TESOL MinorMinor

Student and a globe

The minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) prepares students to work with non-native English speakers in a variety of contexts, ranging from the public-school classroom to overseas teaching to community college instruction to language support in community settings. Upon completion of the TESOL minor, students majoring in education will be better prepared to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of multilingual learners in K-12 schools and community colleges. The TESOL minor is also geared to students interested in traveling abroad and teaching English as a foreign language.

What You'll Learn

The TESOL minor is an 18-credit hour program with 12-credit hours of required course work and 6-credit hours of electives. Students will study the grammar, pronunciation, morphology, and history of the English language. They will also learn about what goes into acquiring a language and will apply their theoretical understanding of language acquisition to the practical task of designing and implementing lesson plans for multilingual learners. In addition, they will have the opportunity to choose two of three electives which focus on sociolinguistics, policies around language learning and education, and the experience of migration and acculturation experienced by many multilingual learners. The capstone class is a teaching practicum, which could be local or international and is designed around the student’s future professional goals.