Blogs

Note: Keep an eye out on this post - Updates will be posted as they become available :-)  ~AK

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updates will be posted here

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Hi everyone!

Even though we're only 3 weeks into the Fall 2022 Semester, advising and course registration queue-up is starting soon!

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2023 registration. This kicks off our department's advising and course registration period :-) - Just as a reminder, you cannot self-register for a course on WISER, someone from APLING needs to register you for that course (AK or Evy), and in order to get queued up for course registration you need to meet with your academic advisor.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2023 advising timeline, when certain things happen, and what you need to do.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please post a comment on this InfoPost (scroll all the way down for the comment box)

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses.   Some common holds are:

• Library hold (for campus students)
• Wellness hold (you need to complete a short module on WISER)
• Emergency contact info hold (also quickly fixable in WISER)
• Vaccination hold (applicable to campus students, contact University health services - this is COVID specific)
• Immunization hold (broader than COVID, campus student only)
• Bursar Hold (please contact Bursar's office)
• Provisional Admissions hold (contact graduate admissions, they are probably missing some part of your application - commonly an original transcript)

Please take care of holds no later than November 1! If you have holds on November 1, we will not be able to register you, and you may lose your spot in the registration queue.

The second thing that you need to do in WISER is to download a copy of your unofficial transcript and send it to your academic advisor. The most current information is important as the basis for accurate advising :-)

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and submit it to University Health Services via the online health portal. This way the immunization hold can be removed and we can register you for courses. Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, log in to the Health Portal (MyHealth Beacon --> https://myhealthbeacon.umb.edu/ ) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new Spring 2023 students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603 and/or APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

SPRING Online courses

Core courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - GOUNARI, Panayota
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching -  KISS, Kate
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics -O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics -  BECKMAN, Kristina

Core courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS, Kate

Concentration Courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - KISS, Kate
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - SCLAFANI, Jennifer

Elective Courses [open to campus licensure & online students]

• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom - URBANSKI

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - GOUNARI, Panayota (M @ 4)
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - SCLAFANI, Jennifer (M @7)
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) - LEIDER, Chris (TBD)

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - URBANSKI, Kimberly (Tu @ 7)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - TBA (W @ 4)

SPRING PhD Courses

• APLING 701: Issues in Second Language Acquisition - ETIENNE, Corinne (Tu @ 4)
• APLING 705: Advanced Ethnography - CARHILL-POZA, Avary (W @ 7)
• APLING 890: PhD Colloquium - CARHILL-POZA (TBA)

Please note that PhD program students have priority access to PhD course offerings.  PhD Courses may be available to MA program students on an as-available basis, and with prior permission from course instructor and your academic advisor.

TIMELINE:

October 1 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check your UMass Boston student email. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, by zoom, etc.  :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 10 (Monday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

Student Checklist Item: Take care of any holds in WISER by November 1 at the latest

Student Checklist Item: Download your unofficial transcript, and share it with your advisor prior to your meeting. Advising cannot take place unless your advisor has your current transcript

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we (AK and Evy) will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 10th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 10 (Friday), please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please post a question here. 

December 15 - 25: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

December 20 - January 11: AK is typically out of the office.

January 15 - January 30: Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 15th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2020 course, please check in on January 15th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor's name is mentioned in the welcome letter you received when you matriculated to the program.  If you don't remember your advisor that's OK :-)  Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 10.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   No. You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Watch this space for details  and updates!

~AK

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Hi there!

In a few weeks the advising & registration period for the Summer and Fall 2022 semesters will begin :-)  In this InfoPost you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2022 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please use the comments feature at the bottom of this post to ask questions.

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor:

1. Please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments. An immunization hold, or hold of any other sort, means that we are not going to be able to register you!  Please make sure to take care of all holds on your account as soon as possible.
2. Please log into WISER and download a copy of your unofficial transcript.  Your advisor will need you to provide this to them in preparation for advising and course registration.

Common Holds that prevent registration:

• IMM (Immunization): If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed.  If you are an on-campus student you will need to make sure that all immunizations are in order.  Please see the University Health Services website for more information: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students. 
• EMC (Emergency Contact and Address Verification): Students are required to verify their emergency contacts and address every year. You can do this in WISER.
• PD1 (Past-due balance): This hold is placed when a student has a past-due balance for their tuition bill. Please contact the Bursar's Office.
• WEH (Wellness Education Hold): All new students are required to complete an online Wellness Education module. For more information about the requirement and instructions for how to access it, go to:https://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students/new_student_wellness_education Students who have not completed the requirement by the deadline receive this hold.
• AC1 (Conditional Admission): Please contact the  Admissions office to see what information they need from you.

Note for new Fall Semester Students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since your paperwork for admissions may not have been fully processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603, and/or APLING 605 (two of our three introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information. Please see your welcome letter, sent by email, for more information.

SUMMER ONLINE MASTERS courses

Electives courses

• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - TONOGBANUA, Elizabeth (12 week summer course)
  • NOTE: If you are a campus student and you need this course for licensure purposes please make sure to talk to your advisor earlier rather than later. This course fills up quickly!
• APLING 616: Curriculum Development in Bilingual Education - MATTHIEU, Corinne (12 week summer course)
• APLING 632: Forensic Linguistics - BECKMAN, Kristina (12 week summer course)
• APLING 633: Discourse Analysis in ESL - SCLAFANI, Jennifer (12 week summer course)

FALL ONLINE MASTERS courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity - BECKMAN, Kristina
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  TBA
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics  - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS, Katherine

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy - KISS, Katherine
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - TBA

Elective Courses

• APLING 627: Phonetics & Phonemics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 643: Historical Foundations of Critical Pedagogy - GOUNARI, Panayota
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - BARBOSA, Perla

FALL CAMPUS MASTERS Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (W @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (Th @ 7pm) - TBA
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics (Tu @ 7pm) - GOUNARI, Panayota
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  - LEIDER, Chris

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (Tu @ 4pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (M @ 4pm) - LEIDER, Chris

FALL PHD Courses*

Courses

• APLING 700: Issues in APLING (W @ 7pm) - CARHILL-POZA, Avary [CAMPUS]
• APLING 703: Research Methods (Th @ 4pm) - CHUN, Christian [CAMPUS]
• APLING 707: Language and Pedagogy  (M @ 7pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly [CAMPUS]
• APLING 890: PhD Colloquium (BY ARRG) - CARHILL-POZA [CAMPUS]

* Please note: Master's students need prior faculty approval in order to enroll in PhD courses.

PROGRAM FEE:

Each degree-seeking graduate student is required to maintain continuous registration until the degree that the student is seeking has been formally awarded. If a graduate student does not register for course, thesis, or dissertation credits during any semester, the student must pay a program fee to maintain continuous registration. The program fee for all students is $225.00 per semester and is paid to the One-Stop Student Center. Note: Payment of the program fee does not extend the time limit for completion of the degree, nor does it make a student eligible for student loan deferments. 

Source: https://www.umb.edu/bursar/tuition_and_fees/program_fee

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks just yet :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com).

We expect Summer textbooks to be posted around May 1st.

We expect Fall textbooks to be posted around June 1st.

TIMELINE:

February 24 – March 4: 

Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check your UMass Boston student, and your specifically your spam folder (emails are sent to the preferred email from WISER, which is usually the UMB email). Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that your advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 10, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

March 1 - April 1: This is the advising period.  You should be meeting with your advisor during this period. If you are interested in summer courses, you need to talk to your academic advisor early on.

April 20 – May 1: During this period of time we (AK and Evy) will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please email us applied.linguistics@umb.edu

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for the summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2019 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

June 1st: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 10 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2016 course, please check in on August 10 to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is)

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor is not listed on WISER (this is only an undergraduate advising feature :(  ). If you don't hear from your advisor by March 15th please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll get you in touch with them :). Your advisor's name was listed in the welcome letter from the time of your admissions (if you haven't changed your advisor).
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is set up for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately, we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor, they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.
6. I met with my advisor, and I was told I was "all set" but I don't see courses in WISER. What's the deal?
   When you meet with your advisor you are placed in a queue to be registered by either AK or Evy.  We usually register students in the queue on Thursdays and Fridays.  We will not begin registering students until April 20th. If it's before 4/20 it's normal that you may not be registered yet.  If it's after 4/20 and you are not registered there might be a hold on your account preventing us from registering you - please check to see if there is a hold and have it removed :).  Finally, if you have no holds, and it's past 4/20, and you're still not registered, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can sort it out :)

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As always, if you find this InfoPost helpful, please hit the "like" button :)

Note: Keep an eye out on this post - Updates will be posted as they become available :-)  ~AK

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11/1/2021 - We've begun to register students for Spring 2022.  Please make sure you have no holds on your accounts :-)  The EMC and WEH holds are quick and easy to clear on WISER, and they do prevent us from registering you :-(. Log into WISER today.

