Program Overview

Language and Literacy Education

The Language and Literacy Education program invites students to explore the development of citizens whose personal, economic, and intellectual lives are enhanced by advancing their skills in language and literacy.

Course Themes

The program covers a range of course themes, including:

• Oral language in classrooms
• Language and literacy in contexts
• Second language and multilingual education
• Language and literacy as practices
• Language and literacy for specific groups of learners (e.g., young children, special populations)
• Modalities and literacy
• Children's literature
• The processes of the teaching of reading and writing

Application Deadline Dates

The application deadline date for the program is February 15, 2026.

Course Format

Courses may be offered in an online, blended, or face-to-face format. The course format may vary in each academic year, and the nature of blended courses is at the discretion of each faculty member who is teaching.

Options

The program offers two options:

• Concurrent (Option A): The requirements for the Graduate Diploma in Language and Literacy Education are completed concurrently with a Master's or Doctoral degree.
• Direct-entry (Option B): The Graduate Diploma in Language and Literacy Education can be completed as a stand-alone non-degree diploma.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the program, candidates must:

• Be admitted to the Graduate Program in Education to take the Diploma concurrently with a degree.
• Be admissible to the Graduate Program in Education for the Direct Entry (stand-alone diploma).

Diploma Structure

The diploma structure varies depending on the degree program:

Degree + Diploma

• Course only MEd: 27 credits, including a diploma core course, 3 courses from an approved course list, and 5 additional GS/EDUC courses.
• MEd with MRP: 21 credits + MRP, including a diploma core course, 2 courses from an approved course list, 4 additional GS/EDUC courses, and an MRP that addresses a diploma topic.
• MEd with Thesis: 15 credits + thesis, including a diploma core course, 2 courses from an approved course list, 2 additional GS/EDUC courses, and a thesis that addresses a diploma topic.
• PhD with Dissertation: 24 credits + dissertation, including a diploma core course, 2 courses from an approved course list, 5 additional GS/EDUC courses, and a dissertation that addresses a diploma topic.

Direct Entry (Stand-Alone Diploma)

• Diploma: 12 credits, including a diploma core course and 3 courses from an approved course list, which must be completed on a part-time basis.

Notes

• For graduate diplomas taken concurrently with degrees, courses taken in fulfillment of degree requirements may count towards the graduate diploma, but some part of the graduate diploma requirements shall be in addition to degree requirements.
• All requirements for the degree and the graduate diploma must be fulfilled before the graduate diploma is awarded.
• Courses that are counted toward one Graduate Diploma cannot be double-counted towards an additional, separate Graduate Diploma.
• Students can take a maximum of two graduate diplomas concurrently with a degree program.
• Students completing the Graduate Diploma in a direct-entry, stand-alone model are eligible for student funding.