This Master’s programme is the only one in London with an exclusive focus on ‘teaching’ encompassing the areas of TESOL and TEFL – as opposed to Applied Linguistics and is aimed at practising teachers as a form of continuing professional development.

Please note that the course is not a teaching qualification but an academic award which not only enhances job opportunities but also enables graduates to pursue further studies at a doctoral level. However, if you do not have enough classroom experience and want to become a qualified teacher of English as you study the MA, we offer a module (Teaching Practicum) leading to CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). At UEL, the certificate can be obtained in only 12 weeks.*

Upon completion, our graduates normally apart from following a PhD route, also become teacher trainers, consultants and advisors in the areas of English Language Teaching and Education, publishers, and school managers, among other high-stake posts

Speaking our native language comes naturally. Acquiring a second language is a much more complex undertaking that a skilled teacher can make easier. This fascinating course will give you a deeper understanding of the field of English language teaching in the UK and in a global context. It addresses the language systems of English, as well as reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. You will also examine second-language acquisition theories and the impact that these have on English language teaching pedagogy.

You will explore the implications of the global spread of English, the rise of ‘new Englishes’ around the world and the political and cultural dimensions of teaching English as an international language.

Ultimately, the course will open up exciting and stimulating career opportunities, both nationally and internationally, as a teacher of English or as someone who will shape the future of English language teaching.

*A minimum additional fee applies, this option is only available to on-campus students.

This rewarding master’s course can be studied on a one-year full-time basis or part-time for between two and six years. This means it can fall in with your life or teaching commitments.

The course has a strong focus on classroom practice and emphasises discussion and student contribution throughout.

Your fellow students will come to the MA from a wide range of countries and educational contexts. Such diversity guarantees a rich learning environment to which you can contribute your deepening knowledge of a complex and rapidly developing field.

The lectures have more of a seminar feel, with every student encouraged to respond to the lecture material and to contribute your own anecdotal experience.

You will study one module per term. You are expected to show independent thinking and to read and critically engage with a wide range of set and recommended texts.

Extra essay seminars will be laid on for all of the assignments and main essay assessments. In these seminars, preliminary draft essays produced by students will be taken as the starting point for discussions.

It is envisaged that a series of external speakers will share their expertise in particular topics throughout the year.

The course consists of four modules and a dissertation, which includes research methods training.

You will look at the theoretical, conceptual side of language systems within the field of applied linguistics. You will explore how we can draw on these theories to devise a curriculum and learning materials.

Because English is a world language, both power and ideology are intertwined with its teaching. The course offers a chance to examine the politics or the social dimensions of teaching English as a foreign and as a second language.

For instance, English is associated with modernisation in some parts of the world. In developing countries it can be seen as key to social mobility, even if that is more discourse than reality.

Subjects such as these will form the basis of discussion seminars as you explore how theory works in practice.

You will also be exposed to research methodologies in the Second Language Acquisition module and have the opportunity to work on a dissertation that involves language data collection, perhaps from your own students.

This master’s course is one of the ways you can become qualified to teach English to speakers of other languages, either in the UK or abroad, but it also offers much more.

On the teaching side, you may decide to enter the burgeoning world of English language teaching schools. There are a huge number of these in London.

You may want to teach English in other parts of the world. A master’s qualification will increase the opportunities to pursue such a career.

By upgrading your professional qualifications, you will also open up promotion opportunities.

It could you help you become the subject head in English language teaching or assume deputy head and head teacher roles in the future.

You will become qualified to lead other teachers and to shape the future of English language teaching by devising and writing learning policies and materials or by working in a curriculum coordinator role.

Some of our international students have returned to their home countries to take up Ministry of Education roles that require a postgraduate degree in English language teaching or language studies.

The course will also equip you to pursue an academic career in the field of English language teaching, perhaps through the research route or in an associated subject such as Applied Linguistic Studies.