Program Requirements
What are the eligibility requirements for the MSLT program?
Eligibility requirements for the MSLT program are simple. If you have an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution, have a minimum GPA (grade point average) of 3.0, and have passed the general aptitude section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) OR the Miller Analogies Tests (MAT) with a score in the 40th percentile or higher, you are eligible to apply for admission to the MSLT program. In addition, please prepare and submit an academic writing sample, preferably, in the form of a research paper (up to 10 pages max.). This is to demonstrate your proficiency in academic writing skills, which constitutes a major part of your work in this graduate program. Teaching certification is not required to be admitted into the program. Students in the MSLT program interested in obtaining state teaching certification need to contact the College of Education.
If you are an international applicant, you will also need to schedule and take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) OR the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. Passing scores for the TOEFL are as follows: minimum required score for Internet-based TOEFL test: 79; minimum required score for paper-based TOEFL test: 59. Passing scores for the IELTS exam are as follows: minimum required score: 6.0 (and a minimum score of 5 on each subscale). Please note that TOEFL or IELTS scores that are more than 2 years old are not accepted. International applicants with English proficiency scores below Utah State University’s (USU) minimum required scores will be denied admission to USU. Also note that the MSLT program no longer accepts USU’s Intensive English Language Institute’s (IELI) English language placement exam results nor English language course completion in the IELI program as a way to satisfy the English proficiency requirement; only official TOEFL or IELTS scores can be used to demonstrate proficiency when applying the MSLT program.
Course Requirements (30 credits total)
Required courses (18 credits):
LING 6010 Research Methods in Second Language Learning (3 credits)
LING 6400 Second Language Teaching: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
LING 6500 Second Language Acquisition: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
LING 6520 Technology for Language Teaching (3 credits)
LING 6820 Second Language Pragmatics (3 credits)
LING 6900 Culture Teaching and Learning: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
Electives (12 credits):
LING 6600 Sociocultural Perspectives on Language Learning (3 credits)
LING 6700 Foundations of Dual Language and Immersion Education (3 credits)
LING 6800 Topics in Second Language Acquisition (e.g., Using Literature to Teach Second Languages, among other topics) (3 credits)
LING 6810 Issues in Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language (3 credits)
LING 6830 Sociolinguistics, Sociolinguistic Competence, and Second Language Acquisition (3 credits)
LING 6940 Independent Study (1-3 credits)
SPAN/GERM/FREN 6200 Phonetics & Linguistics (3 credits)
TEAL 6XXX-level class [offered by the Teacher Education and Leadership program; consult with MSLT Co-Directors before enrolling] (3 credits)
ITLS 6XXX-level class [offered by the Instructional Technologies and Learning Sciences program; consult with MSLT Co-Directors before enrolling] (3 credits)
MSLT Portfolio
The portfolio provides a way of tying together major themes/issues/perspectives the student has encountered and reflected upon over the course of the program. This needs to be cast in the light of what it means to the student, and for the student’s teaching situation.
The portfolio is a capstone, and the writing of the portfolio is a process of making connections and making explicit the knowledge the student has gained over the time period that the student was enrolled in the program.
The portfolio is a demonstration of the student’s professionalism (so this marks the beginning of one’s new professional identity, as a result of having gone through the MSLT program).