Skip to main content
College of Humanities
Center for Language Studies

Third year teaching licensure track

Optional 3rd Year Teaching Licensure Track

The current BYU Second Language Teaching (SLaT) MA does not lead to state licensure. Therefore, an optional 3rd year licensure track is available for students who wish to not only graduate with an MA in Second Language Teaching but also obtain a teaching license.

There is an industry need for trained and qualified instructors who are prepared to teach a variety of languages, particularly in Utah, where there are more dual language immersion (DLI) programs (one-way) than in any other state. The proposed 3rd year licensure track will meet all licensing requirements including course work and exams.

The SLaT 3rd year licensure option will only be available to students in languages that are taught in BYU's partnership districts (Provo, Alpine, Nebo, Jordan, Wasatch) where BYU can place students for practicum and student teaching. Those languages are currently Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian.

Application Requirements:

Students should apply and be accepted to the third-year licensure track. The following requirements should be met.

  • Prospective students should apply to be admitted to the third-year licensure program before the fourth semester of the second year. This acceptance will be contingent upon the completion of the M.A. requirements, including the thesis/project. Contact Ellen Knell (ellen_knell@byu.edu) if you are interested.
  • Students who are accepted into the 3rd year licensure program must attain an ACTFL OPI rating of Advanced-Low or higher. (Advanced-Mid or higher is required for DLI).
  • Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and may not have any grade lower than a B- (classes can be repeated).

Tuition

Scholarships
Scholarships are available for the third year licensure option based on student academic performance and student evaluations. Availability is dependent on need. Contact slatma@byu.edu after acceptance for scholarship enquiries.

Fall Semester:

McKay School of Education Classes (10 credits):
SLaT students who choose to do the 3rd year licensure track will join with BYU education majors to take the following classes during the 1st semester of the 3rd year.

Additional Field Experience Classes (17 credits):
SlaT 3rd year licensure track students will join the Spanish/French/German teaching practicums and student teaching courses (below). These students will have a cohort and meet weekly to develop lesson plans, discuss teaching experiences, refine teaching skills, and engage in professional development and reflection. A BYU professor skilled in target language pedagogy will serve as the university supervisor that completes the observations and evaluations required for licensure. All students will be expected to pass the Teacher Candidate Assessment (TCA), which is an online portfolio that measures teacher candidates’ abilities and readiness to teach.

  • Exploration of Foreign Language Teaching: FLANG  276 (4 credits). Ideally this class should be taken 3rd or 4th semester of the SLaT Program as prospective teachers visit many different language classrooms.
  • Practicum in Language Teaching: SLaT 380 (or equivalent class: SPAN 380, PORT 380, FREN 380, GERM 380). This practicum should be taken the 4th semester of the SLAT program.

Winter Semester: 

  • Student Teaching/TCA: SLaT 476 (or equivalent class: SPAN 476, PORT 476, FREN 476, GERM 476) (12 credits). Student teaching occurs winter semester of the 3rd year.