Is there any difference between MEd TESOL and MA TESOL?

I’ve come across both on linkedin

1 comment
  1. Simple answer: No.

    More complicated answer: an MEd is supposed to be a professional degree and an MA a research degree. The difference being that one is about practical skills improvement and the other about advancing our understanding of something. As a result MAs are much more likely to have a final thesis project vs a more practical project in an MEd.

    In the case of TESOL, however, most MAs are functionally practical degrees rather than research oriented-degrees. They might exist because a university doesn’t offer an MEd or for historical reasons.

    That being said, Japan doesn’t really have much of an understanding of an MEd as a specifically different degree (i.e. it’s practically impossible to get one in Japan and they don’t know what it is).

    I think Columbia University in NYC does have a strongly research-oriented MA TESOL but I could be completely wrong.

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