English Teaching (M.A.T.)

Indiana University
Master of Arts for Teachers (M.A.T.)

Department of English and Linguistics
College of Arts and Sciences
Hardin Aasand, Chair
Lewis C. Roberts, Graduate Program Director
260-481-6841   Fax: 260-481-6985
ipfw.edu/engl ~ Liberal Arts Building 145

To earn this degree, you must complete at least 36 credits (courses are generally 3 credits each). You must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 or better in courses taken to fulfill degree requirements; no course with a grade below B will count toward the degree.

At least eight of your courses (normally 24 credits) must be graduate-level courses administered by the Department of English and Linguistics. These must include: (1) a course in the English language or linguistics; (2) a course in rhetorical or composition theory, and; (3) a course in ethnic or minority literature. At least five more courses must be elected from among the graduate offerings of the Department of English and Linguistics. Up to 12 of the 36 required credits may be elected from courses approved by the director of graduate studies, but administered by a department other than English and Linguistics. For example, if you are working toward certification, you may be able to count some of your education courses as electives for the M.A.T.

You may elect to write a master’s thesis (3 – 6 credits). If you do not write a thesis, you must complete a 700-level seminar offered by the Department of English. Courses in Liberal Studies will not fulfill this requirement. The M.A.T. program does not require you to demonstrate foreign language proficiency or to sit for a comprehensive examination.

In addition to completing these requirements, you must hold a teaching license in English, and provide a copy of your Indiana State Teacher’s License. You must complete all M.A.T. degree requirements within five years of your admission to the program.

Teaching Assistantships

Graduate students may qualify for appointment as a teaching assistant (TA).  To qualify, the student must have completed C505, Teaching Composition, with a final grade of B or better, be recommended by the instructor of that course, the Associate Director of Writing, and be approved by the Director of Writing.  Also (effective Fall 2011) newly appointed TAs must complete the one-credit-hour course C506, Practicum in Teaching Composition, with a final grade of P(assing) in one of the first two semesters of their teaching.  To become and remain a graduate TA, students must be in good academic standing. 

Limited spaces are available for teaching.  New TAs will typically be assigned one or two sections of W131, Introductory Composition.  Subsequent assignments may include the assignment of W129, Basic Writing, with the approval of that course’s Coordinator.  TA appointments carry a stipend and partial remission of fees.