There are ninety students on the Big Northern University's MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL course. Eighty per cent are Chinese, female, and just out of university. Fewer than ten of us have any teaching experience.
Much of the first week, predictably, is aimed at the International Students. "There are three stages of culture shock," one recent Chinese graduate tells us. "Try English food," suggests another. "It's probably your first time outside of your country," begins our course supervisor, "so use the opportunity to travel as well as to learn."
I find it hard to resist a sweet shop mentality when it comes to choosing modules. Reconceptualising SLA Research clashes with Teacher Development for TESOL. I can't decide between Corpus Linguistics and Discourse Analysis, but the first one loses out when I realise it's scheduled for Friday afternoons. In the end, it all comes down to why you're taking the course.
"A guy I work with picked the modules that seemed to be connected," a student whispers as I turn through the pages of the handbook, "and he did ok. To be honest, I'm only really interested in the letters after my name."
8 comments:
Discourse Analysis was fascinating to me. Strangely, though, my course didn't have a Language Testing module, but that's what I came to specialize in. Good luck.
Thanks. Language Testing and Assessment was my first choice, but the lecturer's off sick and they've cancelled it this year.
Are there any teacher training modules? I've never done that, and wish I had now - there are a number of good jobs I've seen advertised which require it. It would probably add to your future employability more than language testing.
How about Gliese 581g as a foreign language?
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-%26-technology/earth%11like-planet-actually-sunderland%11like-planet-201010013133/
The Teacher Development one's as close as they get. I'm taking that, Task Based Learning and CALL, which means I'll be doing a software portfolio in place of a dissertation.
Might try and do something around online materials for teenage learners and trial it out at a summer school (while getting paid).
Gliese 581g? The thought of a whole planet of mackems is too frightening to even contemplate.
I find it hard to believe that the majority have no teaching experience- what are they going to do after the course- volunteer for 7 years and then fight for a 10 quid an hour teaching post? good heavens..
Sorry, should have written Chinese women with no teaching experience whose parents can afford eleven grand tuition fees plus a year's living expenses.
Not many native speakers see an MA as an introductory course to TEFL.
I did my MA by distance and never met my fellow students, but everybody I've met who attended an MA TESOL and/or Applied Linguistics course tells me the same story: the majority of the students were native Arabic or Chinese speakers with no teaching experience, B2 English at best, and no sense whatsoever of the absurdity of the situation.
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