Combining the interdisciplinary expertise of faculty in two Colleges, the PhD Track in TESOL offers students in-depth experiences in the research, theory, and practice of TESOL, as well as flexibility in selecting a complementary cognate that meets their professional goals.
The Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) track in the Education PhD program requires at least 63 credit hours of study beyond the master's degree. The curriculum includes 24 credit hours of core courses, 15 credit hours of TESOL specialization courses, 9 credit hours of cognate courses, and 15 credit hours of dissertation. All students must also complete the candidacy examination.
Total Credit Hours Required: 63 Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Master's Degree
Track Prerequisites
A master's degree in a closely related field.
Prerequisites
- TSL 6250 - Applied Linguistics in ESOL 3 Credit Hours
- TSL 6440 - Assessment Issues in TESOL 3 Credit Hours
- TSL 6642 - Issues in Second Language Acquisition 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 6401 - Statistics for Educational Data 3 Credit Hours
- TSL 5345 - Methods of ESOL Teaching 3 Credit Hours or TSL 5085 - Teaching Language Minority Students in K-12 Classrooms 3 Credit Hours
Degree Requirements
Required Courses
48 Total Credits
Core
24 Total Credits
- Complete all of the following
- Earn at least 6 credits from the following:
- IDS7500 - Seminar in Educational Research (1 - 99)
- Complete the following:
- IDS7501 - Issues and Research in Education (3)
- EDF7475 - Qualitative Research in Education (3)
- EDF7403 - Quantitative Foundations of Educational Research (3)
- EDF7463 - Analysis of Survey, Record, and Other Qualitative Data (3)
- IDS7502 - Case Studies in Research Design (3)
- EDF7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education (3)
- IDS 7502 - Case Studies in Research Design may be substituted for one of the approved research electives from group A listed in the Program Details section below. EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education may be substituted for one of the approved research electives from group B listed in the Program Details section below.
Specialization
15 Total Credits
- Complete the following:
- TSL6643 - Diachronic Analysis of Second Language Acquisition Processes (3)
- TSL6379 - Second Language Literacy (3)
- TSL6600 - Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (3)
- TSL6252 - Sociolinguistics for ESOL (3)
- TSL7006 - Second Language Teacher Preparation (3)
Cognate
9 Total Credits
- Earn at least 9 credits from the following types of courses: A minimum of 9 credit hours of cognate courses must be approved by the adviser and graduate program director. Possible cognates include Communication Sciences and Disorders, Community College Teaching, Exceptional Education, Global and Comparative Education, Multicultural Education, Instructional Technology, Program Administration, Reading, and other related areas.
Dissertation
15 Total Credits
- Earn at least 15 credits from the following types of courses: TSL 7980 - Dissertation Research Doctoral students must present a prospectus for the dissertation to the doctoral adviser, prepare a proposal and present it to the dissertation committee, and defend the final research submission with the dissertation committee.
Examinations
0 Total Credits
- A qualifying examination will be required during the first year of study as an intake, diagnostic tool to determine student proficiency in TESOL. A written candidacy examination will be required to be admitted to candidacy and will normally occur at the completion of course work.
Candidacy
0 Total Credits
- The following are required to be admitted to candidacy and enroll in dissertation hours: - Completion of all course work, except for dissertation hours. - Successful completion of the candidacy examination. - Successful defense of the written dissertation proposal. - The dissertation advisory committee is formed, consisting of approved graduate faculty and graduate faculty scholars. - Submission of an approved program of study.
Additional Program Requirement
0 Total Credits
- Students must have completed a minimum of two college-level courses in a foreign language or basic proficiency in a foreign language as measured by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) oral proficiency interview (OPI) or other assessment approved by the program faculty before completion of 36 hours of study. Non-native speakers of English may use their native language to meet this requirement. This requirement may be satisfied prior to admission but must be satisfied prior to candidacy.
Grand Total Credits: 63
Application Requirements
Financial Information
Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see the College of Graduate Studies Funding website, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
Fellowship Information
Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students. They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student's graduate study and do not have a work obligation. For more information, see UCF Graduate Fellowships, which includes descriptions of university fellowships and what you should do to be considered for a fellowship.
Group A (Course below may be taken in place of IDS 7502 - Case Studies in Research Design in fulfilling CORE requirement above)
- EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7405 - Quantitative Methods II 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7410 - Application of Nonparametric and Categorical Data Analysis in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7415 - Latent Variable Modeling In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7473 - Ethnography in Educational Settings 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7474 - Multilevel Data Analysis In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7488 - Monte Carlo Simulation Research in Education 3 Credit Hours
- SPA 7495 - Doctoral Seminar II: Spoken and Written Language Disorders 3 Credit Hours (Communication Sciences Track students only)
- IDS 7938 - Research Cluster Seminar 3 Credit Hours
Group B (Course below may be taken in place of EDF 7406 - Multivariate Statistics in Education in fulfilling CORE requirement above)
- IDS 7938 - Research Cluster Seminar 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7405 - Quantitative Methods II 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7410 - Application of Nonparametric and Categorical Data Analysis in Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7415 - Latent Variable Modeling In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7473 - Ethnography in Educational Settings 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7474 - Multilevel Data Analysis In Education 3 Credit Hours
- EDF 7488 - Monte Carlo Simulation Research in Education 3 Credit Hours
- SPA 7495 - Doctoral Seminar II: Spoken and Written Language Disorders 3 Credit Hours (Communication Sciences Track students only)
Independent Learning
The dissertation satisfies the independent learning experience.
