Ph.D. Minor in Teaching English as a Second Language

English Applied Linguistics faculty offer courses and advising in the field of Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language and in specialty fields of applied linguistics, for example, Second Language Writing, Technology and Language Teaching, Corpus Linguistics, and others. Ph.D. students enrolled in any Ph.D. program at the University of Arizona--especially SLAT, Foreign Languages, English (Literature), RCTE, Linguistics, or Education--may complete a 3 course (9 unit) Ph.D. Minor in Teaching English as a Second Language that complements their major area of Ph.D. study. 

Steps

  1. With the guidance and approval of the EAL Program Director, the student should create an appropriate three course sequence (see coursework below). 
    • Students must take all 3 courses/9 units for graduate credit and earn/have earned a B or better in each course. 
    • A maximum of 3 units of coursework from other institutions can transfer to the minor.
    • As per graduate college rules, students may not apply minor course credit to both the minor and major (i.e., no double-dipping), although they may be applied to the Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language
  2. The student should ask an EAL graduate faculty member to be their PhD minor director. 
  3. The student should fill out the PhD minor form on GradPath, with signatures both from the PhD major and minor advisors. 
  4. The student should check with their regular PhD advisor to see if their degree program has specific rules about PhD minors; if so, these may take precedence over the following:
  5. The EAL faculty/minor advisor and the student should prepare a 3-6 month plan for writing the comprehensive exam, including choosing a topic, curating a bibliography, and devising a question. In the absence of guidelines from the student's PhD major, the comprehensive exam must be 15-20 pages, due at the same time as the student's major comprehensive exam.  
  6. The comprehensive exam minor question is defended orally at the same defense as the major question(s). The minor advisor should be included in all scheduling of the defense date. 

Graduate College rules on PhD Minors are found HERE

Coursework 

The three Ph.D. minor courses (9 units) may be any three EAL courses except for independent studies, except under special circumstances. These courses include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • English 506: Pedagogical Grammar for TESOL  
  • English 555: TESOL Methods I 
  • English 560: Listening, Speaking, and Pronunciation
  • English 580: Second Language Writing 
  • English 589: Internet Technologies in Second/Foreign Language Instruction
  • English 593: Internship
  • English 596o: Special Topics (may be repeated)
  • English 612: Grammatical Analysis
  • English 613: TESOL Methods II: Materials and Curriculum Development
  • English 615: SLA Theories
  • English 620: Global Englishes 

Certificate Program

The courses taken for the PhD minor may be applied to the 5 course/15 unit Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language

For more information on the PhD Minor in TESL, contact the Program Director Dr. Jonathon Reinhardt (jonrein@arizona.edu). 

Last updated September 2024