Job Discussion Forums

kaw · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 7:15 am Post subject:

To get a good idea of what's out there without going through individual uni sites only to fnd out they don't offer what you want, have a look at prospects.ac.uk - they have a good database of courses so you can narrow things down a bit.
Canterbury Chrsit Church do an MA in TESOL - they're pretty well recognised in education degrees and the course is pretty flexible in that you can alternate between full & part time. One of the other advantages is that there are a number of work opportunites in the area if you need to earn some cash.

FrenchLieutenant'sWoman · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 53 Location: France(ish)

My personal favourite site for salivating over advanced degrees is www.findamasters.com

MsDooLittle · Joined: 25 Jan 2009 Posts: 63 Location: somewhere else

I'm using matesol.info/ for direct course links to 30+ unis...

With Dedicated's list of recommended courses I'm trying to narrow the choices... there doesn't seem to be too much difference between AL/TESOL but since my ambition is to improve my teaching skills and open career doors I'm drifing towards ELT/TESOL...

My lengthening shortlist, now includes:
Aston
King's College London
Southanpton
Reading
(and not yet excluding Sussex simply because I have a free place to stay in Brighton, and accomodation cost is a factor I can't ignore)

All comments very welcome!

queenpinkness · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 3

I have been accepted by Leicester and Birmingham for an MA in Applied Linguistics. I have decided to go with Leicester because Birmingham also failed to respond to my queries, which doesn't encourage me since I am going to study via distance. After reading Kofola's posting I am now even more sure. I am also interested in working in the Middle East (mainly Dubai or Abu Dhabi) in the future I have read some of the forums on here which suggest they accept distance learning degrees. However, any further advice would be welcome.

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

Queenpinkness,

Please check out the latest various Gulf forums about distance degrees being acceptable. The last I heard through official sources was that the UAE Ministry of Education would not accept distance MAs. However, the UAE Ministry of Higher Education seemed to have no problem.

Saudi Arabia is also deeply suspicious of distance degrees, and prefer to accept applicants with campus-based MAs.

MsDooLittle · Joined: 25 Jan 2009 Posts: 63 Location: somewhere else

Good morning Dedicated,
First of all, thank you for your helpful contributions here. I have one more question, if I may ask you:
I just checked the Sussex website re. MAs once more. You were right to point out the linguistics MA may be more theoretical, less teaching practice than I am looking for. However, there is an English Language Teaching MA, which looks about right for me. Does your contact at Sussex have anything to say about it? Or anyone else... all comments gratefully received!

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

Hello again MsDooLittle,

I've managed to glean a bit more information about the Sussex MA in English Language Teaching. First of all, if you are thinking of starting in September 2010, you had better hurry up with your application as they are almost fully subscribed. It is popular with overseas students, who need IELTS 7.0 to join, but about 50% of course will be foreigners. Not everybody likes that in seminar discussion.

The emphasis is on practical, relevant application of theory and research.
The core subjects are research methods in second language teaching and learning;principles and practice of ELT pedagogy;second language acquisition and language analysis. You can choose options in the second term from ELT Management;Teaching Young Learners;Using Technology in the ELT classroom and Advanced Practical Teaching Methodology (this last one includes a minimum of 5 hours supervised teaching practice, which if you have the CELTA already, gives you TEFL-qualified status required by the British Council accreditation scheme).

If I hear anything else, I'll post it.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I used Leicester for the Advanced Cert/MA in TESOL and found them fine. More recently colleagues have used Australian institutions which are cheaper. I heard good reports.

What I liked about Leicester was that the first module led to the Advanced Cert and if you wanted you could stop after that and still; get something for your efforts.