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 primary purpose of this course is to allow the participants to (a) consider principles and practices used in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages and (b) look at specific types of tasks that can be used to teach the major language skills. After introducing general considerations for curriculum design and assessment, the course will focus on pedagogical approaches used to help foreign language learners develop the four macro-skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as two linguistic competencies (vocabulary and grammar) that play crucial roles in all types of language use. Discussions of theoretical issues, such as how language users process the various macro-skills and how they acquire proficiency in them, and practical issues, including sequencing pedagogical tasks and scaffolding students in their attempts to acquire the foreign language, will also be covered in class. Course requirements include completing weekly reading assignments, leading and participating in small group discussions, a final examination, a course project related to teaching one of the major language skills, and a 25-minute presentation of the course project. Course participants should read Chapters 1-4 in both required textbooks before the first class meeting.

It is recommended that students take this course after having completed TESL 5614 Current Approaches to Teaching English Language Learners. Basic computer skills as well as basic knowledge and skills in using Microsoft Word and the Internet are prerequisites for this course.

The class on Friday, December 5, will be canceled. The make-up class schedule will be discussed in the class.

Since the first class meeting for this course is on Friday, September 12, after the Fall 2025 Add/Drop Period ends, the office will accept drop requests for this course only until 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 13 after the first class meeting. Students who wish to drop this course after attending the first class meeting must notify the office of their intention by emailing tujtesol@tuj.temple.edu no later than 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 13.

Required Textbook:

• Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. (4th ed.). Pearson. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Ellis, R., & Shintani, N. (2013). Exploring language pedagogy through second language research. 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)

The overarching purpose of this course is to canvass ten 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 (a) the nature of theories, (b) linguistic theory and universal grammar, and (c) the concept-oriented approach to SLD. In the second part of the course, the focus is on a number of modern theoretical positions, including (a) usage-based approaches, (b) skill-acquisition theory, and (c) input processing. Finally, in the third part of the course, we read about (a) research on the brain and SLD, (b) fluency theory, (c) input, interaction, and output; (d) sociocultural theory, and (e) instructed second language development. Students will participate in and lead numerous small group discussions, take in-class examinations, write a literature review about a self-selected SLD topic and make a presentation on the same topic. Course participants should read Chapters 1-5 in Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction before the first class meeting.

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

Since the first class meeting for this course is on Saturday, September 13, after the Fall 2025 Add/Drop Period ends, the office will only accept drop requests for this course until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 14 after the first class meeting. Students who wish to drop this course after attending the first class meeting must notify the office of their intention by emailing [click-for-email] no later than 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 14.

Required Textbook:

• VanPatten, B., Keating, G. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.). (2020). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. (3rd 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)

Language is unquestionably a defining feature of the human species; it is the incredibly powerful symbol system that enables us to think and to share our thoughts with others.  At the intersection of psychology and linguistics, psycholinguistics seeks primarily to comprehend both the amazing complexity and power of human language and its inherent limitations and biases, by investigating the mental processes involved in acquiring and using language.  Thus, it draws on both linguistic descriptions of language phenomenon and psychological experimentation in order to examine the psychological validity of such descriptions within the larger context of cognitive science.

This Introduction to Psycholinguistics course attempts to provide an overview of the main areas of contemporary psycholinguistic research.  After initially describing the basic psycholinguistic approach, the second block of the course will turn to consider the mental processes involved within language acquisition, touching the critical period hypothesis and language disorders.  The third major block will focus on the mental processes involved in language usage, by looking at both language comprehension and production at various levels.  The final block will focus on more semantic aspects of the mental lexicon, concluding with a brief outline of the implications of linguistic relativism for the relationship between language and thinking.

Course participants should read assigned course materials, actively participate in classes, write two course papers and complete a final examination.

The class on Wednesday, October 29 will be canceled. The make-up class will be held on Wednesday, December 10.

Required Textbook: 

There is no required textbook for this course.

Recommended Textbook:

• Harley, T.A. (2025). Talking the talk: Language, psychology and science. (3rd ed.). Psychology Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Although the third edition of the recommended textbook was recently published (May 2025), as textbook revisions are generally minimal in nature, the first edition, which is available as an electronic resource via TU library portal, is still a viable source for background reading.

