波士顿大学

The nonlicensure master’s degree program is designed for professionals who wish to study the theoretical and empirical knowledge of language and literacy education that informs policy, practice, and research in home, schools, and communities. Students choose one of the three specializations: (a) Language Education, (b) Literacy Education, or (c) American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf Studies. The program of 32 credits comprises study of literacy development and language acquisition, with a strong emphasis on building on students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds and on students’ development of bilingual/multilingual competence. This program does not lead to a teacher license. It is best suited for graduate students who have a clear sense of what they want to learn in their master’s program and wish to tailor their program of study to fit their educational needs and intellectual interests.

Unlike the Reading Education, TESOL-Licensure, Modern Foreign Language Education, and Deaf Education programs, the Language & Literacy Education program does not offer students the opportunity to meet state licensure requirements for teaching in public schools. Therefore, although there is substantial overlap with these licensure programs in the course of study, students in Language & Literacy Education are not required to complete the field experiences required to meet licensure requirements.

Learning Outcomes: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of representative language/literacy/deaf studies research and theory and the ability to critically analyze the literature; Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of effective practices in language/literacy assessment and instruction; Demonstrate knowledge of new and multimodal texts (including ASL texts, when applicable) and their effects on language/literacy learning in school, family, and community contexts; Demonstrate knowledge of cognitive, sociocultural, socioemotional, economic, and political components of language/literacy learning in school, family, and community contexts; Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of role of language and culture in the literacy development and learning of children and adolescents; Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the evidence-based approaches to educating bilingual and multilingual learners; Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for building on students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds as assets in the learning process.