TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Major
This major leads to New York State certification to teach English to speakers of other languages at the elementary (grades PK through 6) and secondary (grades 7-12) levels.
Starting in their first year, students have ample opportunities to interact on a regular basis with children and youth who have recently arrived in the United States. During the sophomore and junior years, when students take the bulk of their coursework in both the major and the required concentration in Culture, Language, and Linguistics, they also complete a minimum of 100 hours of field experience under the supervision of a certified ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. During the senior year, students spend a semester student teaching, divided between an elementary ESL and a secondary ESL placement.
ESL teachers are in high demand nationally and internationally, and graduates of Houghton’s TESOL program have an excellent track record of finding employment, both in the United States and abroad.
Note: TESOL is also available as a concentration for students majoring in Inclusive Childhood Education.
Please click on the following link to view a chart that compared the different paths of TESOL study available at Houghton.
TESOL Major, 54 hours
|Topics in Professionalism||0|
|Mathematical Concepts and Reasoning||4|
|Education and American Culture or Secondary Education and American Culture||4|
|Educating Exceptional Learners||4|
|Teaching in Urban America||2|
|Curriculum & Assessment in Inclusive Classrooms||4|
|TESOL Practicum I: Elementary||1|
|TESOL Practicum II: Secondary||1|
|Foundations of Language and Literacy for Diverse Learners I||4|
|Foundations of Language and Literacy for Diverse Learners II||4|
|TESOL Methods: ELA||2|
|TESOL Methods: Content Areas||2|
|TESOL student teaching internship: Elementary||6|
|TESOL student teaching internship: Secondary||6|
|Senior Capstone: Seminar in TESOL||2|
Required Culture, Language and Linguistics Concentration, 32 hours
|Intro to Linguistics||4|
|Linguistics for TESOL||4|
|1st and 2nd Language Acquisition||4|
|Understanding English Grammar||4|
|Candidates for NYS ESOL certification must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in a language other than English (LOTE). For TESOL majors who are not native speakers of languages other than English, intermediate proficiency is demonstrated through successful completion of an intermediate-level language course. TESOL majors who need coursework to achieve intermediate proficiency may include up to 12 hours of language coursework towards the 32 hour Culture, Language and Linguistics Concentration; otherwise they may complete the 32-hour concentration by choosing from the elective courses.|
|Literacy, Culture, and Development||4|
|other courses chosen with advisor|