Language and Literacies Education

Program Overview

• the learning, teaching, and use of first and additional (non-native) languages in diverse settings;
• curriculum, instruction, and assessment related to the development of first and additional language and K-12 literacy skills;
• the development of bilingual, multilingual, and translinguistic abilities;
• language and literacy education policies and planning;
• pedagogy oriented towards multiliteracies development, including early literacy and adolescent reading, writing, and oral language development, and
• children’s literature across the curriculum;
• social justice issues related to plurilingualism and cultural and linguistic diversity; and
• pedagogical implications of the fact that language and literacy are infused into all aspects of learning in contexts characterized by linguistic diversity.

Quick Facts

Master of Arts

Applicants expecting to pursue a doctorate in the future are advised to enrol in the MA (rather than the MEd) program in Language and Literacies Education (LLE). The MA program can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis.

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Admission requires an appropriate bachelor's degree, with the equivalent of a University of Toronto mid-B or better in the final year, in a relevant discipline or professional program. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• Ordinarily, applicants should have teacher certification and at least one year of relevant successful professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: for detailed information on presenting research interests while answering the Faculty questions, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education MA degree program web page.

Program Requirements

• Coursework. Students must complete 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) or eight half courses as follows.

  • A minimum of 2.0 FCEs in CTL 3000-level courses within the LLE program including CTL3001H Research Colloquium in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE).

  • A research methods course relevant to the topic of the thesis (0.5 FCE). Any of the following courses can fulfil this requirement: CTL1018H, CTL1041H, CTL1306H, CTL3033H, CTL3807H, APD1296H, APD3202H, JOI1287H, JOI1288H, JOI3228H, or SJE1905H.

  • Students wishing to propose an alternative course to fulfil one of the LLE course requirements will be required to obtain the approval of both the LLE graduate program coordinator and either their faculty advisor or their thesis supervisor.

  • Additional courses may be required of some applicants.

• Thesis.

• Students are responsible for meeting deadlines to complete their course requirements, thesis committee formation, and thesis ethical review.

Program Length

6 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S/F/W/S);
10 sessions part-time

Time Limit

3 years full-time;
6 years part-time

Master of Education

The Master of Education (MEd) degree program can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis.

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies, which specify an appropriate bachelor's degree from a recognized university, with the equivalent of a University of Toronto mid-B or better in the final year. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• Ordinarily, applicants should have teacher certification and at least one year of relevant successful professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education MEd degree program web page.

Program Requirements

• Coursework. The MEd program consists of 5.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) including:

  • A minimum of 2.5 FCEs in CTL 3000-level courses.

Program Length

4 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S/F);
10 sessions part-time

Time Limit

3 years full-time;
6 years part-time

Master of Education (Field: Language Teaching)

Within the existing Master of Education (MEd) degree program, the field in Language Teaching includes a structured focus on language teaching foundations. Language Teaching integrates an engagement with scholarly research in Language and Literacies Education with a commitment to excellence in teaching to support graduate students as novice language teachers. Students pursuing this field will graduate with: (a) a solid theoretical and intellectual grounding in LLE research; (b) a course-based, practitioner focus on language teaching foundations; and (c) gained practical experience in a language-education context through a required practicum.

This field is only available on a full-time basis. Priority will be given to novice teachers with less than a year of teaching experience. This field will not lead to Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) Ontario certification nor to the Certificate of Qualification and Registration with the Ontario College of Teachers.

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies, which specify an appropriate bachelor's degree from a recognized university, with the equivalent of a University of Toronto mid-B or better in the final year. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.
• Normally, applicants should have at least one year of professional experience prior to applying. Previous classroom teaching experience is not a requirement.
• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education MEd Field in Language Teaching degree program web page.

Program Requirements

• Coursework. Within the MEd program, the Language Teaching field consists of 5.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows.
  • All students in this field must take the following three courses (1.5 FCEs):
    • CTL3002H Second Language Teaching Methodologies
    • CTL3010H Second Language Learning
    • CTL3796H Practicum in Language and Literacies Education: Master's Level (Credit/No Credit)
  • Students must then choose any two of the following courses (1.0 FCE):
    • CTL3000H Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education
    • CTL3003H Planning and Organizing the Second Language Curriculum
    • CTL3008H Critical Pedagogy, Language, and Cultural Diversity
    • CTL3013H Language Assessment
    • CTL3020H Writing in a Second Language
    • CTL3039H Academic English Research and Acquisition (Credit/No Credit)
    • CTL3101H Language Awareness for Language Educators
  • The remaining 2.5 FCEs can be elective courses taken towards the requirements of a collaborative specialization if applicable, or courses offered within the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning or other departments at OISE or the University of Toronto.

Program Length

4 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S/F)

Time Limit

3 years full-time

Doctor of Philosophy

Students participating in the PhD program must have a strong commitment to research. The Language and Literacies Education (LLE) program offers both full-time and flexible-time PhD options. Degree requirements for the full-time and flexible-time options are the same. Applicants must declare their preferred option when applying.

