Graduate Catalog 2023-2024

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Certificate (0416)

Department website: http://www.wku.edu/english/


Program Coordinator

Mark M. McAndrews, mark.mcandrews@wku.edu

The TESOL Graduate Certificate is intended for individuals who are not P-12 teachers and want to teach in language institutes, either domestically or abroad. The Certificate requires a minimum of 16 hours consisting of ENG 407GENG 408GENG 565ENG 566, and ENG 471G, which involves field experience in Bowling Green conducted during the final semester. Other requirements include a portfolio of student work and completion of 6 hours of one foreign language or the language requirements of the WKU Colonnade Program.  Students must have taken one linguistics class in appropriate area -- for example, ENG 104ENG 302ENG 204, or an approved equivalent– before taking ENG 407G. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in order to receive the Certificate.

Program Admission

  • B.A. plus completion of at least one undergraduate linguistics course in appropriate area
  • 3.0 undergraduate or graduate GPA, or
  • A GAP score of 2200, with minimum of 3.5 on analytical writing portion of GRE
    *GAP=(GRE-V+GRE-Q) +(GPAx100);
  • Students who are accepted into the TESL Graduate Endorsement program may apply for the Graduate Certificate upon completion of 12 hrs of required TESL coursework with a 3.75 GPA

Graduate School Admission

Please refer to the admission section of this catalog for Graduate School admission requirements.

Program Requirements (16-22 hours)

Required Courses
ENG 407GLinguistic Analysis3
ENG 408GPsycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics3
ENG 565Integrated Teaching English as a Second Language3
ENG 566Teaching and Testing ESL Grammar3
ENG 471GTESL Practicum4
Select 6 hours of one foreign language or fulfill language requirements of the WKU Colonnade Program0-6
Total Hours16-22

Student portfolio is required for final assessment.