The objectives of the TESOL Certificate program are:

  • To introduce TESOL theory, research and practice to relatively inexperienced or unqualified teachers that is accessible and that is supported by a wide range of teaching materials, teaching ideas and classroom extracts
  • To encourage self-direction on the part of students through the provision of follow up resources and ideas
  • To develop the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills to enable those students who desire it to go on to higher study
  • To present content through a range of print, audio and video media
  • To foster the development of higher level thinking skills such as the critical evaluation of pedagogical materials

Upon successful completion of the TESOL Certificate program, students will be able to:

  • discuss some of the research findings that have influenced language teaching methodology.
  • create instructional sequences that incorporate the pretask, task, and follow-up cycle.
  • demonstrate familiarity with a range of techniques for teaching listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, and grammar.
  • demonstrate familiarity with cultural patterns at the linguistic, behavior, and content levels, and discuss how cross-cultural (mis)communication occurs.
  • design and edit language teaching dialogues and other spoken materials so that they are natural and realistic and focus more on discourse.
  • understand how different forms of content-based instruction apply to different student populations and instructional settings.
  • devise ways to adapt or supplement an activity for a specific group of learners by introducing supplementary material.
  • explain the importance of consciousness-raising activities, receptive activities, and productive activities when teaching about language differences.
  • explain how Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) can be used as whole class and small group activities.
  • identify major learning styles and strategies and explain why they are important considerations in second language teaching.
  • organize a project or series of classroom activities so that the students make choices and decisions about their learning.
  • develop classroom assessment tasks that are linked to learning outcomes.