Master of Arts in Teaching of Spanish

This program is for teachers who already have state certification and are teaching in local K-12 classrooms. This MAT addresses several important areas, including the following:

  1. High school Spanish teachers teach both literature and language. Thus, they often seek advanced knowledge in both fields. The proposed MAT requires teachers to take courses in both areas.
  2. The MAT also incorporates advanced coursework in education – carefully selected courses in consultation with College of Education faculty. These courses include topics that are crucial to K-12 teachers such as teaching literacy skills, educational psychology, and curricular development
  3. Public school teachers work full time and cannot arrive to campus before 4:30 pm. Our Department has made the commitment to regularly teach courses within the MAT after 4:30 pm or, when possible, in the summer.

Questions? Contact the Teacher Education Coordinator.

Program Description

Admission

Students who have an undergraduate degree and who hold current Type 03, Type 09, or Type 10 Illinois certification are eligible to apply. Students must be able to speak, comprehend, read, and write Spanish at an advanced level (minimally an AFTFL level Advanced Low). Students must complete 12 semester hours of graduate work with grades of A or B in order to continue in the program.

Graduation requirements

A total of nine (9) courses, or 36 hours, are required for the MAT degree. There are four (4) required core courses. The remaining five (5) courses are electives, which must be chosen according to certain requirements. The minimum number of Spanish courses is five (5). Of the total number of courses, three (3) must be completed at the 500-level and chosen in consultation with the academic advisor. Comprehensive Examination required. No more than eight (8) semester hours of credit (2 courses) will be accepted for transfer, and these credits must comply with University regulations and be approved by the program.

Curriculum

The following four (4) Core Courses are required:

  • SPAN 401, Intensive introduction to Hispanic linguistics
  • SPAN 556, Second language learning
  • SPAN 407, Methods of Literary and Cultural Analysis
  • CIE 504 or 413, Foundations in secondary literacy or Foundations of literacy instruction, K-8

Students choose five (5) elective courses according to these requirements:

  • A total of two (2) elective courses must be completed in the Spanish department.
  • At least one (1) elective course must be in linguistics, language policy, or language teaching.
  • As long as requirements (a) and (b) above have been met, the remaining elective courses shall come from the course list below.

Heritage language concentration

Students who wish to complete the concentration in Teaching Spanish as a Heritage Language must take three (3) of the following courses among their five electives:

  • LALS 501 or 502
  • At least two (2) of the following courses:
    Spanish 406, Introduction to sociolinguistics
    Spanish 440 (new) = Theory and methods in teaching Spanish to heritage speakers
    CIE 464 = Bilingualism and literacy in a second language

Complete list of approved MAT courses

Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Apply now!

Application Information

Fill out completely and submit:

  1. Online application and
  2. Pay the application fee.

All application materials, must be submitted online, by: May 15