Welcome to the program for Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language at Northeastern Illinois University. We are housed in the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy, TESL, and Academic Literacy Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. We have a long history of preparing professionals in TESL/TEFL who work in the Chicago area and beyond; we are now pleased to offer a specialized degree program in the field which has been aligned with the professional standards of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Inc. Whether you are an undergraduate student interested in taking general education courses as part of your first-year experience or pursuing a minor, a graduate student interested in earning a master of arts degree, a teacher or future teacher desiring to add an endorsement in teaching ESL in the State of Illinois, or a student-at-large interested in language teaching and learning in general, our expert faculty are ready to meet your needs. We are also open to working with individual schools and school districts to provide contract or cohort classes onsite. In addition, we are always open to the possibility of working with schools in other states and countries in order to explore partnerships and/or provide teacher exchanges for the teaching of English and language teacher training.

Jeanine Ntihirageza, Ph.D., Chair