Postgraduate coursework

Master of Education (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

The MEd(TESOL) has been designed for educational professionals seeking to develop their expertise and understanding in the areas of applied linguistics and language education, particularly in the teaching of English.

Students are encouraged to explore a range of issues relating to language teaching and learning, applied linguistics and socio-cultural contexts of education.

As well, the program develops themes and examines theories and research relating to the practical issues of language teaching and learning in a second-language environment.

The fully articulated graduate-certificate, graduate-diploma and master's program is extremely flexible and is available in an off-shore mode that allows students to complete part of their studies at Fudan University, in China, and the remainder in Sydney.

All of the teaching staff are TESOL specialists, who have academic and professional qualifications in TESOL along with many years of professional experience.

Information about the tuition fees and opportunities for further study associated with all Master of Education designations – and their component graduate certificates and graduate diplomas – is published on the MEd home page.

Entry requirements

To be accepted into the master's program at entry (graduate-certificate) level, applicants must have an undergraduate degree from a recognised tertiary institution and meet the faculty's English-language-proficiency prerequisites. They must also have a background in language teaching in the form of one of the following:

a language-teaching qualification
at least one year's full-time (or part-time equivalent) language-teaching experience at school, college or university level.

Students who apply to any level of the MEd(TESOL) program, who have previously recorded a credit average in completing the Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (GradCertTEFL) are not required to provide additional proof of English-language proficiency and are eligible to apply for two units of study credit.

Because the English-language-proficiency prerequisite for enrolling in the GradCertTEFL is lower than for the master's program, the GradCertTEFL can provide a master's entry pathway – and valuable English-language experience – for students whose English-language proficiency initially falls below the faculty's requirement.

Back to Top

Course structure

Four units of study (two of the core units and two electives) comprise the graduate certificate; completing four units of study from the electives' list as well as two core units, or two electives and four core units, constitutes a graduate diploma; and successfully completing two units that may be chosen from any postgraduate program offered by the faculty, in addition to two elective units and four core units is required for the award of a Master of Education (TESOL).

Core units of study

Graduate-certificate applicants must enrol in two of the following units of study; graduate-diploma students may choose to enrol in either two or four; and master's candidates must complete four.

Elective units of study

Graduate-certificate applicants must enrol in two of the following units of study; graduate-diploma students must complete the balance of their six required units from those listed below; and master's candidates must enrol in two.

The remaining two units of study that must be completed for the award of an MEd(TESOL) may be chosen from those already listed or from the catalogue of all Faculty of Education and Social Work postgraduate units of study, available by downloading the postgraduate handbook (pdf, 2.9MB).

Back to Top

More information

Questions about this program can be sent to the faculty using our online enquiry form or directed to the course coordinator, Dr Lindy Woodrow.

Back to Top