TESOL UCLan

28/05/2025

I’m proud to announce that in our first iteration of the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics embedding the Trinity Diploma TESOL, our student Tina Abbott yesterday made a significant step towards her goal of getting both the Dip TESOL and the MA: Tina passed the external teaching practice lesson to go alongside the internally assessed lessons, and she also passed the phonology interview.

All that’s left of the Trinity Dip is the exam and unit 2, part of which will be a truncated version of her MA dissertation. Tina has done a fantastic job. Tina, we are so proud of you!

Tina came through the BA TESOL, picked up teaching work through her degree, and then went straight on to the MA. So if you are wondering whether you could cope with the MA and Dip TESOL together, Tina is proof that it is doable. She's worked hard, especially over the last few weeks preparing for the external teaching practice and phonology interview, but it is doable.

This coming year will most likely be your last chance to get an MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics and a Trinity Dip TESOL in one year for the price of a masters (plus small extra Trinity exam fee that goes to Trinity, but with a UCLan grad discount), so do get in touch for an informal chat with either Josie Leonard, course leader of the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics: [email protected] or me via LinkedIn message or email: [email protected]
And here is the course page:
https://www.lancashire.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/tesol-with-applied-linguistics-ma
If you decide to apply without a chat, do send Josie an email to let her know that you've put in an application and she can look out it.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

01/05/2025

Are you a teacher with ADHD?

This is a fantastic blog post by the teacher trainer and ADHD coach, not to mention amazing former colleague, Nicky Walker, about being a teacher with ADHD. If you are a teacher with ADHD, suspect you might have it or even just share some traits, or if you train teachers with ADHD, then this blog post is a must read. As a teacher trainer working with young trainee teachers on a BA TESOL with embedded Trinity CertTESOL and an MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with embedded Trinity Diploma TESOL, I have found Nicky's advice and strategies regarding ADHD incredibly helpful for understanding my trainees and allowing me to help them achieve their full potential. Thanks for sharing Nicky!
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👩‍🏫 Are you a teacher with ADHD ( or think you may have ADHD)? You are not alone.

Every year, I see the same pattern.

👉 The chaos behind the calm.
👉 The hours spent second-guessing themselves.
👉 The fear of being late, missing a deadline… or missing who you are underneath it all.

Here’s what many of these brilliant educators may not realise: ADHD brings challenges, yes but it also comes with strengths that many teachers don’t even realise they have.

In this new blog, I unpack some of the most common (and rarely talked about) struggles for teachers with ADHD, and share how we can shift the whole experience: in the classroom, at home, and inside your own head.
This is based on my own personal experience and not just AI generated BS!

👇 Read it here and share with a teacher who needs to know they’re not alone.
🧠💛

If you’re a teacher with ADHD, or wondering if you might be, you may have found yourself thinking, “Every year I think it’ll get easier but it’s not! Why do some things seem so difficult? When will it get easier?” On paper, you love what you do. You care deeply, you show up with energy and...

11/03/2025

A massive thank you and the last chance to do the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics (with embedded Trinity Diploma) at UCLan!

Hi UCLan TESOL alumni!

Thank you so much to all of you who showed your support for TESOL UCLan in October and November by filling out the petition. We had over 500 of our alumni, current grads, industry experts, local employers and free class students make contributions. We were incredibly moved by the heartfelt messages of support and the stories of how TESOL has changed your lives. It was also so nice to hear from so many grads after all these years and find out what you are doing. We all appreciate you so much!

The good news is that your support helped save BA TESOL, at least for now. We are delighted to be able to continue offering this life-changing course.

However, less happily, management has decided (wrongly in our view) to push ahead with closing the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics. As a result, the next academic year (September 25 start) will be our last year for the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics.

So, if you had been mulling over whether to do an MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with us at some point (and I know many of you have), now is the time to start putting plans into action.

One additional benefit of coming and doing the last MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with us this coming academic year is that we now embed the Trinity Diploma TESOL. That is, you get the chance to get two qualifications for the price of one.

This current year is the first year we have embedded the Trinity Dip TESOL into the MA and we are delighted with the progress of our students. We have seen some fantastic lessons and witnessed our students really develop and grow as language teaching professionals as they reflect on their learning and teaching, and combine theory and practice. One pleasant upside of embedding the Trinity Dip into the MA is that, due to the tuition fees for the Trinity Dip being covered by the MA fees, candidates can really concentrate on becoming better teachers, to reflect and to experiment, before making a joint decision with tutors about whether to put their names forward for the Trinity exams and external teaching practice. Our current MA students now are at that stage and it has helped take a lot of the pressure off.

We designed this programme for English language teachers who appreciate the need to keep developing professionally and get further qualifications but who are not quite sure whether to do an MA TESOL or a Diploma (DELTA or Trinity Dip). Well, the answer is, at least for those serious about getting ahead in the ELT profession and aiming at those better paying, more stable jobs, that you’ll probably want to do both eventually. But why should you have to choose which to do or even which to do first? We designed a course that embeds the Trinity Diploma TESOL into our MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics course, so that you can do both together at the same time.

What are the benefits of doing the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with embedded Trinity Diploma TESOL at the University of Central Lancashire?

Cost: DELTAs and Dips tend to range in price from £2000-£4000. The only fee you pay for the Trinity Dip is the exam fees that go to Trinity (around £500). This will save you around £1500 - £3500 compared to paying for both separately. Remember, you also get the 20% alumni discount for the MA TESOL, which will save you an additional £1500 or so.

Embedded modules: Several assignments count for both the Trinity Dip and the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics, saving thousands of words’ worth of assignments. This includes using your MA dissertation for one of the Dip assignments and the teaching practice module counting for both qualifications.

Theory and Practice: This ensures that you will not only delve deeply into the underlying principles and theories of second language learning and teaching but that you can also apply this knowledge in real-world classroom settings. Doing the MA and Dip together means you’ll get more out of both than doing them separately.

Cohort size: Small class sizes means lots of individual one-to-one time with the lovely course tutors you know and love 😊 This very well could be the most important benefit of our MA.

The MA is an in-person course at our Preston campus.

For an informal chat about whether this course is right for you or to ask any questions, contact Josie Leonard, the course leader for the MA: [email protected] or me: [email protected]

Thank you again for all the support you have given us!
Best wishes,
Neil on behalf of the TESOL team.

Teaching English is a truly rewarding & fulfilling career & one which will enable you to travel widely & come into contact with other cultures. Find out more.

18/10/2024

Don't close TESOL and Free English at UCLan!

We were devastated to learn that our BA TESOL, MA TESOL and MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics degree courses at the University of Central Lancashire are under very real threat of being withdrawn in the next month. This decision by senior management comes only a year after UCLan gained University of Sanctuary status, based on an application which included the provision of free English classes to asylum seekers and refugees in the local community running as part of our TESOL courses. These free English classes to the community will also disappear.

Reading the many messages of support that have already been added to our petition from current students, graduates of our courses, the refugees and asylum seekers who attend our free English classes as part of our TESOL courses, TESOL industry experts, employers who have hired our graduates and ESOL organisations in the local area underlines to us just how much of a positive impact the BA TESOL, MA TESOL, MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics, Trinity CertTESOL and Trinity Diploma TESOL have made, and continue to make, on the lives of so many. Withdrawing these courses would be a massive mistake.

Please add your voice to the call to save TESOL at UCLan.
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=gpn262sDxEyyAnrrGUxQZXFpHdcQpYpFhrMbVdn2V3dUN1NPWVQ5TjFRNUlNOFU0NlUxNkpSTldESi4u&route=shorturl
Thank you so much!
TESOL UCLan

10/10/2024

Free Investment Course for Language Teachers
Hi UCLan grads,
I’ve just recorded a podcast with Nicola Prentis from the Chilled Investor website (www.chilledinvestor.com) for the Current Issues in TESOL module. She is a specialist investment coach for language teachers. When I was just starting out in language teaching in my twenties, I didn’t worry too much about the future in terms of my finances and pensions, and I thought that investments were for boring, money-grabbing finance grads not swashbuckling adventurers like me. However, now, looking back, I wish I’d had someone like Nicola to advise me on my finances and show me some basic skills to help me look after them myself. I would be in a much better financial position now if I had. She knows her stuff.

Nicola runs courses teaching language teachers to become more financially literate and get started with investments. Normally these courses cost $377. However, she is starting a scholarship scheme whereby for every place booked on the course by a mid to late career language teacher (often teachers in their thirties or forties who realise that they need to get their act together and sort out their finances), she will give a free place to someone just starting out in their language teaching career. And because we happened to record the podcast at exactly the time she was thinking of setting it up, she is giving UCLan grads first dibs on applying for these free “scholarships”.
So, if you are in your early language teaching career (in the first year or so after graduating from UCLan TESOL), and you would like to learn how to invest, then follow this link to apply.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe89u8hasqLoyw0QSxCIqtIkJ225gclV6ZnZFU-O8LFcpknxg/viewform
I’ve just read back over this post and it reads a little bit like a pyramid ponzi scheme. It’s not. You won’t be giving her any money, just learning about investing and getting advice on how you could help yourself. It’s a great opportunity.
Do get in touch if you have any questions.
Best,
Neil

12/07/2024

Double celebration today- special mention and congratulations to our colleague Karen Smith who is now officially Dr Smith 😀. Well done Karen- hope you heard all the cheers from our students!

