PGDip TELUS

This 2-year part-time course, taught mainly by distance, is for experienced teachers of English who want to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding of teaching English language in university settings.

Whether you are preparing students for university studies in an English-speaking institution, instructing students in arts, science or social science subjects so that they can access literature in English in their discipline, or hoping to move to teaching in one of the many university settings worldwide where English is important, this course aims to provide a stimulating environment in which you can broaden your knowledge, deepen your understanding and sharpen your skills in contact with current research in applied linguistics.

The course is taught over two academic years, preceded each year by a week’s residential module in Oxford (in 2012, 6th to 10th August), with four distance-taught modules spread over two eight-week terms each year. In the third term of the first year, students may pursue guided individual study on a chosen topic. The assessment for each module will be via a reflective portfolio and a take-home examination.

Numbers on the course are deliberately being kept low, to ensure quality of teaching and learning: in each year we are aiming to recruit a maximum of eight students. Students who meet the entry requirements, who can demonstrate an ability to reflect upon their teaching, and who are willing to work very hard undertaking an exciting intellectual endeavour will be ideally suited for the course.

The tutor for this course is Dr Catherine Walter. Catherine is an award-winning and experienced teacher educator and English language materials author. She is perhaps best known as the co-author with Michael Swan for a number of English language teaching books. Her excellence in teaching has been recognised by a UK Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship.

Catherine will be assisted by a teaching assistant from the Applied Linguistics group at the Department of Education. This means that there will always be two academics working with students and helping with both learning questions and technical questions.

This course will build on the success of the campus-based MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (ALSLA), and a substantial amount of content of the PGDip TELUS course will overlap with the taught portion of the MSc ALSLA. TELUS students who complete the course at a high level can apply for progression to a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition, upon submission of a satisfactory proposal for a dissertation research project and registration for this portion of the ALSLA course.

Students who perform at the highest level on the PGDip TELUS course will be welcome to apply for doctoral study in Applied Linguistics.

Click here for an overview of the course and here for the Programme Specifications.

Join the online Open Forum on 23 May to find out more. Further details here.