English as an Additional Language PG Dip

Program Overview

This postgraduate diploma in EAL (English as an Additional Language) is a blended learning program designed for professionals in education who want to enhance their skills in EAL and culturally responsive practices. Through a combination of online and face-to-face sessions, participants explore themes such as language planning, multilingual education, and assessment. The program equips educators with practical knowledge and skills to create inclusive and equitable learning environments for EAL students.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Postgraduate Diploma in English as an Additional Language (EAL) is a blended learning course (50% online, 50% face-to-face) designed for teaching professionals and support staff across the educational spectrum who wish to upskill in EAL and linguistically and culturally responsive practice. The course focuses on the pedagogies and approaches akin to EAL and multilingual education, and participants will develop a broad understanding of themes including:

• Language planning and policy at the national, school, and home level
• Cultural and linguistic peripheries and centres
• Power and cultural and linguistic identities
• Heritage language education
• Linguistic landscapes
• Practice-based theories of second language acquisition
• Linguistic scaffolding, multilingual disciplinary literacies
• Journey from emergent to advanced bi-/plurilingualism
• Disruptive pedagogies, decolonising approaches, culturally sensitive pedagogies
• Long-term assessment of language acquisition
The course equips participants with a unique research-informed skill set to create plurilingual/cultural classrooms that are linguistically and culturally equitable, diverse, and accepting.

Outline:

The course is structured as follows:

• Duration: 1 Year (10 months)
• Teaching Mode: Full-time
• Modules:
• Semester 1:
• ED6701 Practice-based Theories, Concepts, and Approaches in EAL
• ED6702 Developing Plurilingual Competence and Pluriliteracies in Emergent Bilinguals
• Semester 2:
• ED6703 Plurilingual Competence and Pluriliteracies in Advancing Bilinguals
• ED6704 Developing Inclusive Plurilingual/Cultural Provision in Professional Settings
• Course Delivery:
• Blended format:
• Online asynchronous learning (self-paced learning):
Reading, pre-recorded lecture snippets, pre-recorded talks for visiting speakers, quizzes, tasks, and discussion boards (around 2 hours per week).
• Online synchronous learning (online lectures): Online collaboration, group discussion, and live visitor talks (around 1 hour per week).
• Saturday sessions: Seminar-type work and discussion, short lectures, community-of-practice discussions, presentations, and invited speakers (6-8 hours with an hour for lunch).
• Orientation and Induction Day:
• Held in August before the full school term begins.
• Familiarizes students with the course structure, Canvas, MS Teams, OneDrive, online apps, self-directed learning in Canvas, public discussion spaces, face-to-face and online synchronous participation, MS OneNote, and attendance expectations.

Assessment:

Assessment across all modules is practical and applicable to participants' immediate contexts and will be in the form of:

• Policy design
• Portfolios of evidence
• Presentations
All assessments and preparation are woven into day-to-day learning.

Teaching:

• Teaching Methods: Blended learning, online asynchronous and synchronous learning, face-to-face sessions, seminars, discussions, lectures, presentations, invited speakers.
• Faculty: Dr Craig Neville, Marie O'Donovan.

Careers:

• The course is focused on developing the knowledge and skills required to support EAL students.
• It has a broader appeal to educational professionals interested in equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Participation in the course will:
• Heighten awareness of the role that language and identity play in teaching and learning.
• Develop a highly specialized and sought-after set of values, skills, and knowledge.
• Demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning.
• Enable interpretation and application of national curriculum policies and established approaches.

Other:

• The Postgraduate Diploma in English as an Additional Language is the only course of its type in Ireland.
• It draws on research-informed practice from multiple disciplines.
• It seeks to help participants develop a highly specialized set of knowledge and skills that are applicable to any context.
• The qualification is the first of its kind to welcome all educators who play a role in the development of students who have EAL, including teachers from both primary, post-primary and further education, Special Needs Assistants, English Language Support Teachers, and School Leaders.
• For applicants who satisfactorily meet the entry requirements of the MEd, and have achieved an honours grade in the Postgraduate Diploma, an exemption of 60 credits of the taught element of the MEd course will be granted.
However, the remaining 60 credits of the MEd course must include the compulsory dissertation of 30 credits. Places on the MEd are limited each year and there is a competitive selection procedure for places.