Graduate Programs
Student Learning Outcomes
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
The graduate English program has been designed to prepare students for careers in the analysis and production of texts. The program covers issues and skills in reading and writing, in the richest sense of these words—in order to prepare students to address these issues and to teach these skills. Graduates of the program should be prepared for such careers as teaching writing and literature; teaching English as a second language; and writing for business, government, and other professions. In contrast to traditional M.A. programs, which place heavy emphasis on literary history, the IUPUI program focuses on the application of English studies to contemporary situations and problems. Students completing the English M.A. curriculum will be able to:
- Identify and define fundamental concepts, terms, and theories in two areas of graduate-level English studies (writing, creative writing, literature, linguistics).
- Critically read, write about and evaluate issues in English Studies.
- Demonstrate advanced skills in reading, writing, and evaluating issues in the discipline of English Studies.
- Apply various critical perspectives to a wide range of texts, including historical, theoretical, and literary material.
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the cultural diversity of language and literatures.
- Plan and present coherent, persuasive, and original oral and written arguments.
- Design and conduct independent research.
- Produce through a reflective writing process manuscripts suitable for publication.
Graduate Certificate - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Students completing the TESOL certificate will able to:
- Describe the features of both second language and first language discourse.
- Explain the theoretical principles of second language learning from linguistic, psychological, and social perspectives.
- Explain the principles, strategies, and features of second language teaching in a variety of contexts.
- Describe how learning a second language differs from learning one's first language.
- Exemplify the theory-to-praxis connection in second language teaching in a variety of contexts, modes, and genres.
- Devise and use instruments for adequately and appropriately assessing language learners’ educational needs and language development in diverse contexts.
- Design and implement pedagogically-sound lesson plans, teaching materials, courses, and curricula for second language learners in a variety of contexts with respect to reading, writing, listening, speaking, and culture.
- Evaluate and refine (one's own) teaching practices on the basis of second language learning research and specific students’ learning outcomes using the tools of self-reflection and classroom observation.
Graduate Certificate - Teaching Writing
Students completing the certificate in teaching writing will able to:
- Recognize and define major theories and historical perspectives in the teaching of writing.
- Analyze the complexities of writing and its uses in personal, public, and professional contexts.
- Create, design, and produce effective evaluations of writing assignments and supporting activities.
- Demonstrate knowledge of a reflective, research-based approach to major issues in the teaching of writing.
- Articulate an informed, practical pedagogy for the teaching of writing.
- Write a clear and persuasive research-based argument that adheres to conventions of documentation.
- Evaluate impact of culture, gender, race, and history on texts and ideas as well as language use and structure.
- Demonstrate an ability to accept and offer critical feedback to and from peers.
Graduate Certificate - Professional Editing
Students completing the Professional Editing certificate will:
- Know the techniques and consequences of traditional editing procedures, learn how corrupted texts of the past can be recovered and disseminated for readers today, and explore how these procedures are evolving in reaction to the rapidly changing technical communications environment of the information age.
- Understand that editing is an historical discipline.
- Be able to examine how texts have been edited in the past;
- Be able to recognize the steps involved in editorial procedures, analyze and categorize the various types of errors that are the result of hand press and machine press printing;
- Be able to demonstrate their understanding of book production by writing analytical and descriptive bibliographies, reconstruct textual genealogies of the transmission of a work, evaluate current editions of the same work; and
- Be able to discern what paradigms of editing held sway in different historical periods, analyze and respond to arguments about the best ways to present to the modern reader both public and private documents of historical significance, and design ways to present and preserve document quality in electronic environments.