Graduate Students
Undergraduate students, please see our TESL Certificate Page
Overview
The SLAT Certificate is open to graduate students in any graduate program at UF. This certificate covers Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) for a variety of languages, including English, and is intended to attract students from Linguistics, Education, and the language departments (English, Languages, Literatures & Cultures, and Spanish & Portuguese).
Admission
There is no special application. The program is open to native and non-native speakers of English who have completed their undergraduate studies at an accredited university and have been admitted into a graduate program at the University of Florida. Those who complete the core courses are automatically part of the program.
English fluency: No demonstration is needed by native speakers. Non-native speakers of English may be asked to submit a score of 55 on the Test of Spoken English before they finish the program.
Course Requirements
Requirements:
15 credits must be completed at the University of Florida
(12 credits core, 3 credits electives)
Course Work:
Required Core (12 credit hours-four courses)
1. LIN 6720 Second Language Acquisition (LIN 4721 cannot be substituted)
2. A “Structure of…” course
Choose one of the following (or an equivalent course to be approved by SLAT Certificate Coordinator):
| LIN 6571 | Structure of X (language changes yearly) |
| ARA 4850 | Structure of Arabic |
| CHI 4850 | Structure of Chinese |
| JPN 4850 | Structure of Japanese |
| FRE 6855 | Structure of French (also exists at 4000-level) |
| SPN 6855 | Structure of Spanish (also exists at 4000-level) |
| LIN 5741 | Applied English Grammar |
| LIN 3680 | Modern English Structure |
3. A Language Teaching Methods course
Choose one of the following (or an equivalent course to be approved by SLAT Certificate Coordinator):
| TSL 6171 | Materials and Techniques for TESL (3 credits) |
| FOL6943 | Romance Language Teaching Methods |
| FLE 6336 | Foreign Language Methods for Elementary Teachers |
| FLE 6337 | Foreign Language Methods for Secondary Teachers |
| TSL 6373 | Methods of Teaching ESOL K-12 |
4. One course in the area of Research Methods
Choose one of the following (or an equivalent course to be approved by SLAT Certificate Coordinator):
| LIN 6084 | Introduction to Graduate Research |
| LIN 7885 | Discourse Analysis (for qualitative research) |
| SPN 6735 | Research Design, Methods and Statistics in Applied Linguistics |
| STA 6126 | Statistical Methods in Social Research I |
Choose one of the following (or an equivalent course to be approved by SLAT Certificate Coordinator):
| LIN 7225 | Topics in SLA (past topics have included Second Language, Discourse/Pragmatics, Second Language Reading, Second Language Individual Differences, Second Language Syntax, SLA and the Brain, Second Language Input & Interaction) |
| LIN 6601 | Survey of Sociolinguistics |
| SPN 6735 | SLA Topics in Spanish (past topics have included Second Language Phonology, SLA and Study Abroad, Bilingualism, Acquisition of Spanish Morphosytnax, and Issues in Multilingualism) |
| FOL 6326 | Technology in Foreign Language Education |
| FLE 6165 | Bilingual Education |
| FLE 6167 | Cross-Cultural Communication |
| TSL 6440 | Language Testing and Evaluation |
| EDG 6931 | Topics, Graduate seminar taught by ESOL faculty members |
Contribution to the Profession
Candidates must provide proof that they have contributed to the profession in one of the following ways: (i) presentation of a paper at a local, state, or national conference or departmental colloquium, (ii) publication of a paper in a proceedings, edited volume, or journal, or (iii) leading of a workshop at a professional meeting.
Applying for the Certificate
In order to receive the SLAT Certificate, complete the following steps in the semester in which you plan to graduate:
- Print out a copy of the SLAT Application Form
- Fill out the application form and bring it or e-mail it to the SLAT Coordinator
- The SLAT Coordinator will verify that you have met the requirements
- If you have met all the requirements, the SLAT Coordinator will e-mail you to confirm
- Once you receive this e-mail, apply for the certificate with the UF Office of Admissions by going to https://admissions.ufl.edu/apply/more, clicking “apply here” for currently enrolled UF students, and completing the application form (more detailed directions in the Guide for SLAT Certificate in MyAdmissions)
You MUSTcomplete the certificate application with the UF Office of Admissions by the following dates in order to receive the certificate:
- Fall Semester Graduation: September 15
- Spring Semester Graduation: February 1
Once your application is received, the Office of Admissions and your home college (e.g. Education, CLAS) will review your application and, if all requirements are met, approve your application and forward it to the SLAT Coordinator. The SLAT Coordinator will then approve your application and request your certificate. Your certificate will be mailed to the address you provide on the SLAT Application Form a few weeks after the end of the semester.
If you need proof that you have earned the SLAT Certificate before your certificate arrives in the mail, contact the SLAT Coordinator to request a form letter confirming that you have earned the SLAT Certificate.
Contact information for the SLAT Coordinator
Jamie Garner
Department of Linguistics
University of Florida
4015 Turlington
Phone: (352) 294-7460
Fax: (352) 392-8480