Online-only TESOL certificate program, open to community, starts this fall

Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education will offer distance courses online for its Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Certificate Program beginning fall 2012; community members and college students are welcome to apply to the program.

Students enrolled in the TESOL Certificate Program will have the option of taking courses online only, in classrooms on Western’s campus, a combination of both online and in-person classes, and through intensive summer programs in Bellingham and Mexico.

In our increasingly globalized world, a TESOL certificate demonstrates evidence of in-depth training that opens doors to international and domestic opportunities.

These new online courses will be offered for the first time in conjunction with a major program change announced in April 2012. In fall 2012, the Woodring’s TESOL program will separate into two specialized strands: the TESOL Certificate Program and the English Language Learners Endorsement Program.

The TESOL certificate program will focus on preparing students to teach internationally and with adult populations within the United States; the ELL Endorsement Program will focus on preparing current or prospective P-12 teachers in Washington state to meet the needs of English language learners in their classrooms.

To earn a TESOL certificate, students must complete the 27 credits of TESOL track coursework with a minimum GPA of 2.7 and demonstrate study of another culture and the equivalent of one year of college-level foreign language study. Undergraduates can declare a TESOL minor after they have met these requirements.

For more information, please visit www.wwu.edu/tesol, email tesol@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-4949.