Post-Baccalaureate Certification in ESL

ESL Certificate

At Penn State, students can pursue a teaching certificate in ESL, a 5-course (15 credit) program with a focus on teaching English learners in K-12 classrooms. The ESL certificate is jointly offered by World Languages Education and the Department of Applied Linguistics and courses are at the 400-level in both departments.  An alternative to the on-campus coursework, the ESL Certificate with Ecuador Immersion offers an intensive study program which allows students to complete the ESL certificate in a Spring and Summer session and includes a field teaching experience in Ecuador. The Immersion program includes courses at the Universidad de Otavalo in Ecuador's Andean highlands as part of a four-week language and culture immersion and field teaching experience.

Upon successful completion of ESL coursework and Instructional I certification, the PA Department of Education confers an ESL Program Specialist certificate. Penn State also offers an ESL teaching certificate to those who may not need the state credential but would like to teach abroad or outside of the PA public schools.

For Information Contact:
Elizabeth Smolcic
Assistant Professor of Education
Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814-599-4995
E-mail: eas260@psu.edu