Language Teaching Studies (MA)

The University of Oregon Master of Arts (MA) degree program in Language Teaching Studies is an 11-month intensive graduate degree designed to prepare leaders in the field of language teaching and learning. A unique feature of this program is that participants are able to specialize in more than one language, including majority languages such as English and minoritized languages such as the indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest.

The MA in Language Teaching Studies focuses on transformational approaches to language instruction through innovation in curriculum, pedagogy, materials development, digital technologies, and assessment, including how evidence-based principles and practices can be adapted across a wide range of language learning contexts. The program is particularly sensitive to the evolving needs of both majority and minority language learners in this era of globalization and internationalization.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of current linguistic and educational research and theory in the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Second Language Teaching (SLT). Students demonstrate understanding of how this research and theory applies to their own areas of focus in second language, world language, or indigenous language teaching and learning.
• Demonstrate critical understanding of influential current and historical methodological frameworks in language teaching, as well as demonstrate the ability to evaluate, adapt, and apply pedagogical techniques drawn from these frameworks in principled and innovative lesson planning, according to contextual need.
• Recognize, value, and integrate instructional, curricular, and learner initiated elements related to culture, interaction, and pragmatics within their teaching practices. Students will be able to value and integrate elements of text and performance as they pertain to literature and multiliteracies.
• Demonstrate ability to apply key principles derived from current SLA and SLT research, standards, and practice to curriculum design, course design, materials design, and assessment design in empirically grounded and innovative ways.
• Demonstrate the ability to apply key principles derived from current SLA/SLT research and practice to effective incorporation of digital technologies into their plans and teaching.
• Demonstrate the ability to put key principles derived from current SLA/SLT research into embodied practice within actual teaching contexts, including the appropriate use of classroom management and leadership skills.
• Successfully review, organize, synthesize, and critically evaluate appropriate scholarly sources, as well as demonstrate the ability to apply principled small-scale needs analysis research methods and appropriate data collection techniques for the development of their teaching and curriculum materials.
• Demonstrate sensitivity to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners through differentiation of curricula and practice.
• Demonstrate flexibility and innovation in the face of the various sociocultural and contextual factors impacting language instruction.
• Demonstrate autonomy and initiative in their own professional development, including welcoming peer and faculty mentoring, engaging in teamwork, and adapting to the dynamic nature of the language-teaching field.

Only graded courses may be used to satisfy degree requirements. Exceptions must be approved by the department. No course with a grade lower than B- may be used to satisfy degree requirements.

Master of Arts in Language Teaching Studies

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Course selection must be approved by program director before enrollment in Internship: [Topic] (LING 604) and Reading and Conference: [Topic] (LING 605).

Electives

Students working towards an MA degree can take additional optional elective course work, which may include any language or education related coursework, internships, or supervised tutoring or teaching opportunities. Students who have already taken any of the required courses or their equivalents previous to entering the LTS program should replace them with elective credits in consultation with the LTS Director. 

Courses that can count as electives include:

• Additional LT courses or seminars
• Graduate level courses in other language departments (such as Romance Languages or East Asian Languages and Literatures)
• Courses in the College of Education, International Studies, Psychology, and others

Internships are arranged on an individual basis in a range of language teaching or curriculum developing contexts. Students can intern in language classrooms or participate in curriculum or materials development at the American English Institute (AEI) at all levels, at Lane Community College, in various Foreign Language classes at the UO or LCC, at the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS), and in K-12 classrooms in the Eugene area, for example in the Chinese Immersion School. Classroom internships involve observation, assisting, and some teaching under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. LTS students can also earn internship credit through tutoring UO FL and ESL students individually, such as through the UO Writing Lab, if the tutoring is part of a supervised program.

Master's Project

Students working toward the Language Teaching Studies MA degree must complete a master's project over two consecutive terms. The project topic must be approved by the faculty advisor, and be presented in an LT 611 class session during the final term.