Become a Foreign Language Teacher
Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish, Italian and French
The three Master of Arts in Teaching Foreign Languages programs are designed as courses of study leading to New York State certification for teaching Spanish, Italian and French* in the secondary schools (grades 7-12), with extension options for grades 5-6 or grades K-6. *The MAT French program is also available in a fully online format!
This program is designed for those who have little to no previous coursework in education or formal classroom teaching experience. Like all of Stony Brook's MAT programs, this program is offered in collaboration between the School of Professional Development and the University's Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature, the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, and the University's Teacher Education and Educational Leadership program.
The MAT is not a program for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). For TESOL information, visit the Department of Linguistics.
Find Out More
Program Requirements
The degree program consists of 47 credits, distributed among the areas listed below. Unless otherwise noted, each course is three credits. All degree requirements must be completed within five (5) years from the semester date of admission as a matriculated student.
Language, Literature and Culture — 15 credits
Courses not listed are selected with the approval of a departmental advisor.
Spanish (HEGIS 0802)
SPN 503 Spanish Linguistics
SPN 510 Hispanic Culture
Plus three additional 500-level SPN literature courses (to be selected by student
and advisor)
Italian (HEGIS 1104)
ITL 501 Contemporary Italy
ITL 508 Advanced Grammar and Stylistics
One of the following courses in Italian Linguistics: ITL 509, ITL 511, ITL 512, ITL
513
One course in literature
One elective course
French (HEGIS 1102) — Also available 100% Online (See Professional License Information)
FRN 501 Contemporary French Culture and Institutions
FRN 507 Advanced Stylistics
FRN 510 French Phonetics and Diction
Plus two additional graduate-level FRN literature courses
Professional Studies in Education — 26 credits
- CEE 505 Education: Theory and Practice
- CEE 565 Human Development
- CEF 547 Principles and Practices of Special Education
- FLA 505 Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages
- FLA 506 Portfolio Development (prerequisite FLA 505)
- FLA 507 Critical Pedagogy or FLA 540 Foreign Language Acquisition Research or CEE 594 Language Acquisition and Literacy Development (formerly LIN 544)
- FLA 549 Field Experience I—Grades 7-9 (one credit; corequisite FLA 505)
- FLA 550 Field Experience II—Grades 10-12 (one credit; corequisite FLA 506)
- FLA 554 Student Teaching Seminar (prerequisites FLA 505 & 506; corequisites FLA 551 & FLA 552)
- FLA 571 Technology and Education or FLA 570 Introduction to Media for Language Teaching
Supervised Student Teaching — 6 credits
- CEQ 591 Supervised Student Teaching High School Grades 10-12: English (prerequisites CEE 588, CEE 593, CEF 551 & CEF 552; corequisites CEE 590 & CEQ 592)
- CEQ 592 Supervised Student Teaching Middle School Grades 7-9: English (prerequisites CEE 588, CEE 593, CEF 551 & CEF 552; corequisites CEE 590 & CEQ 591)
Field Experience and Clinical Practice
Students will be required to complete 100 clock hours of field experience related to coursework prior to student teaching or practica. These experiences include practicing skills for interacting with parents, experiences in high-need schools, and experiences with each of the following student populations: socio-economically disadvantaged students, students who are English Language Learners, and students with disabilities.
Supervised Student Teaching — 6 credits
Students will be required to complete 100 clock hours of field experience related to coursework prior to student teaching or practica. These experiences include practicing skills for interacting with parents, experiences in high-need schools, and experiences with each of the following student populations: socio-economically disadvantaged students, students who are English Language Learners, and students with disabilities.
Written Project
Students in all degree programs will be required to complete a four-week foreign language teaching module specifically designed for the Supervised Student Teaching project.
Teacher Certification
Stony Brook University requires that students must have completed an undergraduate degree and have at least 36 credits in the content field for admission to the MAT program. This course of study should be substantially the equivalent to that of a Stony Brook undergraduate degree program.
