Online Degrees in English as Second Language

English as Second Language Degrees

The field of teaching English as a second language is one in which there is a growing need for instructors, as the population of the U.S. Becomes increasingly international each year. K-12 schools are always in great need of teachers with ESL certification, and ESL teachers are needed at the college and university level and in adult education centers, as well.

A master's program in education such as the Master of Arts (MA) in education - English as a second language or the Master of Education (MEd) with a Bilingual/ESL Concentration will focus on the different instructional methods and materials used to teach English as a second language, theories of second language acquisition, testing and evaluating ESL students, and developing ESL curriculum. With such a degree, you could earn the ESL or ESOL certification that would enable you to teach in a public school system.

If your goal is to obtain a position teaching English to adult learners, you could instead aim for TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language), TESL (teaching English as a second language) or TESOL (teachers of English to speakers of other languages) certification. A TEFL certificate will usually find you teaching English in a country or an area where it is not the native language (i.e. instructing adult learners in Japan or Korea), whereas a  TESL certificate will usually find you instructing recent immigrants or other adult language learners within the U.S. A TESOL certificate will allow you to go either way. Although there may not be specific educational prerequisites for earning this certification, you are likely to find that most teaching jobs, at home and abroad, will expect you to have a bachelor's degree in some subject in addition to your TESL/TEFL/TESOL certification. Also, beware of online 'diploma mills' - a good TESL/TEFL/TESOL program will involve at least 120 total hours of instruction and six hours of observation.