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English Language Teaching MA

Develop and refine skills in teaching and researching the English language on a programme designed to broaden your understanding of the challenges faced by English language teachers and learners worldwide. 

Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive community. That’s why most of our postgraduate taught students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You will benefit from more regular assessments and feedback, a better study-life balance, and a simplified timetable that provides more time for work, professional development, caring responsibilities, and everything else that's important to you. Our block-taught courses are informed by industry practice, often accredited by professional bodies, and are delivered by passionate and talented academics, who will help you develop the skills to achieve your goals.

Read more about block teaching

Overview

The English Language Teaching MA programme bridges theoretical knowledge of language teaching and learning, with practical classroom experience. You will graduate with both the practical skills and advanced theoretical understanding to succeed as an English Language teacher at all levels, from primary and secondary schools to universities and English Language schools, both in the UK and overseas. 

Throughout the course you will hone your theoretical and analytical abilities, examining research into language teaching and learning and its implications for educators. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to practise in the classroom and be encouraged to critically reflect upon your own technique and approach.

Our assessment methods are designed to enable you to develop a range of real-life skills, including writing lesson plans and rationales, carrying out microteaching to peers, and leading seminar discussions. You will also develop as an independent learner and acquire advanced research skills, with the chance to complete a dissertation exploring an area of personal or professional interest.

The English Language Teaching MA is a degree for those interested in becoming an English Language teacher. If you are a non-native English speaker and you would like to improve your English language skills, our dedicated Centre for English Language Learning (CELL) offers a range of courses.

Key features

  • You can exit the course with a Postgraduate Diploma, Postgraduate Certificate or an Institutional Credit award depending on the credits you have successfully achieved.
  • Study with an international cohort and benefit from cultural diversity in the classroom to enhance your understanding of English language teaching and learning worldwide.
  • Boost your employability by gaining a theoretical awareness of issues and trends in English Language teaching, combined with the skills to teach English Language at the highest level.
  • Our teaching team has a wide range of experience teaching in both the UK and abroad, as well as research expertise, ensuring that current trends inform the curriculum.
  • Our graduates go on to successful careers as tutors, heads of study and university lecturers, both in the UK and overseas.
  • Apply what you have learnt in class to real-world teaching by taking part in activities such as classroom observation at DMU’s Centre for English Language Learning and voluntary work opportunities in the local community.
  • Join a community that fosters independent learners and encourages ongoing self-improvement through critical reflection on personal teaching practice. Students who demonstrate a high degree of teaching competence have the opportunity to be employed by the Centre for English Language Learning at DMU.

Talk to our course team

If you would like to find out more about how this course can help you achieve your career ambitions, send a message to our course team [Dr Jie Liu] who would be happy to chat to you. Alternatively, you can register for our next postgraduate event or call our course enquirers team on +44 (0)116 2 50 60 70  / WhatsApp: 0797 0655 800.


Scholarships:

DMU offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and bursaries to help you realise your academic ambitions.

International Scholarships

Find out about available scholarships and country specific fee discounts for international students. 

 

 

 

DMU has been shortlisted for the Postgraduate Award in the 2024 Whatuni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs), as voted for by students.

  • UK
  • EU/International

Programme code: X16271

Duration: One year full-time.

Start date: September 2024

Fees and funding:

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,435 (full-time) per year

Find out more about course fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Programme code: X16271

Duration: One year full-time

Start date: September 2024


Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for EU and international students: £15,800

Find out more about course fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements 

You should have the equivalent or above of a 2:2 UK bachelor’s honours degree in a relevant subject such as English or Education.

We encourage and welcome applications from applicants with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.

Interview

Non-standard applicants will be invited to attend an interview.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English Language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

 

Course modules

Block 1: Teaching Receptive and Productive Skills

This module is designed to develop students’ understanding of the relevant theories and practices of teaching receptive and productive English language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. It will introduce students to some key research areas in teaching and learning the four skills, based on which students will learn how to write lesson plans for teaching these language skills in terms of teaching objectives, learning outcomes, and classroom activities.

This module helps students to analyse existing learning resources and acquire skills to develop and critically evaluate their own authentic teaching materials. These skills are directly applicable to their future classroom teaching. 

Students will produce two lesson plans, including authentic teaching materials and designed exercises, and an essay providing the rationale for the lesson plans addressing how they are designed based on relevant language teaching and learning theories. 

Block 2: Trends and Issues in English Language Teaching

This module introduces the main trends and issues in the communicative ELT classroom today. In particular, the module addresses the strengths and weaknesses of various teaching methods, together with topics such as teaching vocabulary, learner strategies, and using technology in the language classroom. As well as studying the theoretical knowledge, students also have opportunities to practise teaching in terms of writing lesson plans, conducting classroom instructions, eliciting student feedback, and using available equipment to enhance the learning environment. Students will gain the knowledge and skills needed to deliver successful lessons, and demonstrate critical and reflective thinking about their own and other’s teaching. 