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 Distinguished Lecturer Weekend Seminars (only the first three hours of the Saturday session) scheduled in fall. 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 purpose of this course is to enable participants to develop an understanding of the theory and practice of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). We begin by exploring prominent definitions of a task, before looking briefly at the theoretical underpinnings for a task-based approach. Syllabus design is considered, before the introduction of a comprehensive framework for implementing TBLT in the classroom. We look at tasks related to the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing, before moving on to discuss assessment. In the final part of the course, we consider individual differences and tasks, and also some criticisms and potential problems with TBLT in different contexts. We also practice adapting existing materials to a task-based approach.

Participants will be encouraged to engage in group discussion of key ideas in the course. They will also be asked to design their own tasks, adapt existing materials for the TBLT classroom, and present ideas for tasks to classmates. Course requirements include leading a group discussion based on an assigned reading, giving a presentation, and completing a final project involving implementation of TBLT in your teaching context.

Students will be required to attend Dr. Mark Davies’ weekend seminar on Saturday, November 8th from 10:00 to 13:00, in lieu of the class on Friday, October 31.

The final class on Friday, December 5 will be canceled. The make-up class will be held on Friday, December 12.

Required Textbook: 

• Willis, D., & Willis, J. (2007). Doing task-based teaching.   Oxford University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course focuses specifically on the academic language and literacy skills needed for English learners (ELs) to   be successful in a variety of academic contexts. How do the challenges of learning to read and write for Multilingual Learners differ from students who are not Multilingual Learners? What do we need to know to improve their reading and writing success? What resources do they bring to their reading and writing, in particular, and to our classrooms, more broadly? This course includes a thorough review of key theories and principles in first and second language acquisition, with an emphasis on foundational knowledge of language structures (i.e., English phonology, morphology, and syntax). The course also looks at the literacy challenges faced by students at different points in their educations (K through 12 as well as adult education) and the role of disciplinary literacies. With this, students will understand the complexities of reading and writing development in more than one language.

The final project due date may fall beyond this period.

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.

This course introduces students to the most current approaches to teaching English as a second language. Drawing on contemporary research, the course will focus on creating optimal learning environments that engage, motivate, and support English language learners through meaningful and age/level appropriate activities. This hands-on course provides practical strategies, technologies, and ideas for designing and teaching effective language lessons that integrate reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Additionally, by participating in the required field experience, students will have multiple opportunities to apply and reflect upon approaches, building essential skills as a (future) language educator.

The final project due date may fall beyond this period.

Required Textbook:

• McDonough, J. Shaw, C., & Masuhara. H. (2013). Materials and methods in ELT: A teacher’s guide. (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Available online at TULibraries. New Tab

Additional reading materials will be provided on Canvas. The Canvas site will open approximately one week before the start of the semester.

This course offers an overview of the underlying concepts and skills needed for quantitative research in ESL and EFL literacy development. Students will review the current best practices for the research in reading and writing in English as a Foreign/Second/Other Language as well as in-depth knowledge of learner text/corpus linguistics and psycholinguistic reaction time testing as applied to reading research. This class will rely primarily on the academic literature to ensure the timeliness of the methods discussed. The overarching goal of the class is for students to acquire a familiarity with research methods sufficient to enable them to make novel contributions; however, we will review some current issues in pedagogy, focusing on those that are in need of greater empirical support (e.g., the written corrective feedback debate). Specific topics will include reading comprehension, vocabulary development, the psycholinguistics of reading, the nature of academic literacy, the writing process, the effectiveness of written feedback, and reading and writing assessment. We will also focus on practical techniques in corpus and text linguistics, which will require the student to gain some facility with the R language and the R studio development environment. Assignments will include research proposals complete with thorough design, compilation and analysis of learner corpus data, and various R projects. Students will also use PsychoPy for the design, construction, and analysis of reaction time experiments concerned with all levels of text comprehension and decoding. Students will design a reaction time test, deliver it, and analyze the results with an appropriate statistical model.

*For more details about the schedule, please check the chart below.

