The Centre for English Language Studies at the University of Birmingham offers its MA courses in TEFL/TESL (Teaching English as a Foreign or Second language) and in Applied Linguistics by distance learning to teachers and researchers in Japan.

These courses are the most prestigious distance courses of their kind that are available in Japan. The faculty has the highest possible official rating for both research and teaching and the qualifications are respected and recognised worldwide.

The central philosophy behind the MA in TEFL/TESL is that you, as a teacher, should have the opportunity to research and use in the classroom the concepts and theories you encounter during your course of studies. The MA in Applied Linguistics is primarily intended for teachers who wish to upgrade their professional and academic standing.

April 1 and October 1 each year

Course duration (can be extended)
Coursework: 24 months
Dissertation: 6 months
Students who become busy can take longer to do a course

* Two years experience in teaching English or in applied linguistics
* A good undergraduate degree (other qualities may be considered - e.g. amount of experience, relevant publications). In some cases qualifications may need to be supplemented by a short written task.
* Three references, including an academic reference
* A high level of written and spoken English

You can take the courses completely in Japan, working your way through the study materials sent directly to you on CD. You will also be able to access these materials on-line and interact with other students via web forums. Each course has clear aims and objectives, activities and reflection tasks. There is a one-week course in Hiroshima in August of the first year. The rest of the course can be done at home.

You are assigned to a local tutor in Japan who contacts you regularly to see how you are getting on, answer questions on course content and give advice on assignments. The David English House office also provides administrative and general support. For your dissertation you are assigned to a specialist in the field you are interested in.

Participants are given free on-line access to the 450 million word bank of English corpus held at the University of Birmingham.

¥ 1,575,000 payable in six installments of ¥262,500 each (¥ 1,620,000 from October 2007)