MA TESL Program Structure

Duration of studies and full-time enrollment

The maximum course load in a graduate degree program for a fully admitted student is 6 credit hours per term or 9 credit hours in a 16 week course. Webster University Thailand offers 4 terms a year plus one optional summer term. A student must be enrolled in 18 credits per year to be considered a full-time student. Students enrolled in the MA TESL program (36 credit hours) will typically complete the program within two years. A student must receive written authorization to enroll in more than 6 credit hours per term or more than 12 credit hours per semester.

The MA TESL program in Thailand currently has one emphasis, the Adult Education Emphasis.  The K-12 MA TESL Emphasis is only available at the St. Louis campus.  The required courses in the Masters in Teaching English as a Second Languages Adult Education program are:

Adult (ESL/EFL) Education Emphasis of the MA in TESL
[Availability: the Webster University Thailand, St. Louis Home Campus, and Online TESL program]
9 courses (27 credit hours) of required coursework PLUS 3 courses (9 credit hours) of elective coursework

• TESL 5230 - Second Language Acquisition
• TESL 5139 - English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Methods
• TESL 5220 - Curriculum Development in Second Language Classrooms
• TESL 5350 - Language and Culture
• TESL 5030 - Language History, Planning, and Policy
• TESL 5040 - Practicum in ESOL
• TESL 5311 - Principles and Practices of Language Testing
• TESL 5710 - Grammar for ESL/EFL Teachers OR TESL 5720 - Teaching English Pronunciation [TESL 5270 is currently not available online; Online TESL students must take TESL 5710]
• TESL 5750 - Special Institute: Final Writing Project

Order of Classes

TESL candidates are advised to take classes according to this plan whenever possible:

Beginning of Program

• TESL 5230 - Second Language Acquisition
• TESL 5139 - ESOL Methods
• TESL 5220 - Curriculum Development in Second Language Classrooms

Middle of Program

• TESL 5311 - Principles and Practices of Language Testing
• TESL 5030 - Language History, Planning, and Policy
• TESL 5350 - Language and Culture
• TESL 5040 - Practicum (only if doing ESOL Certificate)

End of Program

• Any Other Required Courses (Adult and K-12 tracks)
• Three Elective Courses (for the MA in TESL)
• TESL 5040 - Practicum or Credit