Master in Bilingual Education UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia

Why study Bilingual Education with us?

• Guaranteed work experience
• Multicultural environment
• Developed professional skill
• New bilingual teaching method
• Spanish Language Courses

Why UCAM?

Students are offered an opportunity to gain valuable classroom experience working alongside teachers who are fully involved in providing quality bilingual education.

This Master’s program is built on 5 fundamental pillars: adequate training in the English language and CEFR level B2 certification (through an official university master's degree with B2 CEFR competencies); the use of bilingual strategies and resources; the study of their underlying theories; the application of these theories during work placements in schools; and the consolidation of the acquired knowledge in the final Master’s thesis.

UCAM Master’s Degree in Bilingual Teaching (English) was particularly designed for people who want to reach the level of linguistic and methodological competence necessary to teach in bilingual education and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) programs.

This Master’s Degree is aimed at international and Spanish university graduates from different academic backgrounds such as Pre-Primary and Primary Education, Engineering, and other graduates with an interest in bilingual teaching and in the CLIL approach. This Master’s Degree in Bilingual Teaching is also aimed at all those teachers now working in Primary or Secondary private or state schools. As an entry requirement for this postgraduate degree, candidates must have and prove a B1 level of the English language (according to the CEFR).

Bilingualism is currently defined as the ability to communicate efficiently in two languages regardless of the modes and ages of acquisition. The interest and importance of learning a foreign language are increasing nowadays due to the globalization process in which today’s society is immersed. As a consequence of the changes that have taken place in Europe over the last decades, there has been a significant shift in the linguistic awareness of European citizens.

The academic, scientific, and professional interest of this Master stems from the socio-economic needs that require fully-qualified people who are able to communicate in more than one language. As a result, many approaches have arisen in the teaching scene with the aim of meeting students’ needs and developing new methodologies that allow the learning of a foreign language in a natural way. Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is the most widely used methodology in Europe. The integration of two curricula, language, and content, demands a methodological and linguistic education of teachers of primary and secondary education.

The aim of this Master's is to provide current and future teachers with the linguistic and methodological training necessary for the new bilingual teaching situation. The students will be constantly exposed to the English language for the development of their communicative competence in the foreign language along the course. Moreover, students will be introduced to the current bilingual policies as well as the methodological principles of the CLIL approach as far as theories, materials, resources, and evaluation are concerned. Near the end of the academic year, students will also have the opportunity to put their training into practice during a supervised internship in one of the selected bilingual educational institutions of the UCAM internship program/Murcia Region.

Modules

• I. Development of Communicative Competence: Oral Skills 6 ECTS
• I. Development of Communicative Competence: Written Skills 6 ECTS
• I. Development of Communicative Competence: Linguistic Awareness 6 ECTS
• I. English for Specific Purposes: CLIL 5 ECTS
• II. Design of materials and Methodological Innovation in Bilingualism 5 ECTS
• II. Evaluation Techniques for Bilingual Teaching 5 ECTS
• III. Bilingualism in Today’s Society: Fundamentals and Development. Psycholinguistics and interlanguage 10 ECTS
• IV. Introduction to research in CLIL/EFL classes 3 ECTS
• V. Practicum 8 ECTS
• VI. Final master project 6 ECTS

Internship

UCAM’s career services will be available to students, including the SOIL – i.e. the “Orientation and Work Placement Service” of UCAM, “Portal de Empleo” – the university’s employment portal – and the “Network of Recruiting Erasmus”, a service that promotes international students’ employment in top companies throughout Spain.

The Master’s Degree in Bilingual Education will help meet the current demand for experts in the field of bilingual teaching and learning. Successful graduates can choose from a range of positions within the bilingual education context. Skills developed during the course prepare students to work in the following areas:

• Primary and secondary school bilingual teaching.
• Assessment and management of bilingual programs in schools.
• Curriculum development.
• Materials design and evaluation.
• Assessment of ICT tools applied to bilingual education.
• Research and innovation in bilingualism and related educational issues.