thesis for printing following the procedures listed above
Non-thesis track
This program consists of three basic components: coursework, and portfolio examination. Students must choose a faculty advisor by the end of their third semester to supervise their portfolio. The portfolio will be examined by a TESOL-MALL faculty committee for approval.
Coursework
Non-thesis track students must complete 27 credit hours of courses (9 classes) with TESOL 501: Issues in TESOL being the only required course. Students must also take a minimum of one course in all three strands of the program: TESOL, CELT, and MALL. Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to graduate.
Portfolio
Non-thesis track students will complete a portfolio of the work they have done in the program under the supervision of their advisor. The portfolio will be submitted to a TESOL-MALL faculty committee for examination and approval.
The Program Calendar for a TESOL-MALL non-thesis track mirrors the program for thesis track except that the students will be completing a portfolio rather than a research based thesis paper.
TESOL-MALL Portfolio Guidelines and Checklist
The list of items below represent the elements of your portfolio. The following instructions will guide you through the process.
• Cover page. You may choose to be creative with the cover sheet—or just plain-old-dry-academic style. However, the cover page must include your name, your advisor’s name, the years you studied at TESOL-MALL, your hometown and nationality, and the date submitted.
• Table of contents that outlines all of the items that you have included in your portfolio.
• Label the five main sections of your portfolio [you can use commercial tabs or separators]:
◦ Introductory reflection on your experiences at TESOL-MALL,
◦ TESOL coursework,
◦ MALL coursework,
◦ CELT coursework, and
◦ A summary reflection on changes in your goals and plans based on your experiences at TESOL-MALL.
• Each coursework section should contain at least two work products from each content strand. The three content strands include courses that start with those letters -- TESOL, MALL, and CELT. While students need only include two items form each strand a total of nine work products is required.
• A work product is something you produced as a student in TESOL-MALL (almost always as an assignment for class), for example, a class (powerpoint) presentation, a literature review, an annotated bibliography, a research project, or a lesson plan. We need to see at least five different genres of work products.
• The introduction section reflects on the circumstances that brought you to TESOL-MALL, your expectations for the program, what you hoped to learn and do, and things along those lines. You should also introduce the sections of your portfolio. [around 500 words]
• For each of the content strands, please begin with a short description of what you now know to be the focus and content of that strand of the program in a paragraph or two. [between 150 and 300 words]
• After each work product in a content strand, please provide a reflection on that project. [each will be between 150 and 300 words] Things you might reflect on therein include:
◦ Why did you select this piece?
◦ How did this piece expand/change your understanding of TESOL, yourself, your students, or some other element of our profession?
◦ How will you use this piece and what you have learned from it in your future work in TESOL?
• Finally for the summary reflection summarize the materials you have collected, and write about your future opportunities in TESOL, how you intend to reshape or expand your career, and how your experiences TESOL-MALL will aid you along that career path. [around 500 words]
WOOSONG UNIVERSITY Graduate School of TESOL- MALL 196-5 Jayang-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon, South Korea, 300-718
telephone: 042-630-9895 or e-mail: [email protected]
telephone: 042-630-9895 or e-mail: [email protected]