MA English as a Second Language

The Master of Arts (MA) in English as a Second Language exists to train a group of language educators for professional credibility within the international profession of TESOL, teachers of English to speakers of other languages and dialects. Our mission is threefold: first, to continue education for those teachers and administrators who interact with second language learners within the public and private school sectors in the environment of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas; second, to prepare new teachers, researchers, and administrators for working with second language learners, particularly of English, throughout the world under varying social, political, economic, and cultural conditions; and third, to legitimize the profession of English as a second language for the local, state, national, and international community s by basing applications to fieldwork, (whether in the ESL/EFL classroom, program administration, or research) on solid theoretical background both in theoretical and applied linguistics.