12/07/2024

Ten Top Tips for Using Literature in the Language Classroom

I love running a module called Teaching Language through Literature on the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics at UCLan, and I thought it might be fun to share a few tips. Read on if you would like to use more literature in your classes.

1. Everything can be literature:

Don’t restrict yourself in terms of what you consider literature. If it plays with language, it’s literature!

2. Different Englishes:

Choose literature from around the world, not just the “inner circle” countries, including translated works.

3. Text Choice:

There are pros to both giving your learners choice and also to choosing texts yourself. Don’t be afraid to choose something you think they will like. One way to do this is to look at…

4. Themes:

Look for the themes of the text. Find connections between the theme and the learners’ lives to really engage them.

5. Lesson Framework:

A pre, while, post framework can work for literature with a few tweaks. In the pre-stage, spend more time activating schemata, arousing interest in the themes and less time pre-teaching vocabulary. In the while stage, you could help learners with language as well as helping with comprehension. Use comprehensions as a starting point rather than an end point. Questions and even feedback can be given while they read rather than afterwards. For longer texts, the while section can be done at home.

6. Reader Response:

Instead of (or as well as) asking for the author’s or your interpretation of the text, ask questions that allow learners to share their interpretations or reactions to the text. How does it make you feel? What would you do in this character’s shoes?

7. Language Awareness:

Guide learners to analyse representational language (that which is open to interpretation, used for effect, painting pictures with words). Take a holistic approach. What language choices has the author made and what alternative choices were there? What are the subtle differences in meaning and use between those choices? Language is about choices and being creative with English.

8. Immediate Creativity:

After learners have analysed the representational language, get them to play with it immediately. For example, with a piece of alliteration used in a company name, get them to create their own company name.

9. Cultural Awareness:

Ask questions about the cultural, historical, and societal aspects of the text, and encourage them to link and compare with their own lives and cultures.

10. Critical Thinking/Fifth Skill (processing and thinking)

Get your learners to read between the lines, starting them on the journey to be able to think about and process texts in English. Who is writing this text? For whom? What’s the standpoint?



MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics at the University of Central Lancashire

https://www.uclan.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/tesol-with-applied-linguistics-ma

11/07/2024

The TESOL team would like to ask a favour 😊

Do you have any language or Asia Pacific pals who are graduating this week but are wondering what to do with their lives post-graduation? Perhaps they are a little envious of your Trinity Cert and your plans to travel to Asia to live and teach?
Well, now they can study for an MA TESOL with embedded Trinity CertTESOL*. They can leave university with a masters and a Trinity Cert, ready to start a teaching career.
Please could you share this post with anyone who might be interested and tell them how great TESOL is 😊
https://www.uclan.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/tesol-ma
* Note, this is a separate course to the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with embedded Trinity Diploma TESOL that we recommend for graduates of the BA TESOL degree.
Thank you everyone!

The MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is the first step to a rewarding career in teaching English, with opportunities to travel.

10/07/2024

Could you do the Trinity Dip exam? Try this question from the methodology section:

Sustaining motivation over time can be difficult for learners.
i) Giving reasons for your selection, what six key factors commonly affect learners’ motivation?
ii) Choosing two different levels/types of learner, give two suggestions for each of how teachers can support unmotivated learners.
iii) Describe an activity or technique you have used which was demonstrably successful in improving learners’ motivation. Outline the reasons for its success.
(From Trinity Dip past exam paper - May 2022)

In my opinion, anyone who has graduated with our BA TESOL and has had some teaching experience could, with a bit of prep, have a good go at the Trinity Dip exam. The above question, for example, is one that is covered in 3rd year BA TESOL.

So come and do the MA TESOL with Applied Linguistics with embedded Trinity Diploma at UCLan in September, saving you around £3500 (includes 20% UCLan discount) and thousands of words’ worth of assignments by doing them together at UCLan. Better paying jobs, more fulfilling teaching, a proper career.
https://www.uclan.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/tesol-with-applied-linguistics-ma

Contact us for a chat about doing the courses with us this September:
Josie Leonard: [email protected]
Neil Walker: [email protected]
Best,
Neil
p.s. Post your answers to the language question below and if anyone’s interested, I’ll post the answers in a few days.

Teaching English is a truly rewarding & fulfilling career & one which will enable you to travel widely & come into contact with other cultures. Find out more.

10/07/2024

One of the earliest Graduation photos I can find (2012)! Looking forward to seeing our 2024 finalists this year. Friday 12th July- the sun WILL shine for BA TESOL 🥰