Admission to Candidature

A candidate shall:
(a) hold an AQF Level 7 Bachelor qualification with a major in linguistics or a relevant discipline*; or an AQF Level 7 Bachelor qualification in a non-relevant discipline and either relevant work experience or other relevant qualifications; or an AQF Level 8 Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Bachelor with Honours qualification in a non-relevant discipline; or
(b) hold an AQF Level 8 Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Bachelor with Honours qualification in a non-relevant discipline and either relevant work experience or other relevant qualification; or an AQF Level 8 Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Bachelor with Honours qualification in a relevant discipline*; or
(c) hold an AQF Level 7 Bachelor qualification in linguistics and either relevant work experience or other relevant qualification; or an AQF Level 8 Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Bachelor with Honours qualification in linguistics; and
(d) must meet the University's English Language Requirements for Admission Rule.

Applicants wishing to claim 'relevant work experience or other relevant qualifications' must submit a personal statement (approximately 500 words) explaining the relevance of their qualifications and/or work experience to the MAAL degree.

*Relevant disciplines include, but are not limited to: English; Languages or Education with a major in English literacy, LOTE or ESL; Psychology; Philosophy; Interpreting and Translation; Speech Pathology; Cultural Studies; Social Sciences; Computer Science; Law; Business and Health.

Additional Requirements

Completion of the unit EDLI504 TESOL II may require contact with children in an educational setting (professional experience). Students wishing to complete their placement in NSW, in institutions that enrol children under the age of 18 years, must have first completed online Anaphylaxis training, an online Child Protection module, and have obtained a valid NSW Working with Children Check clearance; or equivalent for those students wishing to complete their placement outside NSW. Students are referred to the Office for Professional Learning - Professional Experience Placement website for further information.

Overseas students working with children under 18, are required to meet the working with children requirements of the country/jurisdiction/institution in which they are undertaking their placement, and to provide documentation that they have done this. If there are no such requirements, they need to demonstrate this and be mindful to adhere to and practise principles of child protection regardless of whether or not such obligations are mandated when working with children in these contexts.

Advanced Standing

Candidates admitted under Rule (b) shall be granted a maximum of 12 credit points of Block Advanced Standing based on their admission to candidature. Up to a further 24 credit points may be granted based on: units that were not part of the degree or relevant professional experience on which admission was based provided they have reasonable correspondence to units of course work available towards the degree. Candidates admitted under Rule (b) are referred to the University Policy on Advanced Standing.

Candidates admitted under Rule (c) shall be granted a maximum of 24 credit points of Block Advanced Standing based on their admission to candidature. Up to a further 12 credit points may be granted based on: units that were not part of the degree or relevant professional experience on which admission was based provided they have reasonable correspondence to units of coursework available towards the degree.

No advanced standing will be granted for research and/or reading units that are below Masters (AQF Level 9).

Candidates admitted under any rule, who holds a CELTA certificate completed within the last 10 years and issued by Cambridge English may be granted a maximum of 6 credit points of unspecified credit. This is subject to being able to be included in the candidate's chosen program of study. This will be included in the maximum allowable Advanced Standing as detailed above.

Period of Candidature

For candidates admitted under Rules (a) and (b), the period of candidature shall be:
(a) one and a half years as a full-time candidate;
(b) up to six years as a part-time candidate.

For candidates admitted under Rule (c), the period of candidature shall be:
(a) one year as a full-time candidate;
(b) up to four years as a part-time candidate.

Course Requirements

To qualify for the award a candidate must pass units to the value of 72 credit points including a minimum of 36 credit points at 500-level.

Program of Study

For candidates admitted under Rule (a)

To view complete Program of Study click here - TESOL Major

To view complete Program of Study click here - General Program

For candidates admitted under Rule (b)

To view complete Program of Study click here - TESOL Major

To view complete Program of Study click here - General Program

For candidates admitted under Rule (c)

To view complete Program of Study click here - TESOL Major

To view complete Program of Study click here - General Program

Award of Degree

Candidates who meet the course requirements shall be awarded the Master of Applied Linguistics.

Dissertation

1. A candidate shall submit a dissertation embodying an original investigation of a topic within their chosen field.
2. Depending on the topic under investigation, the approval of the relevant Ethics committee must be sought if required.
3. The School, on the advice of the course coordinator, shall appoint a supervisor, who shall be a member of the teaching or research staff of the University or an associate of the University or an associate of the University (at the rank of academic Level B or higher). The supervisor shall advise and supervise the candidate during the period of candidature.
4. Except with the permission of the School, on the recommendation of the supervisor, the dissertation shall not exceed 15,000 words of text, excluding appendices.
5. Except in exceptional circumstances, candidates shall be required to enrol in and complete the dissertation in either one trimester full-time or one year long honours period part-time.

Submission of Dissertation

1. Electronic submission of the dissertation is highly recommended. Alternatively two soft bound and one unbound copy of the dissertation together with a certificate from the supervisor certifying that the dissertation is in a form suitable for examination can be submitted to the School following liaison with the course coordinator.
2. At least one month prior to the date of submission candidates shall inform the School of their intention to submit a dissertation.

Examination of Dissertation

1. The dissertation will be assessed by at least two examiners.
2. The examiners may be internal or external to The University of New England at the discretion of the course coordinator.
3. The final result will be determined by a committee from within the discipline, not including the supervisor, on the basis of the examiner's reports and confirmed by the School Teaching and Learning Committee. The dissertation will be awarded the grade of Fail, Pass, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction.
4. A dissertation will not be examined by a candidate's supervisor.

Exit Pathways

(a) Subject to meeting Advanced Standing rules, candidates may be eligible to exit with the Graduate Certificate in Applied Linguistics on completion of 24 credit points from the Schedule of Core and Listed units at 400/500-level. Candidates who apply to discontinue their studies and exit with the Graduate Certificate in Applied Linguistics must apply for readmission and will be subject to the current course requirements of the Master of Applied Linguistics. This may mean that they will not receive full recognition for their previous studies should the course structure have changed in response to University requirements.

(b) Subject to meeting Advanced Standing rules, candidates may be eligible to exit with the Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics on completion of 48 credit points from the Schedule of Core and Listed units at 400-500-level. Candidates who apply to discontinue their studies and exit with the Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics must apply for readmission and will be subject to the current course requirements of the Master of Applied Linguistics. This may mean that they will not receive full recognition for their previous studies should the course structure have changed in response to University requirements.

Appeals

Candidates are referred to the Academic Assessment Appeals Policy and the Academic Assessment Appeals Procedures.

Course Progression

Candidates are referred to the Course Progression Rule and the Course Progression Procedures.

Improper Conduct

Candidates are referred to the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Rule and the Student Coursework Academic Misconduct Procedures.