English and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) MSc September 2026

Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.

• Modules available on the course

  • Action Research and Reflection for Education Practitioners: provides a learning experience in which students can reflect on concepts and theories they have studied in the past and connect them with individual educational contexts and explores the combined value of reflection and action research, providing a means for educational practitioners to understand their educational contexts and to plan responses to challenges in these contexts.
  • Education and Researching: focuses on different research methodologies and critically evaluates quantitative, qualitative and mixed method approaches, helping students to understand the features of a rigorous research question in education, as well as consider how to design, pilot and reflect on the effectiveness of different data collection instruments.
  • Language Teaching Methodology: explores the theories that inform teaching practice and analyses the implications these have in terms of ways of learning, material used, the teacher role and the learning spaces.
  • Linguistics for Language Teachers: equips you with the skills required to describe and analyse language and introduces selected fundamental concepts relevant to English language teaching, giving you appropriate terminology and techniques for the analysis and description of grammatical terms and structures.
  • Second Language Acquisition: explores theories of second language acquisition to gain some understanding of what learners actually do, how learners differ, and the strategies they can use. This knowledge and understanding is evaluated in order to apply theory to practice.
  • Assessment and Evaluation in Education: aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the key concepts and theories behind different methods of assessment and evaluation in teaching and learning, and help you to examine the rationale for different types of assessments and assessment designs.
  • English Medium Instruction (EMI): explores the rapid increase in the teaching of academic subjects through English in countries where the majority of the population do not use English as a first language and considers this global trend from the standpoint of content and language teachers, as well as students. It considers the wide variety of English medium instruction contexts, evaluating theory in the fields of teaching and learning, language acquisition and intercultural communication in an attempt to address some of the practical challenges involved.
  • English for Academic Purposes: covers the higher education context, the key principles underpinning learning in a university, text and discourse in the communities of the different disciplines, theories and practice of assessment, and the most effective methods and materials to motivate students and help them into a discourse community.
  • Teaching Young Learners: explores theories of child development and learning which are fundamental to the understanding of child second language acquisition for children aged 4 to 7, 8 to 11, and 12 to 18 and includes applying theory to practice by creating lesson plans and materials to share with your peers.
  • Technology for Teaching: introduces you to the principal theories, concepts and practices of technology in education so you will be able to critically consider the role and purpose of various modes of technology in education in a wide range of settings.
  • Theories and Contexts 1: introduces students to a range of critical theories central to the programme of studey and to the complexity and variety of current debates in feminist and gender theory.
  • Critical Approaches, Theories, and Research Skills: introduces students to the debates, concepts, theories, and methodologies that have shaped the study of literature across a long history, and offers students the opportunity to develop research skills essential to postgraduate study in English literature.
  • Reading the Medieval Text: provides specific skills and areas of knowledge necessary for undertaking research in medieval literature, including palaeography and codicology, and scholarly editing.
  • The Forms of Renaissance Literature: explores key works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature in relation to the cultural forms that shaped early modern writing. 
  • Romantic and Victorian Lives and Texts: examines the phases of literary and cultural production and reception, from the lives of authors and cultural figures, through the conditions of publication of their work.
  • Reading the Modern: is an exploration of influential British, American and French modernists' pursuit to develop modes of representation compatible with a newly urban, industrialised and mass-oriented age.

• Dissertation

  You are required to produce a 15,000-word dissertation, to be submitted mid-August.

  For the dissertation, you will choose a topic of interest to you and to your future career, either in English Literature or TESOL. You will read related literature and conduct independent research on your topic.

  Student dissertations will be supervised by a member of staff in the School of English or IELLI. Supervisors will provide guidance throughout the research process, helping you to formulate a suitable research hypothesis. They will offer advice on relevant literature and how to plan your time effectively.

• Assessment

  There are no exams and the type of assessment varies depending on the discipline. The diverse range of assessments includes long and short essays, annotated bibliographies, book reviews, scholarly introductions, oral presentations and podcasts, curatorial exercises, critical commentaries, close reading exercises, an online interactive written group forum, presentations, poster presentations, material development, research proposals, reflective pieces and so on.

• Support

  The University’s Student Services team can help students with additional needs resulting from disabilities, long-term medical conditions or learning disabilities. More information can be found on the students with disabilities webpage.