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Program Overview
The Multilingual Learner Education (MLE) M.Ed. program (formerly the English Language Learners program) prepares pre- and in-service teachers to work with individuals who are learning additional languages, study the development of multilingualism across the lifespan, and engage in applied linguistics, language, and literacies research. Our mission is to build a more peaceful, just, and equitable world through the teaching and learning of multiple languages. Together, educators and researchers in and beyond this program aim to promote multilingual learners’ academic and professional success, communicative competence, intercultural and cross-disciplinary understandings, and positive identities.
The program offers three unique tracks:
- Teaching Multilingual Learners prepares language educators to teach language with multilingual learners across the lifespan and across contexts.
- In this track you can add an English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement to your initial licensure for teaching in US public schools and earn a TESOL specialization for teaching languages in multiple contexts around the globe.
- Teaching Multilingual Learners with initial licensure prepares students in the same way as the previous track, but includes a semester of student teaching and ends with recommendation for initial licensure in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in U.S. public elementary or secondary schools..
- Applied Language and Literacies Studies is designed to prepare students for research-oriented opportunities in fields of applied linguistics, languages, and literacies education.
- Students often take elective courses from the other tracks within the program, thus growing their future career flexibility to serve as educators, researchers, instructional designers, researchers, and/or communicators about language and literacies education.
Careers
Of job-seeking MLE graduates, 100% were employed or attending graduate school within four months of graduation. Recent career placements include:
- Chinese Teaching Fellow, Yu Ying Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.
- Program Coordinator, Tennessee American-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Nashville, Tennessee
- ESOL Teacher Wekiva High School Orlando, Florida
- Bilingual Education Associate, New Oasis International Education, Herndon, Virginia
- Director of Training. Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, China
- ESL/Academic Specialist at Providence College
- First-grade teacher in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools
- Doctoral students and (later) assistant professors or researchers in Institutions of Higher Education around the globe
Program Facts
Program Director: Shannon Daniel
Admissions Coordinator: Erica Bodden
Admission Term: Fall
Credit Hours: The MLE M.Ed. program track with licensure is 33 credits. The two other tracks without initial licensure require 30 credits.
Application Dates
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Application Deadline 1
January 3
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Application Deadline 2
February 3
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Rolling Admissions
After February 3
*Applications received after the Feb 3 second deadline are reviewed on a rolling basis and accepted as space and funds allow.
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Program Curriculum
The graduate degree in Multilingual Learner Education includes a minimum of 30 credit hours of required and elective classes in areas of your interest.
You'll be prepared to teach and/or conduct research with multilingual learners, educators, and communities.
Coursework
Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
At the heart of our program is the push toward educational equity for multilingual learners who are too often marginalized and relegated to learning environments that do not provide them with rigorous learning of languages or disciplines like literature, science, mathematics, social studies. Graduates serve as educators, advocates, and researchers alongside communities, families, and children who bring diverse cultural and linguistic resources to schools and other learning environments.
Selected Faculty Research
