Language Teaching Certificate

Requirements and Application

The interdisciplinary Baylor Certificate in Language Teaching: TESOL and World Languages prepares students to become research-informed, culturally responsive citizens and language educators with marketable expertise.

The certificate equips students with the linguistic knowledge and pedagogical tools to teach English or other world languages in the United States or abroad, while also opening pathways into related fields such as curriculum design, assessment, translation, language policy, missions, internationally oriented leadership roles, and better positioning students for prestigious awards such as Fulbright.

The certificate requires completion of 12 credit hours across four courses, with options in linguistics, education, modern languages and cultures, and other disciplines. One course is selected from a broad range of Language and Cultural Awareness electives, with options in other fields such as professional writing and rhetoric, communication sciences and disorders, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, film and digital media, and religion.

Courses used to fulfill certificate requirements may also count toward a student's major or other program requirements, making the certificate especially complementary to related programs of study.

Required Course (3 hours)

LING 4321 Language Course Design and Assessment

Acquisition Theory Courses (3 hours)

Choose one:

LING 4318 Theory and Applications of Second Language Acquisition
LING 4317/TED 4317 Bilingual Language Acquisition and Education

Methods Courses (3 hours)

Choose one:

TED 4312 Methods of Teaching English as a Second Language
SPA 4315/FRE 4315/GRE 4315 Methods of Foreign Language Teaching

Language and Cultural Awareness (3 hours)

Choose one course from the approved list of restricted electives in Language and Cultural Awareness. Options draw from a range of disciplines, including linguistics, education, modern languages and cultures, professional writing and rhetoric, communication sciences and disorders, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, film and digital media, and religion.

Language Teaching/Tutoring Experience (0 hours)

In addition to the 12 credit hours of coursework, students complete the Language Teaching/Tutoring Experience (LING 4001), a supervised language teaching or tutoring experience. This flexible practicum may be completed in a variety of settings and overseen by an approved faculty mentor in Linguistics, Education, Modern Languages and Cultures, or another participating area.

Students who are already engaged in relevant language teaching or tutoring may be able to use some or all of that experience to fulfill this requirement with appropriate approval and supervision. For example, this may be able to be fulfilled through an Education field experience that involves working with English language learners.

How Can the Certificate Complement My Major?

Because courses may count toward both the certificate and other program requirements, students in related majors may already be completing several of the courses needed for the certificate. For example*:

Education: An Education student may be able to complete three of the four certificate courses through Education coursework:

TED 4317 Bilingual Language Acquisition and Education — Acquisition Theory
TED 4312 Methods of Teaching English as a Second Language — Methods
TED 3380 Social Issues in Education — Language and Cultural Awareness

Spanish: A Spanish major or minor may be able to apply Spanish coursework toward two of the four certificate courses:

SPA 4315 Methods of Foreign Language Teaching — Methods
SPA 3309 Introduction to Spanish Linguistics — Language and Cultural Awareness

*These are examples; other combinations are possible depending on a student's major, coursework, and interests.

This certificate can be found in the Academic Catalog here.

Language Teaching Certificate - Application Form Coming Soon!