Education - ELT Writing Materials
PGCert
Key facts
Start dates
September 2020
Course length
Part time: 12 months
Department
School of Education
Overview
Our PGCert Education - ELT Writing Materials is for language teachers wishing to develop their skills when designing materials for language learners to a professional level.
This course covers the complete writing cycle, from the first concept to piloting. It concludes with an author’s ‘pitch’ to an editorial board that includes members of the ELT publishing industry.
During the course you will:
- evaluate the different types and purposes of ELT materials and their match for specific audiences
- engage with current professional dialogue about the nature and value of materials and their impact on learners, teachers and the learning culture
- gain the skills of critical and constructive peer review
- gain the skills for piloting and editorial processes.
You will be able to create principled, theorised resources that meet the needs of a specific learner group. As well as the English Language Teaching (ELT) market.
As a successful graduate of this course you are able to join a professional ELT database that is accessed by publishers seeking authors.
How to apply
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements
Students should normally have a first degree and relevant teaching experience in this area.
Please also see the University's general entry requirements.
English requirements for visas
If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.
Pathways courses for international and EU students
We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.
Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.
If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.
Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.
Application process
Tuition fees
Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
Tuition fees
Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year your fees will increase each year.
Financial support and scholarships
Additional costs
Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course, if any, are detailed below.
Learning and assessment
The PG Certificate in ELT Materials Writing consists of three modules (60 credits).
These can be taken part time, either on-campus or by distance learning over one year.
On-campus
In semesters one and two, taught modules are usually taught over eight weeks on Wednesdays 5.00pm - 8.00pm. In semester three there is an independent study module with tutorials.
Distance learning
This involves part-time online learning through the use of our Moodle platform. Each module usually requires about 12 hours a week plus time spent on assessment.
Study modules
Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from that shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.
Learning and teaching
Our teaching methods include:
- group discussions to evaluate published materials and resources
- seminars to discuss and share literature related to materials writing - conducted either face to face or online
- micro-teaching materials in progress
- peer review evaluation of materials in progress
- observation of materials piloted by another teacher
- presentation to an editorial board of materials in progress
- private study of online networks, resources and readings.
Assessment
Assessment methods used on this course
We use two main assessment methods.
A formative report tracking the stages of materials development
This includes:
- analysis of the needs of a chosen learner group
- planning and developing first ideas
- researching the background
- comparing the market
- insights gained through piloting
- responses to student and peer feedback
- analysis of the materials in relation to current research and current resources.
The materials themselves
Highlighting in particular:
- the revisions at different stages
- the reasons for these revisions.
Research
The School of Education is a thriving centre for educational research and teacher professional development. Students on master's level programmes therefore join a large research community comprising researchers at all levels of higher education study.
We hold two major research conferences each year - the School of Education Research Conference and the EdD Colloquium. All students are invited to attend our annual Research
Seminar Series (which attracts both internal and external speakers). We also organise a number of conferences, lectures, seminars and debates, some of which have an international reach.
The School’s six research groups exist to encourage engagement in research, publication, conference presentations, seminars and workshops:
- Inclusion and Wellbeing
- Policy, Partnership and Leadership
- STEAM pedagogy and learning
- Humanistic Perspectives on Education
- Early Years
- Applied Linguistics
After you graduate
Career prospects
Your learning on the course may lead to better prospects for career advancement and students may change role / direction as a function of developing new understandings and skills from their work on the course.
Programme Changes: On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website.
For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.