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Greetings everyone!

Well, September is almost gone and we're 4 weeks into the Fall 2021 Semester! I hope everyone is doing well in their courses thus far :-)

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2022 registration pretty soon. This kicks off our department's advising and course registration period :-)

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2022 advising timeline, when certain things happen, and what you need to do.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please post a comment on this InfoPost (scroll all the way down for the comment box)

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses.   Some common holds are:

• Library hold (for campus students)
• Wellness hold (you need to complete a short module on WISER)
• Emergency contact info hold (also quickly fixable in WISER)
• Vaccination hold (applicable to campus students, contact University health services - this is COVID specific)
• Immunization hold (broader than COVID, campus student only)
• Bursar Hold (please contact Bursar's office)
• Provisional Admissions hold (contact graduate admissions, they are probably missing some part of your application - commonly an original transcript)

The second thing that you need to do in WISER is to download a copy of your unofficial transcript and send it to your academic advisor. The most current information is important as the basis for accurate advising :-)

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and submit it to University Health Services via the online health portal. This way the immunization hold can be removed and we can register you for courses. Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, log in to the Health Portal (MyHealth Beacon --> https://myhealthbeacon.umb.edu/ ) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new spring 2022 students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603 and/or APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

SPRING Online courses

Core courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - GOUNARI
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching -  KISS
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics -O'BRYAN
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics -  CHUN

Core courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS

Concentration Courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - URBANSKI
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA

Elective Courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 615: Dual Language Pedagogy - TBA
• APLING 629: Structure of the English Language - MEYER
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom - URBANSKI

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - SCLAFANI (Tu @ 7)
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching - LEIDER (M @ 7)
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - CHUN (W @7)
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) - SERCOMBE (TBD)

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - ETIENNE (M @ 4)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA (Th @ 4)

SPRING PhD Courses

• APLING 702: Issues in Sociolinguistics - SCLAFANI (W @ 4)
• APLING 709: Language Policy - GOUNARI (Tu @ 4)
• APLING 892: Dissertation Proposal Seminar - TBA (TBA)

Please note that PhD program students have priority access to PhD course offerings.  PhD Courses may be available to MA program students on an as-available basis, and with prior permission from course instructor and your academic advisor.

TIMELINE:

October 1 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, by zoom, etc.  :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 11 (Monday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

Student Checklist Item: Take care of any holds in WISER.

Student Checklist Item: Download your unofficial transcript, and share it with your advisor.

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 10 (Friday), please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please post a question here. 

December 15 - 25: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

December 20 - January 11: AK is typically out of the office.

January 15 - January 30: Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 15th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2020 course, please check in on January 15th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor's name is mentioned in the welcome letter you received when you matriculated to the program.  If you don't remember your advisor that's OK :-)  Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 10.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   No. You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

-------

As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Hi to all those who recently did not pass the Applied Linguistics Comprehensive Exam. I would like to form a study group that meets bi-weekly or monthly to discuss and practice for the upcoming exam in December.

We can share resources, advice and ideas. 

If interested, please email mack100792@gmail.com!

Watch this space for details and updates!

~AK

---------------

Greetings everyone! 

In a few weeks the advising & registration period for the summer and fall 2021 semesters will begin   In this InfoPost you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2021 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please use the comments feature at the bottom of this post to ask questions.

CAMPUS OR REMOTE?

A big question on everyone's mind is whether courses will resume on-campus or will they continue to be remote?  We know, for our department at least, that in the summer all of our courses are online.  The fall semester is currently a big question mark.  As an institution UMass Boston is hoping that campus courses will be on-campus, however our administration is closely monitoring the situation to determine whether we will be able to get back on-campus, or whether we'll be "remote" again in the fall.  As soon as we know we'll post updates here :-)  The safety of our community is first and foremost in our minds.

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor:

1. Please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments. An immunization hold, or hold of any other sort, means that we are not going to be able to register you!  Please make sure to take care of all holds on your account as soon as possible.
2. Please log into WISER and download a copy of your unofficial transcript.  Your advisor will need you to provide this to them in preparation for advising and course registration.

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed.  If you are an on-campus student you will need to make sure that all immunizations are in order.  Please see the University Health Services website for more information: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students. 

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since your paperwork for admissions may not have been fully processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603, and/or APLING 605 (two of our three introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information. Please see your welcome letter, sent by email, for more information.

SUMMER ONLINE MASTERS courses

Elective courses

• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - TONOGBANUA, Elizabeth (12 week summer course)
  • NOTE: If you are a campus student and you need this course for licensure purposes please make sure to talk to your advisor earlier rather than later. This course fills up quickly!
• APLING 615: Dual Language Pedagogy - MITROPOULOS, Paulina (12 week summer course)
• APLING 635: Literacy and Culture - SCLAFANI, Jennifer (12 week summer course)

FALL ONLINE MASTERS courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity - BECKMAN, Kristina
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  SCLAFANI, Jennifer
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics  - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS, Katherine

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy - KISS, Katherine
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - LEIDER, Chris

Elective Courses

• APLING 665: Immigration & Education - CARHILL-POZA, Avary
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - BARBOSA, Perla
• APLING 684: Usage-Based Linguistic Analysis (Corpus Linguistics) - MIKROS, George

FALL CAMPUS MASTERS Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (W @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity (M @ 4pm) - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (M @ 7pm) - SCLAFANI, Jennifer
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics (Tu @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  - SERCOMBE, Deborah

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (Tu @ 7pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (W @ 4pm) - LEIDER, Chris

FALL PHD Courses*

Courses

• APLING 700: Issues in Applied Linguistics (M @ 7pm) - CARHILL-POZA, Avary [CAMPUS]
• APLING 704: Advanced Discourse Analysis (Tu @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, Panayota [CAMPUS]
• APLING 890: PhD Colloquium (BY ARRG) - TBA [CAMPUS]
• APLING 891: Qualifying Paper Seminar (W @ 4pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly [CAMPUS]

* Please note: Master's students need prior faculty approval in order to enroll in PhD courses.

PROGRAM FEE:

Each degree-seeking graduate student is required to maintain continuous registration until the degree that the student is seeking has been formally awarded. If a graduate student does not register for course, thesis, or dissertation credits during any semester, the student must pay a program fee to maintain continuous registration. The program fee for all students is $225.00 per semester and is paid to the One-Stop Student Center. Note: Payment of the program fee does not extend the time limit for completion of the degree, nor does it make a student eligible for student loan deferments. 

Source: https://www.umb.edu/bursar/tuition_and_fees/program_fee

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks just yet :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com).

We expect Summer textbooks to be posted around May 1st.

We expect Fall textbooks to be posted around June 1st.

TIMELINE:

March 1 – March 13: 

Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check your UMass Boston student, and your specifically your spam folder (emails are sent to the preferred email from WISER, which is usually the UMB email). Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that your advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 15, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

March 15 - April 17: This is the advising period.  You should be meeting with your advisor during this period.

