Second Language Education (M.A.): Coursework (Non-Thesis) (45 credits)
Offered by: Integrated Studies in Ed (Faculty of Education)
Degree: Master of Arts
Program credit weight: 45
Program Description
The M.A. in Second Language Education; Non-Thesis – Course Work consists of 45 credits of coursework. The program provides an overview of second language acquisition theory, research and research methods, including quantitative and qualitative approaches. It covers a wide range of current topics in applied linguistics and offers opportunities to specialize in educational sociolinguistics, curricular/methods and program planning (e.g., content-based language teaching, immersion), language policy and planning, and critical applied linguistics.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (12 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDEM 609 | Critical Perspectives in Educational Theory and Research. | 3 |
Critical Perspectives in Educational Theory and Research. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Critical exploration of contemporary issues in educational theory and research, in terms of current scholarship in the field, current educational contexts, and various research paradigms. Educational issues as expressions of social, ethical, political, economic, epistemological and cultural reconfigurations. Students will learn to be critical consumers of educational theories and research. | ||
| EDPE 575 | Statistics for Practitioners. | 3 |
Statistics for Practitioners. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Understanding and interpreting basic statistical procedures used in basic and applied research, including graphs, measures of central tendency and variability, hypothesis testing, and correlations, t-tests, and basic ANOVA designs. | ||
| EDSL 623 | Second Language Learning. | 3 |
Second Language Learning. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in second language acquisition theory and research and their relevance to teaching a second language. | ||
| EDSL 627 | Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research. | 3 |
Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in second language classroom-centred research focusing on instructional procedures and practices in relationship to learning outcomes. | ||
Complementary Courses (24 credits)
12-18 credits chosen from the following courses:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDEC 630 | Ethnographic Approaches to Research . | 3 |
Ethnographic Approaches to Research . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Ethnography as a qualitative research approach that allows researchers to conduct in-depth studies of complex social and cultural practices. Hands-on experience in ethnographic field work and practice ethnographic research methods are offered. Focus on history and application of a range of ethnographic approaches including traditional, critical, visual, activist, institutional, and collaborative ethnography. | ||
| EDEM 690 | Research Methods: Theory and Practice. | 3 |
Research Methods: Theory and Practice. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Overview of the epistemological foundations of a range of research methods, including but not limited to quantitative, philosophical, qualitative, arts-based, and mixed methods. Students will learn techniques to conduct research and to develop a research proposal. | ||
| EDSL 601 | Methods and Curriculum in Second Language Teaching 1. | 3 |
Methods and Curriculum in Second Language Teaching 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Applications of current theories and models of second language development and their implications for teaching all language skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening), including lesson planning, materials selection and development, activities and assessment in various formal and community second language education settings. Principles and methods for formative and summative assessment. | ||
| EDSL 602 | Methods and Curriculum in Second Language Teaching 2. | 3 |
Methods and Curriculum in Second Language Teaching 2. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Continuation of topics covered in EDSL 601 with further applications. Exploration of the kinds of information needed to make educational decisions in second language courses, different techniques for collecting that information, and ways for interpreting it. | ||
| EDSL 617 | Special Topics in Second Language Education. | 3 |
Special Topics in Second Language Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth study of current topics in Second Language Education. (Content varies from year to year.) | ||
| EDSL 620 | Social Justice Issues in Second Language Education. | 3 |
Social Justice Issues in Second Language Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of social identity, non-dominant languages, and power relations among speakers, and their impact on the nature of second/additional language teaching, learning and use, from the perspective of critical applied linguistics. Topics range from the micro level of the individual to the macro level of language planning and policy-making. | ||
| EDSL 624 | Educational Sociolinguistics. | 3 |
Educational Sociolinguistics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in the social, cultural and political dimensions of English second language learning and teaching. | ||
| EDSL 628 | Plurilingualism&Translanguaging in Education and Research . | 3 |
PlurilingualismTranslanguaging in Education and Research . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Dynamic vision of language and the repertoire of users of two or more languages, including recent theories of translingualism, translanguaging, and plurilingualism. Examination of research and pedagogical implementation of these theories in diverse languages, classrooms and contexts. | ||
| EDSL 631 | Second Language Curriculum. | 3 |
Second Language Curriculum. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research, theory and practice in curriculum development and teaching in second language education within contemporary frameworks. | ||
| EDSL 632 | Second Language Literacy Development. | 3 |
Second Language Literacy Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theory and research related to the teaching and learning of second language literacy. The orientation is on reading and writing as a socio-cognitive activity. | ||
| EDSL 640 | Language Awareness: Theory and Practice. | 3 |
Language Awareness: Theory and Practice. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores the concept of language awareness-learners’ and teachers’ explicit knowledge about and conscious perception of language in relation to its learning, teaching, and use. Will further outline possibilities for promoting learners’ language awareness in the L2 classroom. | ||
