Become a Foreign Language Teacher

Program Requirements

The degree program consists of 47 credits, distributed among the areas listed below. Unless otherwise noted, each course is three credits. All degree requirements must be completed within five (5) years from the semester date of admission as a matriculated student.

LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE
15 credits; courses not listed are selected with the approval of a departmental advisor

Spanish (HEGIS 0802)
SPN 503 Spanish Linguistics
SPN 510 Hispanic Culture
Plus three additional 500-level SPN literature courses (to be selected by student and advisor)

Italian (HEGIS 1104)
ITL 501 Contemporary Italy
ITL 508 Advanced Grammar and Stylistics
One of the following courses in Italian Linguistics: ITL 509, ITL 511, ITL 512, ITL 513
One course in literature
One elective course

French (HEGIS 1102) – Also available 100% Online
FRN 501 Contemporary French Culture and Institutions
FRN 507 Advanced Stylistics
FRN 510 French Phonetics and Diction
Plus two additional graduate-level FRN literature courses

 

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION - 26 credits

CEE 505 Education: Theory and Practice
CEE 565 Human Development
CEF 547 Principles and Practices of Special Education
FLA 505 Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages
FLA 506 Portfolio Development (prerequisite FLA 505)
FLA 507 Critical Pedagogy or FLA 540 Foreign Language Acquisition Research or CEE 594 Language Acquisition and Literacy Development (formerly LIN 544)
FLA 549 Field Experience I—Grades 7-9 (one credit; corequisite FLA 505)
FLA 550 Field Experience II—Grades 10-12 (one credit; corequisite FLA 506)
FLA 554 Student Teaching Seminar (prerequisites FLA 505 & 506; corequisites FLA 551 & FLA 552)
FLA 571 Technology and Education or FLA 570 Introduction to Media for Language Teaching

FIELD EXPERIENCE AND CLINICAL PRACTICE

Students will be required to complete 100 clock hours of field experience related to coursework prior to student teaching or practica. These experiences include practicing skills for interacting with parents, experiences in high-need schools, and experiences with each of the following student populations: socio-economically disadvantaged students, students who are English Language Learners, and students with disabilities.

SUPERVISED STUDENT TEACHING - 6 credits

Prior to student teaching , students must participate in an official ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) and receive a minimum spoken proficiency rating of Advanced-Low as defined in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines-Speaking (1999). Students must contact Language Testing International (LTI) and arrange for either a telephone or computerized OPI.

Courses:
FLA 551 Supervised Student Teaching High School Grades 10-12: Foreign Languages (prerequisites FLA 505 & 506; corequisites FLA 552 and 554)
FLA 552 Supervised Student Teaching Middle School Grades 7-9: Foreign Languages (prerequisites FLA 505 & 506; corequisites FLA 551 and FLA 554)

WRITTEN PROJECT

Students in all degree programs will be required to complete a four-week foreign language teaching module specifically designed for the Supervised Student Teaching project.

Teacher Certification

Stony Brook University requires that students must have completed an undergraduate degree and have at least 36 credits in the content field for admission to the MAT program. This course of study should be substantially the equivalent to that of a Stony Brook undergraduate degree program.

The Master of Arts in Teaching is a New York State registered and approved program that qualifies students for license upon successful degree completion. Students must complete all courses required for the MAT and must receive a grade of B or better in all pedagogy and foundation courses as well as an overall GPA of 3.0 or better in all course work attempted while matriculated in a graduate teacher preparation program.

Workshops

Teacher preparation candidates must be fingerprinted and must also complete certification workshops in:

• Child Abuse
• Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) 
• School Violence (Project Save)
• Identification and Referral of Substance Abuse 

See Certification and Licensing Workshops for details and schedules.

Tests

All students will have to complete the  Educating All Students Test and the revised CST (Content Specialty Test) in the area of the Certificate. It is the student’s responsibility to monitor the TEACH website at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/ to ensure that they are taking the appropriate examinations.

NOTE: As of April 27, 2022, the NYS Education Department eliminated the edTPA as a certification requirement.  Effective September 1, 2023, in lieu of the edTPA, all students in teacher preparation programs will be required to complete a teacher performance assessment.  This assessment will be developed, administered, and evaluated by Stony Brook University instructors.

Tuition and Financial Information

Cost of Attendance
Tuition and fee information can be found on the Bursar's website.

Payment Plan
Stony Brook recognizes the need for helping students manage the expenses of higher education. To this end, the University offers a Time Option Payment Plan (TOPP), a program that allows students to make equal and consecutive payments throughout the year.

Financial Aid
For information on financial aid options, contact the Stony Brook Office of Financial Aid at (631) 632-6840, or visit the Financial Aid website.

Application Information 

Minimum Requirements To Apply*

• An academic major (or a minimum of 36 credits) in the program language
• A minimum GPA of 3.00 in your overall bachelor's degree program
• A minimum GPA of 3.00 in language studies

Electronic transcripts should be sent to   spd_transcripts@stonybrook.edu . Paper transcripts and supporting materials should be sent to:

Elizabeth-Anne Tolson
Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies 
Humanities 2127 
Stony Brook University 
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5359

*As of Spring 2022, Graduate Record Examination scores are no longer required for admission into MAT programs.

 Deadlines and Application Links

Contact Information

For program questions, please contact:
Dr. Sarah Jourdain, Director
Foreign Language Teacher Preparation Program
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4310
Telephone: 631-632-7440 
Email: Sarah.Jourdain@stonybrook.edu 

For advisement relative to specific content areas, contact a Faculty Advisor:

French
Madeline Turan, PhD
Email: Madeline.Turan@stonybrook.edu
Telephone: 631-632-7445

Italian
Irene Marchegiani, PhD
Email: Irene.Marchegiani@stonybrook.edu
Telephone: 631-632-7440

Spanish
Javier Uriarte, PhD
Email:  Javier.Uriarte@stonybrook.edu

For application procedure questions, please contact:
MAT Admissions 
School of Professional Development
2321 Computer Science Building
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794 - 4434
Telephone: 631-632-7050
Fax: 631-982-7311
Email: spd@stonybrook.edu