April 20 – May 1: During this period of time we (AK and Evy) will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please email us applied.linguistics@umb.edu

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for the summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2019 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

June 1st: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 10 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2016 course, please check in on August 10 to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is)

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor is not listed on WISER (this is only an undergraduate advising feature :(  ). If you don't hear from your advisor by March 15th please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll get you in touch with them :). Your advisor's name was listed in the welcome letter from the time of your admissions (if you haven't changed your advisor).
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is set up for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately, we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor, they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.
6. I met with my advisor, and I was told I was "all set" but I don't see courses in WISER. What's the deal?
   When you meet with your advisor you are placed in a queue to be registered by either AK or Evy.  We usually register students in the queue on Thursdays and Fridays.  We will not begin registering students until April 20th. If it's before 4/20 it's normal that you may not be registered yet.  If it's after 4/20 and you are not registered there might be a hold on your account preventing us from registering you - please check to see if there is a hold and have it removed :).  Finally, if you have no holds, and it's past 4/20, and you're still not registered, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can sort it out :)

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As always, if you find this InfoPost helpful, please hit the "like" button :)

Note: Keep an eye out on this post - Updates will be posted as they become available :-)  ~AK

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10/19/2020 (AK) - Had forgotten to add APLING 643 to the campus electives list. Fixed that this morning :-)

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Hi everyone!

It's hard to believe, but September is almost gone! I don't know about you, but this year the fall feels simultaneously like it's moving at warp speed, not moving at all!

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2021 registration pretty soon. This kicks off our department's advising and course registration period :-)

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2021 advising timeline, when certain things happen, and what you need to do.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please post a comment on this InfoPost (scroll all the way down for the comment box)

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

The second thing that you need to do in WISER is to download a copy of your unofficial transcript and send it to your academic advisor. The most current information is important as the basis for accurate advising :-)

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and submit it to University Health Services via the online health portal. This way the immunization hold can be removed and we can register you for courses. Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, log in to the Health Portal (MyHealth Beacon --> https://myhealthbeacon.umb.edu/ ) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new spring 2021 students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603 and/or APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

SPRING Online courses

Core courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - BECKMAN-BRITTO
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching -  BARTOLOME
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics -O'BRYAN
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics -  BARTOLOME

Concentration Courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - TBA
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - KISS

Elective Courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 627: Phonetics & Phonemics - MIKROS
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom - URBANSKI
• APLING 685: Internet in the Language Classroom - TBA
• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - CHUN (M @4)
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching - SCLAFANI (Tu @7)
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - CHUN (W @7)
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) - SERCOMBE (TBD)

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - URBANSKI (M @7)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA (Th @4)

Elective Courses

APLING 643: Historical Foundations and Contemporary Issues in Critical Pedagogy - GOUNARI (Tu@4)

SPRING PhD Courses

• APLING 705: Advanced Ethnography - SCLAFANI (Th @4)
• APLING 892: Dissertation Proposal Seminar - TBA (TBA)

Please note that PhD program students have priority access to PhD course offerings.  PhD Courses may be available to MA program students on an as-available basis, and with prior permission from course instructor and your academic advisor.

TIMELINE:

October 10 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, by zoom, etc.  :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 13 (Friday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

Student Checklist Item: Take care of any holds in WISER.

Student Checklist Item: Download your unofficial transcript, and share it with your advisor.

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 8 (Friday), please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please post a question here. 

December 15 - 25: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 15 - January 30: Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 15th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2020 course, please check in on January 15th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor's name is mentioned in the welcome letter you received when you matriculated to the program.  If you don't remember your advisor that's OK :-)  Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 21.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   No. You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

I saw this the other day, and thought you might be interested :-)

I often pick up a copy in person while out and about campus, but with the campus closed new ways of getting our campus newspaper emerged.  I thought people might be interested in the mass media as well :-)

---------------------

Spring break, more time for reading! Check out doctoral student Nasiba Norova's article on "Bridging the gap: future solutions for past and present writing performance of 'Generation 1.5 students'" featured in the AAAL Graduate Student Newsletter.

Dear students,

I am sure by now you are all wondering about how the emerging situation with COVID-19 might affect your lives and academic progress. I encourage you to stay tuned for UMass Community announcements and contact me or any of your professors with additional questions or concerns. For now, I would like to reiterate that

• On-campus instruction is moving online until April 3^rd at which time the situation will be reassessed and further guidance will be sent out. Please look out for emails from faculty regarding instructions on your courses during these two weeks and beyond.

MA students on GAships will receive further information about duties during the period 3/23-4/3. Doctoral RAs should contact their faculty supervisors to discuss any assignments that involve physical presence on campus.

However, I would also like to take the opportunity to write about emotional, interpersonal, and mental health aspects of our current situation.  Many people, including those in our community as well as our students, are having additional painful or difficult experiences.  And so I'm writing about how we can emotionally take care of each other to help prevent the spread of pain and distress, as we are also washing our hands to help prevent the spread of germs.

Fears of coronavirus are increasing xenophobia and this is differentially effecting Asian Americans (and other groups as well).  This means that people are hearing xenophobic comments all around them, and particularly on public transportation  (see https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811363404/when-xenophobia-spreads-like-a-virus).  For some in our community, this means that simply making it to campus or getting around the city is a hostile experience.  These are good opportunities for us all to be using our awareness and skills around the ways that we respond to microaggressions, racist bullying, and discrimination.    

Others in our community may have increased concerns about the spread of COVID-19 because either themselves or their loved ones have health or immune system concerns that put them at greater risk.  This means that, sometimes, when we make light comments (often to quell our own anxiety) about not being worried because we are healthy, that this can be experienced as marginalizing to others.  It is important for us all to recognize that we may not know the reasons why people are choosing to stay home or to take extra precautions and so we should think about ways that we can each be understanding and adaptable.  And, if you are concerned about your health or the health of a loved one, you should feel comfortable making the decision to stay home or to limit contact in other ways.  

For others in the community, the increased attention about an illness can increase health anxiety, generalized anxiety, and OCD.  This can make conversations about COVID-19 particularly difficult and can become a preoccupation making it hard to focus on other aspects of work and life.  If this is happening for you, there are a number of helpful tips and resources here (https://adaa.org/finding-help/coronavirus-anxiety-helpful-resources).   One thing that can help is to put limits on the time spent hearing about COVID-19.  We can help each other, by being sensitive to when and how we are talking about COVID and by asking others if they are in a place to talk about it if we are looking for places to talk.

Others in our community may really want to be talking about the impact of COVID-19 on them and may not know who they can talk to.  This may be especially true for those who have friends or loved ones in communities being affected and may have increased worries about people they know.  For them, the fears may be very real and very present.  If that is happening for you, we know that social support can be helpful, so find people that you can talk to (when you want to and when it is helpful for you).

We will all get through this together, but as this is a community-based illness, it also requires a community-based response.  Here are some things we can do:

• Be sensitive about the comments we make
• Pay attention that we are not increasing xenophobia
• Generally practice radical kindness
• Check in to see how others are doing
• If you want to talk about COVID-19, find supportive people to talk to who help you feel more supported and less anxious.
• Ask if it's ok to be talking about it
• Feel free to say - "I really am not up for talking about this right now." or "Can we change the subject?" if you are in a conversation that is making things more difficult for you
• Stay home when you need to
• Think about ways we can help others decrease xenophobia, anxiety, and misunderstandings.

Practice social distancing, wash your hands and stay healthy and alert!

Please take good care of yourself and the people around you,

Panayota Gounari

Panayota Gounari, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics
University of Massachusetts Boston
McCormack-4-457
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
Phone: 1 (617) 2875765
Email: panagiota.gounari@umb.edu
Academia Profile: https://um-boston.academia.edu/PanayotaGounari
(my pronouns: she/her/hers/herself) 

Winchester will be posting openings for an ELL teacher in one of the elementary schools. Applicants should have their license or be in the process.Contact Laurie Kirby in HR (lkirby@winchesterps.org) or Laura Shanahan (lshanahan@winchesterps.org) at the High School.

Keep an eye on this post - additional info will be posted as it becomes available!

~AK

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• Blackboard Access will be available around the end of April (4/6/2020)
• InfoSession II recording available (3/9/2020) - Click here to view the recorded info session
• New Handbook (3/6/2020) - Click here to access the 2020 handbook for the new exam.
• New Capstone Exercise Info Session will be March 5th at 7pm ET.  See the calendar event for details.  A recording will be posted after the session in this InfoPost.

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Hello everyone!

This InfoPost will provide you with information about the May 2020 comprehensive exam. Please refer back to this post for more info over the next couple of months for updates (above).

The Comprehensive Exam is scheduled to open Thursday, May 14, 2000

If you intend on taking the exam please RSVP by using this form: RSVP for May Exam

The deadline to RSVP is March 15, 2020.

