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Teaching Additional Languages
The master of education (MEd) is a professional degree signifying advanced knowledge about and advanced training in educational practice. This program is designed for educators working with Additional Language learners in a variety of local and international educational settings. The program will provide students with advanced knowledge of theoretical, research and practical issues in teaching additional language learners.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must satisfy the University admission requirements as stated in Graduate General Regulations 1.3 in the SFU Calendar. Normally, two years of full-time classroom teaching experience is required for admission to the program. This requirement is waived for admission to the TLGC stream. In exceptional circumstances, applicants who do not meet these requirements may be considered if superior scholarly or professional achievement is demonstrated.
Admission is granted to a specific degree and to a particular program or stream. Application information is available from the Faculty of Education.
Program Requirements
This program consists of courses, a comprehensive examination and choice of stream for a minimum of 35 units.
Course work must be selected in consultation with the supervisor or graduate program chair.
Students must complete
A survey of major theories of Second Language Learning (SLL) to date, including the conceptualizations of language, learning and the learner, and their applications and implications in second/additional language teaching and learning in various contexts over time and today.
Course activities will be structured for participants to consider recent formulations of learners as agents as well as subjects of culturally constructed, socially imposed worlds. Participants will examine a number of ethnographic descriptions of the experiences of learners in a variety of communities, noting in particular their use of diverse mediations/tools, including language. Participants will consider these ideas in relation to their own educational communities and develop plans for research activity in those sites. Equivalent Courses: EDUC713.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
G031 |
Joel Heng Hartse |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
and at least two of
Variable units: 3, 4, 5.
Focuses on educational issues, trends and practices which impact teaching and learning in schools and other educational settings.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
G001 |
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 4:30–9:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An intensive examination of developments in a curriculum area selected by the student. In addition the course will deal with major philosophical and historical factors that influence the present state and future directions of curriculum and instruction.
Problems and practices associated with innovation and implementation including the nature of change in the educational context, the roles of teachers, administrators, change agents, and evaluators.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
G031 |
Sean Blenkinsop |
TBD |
An in-depth study of the ethical foundations of education. Areas in education where ethical questions arise are identified and elucidated. Classical and modern moral positions are examined for their adequacy as theories of moral justification. The topics include the value of education, freedom and equality, and moral and values education.
Participants will critically examine how language intersects with nation-states, race, class, religion, gender, sexuality, and ability, among other social categories, to perpetuate multiple forms of inequality in various social institutions, such as mass media, home, school, church, workplace, and law and the judicial system. Participants will juxtapose academic articles with personal experiences and observations, as well as media representations and public discourses, to explore equity issues related to language in education and society in local, national and global contexts.
The narratives of teachers of minority and Anglo-European ancestry will provide insights into how teachers work within and beyond normative institutionally prescribed roles to define and implement positive social and educational changes for their students. Equivalent Courses: EDUC712.
Theory, research, policy development and program implementation in multicultural and race relations education encompass a wide spectrum of areas of educational inquiry.
and a comprehensive examination
Normally, this occurs in the term in which course requirements are completed or in the immediately following term.
Teaching English as an Additional Language Stream
Students complete all of the above requirements and
Major trends in English as an additional language education theory and practice, current understandings of different aspects of language instruction and debatable issues prominent in teaching English as an additional language (TEAL) research.
and one additional course chosen from the list above
or
Teaching Languages in Global Contexts Stream
Students complete all of the above requirements and
Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
G011 |
Stephen Smith |
Online |
Educational topics and academic and cultural adaptation to graduate study in Canada. Explores key questions in contemporary educational discourses, issues of culture, language and identity, and develops advanced academic literacy through intensive reading and writing.
* Recommended for students in the Teaching Languages in Global Contexts stream
Program Length
Students are expected to complete the program requirements within six terms.
Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations
All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations, as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled.