All students enrolled in Arkansas Tech's M.A. in English - TESL are required to pass the TESL Examination, which is administered three times each year in November, April, and August. Specific dates, locations, and times are available from the English Department in Witherspoon Hall 141 or by phone at (501) 968-0256. Students should submit their list of courses to be covered in the exam to the English Department Head by October 15th for the November test date, by March 15th for the April test date, or by July 15th for the August date. There is no registration fee.

The Examination Committee

Each student selects a TESL Examination committee by identifying three courses he or she has taken as part of the M.A. in English - TESL and submitting this course list to the English Department Head. If the list is approved, the Department Head solicits an examination question or questions from the professors who taught the courses selected by the student. A student may select two courses taught by the same professor, but each student's examination committee must comprise at least two English graduate faculty members.

The Examination

The M.A. in English TESL Examination consists of three parts. Each part concentrates on one of the three courses identified by the student and approved by the Department Head. Students will be given 90 minutes to complete each section.

Each part will be graded pass or fail by the graduate English professor who wrote the question or questions for that particular part. Students must pass all three parts of the examination.

Students will be notified of examination results within two weeks of the examination date.

Retaking Examinations

A student who fails some portion of the examination may retake the failed parts or parts at the next scheduled administration or at a special administration scheduled at the discretion of the Department Head.

A student who fails one or more parts of the examination on a second attempt may petition an Appeals Committee, consisting of the Department Head and three graduate English faculty members chosen by the Department Head (excluding the members of that student's Examination Committee) for a third (and final) chance. The Department Head will be a nonvoting member of the committee. A student does not have an automatic right to take the examination a third time. A student whose petition is denied by this committee may appeal the committee's decision to the Dean of Graduate Studies. If the Appeals Committee approves a third attempt, it may assign the student a graduate faculty mentor to monitor the student's preparation for the final retake.

The Appeals Committee will not overrule the pass/fail judgments of the Examination Committee.