Monash University Handbook 2010 Postgraduate - Course

The course is designed to meet the needs of teachers or prospective teachers from overseas who do not wish to teach in Australia.

Upon successful completion of this course it is expected that students will:

• understand core principles of language teaching and learning for English as a foreign language classrooms
• have engaged with theory and practice for second language acquisition and pedagogy
• have understood the role of social and cultural contexts in language learning and use
• have developed competence in a range of key areas in second language acquisition, including content-based learning, assessment, curriculum development and bilingualism
• have engaged with current research in the field
• have fostered a theoretical and practical knowledge of research methods.

Students are required to successfully complete one of the following three options:

• option 1: six units
• option 2: five units plus a professional project (8000 words)
• option 3: four units plus a research thesis (16,000 words).

Variation to the structure for students studying in Singapore

Students are required to successfully complete a specified sequence of units.

Singapore

Students are required to complete the following six 12-point units:

• EDF6009 Special topic in research
• EDF6010 Professional Project (A) or EDF6020 Professional Project (B)
• EDF6210 Language testing and assessment
• EDF6228 Content based teaching in languages
• EDF6233 Theory and practice of TESOL
• EDF6236 Language, society and cultural difference

Clayton

All units are 12 points unless otherwise indicated.

Option 1

• EDF6233 Theory and practice of TESOL
• EDF6236 Language society and cultural difference
• an appropriate 12-point research core unit selected from the faculty suite of research methodology units
• one specialist elective and two general electives, or two specialist electives and one general elective*

Option 2

• EDF6010 Professional project (A) (8000 words) or EDF6020 Professional project (B) (8000 words)
• EDF6233 Theory and practice of TESOL
• EDF6236 Language society and cultural difference
• an appropriate 12-point research unit selected from the faculty suite of research methodology units
• one specialist elective and one general elective*, or two specialist electives**

* Students with approved relevant experience of three years or more may also take a general elective from any masters unit offered in the Faculty of Education.

Note: General electives do not need the course coordinator's approval, unless there are exceptional circumstances (ie if the student wishes to enrol in a unit from another faculty).

** Students with less than three years of approved relevant teaching experience must complete EDF6232.

Option 3

• EDF6031 Masters thesis part 1 and EDF6032 Masters thesis part 2 (16,000 words) (24 points)
• EDF6233 Theory and practice of TESOL
• EDF6236 Language society and cultural difference
• an appropriate 12-point research unit selected from the faculty suite of research methodology units.

plus the following specialist elective:

• EDF6232 Professional practice for teachers of English as a foreign language*

or one of the following units:

• EDF6201 Theory and principles of bilingual/immersion education
• EDF6210 Language testing and assessment
• EDF6228 Content-based teaching in languages
• EDF6234 Curriculum design and evaluation in languages education

* Students with less than three years of approved relevant teaching experience must complete EDF6232.

Specialist electives

• EDF6201 Theory and principles of bilingual/immersion education (12 points) or
• EDF6210 Language testing and assessment, or
• EDF6232 Professional practice for teachers of English as a foreign language* (12 points)
• EDF6228 Content-based teaching in languages or EDF6234 Curriculum design and evaluation in languages education

* Students with less than three years of approved relevant teaching experience must complete EDF6232.

General electives

12-point units selected from the units available for masters programs

Research methodology units

• EDF6005 Reading, interpreting and communicating research
• EDF6006 Introduction to quantitative research methods
• EDF6007 Qualitative approaches to research
• EDF6008 Working with theory in research
• EDF6009 Special topic in research
• EDF6012 Specific focus in research A (6 points)
• EDF6013 Specific focus in research B (6 points)

Research thesis

The research core unit is a corequisite for the research thesis. It may be taken concurrently with the research thesis or completed prior to the commencement of the research thesis.

Students who choose not to complete the full program may be eligible to exit with a Postgraduate Diploma of Education or a Postgraduate Diploma of Education (TESOL International) after consultation with the Course Adviser.

Master of Education (TESOL International)