University of St Andrews

Doctor of Professional Practice in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (DProf TESOL) - Online

Compulsory modules

If you are a first-year entry student, you will take all four modules from the following list.

If you are a second-year entry student who has completed an MSc TESOL qualification at the University of St Andrews or a masters with a similar curriculum, you will take Being a Doctoral Practitioner, Planning Professional Projects, and then choose another 30 credits.

If you are a second-year entry student who has not completed an MSc TESOL qualification at the University of St Andrews, you will take all four modules from the following list.

• ET5641 Being a doctoral practitioner: provides you with an overview of expectations for students on the DProf programme, and for professional doctorates in general. Through the module, you will analyse the skills and foundational knowledge needed to complete your studies, for example, methodologies for conducting classroom-based research and understandings of researcher-practitioner identity, and work towards developing a personal toolkit of skills and knowledge for success as a doctoral practitioner. You will also consider in detail key concepts relevant to the programme, such as reflective practice, explorative practice, and appreciative inquiry.
• ET5642 Planning for professional projects: provides support in planning out a full proposal for the professional projects component of your portfolio, as well as mapping out a timeline for successful completion of all aspects of the DProf programme. You will consider what the different outputs that make up your professional projects should be and how these will form a thematically coherent body of research. You will also reflect on likely challenges you will face during the programme and how you will address these.
• ET5605 Action research for educational practitioners: provides a learning experience in which you can reflect on concepts and theories you are studying in other modules and connect them with classroom practice. The module explores the combined value of reflection and action research for classroom practitioners, providing a means for language teachers to understand their classroom contexts and to plan responses to challenges in these contexts.
• ET5604 Education and researching: teachers are increasingly expected to be evidence-informed or even evidence-led, consuming, creating, and sharing research. This module addresses how we evaluate the quality of research to decide what is rigorous and informative for our practice, how we can build on existing research when planning our own interventions, and how to design, pilot, and reflect on the effectiveness of different data collection instruments. We consider a range of research contexts and values to help you actively engage with pedagogical research.
• ET5643 Self-directed study A and ET5644 Self-directed study B: These double-sized modules are intended to support you through developing and enacting a self-directed study on TESOL. The module assessment is self-contained but may support the development of research skills or knowledge that will inform the later doctoral portfolio. This module is intended for those practitioners who already have a strong focus in their research plan and want to learn about a methodology or topic in greater depth, such as completing a pilot study or action research cycle. You will be supported through identifying issues and discourses in an area of practice, devising a small-scale study with a coherent methodology and underpinning philosophical stances, resulting in an output which draws connections between theory and practice.

Optional modules

DProf TESOL students have access to the full range of Masters-level modules offered in the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute, drawing upon our TESOL and International Education masters as well as the four doctoral-only modules, ET5641-4. If you are a first-year entry student, you will have a free choice of 60 credits. Students skipping the first year through Advanced Standing will consult with their supervisor as to whether ET5604 and ET5605 are required or if these can be replaced with optional modules.

Semester 1 choices include:

• ET5601 Second Language Acquisition
• ET5602 Linguistics for language teachers
• ET5603 Language Teaching Methodology
• ET5607 Leadership and Management in International Education
• ET5608 Trends and Policies in International Education
• ET5626 Online Programme Design
• ET5643 and ET5644 Self-Directed Study A/B

Semester two choices include:

• ET5606 Organisational Development in International Education
• ET5621 Teaching EAP
• ET5622 Assessment and Evaluation in Education
• ET5623 Technology for Teaching
• ET5624 English Medium Instruction
• ET5625 Teaching Young Learners
• ET5643 and ET5644 Self-Directed Study A/B

The modules are delivered in a variety of ways, such as:

• recorded lectures
• recorded mini-lectures
• podcasts
• online written forums with students resident in other parts of the world
• intensive feedback sessions on your work