About the Program
This 21-credit minor is designed for any undergraduate student at UMD and complements a variety of majors and career goals. Students will learn about bilingualism and biliteracy while also exploring how sociocultural factors contribute to language development.
A Changing Society
The United States has typically been thought of as a monolingual society; however, multilingualism has been on the rise, and the number of U.S. residents who speak a language other than English has more than doubled since the 1990s. In 2017, close to 67 million residents reported speaking another language at home, a trend that is particularly noticeable in America’s largest cities where 48.2% of residents reported speaking a language other than English.
Why Minor in TESOL & Multilingual Education?
The TESOL & Multilingual Education program is a useful, practical addition to many majors. Even though this minor does not lead to licensure, it aims to prepare UMD students for future studies in education and related fields in the human services. The core courses cover topics such as second language acquisition, language analysis, language ideology, equity issues related to assessment practices, teaching methods, and foundations of immersion education and content-based language instruction. For those who do not plan to teach, the program provides an opportunity to deepen cultural competence and intercultural communication skills, which are skills that employers are looking for.