What you'll learn studying Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at UW-Platteville 

The Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program provides professional knowledge and skills necessary to teach non-English speakers in the United States or abroad. You’ll explore topics in linguistics, sociolinguistics, language and culture, grammar in context, and methods of teaching English as a second language. 

In addition to taking courses in English, you’ll observe teachers and students, participate in teaching and tutoring activities including lesson preparation, and evaluate the teaching experience.

Careers in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 

People pursue this career path for different reasons. In some cases, teachers want to improve their effectiveness in classrooms where students come from different backgrounds and have varying levels of proficiency with English. Others want to teach English online to Japanese students or teach English online to Korean students. Whether you want a career teaching English to adults or children, or you want to move up in your existing career in the business world by improving your ability to train and educate employees or to interact with customers, earning a certificate or minoring in this field can prepare you for a variety of roles.

Some of the possible careers you could pursue include the following: 

  • Adjunct English teacher at a community college
  • Adult basic or secondary teacher
  • Bilingual instructional assistant
  • Community education teacher
  • Corporate trainer
  • English as a second language teacher
  • English language teacher at the middle- or high-school level
  • Interpreter
  • Online ESL teacher
  • Primary school teacher
  • Translator 

It is worth noting that some of these roles may require candidates to have additional certifications or degrees. However, you can be confident you will learn skills and strategies for meeting the needs of multilingual learners of all ages.

Discover by doing

Students at UW-Platteville benefit from an experiential learning model. In addition to traditional in-classroom education, you will have access to research projects, internships, university events, and more. These hands-on learning opportunities are available to students pursuing certificates as well as those choosing to minor in this field.


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