PhD Program

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• An appropriate master's degree with a grade equivalent to a University of Toronto B+ or better from a recognized university is required.

• Admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a master's thesis, or the equivalent in the form of a scholarly piece of writing.

• Ordinarily, applicants will have a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education PhD degree program web page.

Program Requirements

• Coursework. Students must complete 3.5 to 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) depending on previous experience and academic qualifications, as follows:

  • A minimum of 2.0 FCEs within the LLE program, including CTL3001H Research Colloquium in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE) and CTL3899H Proseminar in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE), if not previously taken at the master's level. If CTL3001H or CTL3899H was taken at the master's level, students are not permitted to take it again and should substitute it with another LLE program course (0.5 FCE).

  • A research methods course relevant to the topic of the thesis (0.5 FCE). Any of the following courses can fulfil this requirement: CTL1018H, CTL1041H, CTL1306H, CTL3033H, CTL3807H, APD1296H, APD3202H, JOI1287H, JOI1288H, JOI3228H, or SJE1905H.

  • A student wishing to propose an alternative course to fulfil one of the LLE course requirements must obtain the approval of the LLE program coordinator and either their faculty advisor or thesis supervisor.

• Comprehensive examination, which consists of two parts. 1) The first is longer, untimed, and generally related to the area of study that doctoral students intend to pursue for their dissertation. 2) The second is timed (two weeks for full-time PhD students, four weeks for flexible-time PhD students) and is designed to assess students’ breadth of knowledge in LLE.

  Students are provided six prompts addressing a wide range of questions related to LLE (theory, major research domains, research methods); they choose one and write a response within the specified timeframe.

  The Comprehensive Exam is offered twice per year (winter and summer). While students are encouraged to initiate the process as close to the end of their coursework as possible, they must successfully pass the exam by the end of the Year 3 (full-time) or Year 4 (flexible-time).

  Papers are evaluated as Pass, Revise and Resubmit, or Fail. Students who receive a Fail may attempt the exam one more time.

• A thesis embodying the results of an original investigation, and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the content and implications of the thesis.

• Students are responsible for meeting deadlines to complete their course requirements, thesis committee formation, comprehensive examination, and thesis ethical review.

• Full-time PhD students must maintain full-time status throughout their program of study.

• Students must register continuously and pay the full-time fee until all degree requirements have been fulfilled.

• Students cannot transfer between the full-time and flexible-time PhD options.

Program Length

4 years

Time Limit

6 years

PhD Program (Flexible-Time)

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• An appropriate master's degree with a grade equivalent to a University of Toronto B+ or better from a recognized university is required.

• Admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a master's thesis, or the equivalent in the form of a scholarly piece of writing.

• Ordinarily, applicants will have a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education PhD degree program web page.

• Applicants must demonstrate that they are currently employed and are active professionals engaged in activities relevant to their proposed program of study.

Program Requirements

• Coursework. Students must complete 3.5 to 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) depending on previous experience and academic qualifications, as follows:

  • A minimum of 2.0 FCEs within the LLE program, including CTL3001H Research Colloquium in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE) and CTL3899H Proseminar in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE), if not previously taken at the master's level. If CTL3001H or CTL3899H was taken at the master's level, students are not permitted to take it again and should substitute it with another LLE program course (0.5 FCE).

  • A research methods course relevant to the topic of the thesis (0.5 FCE). Any of the following courses can fulfil this requirement: CTL1018H, CTL1041H, CTL1306H, CTL3033H, CTL3807H, APD1296H, APD3202H, JOI1287H, JOI1288H, JOI3228H, or SJE1905H.

  • A student wishing to propose an alternative course to fulfil one of the LLE course requirements will be required to obtain the approval of the LLE program coordinator and either their faculty advisor or thesis supervisor.

• Comprehensive examination, which consists of two parts. 1) The first is longer, untimed, and generally related to the area of study that doctoral students intend to pursue for their dissertation. 2) The second is timed (two weeks for full-time PhD students, four weeks for flexible-time PhD students) and is designed to assess students’ breadth of knowledge in LLE.

  Students are provided six prompts addressing a wide range of questions related to LLE (theory, major research domains, research methods); they choose one and write a response within the specified timeframe.

  The Comprehensive Exam is offered twice per year (winter and summer). While students are encouraged to initiate the process as close to the end of their coursework as possible, they must successfully pass the exam by the end of the Year 3 (full-time) or Year 4 (flexible-time).

  Papers are evaluated as Pass, Revise and Resubmit, or Fail. Students who receive a Fail may attempt the exam one more time.

• A thesis embodying the results of an original investigation, and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the content and implications of the thesis.

• Students are responsible for meeting deadlines to complete their course requirements, thesis committee formation, comprehensive examination, and thesis ethical review.

• Students must register continuously until all degree requirements have been fulfilled. They must register full-time during the first four years and may continue as part-time thereafter, with their department's approval.

• Students cannot transfer between the full-time and flexible-time PhD options.

Program Length

7 years

Time Limit

8 years