The Teaching of English as a Second Language

TESOL and Linguistics Classes

The following linguistic and TESOL classes are available at Mississippi State University at both the graduate and undergraduate level. For more information about how these classes can be applied toward a TESOL certificate, please click on the TESOL certificate link. For information about how these classes can be applied toward an English degree, please see the appropriate English Department page (Undergraduate Program or Graduate Program).

EN 4403/6403, Introduction to Linguistics

An introductory course that covers the descriptive and historical study of language, linguistic analysis and comparisons, language classification, language in its social and cultural setting, phonetics, animal communication, language universals, corpus and computational linguistics, as well as an introduction to grammar and semantics.

EN 4413/6413, History of the English Language

This course covers the origin and development of the English language from its proto-Germanic ancestors to its Middle English, Renaissance, and Romance influences. Linguistically, it will cover the structural and phonetic changes, variation and change in the English language, and the conventions of modern English usage.

EN 4443/6443, English Syntax

This course focus on the grammatical analysis of English with emphasis on pedagogical applications to teaching English as a foreign/second language. The course is functional in its approaches to syntactic theory, but does cover various theories of syntax to include transformational/generative grammar.

EN 4433/6433, Approaches to TESOL 

This course centers on the various theoretical approaches that have been posited in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language. The course emphasizes theories of second language acquisition, curriculum evaluation, and teaching approaches in second language writing, listening, speaking, and reading.

EN 4463/6463 , Studies in Second Language Acquisition 

This course is a survey of the major theories of second language acquisition (SLA), concentrating on accounts of second language acquisition. The course covers cognitive accounts of SLA, affective accounts of SLA, learner variables, and their pedagogical implications.

EN 4453/6453, Methods in TESOL

This course centers on the various practical approaches used in the second language classroom. This includes methods used in the teaching of reading and writing as well as communicative teaching methods. The course is meant to equip future second language teachers with the practical experience and methods necessary to be a successful classroom instructor.

EN 4623/6623, Language and Culture

This course examines how language interacts and changes as a result of being a cultural phenomena. The class will consider how language acts as a part of culture, a source of knowledge about other aspects of culture, and as a social behavior.

EN 4633/6633, Sociolinguistics

This class will analyze the relationship between language and society. It will also examine the reasoning behind speech communities and language varieties. It will also examine issues of language ideologies, language and power, and regional, ethnic, and socio-economic class variation in English speaking North America. It will emphasize field based methods.