Beginning students of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) usually have two purposes: (1) to learn the academic skills they need to succeed at graduate work and (2) to discover the best ways to teach English to non-native speakers. In this course, students will achieve the first purpose, mastering necessary academic skills, while getting a head start on the second, understanding methods and issues of TESOL study. Academic skills include getting the most out of lectures and research articles, taking notes, accessing library and internet resources, answering essay test questions, giving presentations, and writing papers using proper forms of citation, paraphrasing and bibliographic references.

This course is designed for students who are new to the Master of Science in Education program, who have little or no experience studying in an English-language university, or who are not familiar with formal academic writing style (APA style). For such students, this course is recommended as the first course in the MSEd curriculum. Registrants who are not native speakers of English should have a TOEFL score of at least 550 on the paper-based test or 80 on the internet-based test.

There will be 13 regular class sessions for this course and in addition to the regular class sessions, all the students will be required to attend any one of the two online Distinguished Lecturer Weekend Seminars (only the first three hours of the Saturday public session) scheduled in spring.  The professor will provide you with further details about the seminar requirement later in the classroom.

Required Textbook:

• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2022). How languages are learned. (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. (4th ed.). Routledge  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basics of English phonetics and phonology, with an emphasis on areas of interest to language teachers. The course objectives are to: (1) introduce the basic concepts of phonetics and phonology; (2) provide practice in transcribing and analyzing the sound systems of native speakers and learners of English; (3) consider the place of pronunciation teaching in a foreign language curriculum and instructional approaches; (4) examine methods of assessing pronunciation; and (5) look at the relationship between pronunciation and other language skills. Students will complete a number of weekly assignments, take a mid-term examination and final examination, and conduct a project in which the speech of an English language learner is analyzed, a particular aspect of the English sound system is taught, and the results reported.

Required Textbook:

• Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide. (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (Eds.). (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation.   Oxford University Press.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The acquisition of morphology and syntax (i.e., morpho-syntax) has been at the heart of the field of second language acquisition since its modern inception in the 1970s. The reason for this focus is simple: Acquiring these aspects of a foreign language is extremely difficult for most adult foreign language learners given the complexity and abstractness of many morpho-syntactic forms. This course has three main goals. The first goal is to become more familiar with basic aspects of English morpho-syntax (e.g., the syntax of declarative statements, question formation, negation, and embedding) in order to better understand some of the key morpho-syntactic mechanisms used in the English language. The second goal is to become conversant with a wide variety of empirical studies into the acquisition of English morpho-syntax. This body of research includes theoretical investigations of the cognitive mechanisms held responsible for the acquisition of morpho-syntax as well as classroom applications of various pedagogical approaches used to teach particular aspects of English grammar. The third goal is to give course participants an opportunity to conduct a hands-on teaching project in which they use a pedagogical approach that is new to them for teaching one aspect of English morpho-syntax. In this way, the participants can expand the pedagogical techniques available to them. Other course assignments include weekly readings, sentence-diagramming tasks, leading and participating in small group discussions, and a final examination.

Required Textbook:

• Larsen-Freeman, D., & Celce-Murcia, M. (2015). The grammar book: Form, meaning, and use for English language teachers. (3rd ed.). Heinle Cengage Learning.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The overarching purpose of this course is to canvass contemporary theories that are central to modern discussions of second language development (SLD), and to thereby provide the participants with an opportunity to further develop and consolidate their understanding of SLD, models of language representation and use, and issues that directly affect classroom teaching. In the first part of the course, we look at motivation, early theories of second language development, and sensitive periods of acquisition. In the second part of the course, the focus is on several theoretical positions, including usage-based approaches, input processing, and neurobiologically-informed theory. Finally, in the third part of the course, we read about various topics including skill acquisition theory, the relationship between input, interaction, and output, fluency, crosslinguistic influence, sociocultural theory, and instructed second language development, which concerns the practical application of several strands in the field of second language development. Students will participate in small group discussions, take three in-class examinations, write a literature review on a selected topic, and make a presentation on their self-selected topic.

Before Session 1, students should read and be prepared to discuss Chapter 1 of VanPatten et al. (2025; the required textbook) and the Session 1 readings on Canvas.

The course is best taken by students who have already completed TESL 5611, TESL 5612, TESL 5613, TESL 5614 and TESL 5616.

