Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages / TESOL [Graduate Certificate]

Location(s): In-person/hybrid

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The Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/TESOL program prepares teachers who are already certified to teach in PK-12 public schools to teach English as a second language. The primary goal is to enable teachers to effectively address the academic and social challenges of an increasingly diverse student population, including the growing number of English learners or multilingual students, and to appreciate these students as resources for instruction and classroom management.

Program Admission

Admit Terms and Deadlines

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Summer, Fall, or Winter. See Application Deadlines.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants not meeting minimum admission requirements.

Program Requirements

Applicants must also meet the following program requirements:

Submit at least two letters of recommendation that attest to the applicant’s promise of success in pursuing graduate studies and working with speakers of other languages and in multicultural settings
Submit a statement of reasons for pursuing this certificate
Submit a Michigan (or another state’s) teaching certificate
Submit proof of classroom experience, teaching practicum, or teaching internship

Note - There is no opportunity for conditional admission to this program for non-native speakers of English.

Application

Your application will be submitted using GradCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions and select the appropriate application.

- Go to 2023-2024 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Winter 2025.

- Go to 2024-2025 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Winter 2026.

Domestic Applicants Within the application, follow the instructions to submit an official transcript from all previously attended institutions.

International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.

For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.

Department Information

World Languages 219 Alexander, 734.487.0130

Jeff Popko, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

Ildiko Porter-Szucs, PhD, Professor, 317 Alexander Music Building, 734.487.6487

Degree Requirements: 21 hours

For a TESOL Graduate Certificate or ESL Endorsement, students must have at least one year of college study of a world language or the equivalent, as determined by the World Languages Department, before graduation. This requirement can be satisfied during graduate studies.

Critical Graduation Information

Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

Graduate Certificate requirements must be completed within three (3) years of first enrollment in a course applicable to the certificate. Dually enrolled students (certificate and master’s program) must complete both degrees within six years of first enrollment in the master’s degree.

In the event a student does not complete the graduate certificate degree requirements within three years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are the minimum requirements for all graduate certificate degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.

A graduate certificate must require a minimum of 12 credit hours.
No more than six credits of independent study courses and 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined may be applied to a graduate degree.
Residency Requirement - For students admitted to a graduate certificate program, at least nine graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the program must be earned at EMU. Students completing multiple certificate programs must have a minimum of 9 unique credit hours per certificate.
Application of completed certificates toward prior degree credit - Only credits from one completed graduate certificate may be applied to a master’s or specialist degree in a relevant field of study, as determined by the Graduate School and with the approval of the degree-granting academic department, and be included in the residency hours of the master’s program.
The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.