A very warm welcome to all students enrolling on the MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) course, starting in September. Whether you are studying as a full-time or part-time student, following our Professional or Fundamentals options, you will be part of a community of students from different parts of the world, all committed to developing and sharing their theoretical understanding as well as their practical skills, as part of their professional development as English language teachers.

Diana Freeman
Course Director

Key dates

Course start date: 16 September 2024

Academic Calendar: Trimesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays. 

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

The Professional option is for those with minimum of one year’s full-time TESOL experience and the Fundamentals option is for those embarking on a career in TESOL. The principal difference is which of the Teaching Practice or Practical Project modules you follow. The course also aims to broaden your horizons and stimulate your intellectual curiosity through engaging learning content and discussions.

Teaching Practice or Practical Project:

Teaching Practice

This involves 6 hours observed teaching practice with both assisted lesson planning and post lesson feedback.

There are two options:

1. For those holding a CELTA or equivalent qualification. This option focuses on further developing the skills and techniques covered by CELTA.

2. For those who haven’t taken CELTA or equivalent. This option provides input on different skills and techniques to encourage learner-centred teaching.

Practical Project

The practical project provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate creativity and practical skills in the development of an original product or materials of use for a specific context or purpose in the field of English language learning or teaching.

Our team is dedicated to the development of knowledge and high-quality teaching of EFL and lifelong learning. You will be taught by a range of specialist lecturers who have experience across different disciplines which will enable you to develop your understanding of different perspectives of contemporary issues in Applied Linguistics including TESOL.

Some of you will be returning to study after a break and we appreciate that as well as being exciting, it may be somewhat daunting. Therefore, we have designed an informative Welcome Week which will provide you with key information that you need to know about your studies, the University, including an introduction and tour of the library facilities, and further support available. It is also when you will get to know your fellow students and the staff. Welcome Week schedules will be sent to you in due course, and you are required to access this so please add this week to your diary.

I look forward to meeting you in September.

Getting started

Your welcome and induction will be w/c 16 September 2024 - we look forward to meeting you then.

Pre-course reading

The months leading up to starting on your course are ideal in helping you get set for your studies by doing some background reading. Please find below some recommended reading:

  • Hall, G. (2018). Exploring English Language Teaching. London: Routledge
  • Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching (5th Edition). Harlow: Pearson Longman
  • Richards, J. C. (2015). Key Issues in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  • Thornbury, S. (2017). About Language (2nd Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Each module comes with its own reading list. The above should give you a good foundation for your first trimester.

A useful website for TESOL professionals, with many ideas and resources, is the British Council Teaching English website:

Here are a couple of videos about TESOL you might find interesting:

It is useful to note that the University Bookshop offers 10% discount on most titles in print and have some price-beating book bundles. They also price match Amazon on core texts recommended in the module handbooks you will receive when you start in September.

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

FAHE.CourseAdmin@canterbury.ac.uk