Dr. Nelson’s In-person Class Schedule:

Required Textbook:

• Chen, X., Dronjic, V., & Helms-Park, R. (2015). Reading in a second language: Cognitive and psycholinguistic issues.   Cambridge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Wallis, S. (2020). Statistics in corpus linguistics research: A new approach.   Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Jiang, N. (2012). Conducting reaction time research in second language studies (Second Language Acquisition Research Series).   Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course offers an overview of the underlying concepts and skills needed for quantitative research in ESL and EFL literacy development. Students will review the current best practices for the research in reading and writing in English as a Foreign/Second/Other Language as well as in-depth knowledge of learner text/corpus linguistics and psycholinguistic reaction time testing as applied to reading research. This class will rely primarily on the academic literature to ensure the timeliness of the methods discussed. The overarching goal of the class is for students to acquire a familiarity with research methods sufficient to enable them to make novel contributions; however, we will review some current issues in pedagogy, focusing on those that are in need of greater empirical support (e.g., the written corrective feedback debate). Specific topics will include reading comprehension, vocabulary development, the psycholinguistics of reading, the nature of academic literacy, the writing process, the effectiveness of written feedback, and reading and writing assessment. We will also focus on practical techniques in corpus and text linguistics, which will require the student to gain some facility with the R language and the R studio development environment. Assignments will include research proposals complete with thorough design, compilation and analysis of learner corpus data, and various R projects. Students will also use PsychoPy for the design, construction, and analysis of reaction time experiments concerned with all levels of text comprehension and decoding. Students will design a reaction time test, deliver it, and analyze the results with an appropriate statistical model.

*For more details about the schedule, please check the chart below.

Dr. Nelson’s Online Synchronous​ Class Schedule:

Required Textbook:

• Chen, X., Dronjic, V., & Helms-Park, R. (2015). Reading in a second language: Cognitive and psycholinguistic issues.   Cambridge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Wallis, S. (2020). Statistics in corpus linguistics research: A new approach.   Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Jiang, N. (2012). Conducting reaction time research in second language studies (Second Language Acquisition Research Series).   Routledge.  (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

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 the PhD students. 

Students wishing to register for this course should obtain permission from the professor and complete the registration process during the registration period.

Conversation Analysis and Why It Should Matter to TESOL Professionals by Dr. Donald Carroll, Professor Emeritus of Shikoku Gakuin University, Japan, will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, October 18, Sunday, October 19, Saturday, October 25, and Sunday, October 26 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 Saturday, October 18.

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, October 18 from 10:00 to 13:00. The sign-up process must be completed through "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, October 17 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, October 17. 

Research in the field of conversation analysis (CA) has amassed an astounding body of empirical observations about the fine-grained organization of real-world spoken interaction.  These observations range from daily conversation to talk-at-work to pedagogic interaction. Yet, what conversation analysis has revealed remains almost entirely unknown to the overwhelming majority of language teachers worldwide, not to mention textbook writers and publishers.

This series of lectures will introduce the fundamental orientations and working practices of ethnomethodological conversation analysis and then examine how the resulting observations on interaction are of immediate relevance to the teaching of an additional language, specifically English. The seminar will focus on several broad and particularly well-researched aspects of empirically observable interactional order, including the SSJ turn-taking system, sequence organization, preference organization, questions and their replies as social actions, and designing CA-inspired lessons.

The first session, which is open to the general public, will provide an overview of CA and an introduction to some of the most significant and often surprising observations. The following three sessions, for registered participants, will delve more deeply into these areas and provide guidance as to how CA-inspired teaching materials might be developed.

Using Large Online Corpora for Research, Teaching, and Learning by Dr. Mark Davies, Professor (retired) of Brigham Young University, U.S.A., will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, November 8, Sunday, November 9, Saturday, November 15, and Sunday, November 16 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 Saturday, November 8.

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, November 8 from 10:00 to 13:00. The sign-up process must be completed through "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, November 7 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, November 7. 

This series of seminars will examine the many ways in which corpora can be used to enhance research, teaching, and learning. The seminars will be based primarily on the corpora from English-Corpora.org, which are perhaps the most widely-used corpora currently available. In the seminars, we will consider the following topics (among others):

• Basic corpus linguistics methodologies such as concordances (to examine the patterns in which words occur), collocates (to examine the meaning and usage of words and phrases), and n-grams (highly frequent strings of words). We will also focus on how this data can be used to improve teaching and learning.
• Insights from corpora into word frequency (including variation by genre, dialect, and time period), and how this frequency data can be used in teaching and learning.
• Keywords and “virtual corpora”, to focus on the vocabulary of particular domains (e.g. engineering, economics, or sports).
• Insights into English grammar (again, including variation by genre, dialect, and time period), similar to what Biber et al (1999) have done with the Longman Grammar of English.
• Using new features (which were released in Summer 2025) to gain insight from AI/LLMs to analyze and classify the corpus data.