Program Overview
This Bilingual Endorsement program is for those educators already NJ-certified in another specialization area. Rider’s Bilingual Endorsement Program trains future educators to be sensitive to the cultural, sociological, linguistic, and psychological diversities that English Language Learner students bring with them to school. The mission of the Bilingual program at Rider University is to provide the skills, attitudes and understandings necessary to teach non-native speakers of English in order for them to achieve their greatest potential through education for life. Furthermore, Rider’s Bilingual program introduces future educators to the different laws, programs, and approaches in the classroom that use the ELL's native language as a resource for instruction.
Curriculum Overview
This endorsement provides bilingual teaching credentials for those already certified in another specialization. It is a 15-credit program requiring five teacher preparation courses offered in the late afternoon/evening.
Certificate Offered
- NJ Bilingual Education Endorsement
- OPI/WPT Testing Requirement for Endorsement
Contact
Kathleen M. Pierce, Ph.D.
Professor & Director of Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Programs
Bierenbaum Fisher Hall 202
609-895-5478
kpierce@rider.edu
María Villalobos-Buehner, Ph.D.
Professor of Spanish, ESL, Bilingual and World Language Education
Fine Arts 343
609-895-5596
mvillalobos@rider.edu
Program Website: Bilingual Education Endorsement
Associated Department: Department of Graduate Education, Leadership, and Counseling
Bilingual Education Endorsement Certificate Requirements
(15 credits)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CURR 548 | Curriculum and Instruction for Diverse Learners | 3 |
| EDUC 520 | Introduction to Linguistics and Psycholinguistics | 3 |
| EDUC 521 | Teaching a Second Language | 3 |
| LITR 508 | Literacy and the Bilingual/Bicultural Child | 3 |
| EDUC 560 | Educating and Evaluating the Bilingual Child | 3 |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
Additional requirements for completion
- Language proficiency tests are required.
- Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)
- Written Proficiency Test (WPT)
Courses and Descriptions
CURR 548 Curriculum and Instruction for Diverse Learners 3 Credits
This course will examine the curricular and instructional issues that educational leaders must address in accommodating the school program to the needs and abilities of diverse learners. A historical perspective will be developed with an emphasis on how schools have responded to meet the needs of the exceptional child. Legal issues and programmatic trends will be examined and assessed since the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Multicultural issues will be introduced within the context of school and society. The responsibility of the educational leader in fostering a multicultural perspective pertaining to curriculum and instruction, governance, bias and prejudice and school climate and culture will be emphasized. Students will identify and develop curricular possibilities and solutions in school settings to accommodate learners’ diverse needs. Students will demonstrate course understandings through actual classroom and school applications that are referenced to state adopted core curriculum content standards, professional development standards, state adopted core curriculum content standards, professional development standards, standards and national school leadership standards.
EDUC 520 Introduction to Linguistics and Psycholinguistics 3 Credits
This course provides an introduction to the properties of human languages and to their systematic study in the field of linguistics and psycholinguistics. Topics include the nature of human language as distinct from other communication systems; sound patterns (phonology), word-formation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), and meaning (semantics) in the world's languages; relations to cognition, communication, and social organization; dialect variation and language standardization; language learning by children and adults; and the nature and history of writing systems. Intended for any undergraduate and graduate interested in language or its use. It is assumed that students have had no prior course work or exposure to linguistics and will begin with the basic assumptions that are shared by those who study language from a variety of perspectives. Students analyze their own speech patterns, investigate different speech acts in different languages and develop a research project using a linguistic construct in order to apply it to the second language classroom. Students present this project in a poster format to the university community at the end of the semester.
EDUC 521 Teaching a Second Language 3 Credits
This course focuses on interactive methods of teaching a new language as well as cross-cultural understanding. Students learn to plan using national and state standards for language instruction, organize activities, design and direct language learning tasks, and assess learning. Includes theoretical positions on communicative language learning and teaching, the use and evaluation of currently used materials, the design of new materials, and field experiences in the language to be taught. Students develop their professional portfolio, participate in an E-seminar, prepare a unit of study, and present lesson segments. Open to prospective world language teachers, ESL and bilingual teachers, as well as practicing teachers seeking certification.
LITR 508 Literacy and the Bilingual/Bicultural Child 3 Credits
Presents multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on bilingual/bicultural children and their reading process. Strategies and materials for second language reading instruction are suggested and discussed.
EDUC 560 Educating and Evaluating the Bilingual Child 3 Credits
An examination of the historical, legal and pedagogical aspects of the education of language minority students. Considers the design of school programs for minority students including legal mandates, testing, staffing and funding. Emphasis is placed on the evaluation of bilingual students as they enter, develop and exit from special programs of study.