PMTELAEN - MA Teaching Languages (English)

The MA Teaching Languages (English) offers the chance to study in an exciting multicultural environment alongside teachers and other language professionals from all over the world. With a typically diverse, multilingual cohort, the course adopts a strongly intercultural approach to the programme to provide an exciting and professionally valuable experience. The course enhances students’ disciplinary knowledge and understanding, introduces them to new ways of thinking about language, language pedagogy and practice and opens them up to career opportunities that they may not have previously considered. In so doing, it provides a boost to students, whether in the early stages or in the middle of their career.

With its international orientation, the course explores the sociocultural, political, economic, cultural, linguistic and other contexts in which the English language is learned, taught and used worldwide. It enables students to become both more reflexive and reflective in their practice and encourages them to think of themselves as global language professionals with a strong contribution to make in the field.

The course structure allows students to develop their professional and academic interests through wide reading, guided discussion and supported research, encouraging them to develop the abilities they will need to become highly skilled and globally employable teachers, policy makers, educators and researchers. It provides modules which allow students to deepen their understanding of the fundamental disciplinary areas of language pedagogy, linguistics and sociolinguistics while also expanding into other areas which involve a closer focus on more specific theoretical and/or practical themes. These include key areas such as language awareness and the psychology of the classroom as well as the more specialist areas such as language testing. Students also undertake a supervised research study leading to a dissertation and in preparation for this take a core module in research methods.

The normal pattern of teaching on the course is through a combination of lectures, seminars, and one to one tutorials. Lectures on the MA tend to be fairly interactive and we encourage students to raise questions or make comments if they wish. The seminars provide the opportunity for deeper discussion of the issues and themes which arise during the lecture and from the associated reading. Seminars involve a variety of activities such as presentation and discussion of assigned readings, analytical tasks or small-scale group research projects. Tutorials are generally held to provide feedback, support learning, monitor students’ progress on the course or to meet individual student’s needs.

There are also on-line resources available through the Internet. The course has a general Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and each module has its own specific Weblearn resource to accompany the face-to-face teaching. This means that students can access readings, lecture slides and other materials on that platform. In addition to an extensive number of books and journals in print, the university library has a large number of e-books, e-journals, academic and educational data bases relevant to the MA.

It should be noted that the MA Teaching languages (English), like most MAs in the UK, should not be considered as a teacher training course although in some countries it may be accepted as such.

The MA TESOL & Applied Linguistics aims to:

1. provide an appropriate context for professional, academic and personal development in the field of applied linguistics which builds upon the concept of reflective teaching and a critical approach to theory and practice
2. offer a programme of study that is academically challenging and professionally rigorous in that it stretches the participants’ critical thinking and encourages them to develop their knowledge and skills in evaluation, analysis and research at Master’s level
3. provide an opportunity for the participants to develop an in-depth insight into a wider range of disciplinary perspectives on theory, practice and policy and to extend their knowledge and understanding of the common themes in English language teaching and learning
4. help them become independent professionals who can critically evaluate and analyse issues related to their professional practices and can solve practice-related problems
5. develop their knowledge, skills and experiences that can help them accept leadership responsibilities in their future jobs
6. enable participants to apply theoretical knowledge to practice-oriented tasks, by becoming independent researchers

The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of the academic discipline, field of study or area of professional practice.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• apply methods and techniques appropriate to their own research or advanced scholarship in Teaching Languages (English)
• apply knowledge with originality, based on a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in Teaching Languages (English)
• evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in Teaching Languages (English)
• evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses
• deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgments in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• exercise self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level
• advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level.
• exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations
• learn independently for the purposes of continuing professional development.

A wide range of different assessment strategies are used on the course. Examples include oral presentations, poster presentations, test development, case studies, coursework as well as academic essays. A final dissertation (12000-1500 words) is the single assessment on the guided independent research study. A combination of summative and formative strategies are also in place.

There is no organised work experience/placement on the course. However, on one of the modules, school observations are arranged for the students. Through these observations, the students will have a valuable opportunity to develop critical knowledge about English language teaching and learning processes and practices, and to gain an understanding of the local context of the English language teaching and learning in London. The placements are arranged through our community links.

1. For PG Certificate: Any 60 credits (except for the Dissertation) from Course Structure

2. For PG Diploma: Any 120 (except for the Dissertation) credits from Course Structure

3. For MA: 180 credits from Course Structure

Autonomous learning and independent and critical thinking and development are central to the focus of the course and therefore encouraged from the beginning of the course. Personal development takes place through one-to-one tutorials and feedback sessions.

1. The institutional career advice
2. Introducing students to professional potential employers

Connecting students with
1. potential employers
2. London Met alumni
3. Professional organizations and networks, e.g. BAAL

The MA offers opportunities for career advancement both in the UK and abroad. Most graduates find employment after completion of the MA, some returning to more senior positions in their previous employment, while others move into new areas such as school management or language advisory work. Some of our students continue with us to study at doctoral level.

You will be required to have:

• a second class honours degree or above (in any subject)

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.