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them as a comment at the bottom of this post.

This InfoPost has two sections. One section for the new format, and one for the old format.  Everyone taking the exam for the first time will be taking the new format.  If you have taken the exam previously, you will retake the exam using the old format.

NEW FORMAT

More information forthcoming - see the recording of the first info session for initial details.  

The powerpoint file from the presentation is available here.

Sample Prompt from session #2: Click to read sample prompt

OLD FORMAT

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The will open on Thursday, May 14, 2020.  You will have until Noon on Friday, May 15th to submit your answers

The exam will be online, the exam takes place at a location of your own choosing. Proctoring will be provided by a service called ProctorU (more down below). The exam for those taking it online is a little more flexible in terms of when you can start so that we can accommodate more time-zones.  The exam opens at 12:00 pm EST on May 14 and is available to start until 8 am on May 15th. You still have 4 hours to complete it, but the starting time is a little more flexible. You can use Day and Time to calculate what these times are in your timezone.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to submit an RSVP (see above)

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, Friday, April 24th, 2020. If you don't receive a survey please first check your spam folder to see if it's there. If not, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can troubleshoot :-)

You will have until Tuesday, May 12, 2020 to complete this survey. You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

PROCTORING

Online students: You can take the exam at (almost) any location you'd like! It seems that over the past few semesters most students taking the exam do so at home or at their office. To provide proctoring we are working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus exam students: Faculty members from the Department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the on-campus exam in May.  

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.

In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.

Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.

All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

ESL Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605, 614, 621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,618, 614, 605)

• methods and materials (CLT, NA, etc.)
• learner diversity,
• Cooperative learning
• curriculum development,
• prescriptivism and language teaching,
• culturally sensitive teaching, etc.

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 614, 623)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc

Foreign Language Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605,  621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,611, 612, 605)

• methods and materials
• integration of the teaching of culture and language
• prescriptivism and language teaching
• the authenticity of teaching materials
• language analysis and teaching on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.).

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 623, 612)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Language Development

Describe two major theories of FIRST language acquisition. Explain how each may account for different levels of language development (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, etc.). Choose the theory you consider most tenable and explain why you do. Make sure to substantiate your response with examples and relevant literature.

Language, Culture, and Society

Language change is influenced by social status, gender, and interaction. Discuss and illustrate two of these factors. Illustrate your discussion with examples from different levels of language description (syntactic, morphological, discursive, phonological, etc.) Make sure to support your response with relevant literature.

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagrees, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam.  The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does the student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Click here to view the grading rubric for the exam. As you study, prepare for the exam, and ultimately write your exam, keep this rubric in mind!

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ names and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubts or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes in the end to copy/paste your answers to Blackboard.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Blackboard. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.
• Make sure to not only submit the exam as a 'test' in Blackboard (where you copy/paste your answers from Word) but also submit your word document as a backup in the designated spot!

Exam Rules

• The comprehensive exam is a closed book, closed notes exam
• The internet and internet sources are not allowed either
• Scrap paper and pens/pencils are allowed for you to brainstorm before you write
• Breaks are allowed!  If you need to get up a stretch or take a biobreak, that's OK! (on average students seem to take a break every 40-60 minutes of writing)
• Once the exam starts it doesn't stop. You have 4 hours

If you Fail the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, skype, or chat appointment with the faculty member coordinating the comprehensive exam process in order to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

Watch this space for details  and updates!

~AK

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Good day everyone!

In a few the advising & registration period for the summer and fall 2020 semesters will begin :-)  In this InfoPost you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2020 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please use the comments feature at the bottom of this post to ask questions.

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor:

1. Please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments. An immunization hold, or hold of any other sort, means that we are not going to be able to register you!  Please make sure to take care of all holds on your account as soon as possible.
2. Please log into WISER and download a copy of your unofficial transcript.  Your advisor will need you to provide this to them in preparation for advising and course registration.

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed.  If you are an on-campus student you will need to make sure that all immunizations are in order.  Please see the University Health Services website for more information: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students. 

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since your paperwork for admissions may not have been fully processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603, and/or APLING 605 (two of our three introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information. Please see your welcome letter, sent by email, for more information.

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SUMMER ONLINE MASTERS courses

Electives courses

• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - MATHIEU, Corinne (12 week summer course)
  • NOTE: If you are a campus student and you need this course for licensure purposes please make sure to talk to your advisor earlier rather than later. This course fills up quickly!
• APLING 616: Curriculum Development in Bilingual Education - TONOGBANUA, Elizabeth (12 week summer course)
• APLING 635: Literacy and Culture - TBA (12 week summer course)

FALL ONLINE MASTERS courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectives - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  BARTOLOME, Lilia
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics  - BARTOLOME, Lilia

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy - KISS, Katherine
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - KISS, Katherine

Elective Courses

• APLING 632: Forensic Linguistics - BECKMAN, Kristina
• APLING 637: Ethnography of Language - TBA
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - BARBOSA, Perla

FALL CAMPUS MASTERS Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (W @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity (Tu @ 7pm) - SHIN, Jaran
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (W @ 7pm) - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics (Tu @ 4pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  - SERCOMBE, Deborah

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (M @ 7pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (M @ 4pm) - TBA

Elective Courses

• APLING 640: French Applied Linguistics (Th @ 7) - ETIENNE, Corinne

FALL PHD Courses*

Courses

• APLING 703: Research methods in APLING (M @ 4pm) - SHIN, Jaran [CAMPUS]
• APLING 709: Language Policy (W @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, Panayota [CAMPUS]
• APLING 890: PhD Colloquium (BY ARRG) - ETIENNE, Corinne [CAMPUS]
• APLING 891: Qualifying Paper Seminar (Tu @ 4pm) - URBANSKI, Kimberly [CAMPUS]

* Please note: Master's students need prior faculty approval in order to enroll in PhD courses.

PROGRAM FEE:

Each degree-seeking graduate student is required to maintain continuous registration until the degree that the student is seeking has been formally awarded. If a graduate student does not register for course, thesis, or dissertation credits during any semester, the student must pay a program fee to maintain continuous registration. The program fee for all students is $225.00 per semester and is paid to the One-Stop Student Center. Note: Payment of the program fee does not extend the time limit for completion of the degree, nor does it make a student eligible for student loan deferments. 

Source: https://www.umb.edu/bursar/tuition_and_fees/program_fee

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks just yet :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com).

We expect Summer textbooks to be posted around May 1st.

We expect Fall textbooks to be posted around June 1st.

TIMELINE:

March 2 – March 13: 

Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check your UMass Boston student, and your specifically your spam folder (emails are sent to the preferred email from WISER, which is usually the UMB email). Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that your advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 15, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

March 15 - April 17: This is the advising period.  You should be meeting with your advisor during this period.

April 20 – May 1: During this period of time we (AK and Evy) will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please email us applied.linguistics@umb.edu

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for the summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2019 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

June 1st: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 10 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2016 course, please check in on August 10 to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is)

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor is not listed on WISER (this is only an undergraduate advising feature :(  ). If you don't hear from your advisor by March 15th please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll get you in touch with them :). Your advisor's name was listed in the welcome letter from the time of your admissions (if you haven't changed your advisor).
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is set up for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately, we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor, they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.
6. I met with my advisor, and I was told I was "all set" but I don't see courses in WISER. What's the deal?
   When you meet with your advisor you are placed in a queue to be registered by either AK or Evy.  We usually register students in the queue on Thursdays and Fridays.  We will not begin registering students until April 20th. If it's before 4/20 it's normal that you may not be registered yet.  If it's after 4/20 and you are not registered there might be a hold on your account preventing us from registering you - please check to see if there is a hold and have it removed :).  Finally, if you have no holds, and it's past 4/20, and you're still not registered, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can sort it out :)

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As always, if you find this InfoPost helpful, please hit the "like" button :)

Advising is one of the important aspects of being in a Master of Arts program. Sometimes advising is quite quick because you know what you want, and you've done copious amounts of research into the courses that you want to take, and other times it's a bit longer because you are looking for that advice from your advisor.  Either way, an advisor is available for you as soon as you start in our program!

