Job Discussion Forums

[aquarius]

Could anyone recommend any part-time MA TESOL home study courses in the US? Thank you. Aquarius.

[suzula_1]

Shenandoah University has an online MA TESOL program which you can check out

[Gordon]

Most of the more reasonably priced and established distance MA programs in TEFL seem to be from Australia. The UK is also good, but more expensive on average. Don`t limit yourself to US universities. These schools in OZ and England are all accredited and world recognized which cannot be said about American universities. Universities in the US do not have the same kind of standardization.

[aquarius]

Thank you both for the helpful information. Where is Shenandoah? Are MA courses at American universities cheaper than those in US/OZ?
I'd also like to know if you would need to set up ESOL classes for the practical part of an MA.

[sprightly]

hi,
i'm with university of birmingham (england) at the moment (which is what i should be studying now, i suppose...). there are 6 modules, at 4 months and 1050 GPB each. so, minimum of two years.
you are expected to have students, but for my first paper i was able to write about past students, and there are some other options that don't require students.
leichestshire U in england also has a distance programme, and it looks like they do more online than UoB.

there's a job advertised in poland at the moment, in which you work towards an MA-TESL while working an 18 month contract. looks interesting!

good luck.

[ls650]

[sprightly]

oops...
sorry. i meant, 6 modules, but i pay 1050 every six months. so, erm, 1050 x 4 = 4200 GBP plus books.

the assumption is that you work full time while studying, and so are able to fund your studying. however, as i work part-time, i'll have to apply for a loan. erk. yuck.

[aquarius]

Sprightly. Thank you for that information.
�6,000 over 2 years, wow! It's good to know you don't need to have students for the first ?module? Is that right? I would need to work to pay off that kind of debt. I will look into the Leicester Uni. course too.

Could you give me an idea of how much time you dedicate each week to this course?

Thanks again.
sparkler.

[sprightly]

4000 GBP over two years, plus maybe 500 GBP in books--depends how many you buy, if you can buy used (unlikely) etc.

ideally, i would like to study 45 minutes a day. in reality, i let it slide, and do a three hour panic study session once a week.

good luck!

[Gordon]

Sprightly,
You are doing your masters and studying 3 hours/week? Did you forget a 0 in there? I've been looking at a lot of programs and they've told me I would need to study about 25-30 hours/week to complete the program in 2 years.

[Sherri]

I second that Gordon, Sprightly, how do you manage on 45 mins a day? I am on the 5th module of the B'ham course and I need to put in about 3-4 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week. I really need the time to sit and concentrate on what I am reading or writing about, so it is no use me working if I can't have a fairly long stretch of time to get into the subject.

By the way I am not teaching now (full time mom) but I manage to do the assignments that do not call for my own classroom research. Luckily I have close contact with my former school so I can use their materials and have even observed other people's classes as a basis for my research.

[drmweaver2]

As a full-time PhD student in-residence myself, I thought I'd chime in here. Granted my program is in Communications, not a TESOL PhD program, so consider this for comparison purposes only and based solely on my own personal observations and experience.

My Department is really small at my University (only 9 full-time professors who teach graduate courses). So, we admit roughly 5 new PhD students per year to the program (occasionally only 3, once it was 7). The Masters program here admits about the same numbers plus 1-4 per year. Our Masters program is a two year program for most students (I have seen one student do it in one and one-half years by going to school through two summer semesters and generally taking two classes per semester more than others did).

Anyway, while class attendance is highly recommended for those in-residence, it is not always absolutely mandatory. Most actual learning seems to come outside of class lectures and seminar discussions anyway. So, if you discount the "in-class" times, I spend about one-three hours per course per week on course-specific and course-related material, That does not count paper preparation if the intent of the paper is for publication in a journal, for a conference presentation, or for dissertation work (I am just now completing my required coursework).

Most Masters students come into our program expecting far more work than is actually required to merely pass the courses. Huge efforts and amounts of time are wasted by these new students as they make the initial adjustment to graduate school - trying to read EVERYTHING, do additional research, and generally try to feel that they have enough academic background to not look foolish when speaking with people further along in their own programs of study. New PhD students do not seem to make this mistake (unless they have been out of school for a while) as they have the Masters experience out of the way.

The Masters students that I know fairly well in our program claim to spend the same amount of time that I spend on my studies - however, that is merely an average. I know one fellow (from sharing an apartment wiith him for a semester) who prides himself on not spending more than one hour per course per week outside of class except on papers. Then he limits himself to fifteen hours for research and writing each paper. So far, he has a perfect Grade Point Average (all A's) and looks to finish and defend his thesis this semester.

At the other extreme are two of our "ABD's", fellows who have completed "All BUT (their) Dissertations" for their PhDs. These two fellows, who are no longer taking coursework, are always working on their dissertations. One has a problem, already mentioned elsewhere on this forum, of trying to write the "perfect" paper. He may never finish as he routinely rips it all up and starts again from scratch. The other fellow has a different problem - he did not correctly define the question he was attempting to answer in his research and dissertation. So, he is constantly rewriting due to lack of focus. Both of these guys are spending nearly thirty hours per week in the Library carrels writing -- I have had to physically drag both of them outside to get some sunlight on more than one occasion.

What's the point? Well, I guess it is that we all study, learn and work (write) according to our own strengths, weaknesses and motivations. So, outside of the averages, I do not think anyone can give realistic advice on how much time a graduate degree will take - for him/herself or for anyone else. While I have plans on my own "graduation date", they are nowhere written in anything harder than modeling clay as too many outside forces could affect my plans (instructors going on sabbatical, courses not receiving enough enrollees to be offered one semester, waiting for a certain instructor to teach a specific course....).

I tried a distance Masters program and found that I did not have the self-discipline necessary to complete it at that time. Things change with time and circumstances and I am sure that I could do it now.

Take the above for what it is worth. YMMV.

drmweaver2

[aquarius]

Thank you all very much for responding to my question about how much time you spend/have spent on your courses. I asked about how much time it takes out of your week because I shall have to work whilst studying.

It's been 8 years since I was at university so I'll probably be one of those students who take forever to find what I need in the library and (lol) buy all the books I can get my hands on! Oh and writing long essays again...!

Could anyone recommend any online MA TEFL/TESOL courses in the Nebraska area? Do all Distance MA courses offer flexibility in how many modules you study per year?

Thanks again
Aquarius

[Gordon]

[aquarius]

Thanks for that. Do students have to go to summer school or see their tutors once in a while when they study on online courses?
Aquarius.