Concentration in Language and Literacy

as part of the Master of Arts in English at Southeastern

Language and Literacy Program Overview

The Language and Literacy concentration in the English Department’s M.A. program targets prospective and returning
writing and language teachers and other professionals. This M.A. offers those individuals
a comprehensive program that addresses the full range of their content-area purposes.
Our curriculum encompasses the related disciplines of composition and rhetoric, literacy
studies, and grammar/linguistics, offering advanced training in historical and current
scholarship, research and bibliographic methods, instructional pedagogies, and professional
opportunities.

 

Language and Literacy Program Requirements

The requirements for a Concentration in Language and Literacy may include completion
of a Language and Literacy thesis and participation in an approved Language and Literacy
apprenticeship. Students must be willing to accept the responsibilities inherent to seeking,
participating in, and completing such a program. 

  

Curriculum

Concentration with Thesis

Requires the permission of the Coordinator of Language and Literacy. All students
choosing the concentration with thesis must complete the following coursework:

1. ENGL 577 Foundations in Language and Literacy
2. ENGL 595 Internship
3. One course from the following: ENGL 518, ENGL 620, or ENGL 646
4. One course from the following: ENGL 620, ENGL 621, or ENGL 646
5. Two courses from the following: ENGL 508, ENGL 524, ENGL 564, ENGL 567, or ENGL 576
6. A minimum of 18 hours at the 600 level.


Concentration without Thesis

Requires the permission of the Coordinator of Language and Literacy. All students
choosing the concentration without thesis must complete the following coursework:

1. ENGL 577 Foundations in Language in Literacy
2. ENGL 595 Internship
3. One course from the following: ENGL 518, ENGL 620, or ENGL 646
4. One course from the following: ENGL 620, ENGL 621, or ENGL 646
5. Two courses from the following: ENGL 508, ENGL 524, ENGL 564, ENGL 567, or ENGL 576
6. A minimum of 21 hours at the 600 level.

 

Apprenticeship

Language and Literacy students will serve two semesters of apprenticeship (three hours weekly or equivalent)
in one or more of the following areas: as tutors in the SLU Writing Center; in the
department’s Teaching Mentorship program; in the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project;
or as a teacher’s assistant in area K-12 schools. The apprenticeship will be completed
in conjunction with students’ enrollment in English 567 or English 770 (Thesis Research
and Thesis). Current teachers seeking secondary certification may use their current
teaching assignments to fulfill the apprenticeship requirement; additional apprenticeship
assignments are possible with consent of the concentration coordinator.

In conjunction with course work and apprenticeship, students will compile a portfolio
documenting and reflecting on outcomes of their work for learners. The portfolio will
in most cases serve as a basis for students’ own required thesis project.

Resources for Language and Literacy Students

 

Faculty


Jeffery Wiemelt
, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Associate Professor and Concentration Coordinator
Areas of Expertise: Composition and Rhetoric; Linguistics and Grammar; TESOL

 

Joel Fredell, Ph.D., Indiana University
Professor

Areas of Expertise: Literacy, Historical Linguistics, Publishing Studies

 

Richard Louth, Ph.D., University of Virginia
Professor

Areas of Expertise: Composition and Rhetoric

 

Leilya Pitre, Ph.D., Louisiana State University

Assistant Professor and English Education Coordinator 

Areas of Expertise: Methods and Pedagogy of Teaching Writing and Literature, Literary
Analysis, Young Adult Literature