Teaching English as a Second Language, Minor

 The Cato College of Education’s Minor in Teaching English as a Second  Language program is designed for teacher candidates who wish to gain expertise in the education of multilingual learners in the K-12 public school setting. The minor is designed to be coordinated with junior and senior level coursework in the major, including courses in language development and specialized pedagogy. The final semester is an advanced seminar/ practicum in TESL taken in conjunction with a teacher candidate’s student teaching semester, which includes experiences within a high-needs ESL school setting under the supervision of TESL faculty member. Successful completion of the minor will lead to a recommendation for North Carolina add-on K-12 licensure in ESL.

Students interested in pursuing TESL must be approved for admission to the minor by meeting statewide teacher education program admission requirements. Advising and admission to the minor are administered through the Office of Teacher Education Advising and Licensure (TEAL) in the Cato College of Education.

The minor is designed to be coordinated with Junior and Senior level coursework in an Education major. The criteria for admission include 30 earned credit hours, a GPA of 2.5 or above, a major in a subject area for which there is teacher licensure (elementary education, special education, secondary or middle grades education, foreign language education, etc.), a grade of C or above in MDSK 2100 or equivalent, passing scores on the SAT, ACT, or Praxis Core tests, and the recommendation of their major advisor. After admission to the minor, advising is offered through the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education in collaboration with advising in the student’s major department.