| EDSL 651 | Content-Based L2 Learning. | 3 |
Content-Based L2 Learning. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theoretical research underpinnings of learning a second language through content-based approaches and analysis of empirical studies undertaken in a wide range of immersion and other content-based L2 classrooms. | ||
Complementary Courses
6-12 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDEA 555 | Applied Theatre. | 3 |
Applied Theatre. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Exploration of the practices of theatre and drama in non-traditional settings, encompassing theatre practices and process drama that tackle areas of social and cultural policy such as public health, education, housing and social welfare. | ||
| EDEA 655 | Arts-Based Educational Research. | 3 |
Arts-Based Educational Research. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Forms of thinking and portraying that emanate from the arts: music, dance, drama, visual art, poetry, which provide an aesthetically-oriented lens from which to examine perspectives and premises that influence educational practice, and to develop processes that use one or more of the arts. | ||
| EDEC 604 | Literacy and Learning Across Curriculum. | 3 |
Literacy and Learning Across Curriculum. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examination of the central role of language in learning across the curriculum: the processes by which pupils acquire information and understanding and the ways in which teaching must take account of these processes: learning through talk, learning by writing, learning from text. | ||
| EDEC 606 | Self-Study, Autoethnography, and Autobiographical Research . | 3 |
Self-Study, Autoethnography, and Autobiographical Research . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Critical and ethical engagement with the relationship between self and other through various auto/biographical approaches to research in education, such as self-study, autoethnography, currere, life writing, artistic practices, writing the self, and memory-work. Exploration of various forms of writing, representation, analysis and critical discussion | ||
| EDEC 612 | Digital Media and Learning. | 3 |
Digital Media and Learning. Terms offered: Summer 2025 This course addresses emerging theories, pedagogies, and practices related to youth learning through digital media and online participatory cultures. Through direct engagement with multiple forms of digital media and youth, students will consider implications for teaching and learning within and beyond schools. | ||
| EDEC 620 | Meanings of Literacy. | 3 |
Meanings of Literacy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Investigation of basic issues related to definitions of literacy. Issues include new directions in literacy and education, the need for non-print literacies in contemporary life, and the challenges these changes present for educators. | ||
| EDEC 628 | Literacy - Multilingual/Multicultural Settings. | 3 |
Literacy - Multilingual/Multicultural Settings. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines the teaching of literacy in a range of multilingual and multicultural settings in schooling and society, primarily from the sociocultural perspectives of self and group identity as well as empowerment within majority-minority group relations. | ||
| EDEC 635 | Research Writing. | 3 |
Research Writing. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The course offers a research-led introduction to processes and practices of research writing. Working to develop their research writing projects, students learn to examine, critically reflect on, and participate in the research writing practices in their fields, guided by current research on the discursive construction of knowledge. | ||
| EDEC 648 | Historical Knowledge and Social Change. | 3 |
Historical Knowledge and Social Change. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course provides a deep understanding of how individuals and societies use history for purposes of giving meaning and acting in social reality. The emphasis is on the workings of historical consciousness for addressing educational and other societal issues of concern. Special attention will be given to exploring how history can be used for fostering positive changes for the betterment of society. The aim is to exercise participants' own historical sense making processes and to help locate their social posture to serve as a springboard for making a difference as future practitioners for improving the quality of a common future life. | ||
| EDEC 650 | Critical Race Studies and Education . | 3 |
Critical Race Studies and Education . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Investigates the relationships among race, racialization, and education. Defines education as the processes through which we claim identities, make knowledge claims, and how we learn to take action in the world. Concerned with 1) how we come to know and produce knowledge through race, 2) the pedagogical processes that normalize racial inequity; and 3) the impact of racializing knowledge and structures for variously racialized persons in educational settings. Surveys a range of intersectional critical race theoretical frameworks particularly in Canada. Relevant for developing a critically-engaged educational practice, for whom race, racialization, and social justice are central concerns. | ||
| EDEM 637 | Managing Educational Change. | 3 |
Managing Educational Change. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Explores conceptual approaches to managing school improvement and organizational change with applications such as conflict management, action planning, coaching, shared vision-building and problem solving. Uses relevant case studies to bring theory into practice. | ||
| EDEM 644 | Curriculum Development and Implementation. | 3 |
Curriculum Development and Implementation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores and critiques the processes of curriculum development, implementation and evaluation in relation to the field of curriculum studies. The focus will be on the role of the educator/leader as a curriculum professional in formal and non-formal learning environments. | ||
| EDEM 646 | Planning and Evaluation. | 3 |
Planning and Evaluation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Focuses on contemporary approaches to planning, monitoring and evaluating programs across a range of contexts (K-graduation, college, non-governmental organization, adult education centre). Areas of study include adaptive and strategic management, results-based management, log frame analysis, systems assessment, stakeholder analysis, and fourth generation evaluation. | ||