Required Textbook:

• VanPatten, B., Keating, G. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.). (2025). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. (4th ed.). Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course offers an in-depth exploration of curriculum design for foreign and second language teaching. Participants will engage with theoretical frameworks, practical strategies, and innovative approaches to developing effective and engaging language curricula. The course covers key components of curriculum design, including needs analysis, goal setting, instructional strategies, and assessment methods. Throughout the course, students will examine various models of language curriculum development and apply these models to create comprehensive, learner-centered curricula. Emphasis will be placed on integrating communicative language teaching principles, incorporating cultural contexts, and leveraging technology to enhance learning outcomes. Key topics include the theoretical foundations of language acquisition and curriculum design, methods in needs analysis, the design of clear, measurable learning objectives, the creation and organization of instructional materials and activities, development of formative and summative assessments, the adaptation of curricula for diverse learner populations, the integration of technology and multimedia resources, using outcomes and feedback to evaluate and revise curricula, and myths about learning and teaching that negatively impact outcomes. By the end of the course, participants will have conducted a curriculum analysis and developed a detailed and research-supported plan for its improvement. This course is ideal for educators, curriculum developers, and language program coordinators seeking to enhance their skills in designing effective and responsive language education programs.

Required Textbook:

• Macalister, J., & Nation, I. S. P. (2020). Language curriculum design. (2nd ed.). Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Richards, J. C. (2017). Curriculum development in language teaching. (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Additional readings will be provided.

High quality language teaching materials are a critical component of any language teaching program. Although textbooks published by major publishers have undergone noticeable improvements in the past four decades, the fact remains that commercially produced materials are designed to be used with a wide variety of learners who often reside in different countries and speak different native languages. For this reason, many instructors find it difficult to find texts that are appropriate for their specific teaching situations. The purpose of this course is to allow students to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of commercial texts in light of research on second language acquisition, and to plan and produce original materials in an area of their choice (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, or writing). Topics covered in the course include (a) understanding the backward design approach to materials development, (b) identifying SLA-research-based principles for evaluating and producing effective pedagogical materials, (c) specifying instructional goals and objectives, (d) considering multiple tasks that can be used to achieve those goals and objectives, and (e) enhancing affective factors such as student motivation and self-efficacy.

Course participants will participate actively in weekly small group discussions, lead some of those discussions, and produce a final course project comprising an original teaching unit and a description of the theoretical and/or research-based underpinnings of that unit. Course participants should read the first three chapters in the course textbook before the first class session.

Required Textbook:

• Heineke, A., & McTighe, J. (2018). Using understanding by design in the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom.   ASCD.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Students are required to register for this course in the semester they take the MSEd Comprehensive Examination. This course is a Pass/Fail course. If the student is taking the January Comprehensive Exam, the student must register for this course in the spring semester. If the student is taking the May Comprehensive Exam, the student must register for this course in the summer semester.

This course will guide you in understanding and applying principles of curriculum design and teacher-based assessment. Course readings and assignments, plus recorded lectures and ample opportunity for 1:1 consults with your professor will guide you through thinking about how to best teach multilingual learners by adapting a curriculum that has been handed to you (i.e. a mandated curriculum), by building upon existing curricula in your instructional setting, or by creating a curriculum from scratch.  In this course, curriculum is conceived of as an instructional cycle which includes planning, instructing, assessing, and assessment-driven instruction. A foundational principle of this course is that formative assessments can and should be used to guide instruction.  As such, you will learn how to sequence interrelated lessons in response to students’ performance on a variety of formative assessments.  You will also learn approaches to environment and needs analysis and will experience how these analyses can inform teaching and curriculum design. Toward the end of the course, the Continua of Biliteracy will be used as an organizing framework that will guide you toward taking a critical stance when reflecting upon the curriculum you have created. 

Required Textbook:

There is no required textbook for this course.

The Canvas site for this course will open approximately one week before the semester starts. This site will contain the syllabus and all course materials.

Required Textbook:

• Murray,N., & Beglar, D. (2009). Inside Track: Writing Dissertations and Theses.   Longman.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• Cresswell, J.W. (2021). Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. (2nd ed.). SAGE.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
  This title is available from the online resources in TU Library.

Required Textbook:

• Murray,N., & Beglar, D. (2009). Inside Track: Writing Dissertations and Theses.   Longman.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• Cresswell, J.W. (2021). Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. (2nd ed.). SAGE.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
  This title is available from the online resources in TU Library.

PhD students are required to take two 3-credit Research Apprenticeship courses.

If you wish to take an apprenticeship course, you first need to write a 300-400-word abstract of your proposed project (unless you are assisting a professor with one of his or her studies). This abstract should include basic information such as (a) the gaps in the literature you are addressing, (b) the purpose(s) of the study, (c) specific research questions, and (d) your methodology, including information about the participants, instruments, procedures, and the analyses you will perform. You will then need to send the abstract to the advisor you wish to work with (Consult the list of Apprenticeship advisors on the registration form to see who is available), and if the advisor approves your plan, you can then register for the course with that advisor.

This course is for those PhD students who have passed the Preliminary Examination and working on their dissertation proposal.  
 
