ENGLISH

Faculty

Gilbert Gigliotti (Chair, Willard 304), Stuart Barnett, Burlin Barr, Candace Barrington, Anthony Cannella, David Cappella, Matthew Ciscel, Mary Collins, Stephen Cohen, Robert Dowling, Christine Doyle, Robert Dunne, Brian Folker, Jaclyn Geller, Susan Gilmore, Heidi Hartwig, Thomas Hazuka, John A. Heitner, Beverly A. Johnson, Jason Jones, Paul Karpuk, Eric Leonidas, Vivian Martin, Melissa A. Mentzer, Mary Anne Nunn, Steven D.Ostrowski, Laurence Petit, Aimee Pozorski, Rae C. Schipke, Ravi Shankar, Katherine Sugg, Leyla Zidani-Eroglu (Dept. phone: 832-2795)

Department Overview

The Department of English offers graduate study leading to Certification in English; K-12 certification in TESOL; a Master of Science Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL); and a Master of Arts degree in English.

Admission Requirements

To qualify for the Master of Arts degree program in English, an applicant must have a baccalaureate degree in English or American literature or a closely related field from an accredited college or university, or 30 hours of appropriate undergraduate course work in the discipline (as approved by departmental review).  Additional undergraduate credits will be required of students who lack sufficient preparation in literature.  Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.00 on a four-point scale both in overall undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate course work and in English courses.  Conditional admission may be offered to students who do not meet all of these requirements.  In addition to the admissions materials required by the School of graduate Studies, applicants must also submit to the English Department the following:

• Letter of application detailing reasons for wishing to pursue graduate study in English
• Two letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with the applicant’s academic or professional work
• A writing sample of 10-15 pages showcasing the applicant’s strongest analytical or critical writing about literature.  Work written for previous courses is acceptable (indeed encouraged), but pedagogical or “creative” pieces (poetry, fiction, or memoir) are not appropriate.

To qualify for the Master of Science degree program in TESOL, an applicant must have completed 3 cr. of study in a second language (non-native speakers of English may use English to satisfy this requirement). Students lacking this background may be admitted provisionally, but will be required to complete the 3 cr. of a second language study before graduation from the program.  International students must also have a 550 TOEFL score, or a 213 score on the online TOEFL.

Programs

Certification in English is a non-degree program offered to persons with a bachelor’s degree (normally in English) whose undergraduate course work does not meet State of Connecticut certification requirements for secondary English teachers. Courses taken to complete certification requirements may not be used to complete the English Department’s M.S. or M.A. degree programs. A minimum of 6 credits in English at CCSU is required before student teaching.

Certification in TESOL is a non-degree program offered to persons with a bachelor’s degree. ESL certification may be obtained for the K-12 level.

The Master of Science degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is a plan of study especially designed for those students with an interest in language, language teaching, and linguistics who wish to work with non-English speaking students here or abroad.

The Master of Arts degree in English is offered to students who wish to devote their program exclusively to the advanced study of English and American literature. The Master of Arts diploma specifies a graduate degree in English, a prerequisite for further graduate work in English.

The requirements for each program are as follows.

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (TESOL)

This program offers Plan A (33 credits plus a thesis) and Plan B (36 credits and a comprehensive examination). 

TESOL Specialization (21 cr.):
LING 400 Linguistic Analysis 
LING 496 TESOL Methods
LING 497 Second Language Acquisition
LING 512 Modern Syntax 
LING 513 Modern Phonology 
LING 515 An Introduction to Sociolinguistics

One course from:
LING 596 TESOL Practicum
LING 533 Second Language Composition
LING 535 Second Language Testing 

Research (3 cr.):

LING 598 Research in TESOL and Applied Linguistics

Professional Education (6 cr.):

One of the following:

EDF 500 Contemporary Educational Issues 
EDF 516 School and Society
EDF 524 Foundations of Contemporary Theories of Curriculum
EDF 525 History of American Education 
EDF 538 The Politics of Education 
EDF 583 Sociological Foundations of Education 
and
Additional education elective selected from among the following (or other 500-level education course approved by advisor) (3 cr.):

EDT 490 Instructional Computing
ED 511 Principles of Curriculum Development
EDF 528 Comparative and International Education
EDF 522 Comparative Education
EDF 530 Multicultural Education
EDF 583 Sociological Foundations of Education
RDG 591 Developmental Reading in Primary Grades
RDG 593 Developmental Reading in Secondary Schools
SPED 506 Foundations of Language for the Exceptional Child
EDF 521 History of Educational Ideas
EDF 525 History of American Education
EDF 538 The Politics of Education
EDSC 556 Instructional Theory and Practice
RDG 592 Middle School Level Literacy Development

All planned programs and course sequences must be approved by a TESOL adviser prior to registration.

Plan A students take English 599 Thesis plus one general elective. Plan B students take two general electives. General electives are graduate course offerings as approved by the student’s adviser from Anthropology, English or another Modern Language, Geography, History, Humanities, Political Science or other relevant fields.
It is expected that a degree candidate will have control of the English language beyond mere communicative adequacy. It shall be the joint decision of the TESOL faculty whether a degree candidate’s control of spoken and/or written English is appropriate to the profession. The faculty will recommend various remedies for any candidate deemed deficient.



MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH (30 cr.)
 
Plan A (Thesis)
ENG 598 Research in English* (3)
ENG 500 Seminar in American Literature (3)
ENG 501 Seminar in British Literature (3)
ENG 530 Topics in Literary Periods (3)
ENG 599 Thesis (3)
15 credits of electives at the 400 and 500 levels, with no more than 9 credits at the 400 level, as approved by the faculty adviser

Plan B (Comprehensive Examination)
ENG 598 Research in English (literature section)* (3)
ENG 500 Seminar in American Literature (3)
ENG 501 Seminar in British Literature (3)
ENG 530 Topics in Literary Periods (3)

18 credits of electives at the 400 and 500 levels, with no more than 9 credits at the 400 level, as approved by the faculty adviser

*To be completed during the first year of graduate study.

Further Information

 For further information about the English Department’s graduate programs, see the department’s web site at http://www.english.ccsu.edu/grad/Default.html