A postgraduate course in Education.

This online masters-level course is for people interested in exploring language, literacy and learning in today’s world with its increasing linguistic and cultural diversity and rapid technological development. Focusing on the English language, it uses key current ideas and debates, together with audiovisual examples of practice from different language learning contexts, to explore new and more effective ways of helping students to learn language, to learn through language and to learn about language. It is designed for those who are interested in the role of language in education including professionals teaching English either as a first, additional (EAL) or foreign language (EFL).

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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

This course, a module in our masters in education programme, will provide you with the understanding and opportunities to investigate a wide range of English teaching/learning contexts from across the world. It will enable you to:

• gain an understanding of the complex relationship between English language and learning by becoming familiar with key theoretical debates within this field
• examine the changing nature of language and literacy and written, spoken, multimodal and digital resources for learning
• learn about key issues in relation to English language and learning: access and participation, identity and engagement, multilingualism and globalisation, power and diversity
• acquire skills to analyse English language and learning contexts of relevance to you, drawing particularly on functional linguistic, sociocultural and ethnographic perspectives
• carry out a supported investigation in an area of interest, using the theoretical and analytical skills developed during the module to examine how learning contexts can be critiqued and transformed.

All the materials are online, apart from the set book. The course is structured in four parts:

• Part 1: Exploring the relationship between language, meaning and learning
• Part 2: English language, technology and participation
• Part 3: Contexts for learning
• Part 4: Researching English language and learning: skills and methods

In each part of the course the online Study Guide will take you through a series of interactive activities using video examples of formal and informal learning from different cultural contexts, audio interviews with researchers, journal articles, podcasts, web research and the set book to guide and support your learning. The course includes 20 hours of online tuition and you will have regular opportunities to take part in your tutor group forum and to participate in other online teaching events.

Vocational relevance

The course can be taken as a module of the Masters in Education degree (F01). If you are particularly interested in the English language, linguistics and teaching English, you may wish to follow the MA in Education (Applied Linguistics) line of the Masters degree.

While designed to appeal to a broad range of educationalists interested or involved in the role of language and literacy, the course will be of particular interest to anyone teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), English as a foreign language (EFL) or any other aspect of English language teaching (ELT).

If you are involved in English language education, a postgraduate degree in applied linguistics and language education is an excellent qualification for enhancing your career potential.

Educators who would find E852 of interest include:

• EFL/ESOL teachers wishing to complement practical qualifications with a solid grounding in theoretical issues. (More practical qualifications would include the Cambridge Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Delta) and Trinity College certificates and diploma). 
• Teachers using English as a medium for instruction in both English and non-English speaking countries who wish to support their students’ English language and writing skills.
• Primary and secondary school teachers interested in supporting their students' language development, particularly students with English as an additional language (EAL).
• Teachers and lecturers in further education (FE) colleges and universities specialising in the teaching of English for academic purposes (EAP) and/or academic literacy and study skills support.

E852 counts as a module of the MA in Education (Applied Linguistics)/MEd (Applied Linguistics) which is a qualification generally recognised as suitable for academic managers. If you hold a Cambridge Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Delta) (course entry from September 2008) or a Trinity College London Licentiate Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (LTCL Diploma in TESOL) (course entry from March 2011), these qualifications can count as 60 credits towards our specialised masters degree in education and give you exemption from either E852 or E854. See the Masters degree in Education (F01) for more information about counting your previous study towards this qualification.

Entry

You must hold a bachelors degree from a UK university or other recognised degree-awarding body, or a qualification at equivalent level.

You will be expected to have some language teaching experience and will need access to a language teaching/learning context.

The course is taught in English. Your spoken and written English must be of an adequate standard for postgraduate study. If English is not your first language, we recommend that you seek assessment under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Please see their website for details.

E852 links well with the study of Investigating language in action (E854) and if you are studying towards the MA in Education (Applied Linguistics), we strongly recommend that you study E854 first.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Outside the UK

This course has been designed with a global audience in mind. Since it is tutored online, you can study this course no matter where you are in the world except for residents of South Africa, who may be restricted to studying through the Open University (OU) affiliate in their country.

Qualifications

E852 is an optional module in our:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Education (C27)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education (D52)
• Masters degree in Education (F01)
• MA in Online and Distance Education (F10)

E852 is one of the modules you can select if you want to name your degree MA in Education (Applied Linguistics) or Master of Education (Applied Linguistics).

Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this module can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.

Excluded combinations

Sometimes you will not be able to count a module towards a qualification if you have already taken another module with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this module, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Module Regulations and the Student Regulations which are available on our Essential documents website.

If you have a disability

In this course you are expected to use a wide range of resources. Most of the study materials will be delivered as web pages, pdf files and web-based tools. Many tutorial and student discussions and activities will be carried out in text-based discussion forums online. Some discussions may take place as live events in our audio-conferencing environment.

We have tried to avoid using inaccessible resources, but some material that is core for the course may not be easily accessible if you use assistive technology. Some students may find the amount of reading from different sources challenging. In most cases there will be sufficient alternative activities and materials to enable you to complete assignments successfully. Where this is not the case, you will be given individual support by your tutor in collaboration with other University staff. Support for access to Library resources is available from the Library Helpdesk.

Written transcripts of any audio components are available. Alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

Study materials

What's included

A dedicated website with online study material and activities, audio/video material and access to a range of electronic tools, including real-time conferencing and online forums. All the online video material is also supplied on DVD.

Computing requirements

You will need a computer with internet access to study this course as it includes online activities, which you can access using a web browser.

• If you have purchased a new desktop or laptop computer since 2007 you should have no problems completing the online activities.
• If you’ve got a netbook, tablet or other mobile computing device check our Technical requirements section.
• If you use an Apple Mac you will need OS X 10.6 or later.

You can also visit the Technical requirements section for further computing information including the details of the support we provide.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. You and your tutor will primarily communicate with each other through email and tutorials. Tutorials are primarily offered via online tutor group forums which you can contribute to across different time zones. If and where real time online conferencing is used tutorial times will be negotiated to try and accommodate different time zones.

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details can be found in the facts box above.

You must use the online eTMA system to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and end-of-module assessment (EMA).

The TMAs will include some online work, data analysis, some analysis of teaching/learning contexts and a project proposal. You will need to have access to a classroom or other learning context in order to be able to complete the assignments and the project.

There will be an end-of-module small-scale project (approximately 7000 words) instead of an exam. This will give you the opportunity to investigate teaching/learning contexts that are of particular interest and relevance to you and to use ideas and analytical tools from the course to analyse, critique and modify or even transform language pedagogy. You will receive feedback from your tutor on your project proposal and you will have approximately nine weeks of dedicated time in which to conduct and write up your work. You will be provided with  detailed guidance for structuring the project report.

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in October 2013. We expect it to be available once a year.

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• English grammar in context (E303)
• Children's literature (EA300)

How to register

To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button.

Distance learning

The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high quality distance learning. Unlike other universities we are not campus based. You will study in a flexible way that works for you whether you’re at home, at work or on the move. As an OU student you’ll be supported throughout your studies – your tutor or study adviser will guide and advise you, offer detailed feedback on your assignments, and help with any study issues. Tuition might be in face-to-face groups, via online tutorials, or by phone.

For more information about distance learning at the OU read Study explained.

A taste of OU study

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