The PhD students are required to take Culminating Courses (6 semester hours overall, minimum 2 semester hours of EDUC 9999). Culminating Courses: Preliminary Preparation Course (EDUC 9994), Dissertation Proposal Design Course (EDUC 9998) and Doctor of Education Dissertation Course (EDUC 9999).   

Minimum 2 credit hours of EDUC 9999 are required for PhD students.  
  
Students wishing to register for this course should obtain permission from the professor and complete the registration process during the registration period.  

An Introduction to Washback Research in Language Assessment by Dr. David Allen, Ochanomizu University, Japan will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, January 23, Sunday, January 24, Saturday, January 30, and Sunday, January 31 from 10:00 to 13:00 (JST).  Students taking this seminar for credit must attend all four days. Students can add/drop this seminar course by 14:00 on January 23.

The pre sign-up (or course registration for those who are taking this seminar for credit) is required for anybody attending the public session on Saturday, January 23 from 10:00 to 13:00. The sign-up process must be completed through the "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, January 22 at 12:00 p.m. The public session Zoom link will be provided to those people who completed the online sign-up (or course registration) process by 18:00 on Friday, January 22.  

Washback is typically defined as the effect that tests have on teaching and learning. Since the 1990s, research into the washback of language assessments has grown exponentially, yielding a large body of empirical evidence that demonstrates how tests influence various aspects of language education. This research spans multiple related fields including applied linguistics, language assessment, educational measurement, and education more broadly (where it is often called backwash). Influential washback studies have been conducted in diverse contexts including Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Japan, North America, Australia, Eastern Europe, and the UK. Moreover, washback research concerns the whole range of tests and test uses, including large-scale, high-stakes tests used as part of reform initiatives in national education systems, language proficiency tests used for employment, education or migration, classroom-based assessments, and low-stakes formative assessments. Importantly, washback research often utilizes a mixed-methods approach, where various sources of quantitative and qualitative data are combined to inform conclusions. In this course, students will learn about the washback process (how test factors interact with stakeholder and context factors to create washback effects), the role of washback in test validation, and how to conduct washback research to support learning and teaching. Seminar attendees will learn about both the classic washback literature and the cutting-edge current directions in the field. Students taking the course for credit will complete a proposal for a washback study in their chosen area as their graded assignment.

Recommended Reading: 

• Allen, D. (Ed.). (2026). Washback research in language assessment: Fundamentals and contexts. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003472681 New Tab (Available as eBook at TU library).

From SLA Research to Classroom Practice: Creating Conditions for Language Learning by Dr. Shinichi Izumi, Sophia University, Japan, will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, February 20, Sunday, February 21, Saturday, February 27, and Sunday, February 28 from 14:00 to 17:00 (JST).  Students taking this seminar for credit must attend all four days. Students can add/drop this seminar course by 18:00 on Saturday, February 20.

The pre sign-up (or course registration for those who are taking this seminar for credit) is required for anybody attending the public session on Saturday, February 20 from 14:00 to 17:00. The sign-up process must be completed through the “Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, February 19 at 12:00 p.m. The public session Zoom link will be provided to those people who completed the online sign-up (or course registration) process by 18:00 on Friday, February 19.

How can insights from second language acquisition research be translated into effective classroom practice? This seminar explores this question by examining key principles of language learning and how they can inform the design of meaningful, engaging, and theoretically grounded language lessons.

One important focus will be Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and its connections with communicative language teaching, task-based language teaching, and Focus on Form. We will explore how language and content can be integrated so that learners use language not simply as an object of study, but as a tool for understanding, thinking, communicating, and learning. Concepts such as the 4Cs of CLIL and the Language Triptych will provide useful frameworks for considering how such integration can be achieved across different educational contexts. The seminar will then turn to the conditions that facilitate language learning. Particular attention will be given to the nature of rich input and teacher talk, the roles of attention, noticing, interaction, and output, and the processes linking input, intake, integration, and output. We will also explore the relationship among form, meaning, and function, examining how attention to language form can be integrated into meaningful communication rather than treated as an isolated activity.

Throughout the seminar, these principles will be connected to concrete classroom practice. Drawing on actual teaching materials and lesson examples, we will explore ways of creating richer learning experiences through effective lesson sequencing, meaningful content, interaction, and purposeful language use. We will also examine how familiar materials, including textbooks, can be adapted and enriched to promote deeper thinking and language learning. Ultimately, the seminar aims to bring theory and practice into dialogue, encouraging participants to think not simply about what to teach, but also how and why particular classroom practices can create better conditions for language learning.

Note to participants: This will be an interactive seminar incorporating occasional small-group discussions and hands-on activities in breakout rooms. Participants are encouraged to take an active part in these activities whenever possible.