English: Concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), M.A.

Program Scope

• We are located in an exciting urban area. The program maintains vibrant relationships with ESL programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including community colleges, adult schools, and community based programs, providing rich opportunities for practical experience and mentoring, and for grounding student projects in real teaching contexts that fit student interests and career goals.
• The American Language Institute, an intensive English program on the SF State campus often hires TESOL students, providing opportunities for additional training and professional experience.
• We have a long, distinguished history and faculty with an outstanding reputation for leadership, professional scholarship, and service in TESOL. The SF State TESOL degree is widely recognized and respected around the world.
  • The U.S. State Department has recognized the TESOL Program with an English Language Fellow Top Producing Institution Award, an award presented to five institutions that have prepared the largest number of TESOL professionals to become English Language Fellows. Fellows are cultural ambassadors who promote English language learning and mutual understanding through cultural exchange on 10-month fellowships around the world.
• Our commitment to academic training in the study of language, literacies and the immigrant experience have led many of our alumni to integrate their professional expertise and cross-disciplinary thinking with meaningful civic action: Maria Jose Bastias, (MA '18)   has been recognized for her service to the immigrant community with her work at the community-based organization, Mujeres Unidas Y Activas, and was featured in the New York Times . Vera Rapcsak, (MA '18) and founder of Cosa Buena a social impact organization based in Oaxaca, Mexico offering travel programs that foster authentic, equitable, and respectful cultural exchange, was featured in Architecture Digest.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. English M.A. students will critically evaluate scholarship using knowledge of disciplinary history, foundational theories, epistemologies, and scholarly debates to participate in professional communities of Composition, TESOL, and Linguistics.
2. English M.A. students will conduct principled inquiry (critical reflection, observation, and/or formal research) using appropriate methods and tools of analysis to address disciplinary questions and problems of practice.
3. English M.A. students will produce effective written and oral presentations that follow professional disciplinary standards of Composition, TESOL, and Linguistics.
4. English M.A. students will apply pedagogical knowledge and skills to the teaching of language, literacy, or linguistics.
5. Students in the TESOL M.A. concentration will articulate a coherent teaching philosophy that has been informed by practical experience and knowledge of relevant teaching principles and research. 
6. Students in the TESOL M.A. concentration will create appropriate lessons and curricula for multilingual English language learners. 
7. Students in the TESOL M.A. concentration will produce critical reflections on teaching practices and materials and how they embody educational values of ethics, social justice, diversity, and globalization.