Graduate Certificates

Composition
Literature
Teaching English as a Second Language

All students who wish to pursue a certificate program must apply for admission to the certificate program through Graduate School regardless of whether or not they are current graduate students.

More information can be found at the Graduate School Website.

Graduate Certificate in Composition

Coordinator, Dr. Lance Svehla

Certificate Requirements:
To be eligible for the certificate in composition, a person must be admitted to the University as a graduate student (with either full or provisional status).

Five Courses in Composition and Rhetoric:

Required Courses

ENGL 673 Theories of Composition 3
ENGL 674 Research Methodologies in Composition 3
OR
ENGL 676 Theory and Teaching of Basic Composition 3

Optional Courses*

ENGL 600 Teaching Coll Comp Practicum 3
ENGL 625 Autobiographical Writing 3
ENGL 650 New Rhetorics 3
ENGL 651 The Pragmatists 3
ENGL 660 Cultural Studies 3
ENGL 670 Modern Linguistics 3
ENGL 679 Scholarly Writing 3
ENGL 574 African American English 3
ENGL 577 Sociolinguistics 3
ENGL 578 Grammatical Structures of English 3

*Other courses may be considered in consultation with the director.

Graduate Certificate in Literature

Coordinator, Dr. Hillary Nunn

Certificate Requirements:

To be eligible for the certificate in literature, a person must be admitted to the University as a graduate student (with either full or provisional status). Of the five required courses (15 credits), two must be core courses, Chaucer and Shakespearean Drama; four of the five courses must be at the 600-level; and one must be in American literature.

Required Courses:

ENGL 506 Chaucer*
ENGL 615 Shakespearean Drama

*Unless the student has passed a comparable course at the Undergraduate level with a grade B or better.

Graduate Certificate in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language)

Coordinator, Dr. Grace Zhang

330-972-5216

This program is intended for both native and non-native speakers of English who seek training in the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) and wish to obtain an initial qualification to teach ESL/EFL (English as a foreign language) in educational settings other than public schools in Ohio or in countries outside the United States. For Ohio qualification in teaching ESL in the Ohio public school system, visit the TESOL Endorsement site.

The program is designed to introduce the student to central issues in the theory and practice of teaching English to non-native speakers through courses in modern and applied linguistics, in second language pedagogy, and in related disciplines.

Students who do not have English as a native language must demonstrate adequate proficiency in English with a valid TOEFL score of 550 (paper based)/213 (computer based)/79 (Internet based/iBT) or higher, or a valid IELTS score of 6.0 or higher.

The awarding of this certificate is not contingent upon completion of a degree program. Graduate certificate programs require a 3.00 grade-point average.

Graduate students must apply for the certificate program through the graduate school.

• All students who wish to pursue the TESL certificate should meet with the program coordinator to discuss the program and availability of courses.

Core Requirements (Min. Credits: 12)

ENGL 566 Linguistics and Language Arts 3
ENGL 573 Theoretical Foundations & Principles of ESL* 3
ENGL 578 Grammatical Structures of English 3
ENGL 577 Sociolinguistics OR ENGL 570 History of the English Language 3

Electives ** (Min. Credits: 3):

ENGL 570 History of English Language 3
ENGL 577 Sociolinguistics 3
ENGL 587 Field Experience: Teaching Second Language Learners 3
EDCI 543 Techniques of Teaching English as a Second Language 3
EDCI 541 Teaching Language Literacy to Second Language Learners 3
EDCI 556 Scaffolding Language and Content for English Learners 3
SLPA 530 Aspects of Normal Language Development 3

*Students should have successfully completed ENGL 371 and ENGL 566 prior to taking ENGL 573.

**Choice to be decided in consultation with the program director.