In the beginning, you are assigned an advisor by the program coordinators (me or Evy), but that doesn't mean that you need to stick with the same advisor throughout your course of studies!  Each of our professors has a different specialty, so you might decide you want to have another professor because your interests much more closely align to what the professor's interests are.  You can, at any time, switch advisors!  All you need to do is the following:

1.  Have a look at our faculty listing: http://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/appling/faculty

Even though their profiles are brief, these profiles give you a better idea of what the professor's interests are, what courses they teach, and what areas some of their scholarship is in.

2.  Pick a professor as a potential advisor.

The faculty listing lists more people than we have advisors.  Only some faculty do advising.  Here is who is an academic advisor:

• Carhill-Poza, Avary (avary.carhillpoza@umb.edu)
• Chun, Christian (christian.chun@umb.edu)
• Etienne, Corinne, (corinne.etienne@umb.edu)
• Gounari, Panayota (panagiota.gounari@umb.edu)
• Leider, Chris (christine.leider@umb.edu)
• Sclafani, Jennider (jennifer.sclafani@umb.edu)
• Urbanski, Kimberly (kimberly.urbanski@umb.edu)

You should contact one of these professors to see if they would be able to have you switch advisors and for them to be your advisor.  

3. Once you get the all-clear - please email me (aplingonline@umb.edu) to let me know that you will be switching advisors, and I can make a note of it :)

That's it! :)

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As always, if you find this post helpful, please "like" it by clicking the like icon :)

Note: Keep an eye out on this post - Updates will be posted as they become available :-)  ~AK

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updates will appear here

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Good day everyone!

With September almost out the door, it's now time to think about (and plan!) for Spring 2020 courses!

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2020 registration, and you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also need to meet with your advisor before you can sign-up for courses.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2020 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please post a comment on this InfoPost (scroll all the way down for the comment box)

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and submit it to University Health Services via the online health portal. This way the immunization hold can be removed and we can register you for courses. The form can be found here: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/forms . Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, log in to the Health Portal (MyHealth Beacon --> https://myhealthbeacon.umb.edu/ ) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603 and/or APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

SPRING Online courses

Core courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - BECKMAN-BRITTO
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching -  BARTOLOME
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics -O'BRYAN
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics -  BARTOLOME

Concentration Courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - URBANSKI (BUESCHER)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA

Elective Courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 627: Phonetics & Phonemics - MIKROS
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom - URBANSKI (BUESCHER)
• APLING 678: Technology in Language Education - COMPTON
• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MEYER (Th @4)
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - GOUNARI (W @4)
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching - SHIN (M @7)
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - CHUN (M @7)
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) - SERCOMBE (TBD)

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - ETIENNE (W @7)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA (Tu @7)

SPRING PhD Courses

• APLING 701: Issues in Second Language Acquisition - SHIN (Th @4)
• APLING 707: Language and Pedagogy - CHUN (M @4)
• APLING 708: Corpus Linguistics - MEYER (Tu @ 4)
• APLING 890: Colloquium  - ETIENNE (TBA)

Please note that PhD program students have priority access to PhD course offerings.  PhD Courses may be available to MA program students on an as-available basis, and with prior permission from course instructor and your academic advisor.

TIMELINE:

October 10 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 13 (Friday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 8 (Friday), please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

December 15 - 25: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 15 - January 30: Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 15th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2020 course, please check in on January 15th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor's name is mentioned in the welcome letter you received when you matriculated to the program.  If you don't remember your advisor that's OK :-)  Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 21.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please click the "like" button so that others know to look for it :-)

Keep an eye on this post - additional info will be posted as it becomes available!

~AK

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• 11/1/19 - ProctorU is now available! You should be able to register for a proctoring time-slot now - See ProctorU for details
• 10/16/19 - RSVPs have been processed. I sent out confirmation emails today :-)
• 9/23/19 - Comp-Exam Info Session (live) - See calendar for details

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Hello everyone!

This InfoPost will provide you with information about the December 2019 comprehensive exam. Please refer back to this post for more info over the next couple of months for updates (above).

The Comprehensive Exam is scheduled for Monday December 16, 2019, which is a Monday.

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them as a comment at the bottom of this post.

Please go through the following handout and PowerPoint file from last semester's live InfoSession:

• Updated handout: (click here)
• PowerPoint file for InfoSession: (click here)

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is Monday December 16, 2019 for both campus and online students.

For students who are taking the exam on-campus, the exam will take place in Healey Library, Purple Lab (Healey Library-Upper Level). The exam will take place from Noon to 4pm.  Please arrive by 11:30. 

For students taking the exam online, the exam takes place at a location of your own choosing. Proctoring will be provided by a service called ProctorU (more down below). The exam for those taking it online is a little more flexible in terms of when you can start so that we can accommodate more time-zones.  The exam opens at 12:05 am EST on the day of the exam and is available to start until 1:00pm EST on the same date. You still have 4 hours to complete it, but the starting time is a little more flexible. You can use Day and Time to calculate what these times are in your timezone.

Usually online students take the exam online, and on-campus students take the exam on-campus. However, if you are an online student and happen to be in the Boston area and want to come to campus to take the exam you can do that.  Or, if you are an on-campus student and you want to take it online we can do that too! Just indicate on the RSVP what your plans are so we can prepare the appropriate exam for you.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the RSVP form for taking the comprehensive exam (PDF) and return it to the department by email (applied.linguistics@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (M-4-458A).
   • This form is due by October 15, 2019
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, Friday November 22nd, 2019. If you don't receive a survey please first check your spam folder to see if it's there. If not, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can troubleshoot :-)

You will have until Friday December 13th, 2019 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATIONAL Q&A SESSION

Online

Details TBD.

On-Campus

The on-campus face to face comprehensive exam information session is TBD.  Before you attend, please read this InfoPost and use the Discussion forum (same as online students) to ask questions you might have about the comprehensive exam.  If you are planning on attending please RSVP to this event so that we know how many are attending:  (RSVP pending). 

PROCTORING

Online students: You can take the exam at (almost) any location you'd like! It seems that over the past few semesters most students taking the exam do so at home or at their office. To provide proctoring we are working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus exam students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the on-campus exam in May.  

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.

In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.

Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.

All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

ESL Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605, 614, 621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,618, 614, 605)

• methods and materials (CLT, NA, etc.)
• learner diversity,
• Cooperative learning
• curriculum development,
• prescriptivism and language teaching,
• culturally sensitive teaching, etc.

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 614, 623)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc

Foreign Language Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605,  621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,611, 612, 605)

• methods and materials
• integration of the teaching of culture and language
• prescriptivism and language teaching
• authenticity of teaching materials
• language analysis and teaching on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.).

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 623, 612)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Language Development

Describe two major theories of FIRST language acquisition. Explain how each
may account for different levels of language development (phonological,
morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, etc.). Choose the theory you
consider most tenable and explain why you do. Make sure to substantiate your
response with examples and relevant literature.

Language, Culture, and Society

Language change is influenced by social status, gender, and interaction.
Discuss and illustrate two of these factors. Illustrate your discussion with
examples from different levels of language description (syntactic, morphological,
discursive, phonological, etc.) Make sure to support your response with relevant
literature.

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam.  The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Click here to view grading rubric for the exam. As you study, prepare for the exam, and ultimate write your exam, keep this rubric in mind!

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Blackboard.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Blackboard. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.
• Make sure to not only submit the exam as a 'test' in Blackboard (where you copy/paste your answers from Word), but also submit your word document as a backup in the designated spot!

Exam Rules

• The comprehensive exam is a closed book, closed notes exam
• The internet, and internet sources are not allowed either
• Scrap paper and pens/pencils are allowed for you to brainstorm before you write
• Breaks are allowed!  If you need to get up a stretch, or take a biobreak, that's OK! (on average students seem to take a break every 40-60 minutes of writing)
• Once the exam starts it doesn't stop. You have 4 hours

If you Fail the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, skype, or chat appointment with the faculty member coordinating the comprehensive exam process in order to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

Watch this space for details  and updates!

~AK

---------------

Good day everyone!