Students will prepare a lesson plan for a 15-minute lesson and deliver this lesson to their peers. Students will also produce a reflective journal in which they will critically evaluate the learning teaching theories and methods covered throughout the block, their experiences of teaching practice in class, and a rationale for, and evaluation of, their 15-minutes lesson.

Block 3: Language Processing and Assessment

This module consists of two parts which are related to language learning and teaching. The first part will introduce students to psycholinguistic knowledge of how language is processed in the brain, in terms of language comprehension and language production in oral and written forms. This theoretical basis will help students understand the cognitive processes that language learners go through when they are learning a second language. Building upon this knowledge of language processing, the second part of this module will shift to language assessment. Specifically, students will learn the key concepts of reliability and validity in language testing, and how these concepts are incorporated in language assessment by taking account of learners’ cognitive faculties. Knowledge of language processing and language assessment has a direct application to English language teaching and learning.

Students will give a 15-minute presentation discussing a chosen topic in psycholinguistics and designing and carrying out one or two activities afterwards on language learning among classmates. Students will also write an essay that applies a relevant psycholinguistic theory to English language assessment.

Block 4: Research Methods

The aim of this module is to gradually build up students’ research knowledge related to the ELT context. It starts with how to write a literature review by guiding students to synthesize, compare and evaluate different information sources in their reading. This is crucial for students to apply such knowledge to other areas in English language teaching/learning which they are interested in. Furthermore, the Research Methods module will enable students to understand the pros and cons of different research methods, and how they can be used individually or in combination to match the unique nature of the research. In addition, students will have opportunities to practise data collection among classmates and conduct some basic data analysis, both qualitatively and quantitatively. To help understand the learnt research knowledge, students will work in groups to develop and present their own research ideas. At the end of this module, students are required to produce a research proposal and apply for ethics approval which enables them to collect data for their dissertation. 

Assessment is via a literature review (essay) and a research proposal.

Blocks 5 and 6: Dissertation

This module requires students to carry out and write a dissertation on a mini-scale independent research project based on their research proposal developed at the end of the Research Methods module. The topic should be related to English language teaching or learning, and may be developed from one of the taught modules; or may be linked to issues touched upon only peripherally in class.

Throughout the dissertation, students will need to apply what they have learnt in Research Methods to their own research context, especially problem solving and time-management. In their writing, students are expected to engage critically with both existing literature and their own study and anchor their research design and data analysis in a relevant theoretical framework. Students should also show their ability to interpret their findings within a wider context.

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

 

 

Overview

You will be taught through a combination of llectures, online and computer-assisted learning, seminars, tutorials and workshops.

There is a balanced mix of assessments including presentations, essays, micro-teaching, reflective journal, lesson plans and rationale, and research proposal. The 15,000-word dissertation or work-based project is guided by one-to-one tutorial contact, placing emphasis on independent study with the tutor monitoring your progress.

Contact hours

In your first two terms you will normally attend around 12 hours of timetabled taught sessions each week, and be expected to undertake at least 23 hours of independent study each week. Your third term will be pre-dominantly self-directed (including meetings with your supervisor), during which you can expect to undertake 35 hours of independent study each week.

 

 

Facilities and features

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available. 

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose. 

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including the Virtual Learning Environment, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub. 

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

 

Campus Centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
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Careers and employability

We want to help you develop skills that are based on real-world experience. Our dedicated careers Careers Team, are on hand to support you with finding placements, volunteering opportunities, CV writing skills, research opportunities and much more.

DMU students are encouraged to pursue their entrepreneurial spirit and the Enterprise Team can help you explore your business idea, business growth, the option of freelancing or being self-employed. There are lots of events, workshops, one-to-one consultation opportunities and enterprise competitions that you can get involved in to progress in your chosen career path. 

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DMU Global

This is our innovative international experience programme which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world.

Through DMU Global, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

 

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Graduate careers

Our graduates progress on to exciting careers teaching English across the world, such as at universities in Japan and Turkey, a primary school in China, and a language school in Germany. 

Through presenting your own work, analysing and incorporating students’ needs in teaching and problem solving, you will enhance and develop your repertoire of transferrable skills and increase your employability in a range of careers.  

We place a strong focus on research and developing your skills as an independent learner, meaning that this course also provides an excellent stepping stone to study at PhD level

Graduate Ghadeer Almudarra said: “Studying the English Language Teaching MA at DMU, I have developed my understanding of pedagogy, socio-linguistics, psycho-linguistics, teacher-student relationships, as well as research methods. My research on the importance of using emotional intelligence enabled me to understand how teachers can deal with students’ problems more effectively within the Saudi Arabian context.” 

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