Alumni Testimonials

"In a nutshell, the MATESOL is a major step from the certificate or diploma in ESL when you are talking about work within most of the world. There are some pockets of places that prefer the DELTA over the MA, but for the most part the MA is what is required to work in anything outside of a language school. The primary place of employment is now in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). This is a program that helps international students get the language skills they need in order to take higher education classes in English. This is the area of focus for me and is the field that is most in demand in English speaking countries as well as the Middle East and Asian countries. With an MA, you significantly increase your salary as well and you gain more credibility which also helps with international visas."

"Outside of that, the MA also has much more depth and helps teachers gain a much better understanding of the variety of issues and nuances to language education and also gives you the tools to deal with those. For anyone looking at long term work as an English language instructor, I would highly recommend getting an MA in this field."

- Nathan Hall, MATESOL 2010, Instructor, Douglas College, New Westminster, B.C.

“The MATESOL program has equipped me with sufficient professional knowledge, cross-cultural communication and teaching skills, and the most importantly, confidence in inserting my unique ‘Chinese’ voice in the TESOL field. Thanks to this program, I have been able to successfully find a job as an ESL instructor in a post-secondary institute in Canada.”

- Yuyue Zeng, MATESOL 2012, EAP Instructor, NAIT, Edmonton, Alberta

“Being part of the online MATESOL program at Trinity Western University has been a wonderful experience. The quality of the instruction combined with the flexibility my schedule demanded has helped me to achieve my personal and professional goals. I highly recommend TWU and the MATESOL program to any ESL instructor who wants to further their career.“

- Brian Courtney, current TWU MATESOL online student, Lead ESL/EAP Instructor and TESOL Trainer, London Language Institute, London Ontario. Member TESL Ontario

“I can't recommend the MATESOL program enough. Unlike some other postgraduate programs the professors are really with you along way, taking a personal interest in your progress and well-being and ready with advice, guidance, and of course providing quality content/pedagogy. Distance programs can be lonely and it can be really difficult to stay motivated but I found the cohort system an effective deterrent for both. Working collaboratively also means accessing a great deal more information than would ever be possible alone - not to mention the opportunity of working with AWESOME classmates! So many fabulous memories!”

- Brenda Allen, MATESOL, 2005, EAP Instructor, Europe.

"The small cohort and rich collaborative learning environment prepared me for leadership both within the TESOL world and beyond. Since graduating with an MATESOL I have moved into another professional field, yet what I learned at TWU was instrumental in my development as a leader and educator. I consider TWU’s MATESOL to be the best educational investment of my life!"

- Edward Temple, MATESOL 2005, Director of Philanthropy for Alberta, Opportunity International Canada and Executive/Business Coach at Drive Business Coaching.

“The MATESOL program at TWU profoundly impacted me professionally and academically. I gained confidence as a teacher as I discovered the methods I had developed over the years were well supported by theory and research. Such exciting discoveries and insights empowered me to reflect on my teaching practices, articulate my areas of strengths and weaknesses and further develop professionally. I gained a voice through the encouragement and mentorship of the TWU professors, with which I have published, and have presented in conferences on a number of topics, resulting in employment opportunities in EAP and curriculum development.”

- Winnie Pang, MATESOL 2008, EAP Instructor BCIT, Vancouver, and collaborating instructor for Ling 514, Materials Evaluation and Design in the MATESOL program.  Ms. Pang has also published several TESOL related articles: 

Pang, W. (2010). Lexical bundles and the construction of an academic voice: A pedagogical perspective. Asian ESL Journal Professional Teaching Articles, 47, 30-43.

Pang, W., & Burri, M. (2010). Book review: Writing to communicate—from paragraph to short research paper. SLW News: The Newsletter of TESOL’s Second Language Writing Interest Section, 5(2).

“In 2008, while operating a successful home-based business, I was introduced to immigrants in my community who needed help learning English. This ignited a passion for teaching ESL, and I began to look for opportunities to study and grow in this area. The TWU MATESOL program was a perfect fit for me.  I was able to participate in online classes on a part-time basis while continuing to run my full-time business. Since completing the program, I have been privileged to teach in an EAP setting and have been able to share from a broad range of life experience that encompasses both business and academic knowledge.”

- Adele Hammond, MATESOL 2014

“The deep understanding of current TESOL practices and research prepared me to apply for PhD programs. What sets the MATESOL program apart is how they prepare their students to be language teachers and researchers. The program developed my capacity to continue my studies and get my PhD.”  Dr. Alhamami is Chairman of the English Department at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia.   He has published over nine articles on various aspects of Second Language Acquisition. 

- Munassir Alhamami, MATESOL 2012; Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa; Chairman of the English Department, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia.

“Not only did this program open doors for me professionally but I remain connected to Trinity.  I am spurred on by their ongoing research in pronunciation and I keep finding ways to reconnect with professors and so this relationship remains very symbiotic for me, and I like that!”

- James Edel, MATESOL 2006, Calgary

“Having grown up with the beliefs that math and science were my major specialties since my student life started, I gained my first master’s in environmental engineering in 2005. After 2-year teaching experience in Jr. TOEIC and TOEFL in Korea, I contacted several post-secondary institutions in Canada to pursue the 2^nd masters in TESOL, but most of them required prospective students to have a BA in either Linguistics or TESOL. Fortunately, the dean of MATESOL at TWU contacted me to have an interview and I finally got a conditional acceptance which required me to take two pre-requisite courses and prove an appropriate IELTs score before joining the MATESOL program. My engineering background helped me not only contribute to sharing different perspectives in learning and teaching L2 to other professionals in the field, but also gain confidence as a teacher who will definitely better understand language learners in engineering. “

- Shine Jae Hwa Hong, MATESOL 2016, Instructor Writing 101 & English 101, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.

“I was enriched by "hearing" the various voices of researchers and experts in the field of TESOL.”

- Karen Aughtry, MATESOL 2013

“The knowledge, experience and connections I gained from this program are invaluable. The instructors are experts in the field, and they are dedicated to helping every student succeed. I also learned so much from my classmates who are all experienced teachers themselves. Each course in this program provides a wealth of information both in practical and theoretical aspects. I feel that I now have the background knowledge and confidence to become the English language instructor I want to be.”

- Cheryl Materi, MATESOL 2012, Instructor  VGC International College, Vancouver.

“The MATESOL program was better than I even imagined it would be in terms of preparing me for being in an administrative role at my place of work. I learned how to articulate the needs of our ESL program using solid argumentation based on current research in the field of ESL. The courses were challenging and I felt stretched, corrected, and even affirmed in my teaching practices. Since completing the MATESOL program, I have gone back to look at the materials from every course I took, and I know I will continue to do so as I work on program and curriculum development in the future.

For me, the MATESOL program was an excellent experience, and it is a program that I would definitely recommend!”

- Kaia Anderson, MATESOL 2016, ESL Co-coordinator, Luther College High School, Regina, SK

“The PMP program literally helped me a lot in getting prepared for Master’s studies. Especially, I learned how to write and research in North America which is very basic and important in my later program.  The 10-credit Fundamentals of TESOL semester gave me a basic idea of the learning direction in MATESOL. Some courses like Phonetics and Practicum connected to the later study in MATESOL.  Being a non-native speaker is very challenging in this program, but the teachers and classmates were very encouraging and helpful.  I chose this program because I want to help second language learners like me.   During the program, I made great friends with my classmates and knew these inspiring professors. They are a great treasure in my life.”

- Summer Zhijun Chen,  MATESOL 2016