In a few the advising & registration period for the summer and fall 2019 semesters will begin :-)  In this InfoPost you will find out a bit more about the Summer and Fall 2019 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind, and check back, when you have questions!  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please use the comments feature at the bottom of this post to ask questions.

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor:

1. Please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments. An immunization hold, or hold of any other sort, means that we are not going to be able to register you!  Please make sure to take care of all holds on your account as soon as possible.
2. Please log into WISER and download a copy of your unofficial transcript.  Your advisor will need you to provide this to them in preparation for advising and course registration.

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student, and you opt to apply for the immunization exemption, then you have to fill out the form every semester and mail it to University Health Services so that the immunization hold can be removed.  If you are an on-campus student you will need to make sure that all immunizations are in order.  Please see the University Health Services website for more information: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/information_for_new_students. 

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since your paperwork for admissions may not have been fully processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603, and/or APLING 605 (two of our three introductory courses). If you would like to register for a 3rd course, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu for more information. Please see your welcome letter, sent by email, for more information.

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SUMMER ONLINE MASTERS courses

Electives courses

• APLING 670: Testing in the ESL Classroom - INFANTE, Paolo (12 week summer course)
  • NOTE: If you are a campus student and you need this course for licensure purposes please make sure to talk to your advisor earlier rather than later. This course fills up quickly!
• APLING 615: Dual Language Pedagogy - TBA (12 week summer course)
• APLING 632: Forensic Linguistics - BECKMAN, Kristina (12 week summer course)

FALL ONLINE MASTERS courses

Core courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MIKROS, George
• APLING 603: Cross-Cultural Perspectives - SHIN, Jaran
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching -  BARTOLOME, Lilia
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - O'BRYAN, Anne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics  - BARTOLOME, Lilia

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy - KISS, Katherine
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education - KISS, Katherine

Elective Courses

• APLING 629: Structure of the English Language - MEYER, Chuck
• APLING 669: Writing Theories - BARBOSA, Perla

FALL CAMPUS MASTERS Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics (M @ 4pm) - MEYER, Chuck
• APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity (Tu @ 4pm) - CHUN, Christian
• APLING 605: Theories and Principles of Language Teaching (W @ 7pm) - ETIENNE, Corinne
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics (Th @ 4pm) - MACEDO, Donaldo
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) (BY ARRG)  - SERCOMBE, Deborah

Concentration Courses

• APLING 611: Methods and Material in Foreign Language Pedagogy (M @ 7pm) - BUESCHER, Kimberly
• APLING 614: Foundations of Bilingual and Multicultural Education (W @ 4pm) - GOUNARI, Panayota

Elective Courses

• APLING 697: French Applied Linguistics (Tu @ 7) - ETIENNE, Corinne

FALL PHD Courses*

Courses

• APLING 700: Issues in Applied Linguistics (W @ 7) - CARHILL-POZA, Avary [CAMPUS]
• APLING 702: Issues in Sociolinguistics (Th @ 7) - CHUN, Christian [CAMPUS]
• APLING 704: Advanced Discourse Analysis - SHIN, Jaran [ONLINE]

* Please note: Master's students need prior faculty approval in order to enroll in PhD courses.

TEXTBOOKS:

Please do not ask for textbooks just yet :-)  As soon as we have a list of textbooks for each course, we will post a notice on the Announcements box (top center of umasslinguistics.com).

We expect Summer textbooks to be posted around May 1st.

We expect Fall textbooks to be posted around June 1st.

TIMELINE:

March 8 – March 18: 

Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check your UMass Boston student, and your specifically your spam folder (emails are sent to the preferred email from WISER, which is usually the UMB email). Your advisor will contact you to set up an appointment to meet with you. You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK or Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by March 15, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

March 18 - April 15: This is the advising period.  You should be meeting with your advisor during this period.

April 15 – April 30: During this period of time we (AK and Evy) will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By May 1st you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered May 1 – May 10 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On May 10, please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please email us applied.linguistics@umb.edu

May 5 - May 20 Non-Degree Registration period (for summer semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to May 5 we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Summer 2019 course, please check in on May 5th to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

June 1st: Book Lists will be posted, for Fall Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us or asking questions about book lists :-) 

August 10 - September 1 Non-Degree Registration period (for fall semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to August 20th we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a fall 2016 course, please check in on August 10 to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is)

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor is not listed on WISER (this is only an undergraduate advising feature :(  ). If you don't hear from your advisor by March 15th please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we'll get you in touch with them :). Your advisor's name was listed in the welcome letter from the time of your admissions (if you haven't changed your advisor).
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu. Please include your UMS number in the request, and the reason you would like to change advisors.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.
6. I met with my advisor, and I was told I was "all set" but I don't see courses in WISER. What's the deal?
   When you meet with your advisor you are placed in a queue to be registered by either AK or Evy.  We usually register students in the queue on Thursdays and Fridays.  We will not begin registering students until April 15th. If it's before 4/15 it's normal that you may not be registered yet.  If it's after 4/15 and you are not registered there might be a hold on your account preventing us from registering you - please check to see if there is a hold and have it removed :).  Finally, if you have no holds, and it's past 4/15, and you're still not registered, please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can sort it out :)

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As always, if you find this infopost helpful, please hit the "like" button :)

Keep an eye on this post - additional info will be posted as it becomes available!

~AK

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4/17/19 UPDATE:  ProctorU (ProctorU.com) time slots are now available to book!  Please make sure to book your time slot before 5/5/19 in order to avoid any late registration fees.  Also note, the default view starts showing appointments at 12:00 midnight eastern time.  Don't feel pressured to pick midnight if that time slot does not work for you! Scroll down and there are plenty of time slots that go all the way to 1pm.

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Hello everyone!

This InfoPost will provide you with information about the May 2019 comprehensive exam. Please refer back to this post for more info over time.

The Comprehensive Exam is scheduled for Monday May 20, 2019, which is a Monday.

If you have questions relating to the comprehensive exam that are not covered in this post, please post them as a comment at the bottom of this post.

Please go through the following handout and PowerPoint file from last semester's live InfoSession:

• Updated handout: (click here)
• PowerPoint file for InfoSession: (click here)

DATE & LOCATION OF THE EXAM

The date of the exam is Monday May 20, 2019 for both campus and online students.

For students who are taking the exam on-campus, the exam will take place in Healey Library, Blue Lab (Healey Library-3rd floor). The exam will take place from Noon to 4pm.  Please arrive by 11:30. 

For students taking the exam online, the exam takes place at a location of your own choosing. Proctoring will be provided by a service called ProctorU (more down below). The exam for those taking it online is a little more flexible in terms of when you can start so that we can accommodate more time-zones.  The exam opens at 12:05 am EST on the day of the exam and is available to start until 1:00pm EST on the same date. You still have 4 hours to complete it, but the starting time is a little more flexible. You can use Day and Time to calculate what these times are in your timezone.

Usually online students take the exam online, and on-campus students take the exam on-campus. However, if you are an online student and happen to be in the Boston area and want to come to campus to take the exam you can do that.  Or, if you are an on-campus student and you want to take it online we can do that too! Just indicate on the RSVP what your plans are so we can prepare the appropriate exam for you.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

In order to take the comprehensive exam you need to do two things:

1. Please complete the RSVP form for taking the comprehensive exam (PDF) and return it to the department by email (applied.linguistics@umb.edu), by fax (+1 617-287-5403) or in person (M-4-458A).
   • This form is due by March 15, 2019
2. Please complete your graduation request paperwork. You should have received a letter from the registrar's office in late September if you are potentially eligible to graduate.

As soon as we have processed your paperwork, you will be given access to a Blackboard course (http://umb.umassonline.net) where the information session will take place, and where you will be taking your exam.

EXIT EVALUATION FORM

Both online and on-campus students will be emailed an online survey by, or on, Friday May 3rd, 2019. If you don't receive a survey please first check your spam folder to see if it's there. If not, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and we can troubleshoot :-)

You will have until Friday May 17th, 2019 to complete this survey.You must complete the survey before taking the comprehensive exam. Please follow the link to the survey as you will be unable to take the exam until it is completed. This survey is anonymous and evaluations will be opened and analyzed only after comprehensive exam results are in and grades submitted.

