The undergraduate certificate in TESOL, offered by the Department of Linguistics and Language Development , is for students who have not yet completed the BA. Students complete courses related to the structure of English and teaching of English to speakers of other languages. For students whose major is not linguistics, the TESOL certificate can be combined with the minor in linguistics.

University Basic Certificate Requirements

Basic certificate programs provide opportunities for students to pursue specialized, often pre-professional, focused educational objectives that may be separate from a degree program. At least 6 units must be completed at SJSU. Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 in basic certificate coursework in order to be awarded a certificate. Generally, a maximum of 33% of basic certificate units (e.g., 3 units for a 9-unit certificate) can be completed in non-matriculated status at SJSU with approval from the department or school. In some cases, a basic certificate may be completed entirely through Open University if the student has completed a Bachelor’s degree and received approval from the department or school (University Policy S16-17 A). If a student has completed a Bachelor’s degree and received approval from the department or school, a basic certificate may be completed entirely through Open University.

The advisor/director of the program is responsible for verifying a student’s satisfactory completion of the academic requirements established for the program and for forwarding a copy of the certificate completion form to the Office of the Registrar. The Office of the Registrar records the completion of the program on the student’s transcript.

To receive the undergraduate Certificate in TESOL, students must complete the following eighteen units of required coursework: