You're here. The ESL webpage is our primary mode of communication and includes program standards, ESL course requirements, current ESL course offerings, and practicum guidelines. Most of your questions should be answered by looking at the webpage. If you have questions after reviewing the page, please contact the faculty coordinator or office associate listed in our Contact section.
The English as a Second Language Graduate Certificate Program provides a graduate certificate as well as a Wyoming state endorsement that can be attached to any teaching license. It focuses on both the theory and practice of language sensitive pedagogy that builds towards the specific attention to English as a second language methodology.
The English as a Second Language Graduate Certificate Program prepares teachers to work with the growing number of second language learners in Wyoming and surrounding states.
While we urge you to have attempted to learn a second language (mostly to understand the challenge of acquiring another language), it is not a requirement.
All the courses are offered via distance modalities. They are a combination of online, intensive weekends, and/or Zoom.
Generally, courses are typically offered in the following rotation:
Fall:
EDCI 4350/5350 Intro to Second Language Acquisition
EDCI 5430 Theory and Methods of ESL I
EDCI 5580 ESL Internship
Spring:
EDCI 5440 Theory and Methods of ESL II
Summer:
EDCI 5350 Intro to Second Language Acquisition
EDCI 4762 Essential Sociolinguistics for English as a Second Language Learning and
Teaching
Yes. EDCI 4762, EDCI 4350/5350, EDCI 5430, EDCI 5440, then EDCI 5580.
You can do the practicum in your own classroom as long as you have at least a couple of English Language Learners. The ESL internship instructor will work with you to identify an evaluator.
The ESL courses can count toward the C&I masters. In order for the coursework to count, credits must be earned while a student has graduate status with the University and is enrolled in the ESL Graduate Certificate Program. If students are in the undergraduate status with the University, then courses must be reserved for graduate credit and cannot count toward an undergraduate degree. Furthermore, no more than 12 credits can be earned toward a master's prior to a student being enrolled in a graduate program.
The C&I program requires 16 credits as its core (courses in curriculum, instruction, assessment, multicultural education, and research). So, with the 15 ESL credits and 16 credits in the C&I core (all core courses are offered at least once every year), you are two credits (final project) away from completing the masters. Please contact the Curriculum and Instruction Office Associate for detailed information or with questions about the master's program.
If you've taken classes in ESL from other institutions, you can waive up to 2 of our courses. Think about what courses you've taken and which one (or ones) best speak to one or two of our courses as described on our webpage. Then send a request to dixie.brackman@uwyo.edu (via email is fine). The more information you can provide about the course you took (course name, when you took it, course description, syllabus, course outline, readings, etc.), the better. For us, if the course(s) "more or less" meets the majority of objectives of one (or two) of our classes, we will waive the course and you will receive written notification.
To earn the graduate certificate through the University, you do not need to be a teacher. The endorsement, however, is part of the Wyoming state teaching licensure granted by the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB), and can only be earned by licensed teachers via an institutional recommendation (IR).