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM INFORMATIONAL Q&A SESSION

Online

Please post questions at the bottom of this InfoPost. The on-campus session is also available live via Zoom. Please see here for registration details.

On-Campus

The on-campus face to face comprehensive exam information session is February 12.  Before you attend, please read this InfoPost and use the Discussion forum (same as online students) to ask questions you might have about the comprehensive exam.  If you are planning on attending please RSVP to this event so that we know how many are attending:  (RSVP link). 

PROCTORING

Online students: You can take the exam at (almost) any location you'd like! It seems that over the past few semesters most students taking the exam do so at home or at their office. To provide proctoring we are working with a company called ProctorU to make sure that each and every one of you has a proctor. It is really important to work out the time zone information correctly; all times are referenced in Eastern Standard Time (Boston time). Online students can choose to take the exam online, or on-campus.

Please see this Student Handout (PDF file) to see what the system requirements are for proctoring the exam remotely.

A common question that has been asked is whether or not you can go to a testing center, or find your own proctor, instead of using ProctorU.  The answer is that you cannot use any other proctoring service other than ProctorU.  ProctorU is the only option :)

On-campus exam students: Faculty members from the department of Applied Linguistics will be proctoring the on-campus exam in May.  

Exam Material

Students are examined on material from their FIVE core and TWO required courses in their concentration (ESL or Foreign Language).  Questions which appear on the exam are taken from exams, paper topics, and assignments in core and required courses and are periodically updated by faculty to reflect new course materials. Questions may also be submitted to the Comprehensive Exam Committee by students and will be considered for inclusion on the exam. If you are interested to do so, please email your questions to the coordinator of the Comprehensive Exam at applied.linguistics@umb.edu

Exam Structure

Questions on the exam are arranged into THREE areas of study. Two questions are asked in
each area. Students must answer ONE question in each area, thus THREE questions in FOUR
hours.

In each area, we suggest in parentheses possible themes questions might address. However, this
is NOT an exhaustive list.

Students are responsible for preparing to answer questions in each area by referring to course
syllabi where main content and goals are highlighted. Materials from one specific course may be
helpful and used to answer questions in more than one area.

All answers to exam questions should be informed by theory and research and  include a detailed linguistic analysis when required. The content of all core and  concentration courses will be tested on the exam (601, 603, 605, 621, 623, 611 or 618, 612 or 614)

ESL Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605, 614, 621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,618, 614, 605)

• methods and materials (CLT, NA, etc.)
• learner diversity,
• Cooperative learning
• curriculum development,
• prescriptivism and language teaching,
• culturally sensitive teaching, etc.

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 614, 623)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc

Foreign Language Concentration Exam Areas:

1. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (601, 605,  621)

• foundations of language teaching,
• literacy
• first and second language acquisition issues and theories,
• theories and foundations of bilingualism,
• language analysis and learning on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.

2. LANGUAGE METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY (601,611, 612, 605)

• methods and materials
• integration of the teaching of culture and language
• prescriptivism and language teaching
• authenticity of teaching materials
• language analysis and teaching on syntactic, morphological, semantic, lexical, pragmatic, and discourse levels, etc.).

3. LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY (601, 603, 623, 612)

• sociolinguistic and socio-cultural factors in language development
• sociolinguistic methods of analysis
• language varieties, language variation
• assimilation, cultural discontinuities, cross-cultural communication
• literacy and culture, pragmatics and social context of language
• national language debates, etc.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Language Development

Describe two major theories of FIRST language acquisition. Explain how each
may account for different levels of language development (phonological,
morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, etc.). Choose the theory you
consider most tenable and explain why you do. Make sure to substantiate your
response with examples and relevant literature.

Language, Culture, and Society

Language change is influenced by social status, gender, and interaction.
Discuss and illustrate two of these factors. Illustrate your discussion with
examples from different levels of language description (syntactic, morphological,
discursive, phonological, etc.) Make sure to support your response with relevant
literature.

Grading

The exams are graded by a committee of Applied Linguistics faculty.  Exams are graded “blind;”  no names are recorded on the printouts of the exams.  Students are assigned a letter code and the list which identifies letters with student names is sealed until grading is completed.

Each exam is read by at least two faculty members.  If the first reader and the second reader agree that the exam is a “Pass,” then the student is passed.  If the first and second reader disagree, or if there is any uncertainty in their evaluation, then a third reader is enlisted. 

Each answer is assigned a grade of High Pass, Pass, or Fail. No exam can be deemed as a Pass if one of the three required questions is not answered or has been assigned a failing grade.

Given the high number of students taking the exam, it may take up to two weeks for results to be sent out. Exam results are emailed when all grading has been completed.  Students should not email or call the office about results. Faculty always complete evaluations by graduation date. Students who pass the exam don’t have access to their exam answers.

Readers use the same comprehensive exam evaluation rubric to evaluate exams. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with this rubric before the exam.  The rubric includes the following criteria:

1. Does student answer the question asked?
2. Are all parts of the question answered?
3. Does the student answer the question in sufficient depth?  Are there important issues not covered?
4. Does the student make repeated or gross misstatements that would lead you to believe that they do not understand the relevant material?
5. Is the material presented coherently organized?  Can you follow the student’s argument without having to do a lot of “interpreting” or “filling in the blanks”?
6. Are technical terms used clearly and appropriately?  Are terms defined where necessary?
7. Are references made to course content and material where obvious/necessary?  (If, for example, you teach a course which addresses the question posed, does the student mention those aspects of the issue covered in your course?)
8. Does the student cite relevant sources?  Does the student link theories or methods to particular individuals?  (In other words, if s/he is clearly referring to a particular author’s work, does s/he cite the author?)
9. If the student draws on personal experiences to answer a question, is that experience linked in some way to theoretical issues, relevant literature, or coursework?
10. Does the student merely repeat the same material, references, and arguments in one or more of his or her responses or does s/he demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the field?

Click here to view grading rubric for the exam. As you study, prepare for the exam, and ultimate write your exam, keep this rubric in mind!

Strategies for preparing for and taking the exam:

Preparing:

• Carefully review your course syllabi paying attention to the course objectives and the main headings of weekly sessions. These headings outline important topics and issues; you should know the literature related to these themes and topics. You should be able to formulate basic questions about these themes and issues that could be exam questions.
• In general, exam questions ask you to define and discuss an issue, its context and origins; to support your discussion referring to scholars who contributed to the discussion of the issue, and to draw some classroom implications.
• Knowing the literature means being able to summarize the main ideas of a given scholar and assess her/his contribution to the field of applied linguistics. You are not expected to quote in the exam but you should spell scholars’ names properly, know the decade in which they contributed to the field, and present and summarize scholar’s ideas using and defining the terminology and connecting these ideas to the questions asked.
• If you like working in groups, it is a good idea to meet online with classmates.
• Advice for group work
  • Form a small group with 3-5 other students
  • Commit to each other to a meeting schedule, time and mode
  • Individually list the major theories that you remember
    (Do this before you open the books to see how much you already know!)
  • Include the key theorists’ name and dates.
  • Write a paragraph or two from memory with the key details.
  • Meet with your group to compare notes.
  • Revise your summaries as needed
  • Make a timeline of key theorists and dates.
    Include ONLY names and dates for a “clean” visual memory support.
    Use colors if you are a visual learner.
• Practice timed essays with each other:
  • Familiarize yourself with the evaluation rubric used by comprehensive exam graders
  • Write and exchange your questions
  • Assess each other’s essays using the comprehension evaluation rubric
  • Suggested: two “assessors” read and grade independently, THEN compare grades and feedback.
  • Give feedback in terms of the rubric and what the question asks

• You may consult any of the faculty members if you have doubt or questions about some concept or issue.