| EDEM 655 | Indigenous Research Methodologies. | 3 |
Indigenous Research Methodologies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores theoretical and methodological foundations of Indigenous research. Pays special attention to research positionality as seen through the lenses of settler colonialism and Indigeneity. Highlights importance of Indigenous-led research and decolonizing methodologies. Considers various dimensions of Indigenous research including relationality, responsibility, respect, and reflexivity. Examines the process of decolonizing research by centering Indigenous knowledges, languages, cultures, histories, and identities. | ||
| EDEM 660 | Community Relations in Education. | 3 |
Community Relations in Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examines the role of school community relations to foster high quality learning environments. Explores and discusses methods for encouraging public involvement in education, the role of the leader in facilitating community engagement, and issues and dilemmas in community relations. | ||
| EDEM 679 | Special Topics 3 in Educational Leadership. | 3 |
Special Topics 3 in Educational Leadership. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Selected topics in educational leadership. | ||
| EDEM 688 | Critical and Participatory Research Methods . | 3 |
Critical and Participatory Research Methods . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Exploration of several critical and participatory research methodologies (such as Black radical, feminist and activist ethnography) to understand their implications for study methods (framing research questions, data collection and analysis). | ||
| EDER 600 | Globalization, Education and Change. | 3 |
Globalization, Education and Change. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The impact of globalization on educational institutions, processes and practices. Topics may include the politics of change, teachers' work, educational reform, technology, environment, educational management and leadership. | ||
| EDER 607 | Ethics and Values in Education. | 3 |
Ethics and Values in Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Considers education as a concept and practice influenced by values (ethical, religious, aesthetic, cultural, political, etc.). Includes a critical examination of selected approaches to values education. | ||
| EDER 608 | Educational Implications of Social Theory. | 3 |
Educational Implications of Social Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An analysis of some of the educational implications of various social and political theories: liberalism, Marxism and others. | ||
| EDER 609 | Education and Philosophical Thought. | 3 |
Education and Philosophical Thought. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An analysis of the educational implications of various philosophical positions concerning the nature of reality and the nature of knowledge. | ||
| EDER 614 | Sociology of Education. | 3 |
Sociology of Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Social context of schooling, including education and social stratification and socialization processes within and outside schools. | ||
| EDER 615 | Introduction to Philosophy of Education. | 3 |
Introduction to Philosophy of Education. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Explores questions, aims, debates and modes of inquiry that characterize philosophical approaches to studying educational questions. Introduces philosophy of education as a distinctive field of educational research and may focus on figures or themes of contemporary interest. | ||
| EDER 622 | Studies in Comparative Education. | 3 |
Studies in Comparative Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comparative study of the economic, political and social aspects of education systems. | ||
| EDER 639 | Education and Development. | 3 |
Education and Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theories of development and the contribution of education to political, economic and social change. | ||
| EDER 649 | Education: Multicultural Societies. | 3 |
Education: Multicultural Societies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Majority-minority relations and their implications for educational policy and practice. | ||
Elective Courses (9 credits)
9 credits of courses at the 500, 600, or 700 level are selected in consultation with the Graduate Program Director or Coordinator and may include complementary courses listed above. Up to 6 of the elective credits may include the following courses:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| WCOM 642 | Cornerstones of Academic Writing. | 1 |
Cornerstones of Academic Writing. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Key strategies for scholarly communication across disciplines: reading scholarly texts for structure; applying these structures in writing assignments. Four cornerstones of academic writing: audience, purpose, organization, and style. Identifying and targeting audiences, clarifying the purposes served by different writing projects, organizing ideas, and developing mastery of rhetorical and stylistic conventions. | ||
| WCOM 645 | ESL: Fundamentals of Academic Writing . | 1 |
ESL: Fundamentals of Academic Writing . Terms offered: Summer 2025 Key strategies for academic writing across disciplines: reading scholarly texts for structure; applying these structures in writing assignments; developing vocabulary building strategies; identifying and practicing nuances of scholarly English syntax. Self-editing techniques to avoid common English-as-Second-Language (ESL) errors; review of English grammar and mechanics. | ||
| WCOM 661 | Literature Review 1: Summary and Critique. | 1 |
Literature Review 1: Summary and Critique. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Responsible and effective engagement with other scholars’ work in order to summarize and critique research literature. Focus on economic use of language and techniques for mobilizing existing scholarship in service of an original research project. | ||
| WCOM 662 | Literature Review 2: Establishing Scholarly Niches. | 1 |
Literature Review 2: Establishing Scholarly Niches. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Situating original student research in existing scholarship through analysis of literature in a discipline; application of techniques for framing contributions. | ||
Exceptionally, one 3-credit undergraduate language course, at any level, in a language not formally studied previously may be taken as an elective.