Certificate in World Language Teaching (CWLT)

The Language Center (TLC), SAS-NB, in collaboration with the Graduate Programs in Comparative Literature, French, German, Italian, Literatures in English, and Spanish, are pleased to sponsor the Certificate in World Language Teaching (CWLT). This certificate, administered through TLC, is envisioned to support the continued professionalization of doctoral students in languages at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

Justification

Being aware of the constantly shifting focus of methodologies of language teaching and the increasing demands of the job market, TLC and the PhD programs in languages and cultures recognize the importance of increasing the teaching preparedness of PhD students. These students ably compete with candidates of peer institutions on the job market in research pursuits. Highlighting their teaching preparation should enhance their chances for job placement.

In addition to making candidates stand out in comparison to those of other institutions, this certificate aims to quantify the positive attributes of their teaching for prospective employers and provide them with a teaching dossier to complement their research/academic portfolio. The certificate supports doctoral students as they prepare to teach at the post-secondary, i.e., university level, and in no way serves as licensure.

Objectives

Students are expected to:

  • transform theory into practice, applying varying teaching techniques to real literature and theory, linguistic inquiries and analysis, comparative studies, and related academic topics;
  • acquire skills to allow them to transform theory into appropriate practice for both in-person and remote teaching venues;
  • visualize ways in which their teaching can be improved with guided study in methodologies via practice, observations, and teaching reviews; and
  • produce a professional portfolio packet suitable for a job search.

Click HERE to apply.

Requirements

PhD students eligible to pursue the CWLT must take three (3) graduate-level courses of three (3) credits each and receive a grade in each course of at least B+.

  1. At least one (1) of the following two (2) core methods courses:
    1. Teaching of World Languages (16:617:501)
      1. offered every Fall semester;
      2. taken normally during the first term of teaching; and
      3. designed to hone teaching skills (at the postsecondary level) in languages other than English.
    2. Teaching of English as an Additional Language (16:617:521)
      1. offered every Spring semester; and
      2. designed to hone teaching skills (at the postsecondary level) in English as an additional language.
  2. One (1) additional graduate course in either language pedagogy or an interdisciplinary course of relevance to language teaching:
    1. both core courses listed in 1a and 1b above may be taken to fulfill this requirement;
    2. non-core elective courses
      1. may be language specific or language neutral;
      2. must be approved in advance by the appropriate Graduate Program Director (GPD) with guidance from TLC administrators; and
      3. can be found in departments of languages, philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, or in schools such as the Graduate School of Education.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of possible elective courses:

15:253:520 Principles of Language Learning: Second/World Language Acquisition
15:253:522 Bilingual-Bicultural Education
16:195:501 Introduction to Literary Theory
16:195:502 Comparative Literature: The Discipline and the Profession
16:350:511 Comparative Racialization
16:350:594 Literary and Political Cultures of the Global Sixties (1960s)
16:350:608 What is World Literature?
16:350:660 Afropolitanism
16:420:511 Methods of Language Teaching
16:470:501 Teaching of College German
16:470:510 Literary Theory Methodology
16:470:513 Analysis of Literary Texts
16:560:506 Applied Linguistics in Italian
16:560:668 From Theory to Action: Strategies to Teach a Second Language Effectively
16:570:511, 512 Approaches to Literature (Italian)
16:615:610 Formal Methods (Linguistics)
16:617:512 Linguistic Theory and the Study of Literature
16:730:570 Philosophy of Language
16:830:602 Psycholinguistics
16:940:562 Teaching Hispanic Literature
16:940:578 Language Learning and the Brain
16:940:582 Bilingualism Theory
16:940:583 Second Language Acquisition
16:940:587 Bilingual Language Development

3. The language teaching portfolio course (Teaching Portfolio Project - 16:617:599):

    1. builds on courses that doctoral students have taken and taught;
      1. should normally be taken after candidates have completed at least two years of course work beyond the Masters level; and
      2. should be completed after Items 1 and 2 above;
    2. includes class observations, student feedback, letters, articles/publications on teaching, awards for teaching, remote/online teaching experience, etc.;
    3. incorporates statements of teaching philosophy and of diversity and inclusion, syllabi, unit and lesson plans with goals and objectives, assessment and evaluation rubrics, remote/online teaching methods employed, experience with various course management systems, etc.; and
    4. is overseen by each GPD or other departmental designee with guidance from TLC administrators.

Click HERE to apply.

Candidates should coordinate with their GPD on course selection. Questions also may be submitted to help@tlc.rutgers.edu.