MATEFL

This course will lay the foundations for the students to learn about various principles and issues regarding research methods in second or foreign language teaching and classroom research. The course will look at the various viewpoints involved in research, the issues raised by quantitative and qualitative research, how the research program is to be structured and carried out, and how to report findings.

This course will help students to develop a deeper understanding of the principles and procedures that inform current practices in language curriculum design, how they impact classroom pedagogies and shape materials development. TE 309 will also equip students with a variety of theoretical resources and insights for the formulation and implementation of appropriate language courses. Students will gain insight into EGP (English for General Purposes) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes). ESP includes many areas such as EAP (English for academic purposes), EOP (English for occupational purposes), EST (English for science and technology), etc. In EFL contexts such as Armenia's, a majority of students not majoring in English study the language in ESP programs. Therefore, MA TEFL students need to understand the concepts of both EGP and ESP to be prepared to serve the needs of the Armenian EFL context.

This course is an introduction to language in all its aspects as studied in the field of linguistics, including a focused concentration on how this approach relates to language education. It explores biological, historical, and socio-cultural aspects of language, and addresses the system of language looking at phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis. The course covers most areas of linguistics at the introductory level, familiarizing students with general principles and key vocabulary in these areas and also exploring the relationship between the study of linguistics and language teaching.