Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Overview

Suitable for both experienced teachers and newcomers to the field, this Master's degree is designed for students who plan to teach English as a second, foreign or additional language (ESL, EFL, EAL) in the UK or internationally, as well as students who plan to work or do research in the contexts of teacher education, teacher training, management, course design, materials development, policy design, language analysis and/or assessment.

This Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) programme offered by The University of Edinburgh will lead you into an exploration of evidence based research at the frontiers of language learning, methodology and curriculum design. It will investigate learning centred ‘learnscapes’, enabling you not only to practise but to contribute to knowledge in these areas.

You will learn to design, implement and evaluate substantial research or development tasks, and adapt your planning and teaching approaches to the 21st century demands of rapidly changing teaching and learning contexts and circumstances.

You will graduate with expanded minds and hearts; with professional knowledge, understanding and enhanced confidence in your ability to teach the English language across widely differing contexts.

Career opportunities

With a strong foundation in teaching and research, our students are employed worldwide in all areas of the English language teaching profession.

Examples roles include:

• training other TESOL teachers

• management of TESOL education

• teaching English at primary, secondary or tertiary level

• teaching English in specialised fields (for example, business English)

• designing TESOL curricula, materials and policies

Representatives from international teacher recruitment agencies visit our campus every year to talk to our students and conduct on-campus recruitment interviews with shortlisted candidates for TESOL-related posts.

The MSc is a good introduction to an advanced research degree. You will also develop a range of highly transferable communication and professional skills which can be applied to roles in any field.