6.2 Certificate in TESL/TEFL Program Requirements

Prerequisites for the certificate program include the following courses, or their equivalents. If you have not completed the prerequisites upon entry into the program, you must complete them as soon as possible after admission. If you have completed any of the prerequisites prior to entry in the program and these were completed at a different institution, you must complete a prerequisite equivalency petition and have the course(s) evaluated by the appropriate faculty for equivalency.

• ENGL/LING 2200: Descriptive English Grammar or passing the online grammar test-out
• ENGL/LING 2190: Intro to Linguistics or ENGL/LING 5110: Intro to Linguistic Analysis

Core requirement = 3 credits

• ENGL/LING 5240: Literacy: Issues and Methods for Nonnative Speakers of English
  OR
  ENGL/LING 5250: Research and Teaching of Second Language Pronunciation

TESL/TEFL coursework chosen from the following courses = 9 credits

• ENGL/LING 5100: Introduction to Computers in Applied Linguistics
• ENGL/LING 5120: Second Language Acquisition
• ENGL/LING 5140: Sociolinguistics
• ENGL/LING 5190: Second Language Assessment
• ENGL/LING 5240: Literacy: Issues and Methods for Nonnative Speakers of English (if not taken as core requirement)
• ENGL/LING 5250: Research and Teaching of Second Language Pronunciation (if not taken as core requirement)
• ENGL/LING 5260: Computer-Assisted Language Learning
• ENGL/LING 5270: Discourse Analysis
• ENGL/LING 5300: Technology and Oral Language
• ENGL/LING 5370: Corpus Approaches to Grammatical Analysis
• ENGL/LING 5880: Supervised Practice Teaching in Teaching English as a Second Language

6.2.2 POS: Program of Study form (Certificate)

Certificate Program of Study

Certificate students do not have a Program of Study (POS) Committee, but do have a certificate supervising professor. No Recommendation for Committee Appointment form is required. The  Certificate Program of Study (POS) must be completed no later than the first week of your final term of coursework (see this link for instructions: https://iastate.service-now.com/esc?id=kb_article&sysparm_article=KB0023078).

The Certificate Program of Study (POS) represents an agreement between you and the Graduate College regarding fulfillment of certificate program requirements. It lists the courses you have taken or will take for your graduate certificate. You should complete the Certificate POS form with the help of the certificate advisor. At least one graduate ISU course must be taken after admission or in the same semester as entry into the program and is required on the Certificate POS form. If you have transfer credits, you need to submit for approval a Transfer Credit Petition form with copies of transcripts for those courses (a Graduate College requirement).

Because your Certificate POS form is a vital document for your completion of the certificate program, the various check points help catch errors before those errors delay receipt of the certificate. The first and most important check of the Certificate POS form occurs when you meet with the certificate advisor to discuss your POS and obtain a signature on your form. You should fill out the form very carefully, checking to be sure that you fill in all the blanks and get the necessary signatures, including your own. Then submit the form to the Graduate Program Administrative Assistant (englgrad@iastate.edu), where it will be checked, processed for signature by the Director of Certificate Studies (DOCS), and forwarded to the Graduate College for final approval.

Certificate Completion

When you have completed all requirements, contact the Graduate Program Administrative Assistant (englgrad@iastate.edu) who will verify that you have met all the requirements and submit a “Certificate Completed” form signed by the Director of Certificate Studies (DOCS) to the Graduate College. The Graduate College then certifies that all requirements have been completed satisfactorily and informs the Registrar’s Office and Graduation Office. The Registrar adds a notation to your permanent record (transcript) indicating that you were granted the Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language/Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TESL/TEFL) on a specified date, and the Registrar issues a printed ISU graduate certificate after you have satisfactorily completed all requirements.

6.2.3 Student Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes students in this program are expected to meet include:

• Demonstrate growth in reflective practice and professionalism in English language teaching.
• Demonstrate metalinguistic knowledge of English structure and use.
• Evaluate research in the field to identify its contribution to English language teaching practice.
• Communicate and collaborate with others to achieve professional goals in for English language teaching.