Taking the Exam

• Set up a document in word before you access the exam so you are ready to write as soon as you access the questions. SAVE it! Remember to hit save regularly as you write, or set it up to autosave every 5 minutes. Make sure you give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end to copy/paste your answers to Blackboard.
• Do not worry about formatting. It will disappear when you copy to Blackboard. Try to insert a blank line or two between paragraphs. Don’t worry about indenting.
• Copy the key phrases that you must answer in each question. Enter spaces between each phrase before you start to write. This will create a structure and help you remember what you have to answer. The last line of each question will ALWAYS tell you to support your answer with relevant literature. It is not necessary to copy this phrase—you are doing this throughout each answer.
• It is very important that you mark clearly by number each of the questions you choose to answer. The area designator and question number is sufficient. You do not have to copy the entire question. (e.g., A3)
• You should not waste time making detailed notes, extensive outlines, or rewriting your answers.  The exam committee realizes this is a timed exam and you are under considerable pressure; therefore, we do not grade on language mechanics or expository prose -- so long as your argument and meaning are clear.
• You should not spend more than an hour on each question.
• You should run a spell check before uploading your exam.
• Make sure to not only submit the exam as a 'test' in Blackboard (where you copy/paste your answers from Word), but also submit your word document as a backup in the designated spot!

Exam Rules

• The comprehensive exam is a closed book, closed notes exam
• The internet, and internet sources are not allowed either
• Scrap paper and pens/pencils are allowed for you to brainstorm before you write
• Breaks are allowed!  If you need to get up a stretch, or take a biobreak, that's OK! (on average students seem to take a break every 40-60 minutes of writing)
• Once the exam starts it doesn't stop. You have 4 hours

If you Fail the Exam

Students who fail the exam on the first attempt can take the exam a second time.  Before retaking the exam, the student should set up a phone, skype, or chat appointment with the faculty member coordinating the comprehensive exam process in order to discuss the reasons for the failure.  Students who fail the exam will be given the comments of readers and be shown parts of their exam in light of the readers’ evaluations.

Students who fail the exam can retake the exam only once.  In preparing to retake the exam, students are encouraged to discuss with their advisors or other faculty how they might strengthen their performance.  If a student feels he or she has been unjustly evaluated, an appeal procedure exists and may be discussed with the comprehensive exam chair.

Students who take their coursework seriously, seek and obtain the guidance of their faculty advisor periodically throughout their program of study, and prepare conscientiously for the comprehensive exam, usually have no difficulties passing. 

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As always, if you find this blog post helpful, please hit the "like" button :-)

Note: Keep an eye out on this post - Updates will be posted as they become available :-)  ~AK

11/20/18 (AK) - If you spoke with your advisor, and there are no holds on your account, you are now registered :-)  Have a look on WISER to verify your spring semester schedule.  Please note that if you are on a waitlist I will register you as soon as there is a spot open! :-)

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With October firmly here it's time to think about, and plan, for Spring 2019 courses!

If you are a matriculated student, you will be receiving an email from the Registrar's office for Spring 2017 registration, and you might be eager to register, but you cannot yet because you probably have holds. You also need to meet with your advisor before you can sign-up for courses.

In this blog you will find out a bit more about the Spring 2017 advising timeline and when certain things will happen.  As new information is available, this blog post will be updated, so keep it in mind when you have questions :-)  If your questions are not answered by this blog post, please post a comment on this InfoPost (scroll all the way down for the comment box)

PREPARATORY WORK:

Before meeting your with advisor, please log into WISER (http://wiser.umb.edu) and make sure you don't have any holds on your account!  This is really important! The only hold that we (applied linguistics) can remove is the "Advising Hold." If you have other holds on your account you need to get those resolved ASAP with the appropriate departments otherwise we will not be able to register you for courses. 

Immunization Hold:

If you are an online student you can apply for the immunization exemption. You will need to fill out the form and submit it to University Health Services via the online health portal. This way the immunization hold can be removed and we can register you for courses. The form can be found here: http://www.umb.edu/healthservices/forms . Both campus and online students should check their WISER accounts to see if they have a hold on their account. If you do, log in to the Health Portal (MyHealth Beacon --> https://myhealthbeacon.umb.edu/ ) ASAP to get the hold removed - otherwise we cannot register you :-)

Note for new students (On-campus & Online):

Even though new students will not be registered right away (since all of your information probably has not been processed yet) no need to worry. There will be spots available in introductory courses for you! We will be registering you for APLING 601, APLING 603 and/or APLING 605 (our two introductory courses) if you are on-campus. 

COURSES:

The tentative list of courses has been posted in the Classroom Group for quite some time :-).  Instructions, as well as days and times of courses (for on-campus courses) will be posted here as they become available. 

SPRING Online courses

Core courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MEYER
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - BECKMAN-BRITTO
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching -  O'BRYAN
• APLING 623: Sociolinguistics - BECKMAN-BRITTO
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics -O'BRYAN

Concentration Courses [not open to campus students]

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - KISS
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA

Elective Courses [open to campus students]

• APLING 627: Phonetics & Phonemics - MIKROS
• APLING 665: Immigration & Education - BECKMAN-BRITTO
• APLING 690: Field Experience - KISS

SPRING On-Campus Courses

Core Courses

• APLING 601: Linguistics - MEYER (Tu @7)
• APLING 603: Language, Culture & Identity - CHUN (Th @7)
• APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching - TBA (W @4)
• APLING 621: Psycholinguistics - ETIENNE (M @4)
• APLING 698: Practicum (licensure) - SERCOMBE (TBD)

Concentration Courses

• APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum - BUESCHER (M @7)
• APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches - CARHILL-POZA (W @7)

MA Elective Courses & PhD Courses

• APLING 637: Ethnography - CHUN (Tu @7)
• APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom (Th @4)
• APLING 705: Advanced Ethnography - CHUN (Tu @7)
• APLING 709: Language Policy - GOUNARI (W @4)
• APLING 891: Qualifying Paper Seinar (Tu @4)

TIMELINE:

October 10 – October 15: Your advisors will be contacting you via email. Please check both your UMass Boston student email and any emails you've given to us as part of your application process. Your advisor will contact you to setup an appointment to meet with you.  You can meet by phone, by email, by skype, or if you are local you can meet in person! :-)  Be prepared to discuss your goals, and what courses you might be interested in signing up for. In consultation with your advisor you will pick 2 or 3 courses for next semester. Your advisors will tell us (AK & Evy) which courses you decided to sign up for and we will sign you up.

Please note that you advisor is not listed on WISER. We keep an internal departmental database to keep advisors and advisees :-)

Student Checklist Item:If you haven't heard from your advisor by October 21 (Friday), please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu and let us know :-)

November 15 – December 10: During this period of time we will be going through and registering all students for courses. This is true for both online and on-campus students. If you log into WISER and you are not registered for a course yet, don't panic!  By December 20th you will be :-) We will be monitoring this forum to make sure everything's going well and answering questions as they come up. If, for some reason, you aren't registered December 10 – December 20 will be a catch-up and correction week for registrations.

Student Checklist Item: On December 14 (Friday), please check your WISER account to make sure that you are registered for courses, and that you are registered for the courses you and you advisor agreed upon. If you are not registered for courses, please go into the appropriate Registration Q&A forum. 

December 15 - 25: Book Lists will be posted, for Spring Semester courses, in the Classroom group. Please be patient until then and refrain from emailing us about book lists :-)

January 2 - January 30: Non-Degree Registration period (for spring semester). If you are a non-degree student, once all currently enrolled students are registered, we will begin processing non-degree registrations.  It's important to note that prior to January 2nd we will not know how many available spots there are in courses :-)

Student Checklist Item: If you are a non-degree student who wishes to register for a Spring 2017 course, please check in on January 2nd to see what courses are available. Once you submit registration paperwork, you should be registered within a few days (depending on how busy the registrar's office is :-)  )

FAQ

1. Who is my advisor?
   Your advisor's name is mentioned in the welcome letter you received when you matriculated to the program.  If you don't remember your advisor that's OK :-)  Please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu to inquire about your advisor's contact information if you have not heard from your advisor by October 21.
2. WISER does not show my advisor, what's up with that?
   The WISER system is setup for undergraduate advisors.  Unfortunately we do not have access to change this, so graduate students will show a blank advisor.  Rest assured that you have an advisor , they just don't show up in WISER :-)
3. Can I change advisors?
   Of course! If you would like to change advisor, please read this blog post for information, and then email applied.linguistics@umb.edu.
4. Can I register without meeting my advisor?
   You will not be able to register without meeting your advisor.
5. I have a hold, can you register me?
   We can only override the "Advising" hold if you've met with your advisor.  We cannot override other holds, so we cannot register you if you have holds.

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