The Master of Arts in Teaching is a New York State registered and approved program that qualifies students for license upon successful degree completion. Students must complete all courses required for the MAT and must receive a grade of B or better in all pedagogy and foundation courses as well as an overall GPA of 3.0 or better in all course work attempted while matriculated in a graduate teacher preparation program.
Workshops
Teacher preparation candidates must be fingerprinted and must also complete certification workshops in:
- Child Abuse
- Dignity for All Students Act (DASA)
- School Violence (Project Save)
- Identification and Referral of Substance Abuse
See Certification and Licensing Workshops for workshop details and schedules.
Tests
All students will have to complete the Educating All Students Test and the revised CST (Content Specialty Test) in the area of the Certificate. It is the student’s responsibility to monitor the TEACH website to ensure that they are taking the appropriate examinations.
Note: As of April 27, 2022, the NYS Education Department eliminated the edTPA as a certification requirement. Effective September 1, 2023, in lieu of the edTPA, all students in teacher preparation programs will be required to complete a teacher performance assessment. This assessment will be developed, administered, and evaluated by Stony Brook University instructors.
Mandatory Professional Licensure Disclosure for Registered Teacher Certification Programs at Stony Brook
New York State prides itself in the high quality of its licensed and certified professionals. For the protection of its citizens, each license and certificate has requirements that individuals must meet in order to be licensed or certified in New York State. SUNY’s academic programs leading to licensure or certification are carefully designed to meet and exceed these State requirements. This is a role SUNY plays in protecting the public.
Per federal regulations on state authorization (34 CFR 600.9) and disclosure of information about licensed programs (34 CFR 668.43), Stony Brook University has determined that if successfully completed, the Master of Arts in Teaching English teacher certification program is sufficient to meet the educational requirements for licensure/certification in New York State.
For purposes of state authorization and disclosure of information about licensed programs, Stony Brook University determines a student’s initial location based on the reported permanent (“home”) address on the admission application. (See Student Location Procedure for complete details.)
Enrolled out-of-state students and prospective students are strongly encouraged to contact their state’s licensure entity to review all licensure and certification requirements imposed by their state(s) of choice.
Visit the New York State Education Department's Office of Teaching Initiatives website for complete details on certification requirements.
Tuition and Financial Information
Cost of Attendance
Tuition and fee information can be found on the Bursar's website.
Payment Plan
Stony Brook recognizes the need for helping students manage the expenses of higher education. To this end, the University offers a Time Option Payment Plan (TOPP), a program that allows students to make equal and consecutive payments throughout the year.
Financial Aid
For information on financial aid options, contact the Stony Brook Office of Financial Aid at (631) 632-6840, or visit the Financial Aid website.
Application Instructions
Minimum Requirements To Apply*
- An academic major (or a minimum of 36 credits) in the program language
- A minimum GPA of 3.00 in your overall bachelor's degree program
- A minimum GPA of 3.00 in language studies
Electronic transcripts should be sent to spd_transcripts@stonybrook.edu. Paper transcripts and supporting materials should be sent to:
Elizabeth-Anne Tolson
Dept. of Languages and Cultural Studies
Humanities 2127
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5359
*As of Spring 2022, Graduate Record Examination scores are no longer required for admission into MAT programs.
Contact Information
For program questions, please contact:
Dr. Sarah Jourdain, Director
Foreign Language Teacher Preparation Program
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4310
Telephone: 631-632-7440
Email: sarah.jourdain@stonybrook.edu
For advisement relative to specific content areas, contact a Faculty Advisor:
French
Sarah Jourdain, PhD
Email: sarah.jourdain@stonybrook.edu
Italian
Loredana Polezzi, PhD
Email: loredana.polezzi@stonybrook.edu
Spanish
Javier Uriatre, PhD
Email: javier.uriarte@stonybrook.edu
For application procedure questions, please contact:
MAT Admissions
School of Professional Development
2321 Computer Science Building
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794 - 4434
Telephone: 631-632-7050
Fax: 631-982-7311
Email: spd@stonybrook.edu
Stony Brook University is a member in good standing of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP), a national accrediting organization recognized by the Council for Higher
Education Accreditation. Its teacher education programs have been awarded full accreditation
by AAQEP through June 30, 2030.