Below are courses that SLA majors and/or minors might – with their advisor’s consent – consider registering for in Fall 2026. Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are taught by core SLA faculty. Courses marked with an ampersand (&) can typically count towards the SLA minor. Courses are for 3 credits unless otherwise noted.
All students should consult with their advisor, i.e., the academic advisor/s for SLA majors and with Prof. Naomi Geyer (nfgeyer@wisc.edu) for minors, on course selections.
Please also consult Course Search & Enroll for additional information or courses not listed below. If you find a course that you think should be on this list, please let us know!
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
&African 670: Theories and Methods of Learning a Less Commonly Taught Language (2 cr.)
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Adeola Agoke
Day(s) and time: Sept 2 – Dec 9
Modality: Online
Requisites: Concurrent enrollment in AFRICAN 671
Description: A theoretical and practical exploration of second language acquisition (SLA) and self-instructional methods. Tests and/or modifies one or more theories/methods by putting these self-instructional methods into practice in order to learn a less commonly taught language (LCTL).
&African 703: Communicative Lesson Planning (1 cr.)
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: TBD
Day(s) and time: Tuesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Theories and teaching methodologies for second language acquisition plus practical classroom techniques for teaching and directing programs in African languages.
*Asian 432: Introduction to Chinese Linguistics
Instructor: Weihua Zhu
Day(s) and time: Tuesdays, 4:00-6:30 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
Description: This course provides an introductory overview of the Chinese language from the contemporary perspective. It covers various topics including phonetics, phonology, dialects, morphology, syntax, orthography, semantics, and pragmatics.
*Asian 435: Teaching of Japanese
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Naomi Geyer
Day(s) and time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:00-5:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Methods of language teaching in general and Japanese language teaching in particular; with emphasis on special problems in teaching Japanese in the US context.
&Curriculum and Instruction 673: Learning Second Language and Literacies (1-6 cr.)
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Multiple instructors
Day(s) and time: 3 sections – for dates/times, see Course Search and Enroll.
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Explores theoretical and practical aspects of second language and literacy development in schooling for English learners. Includes a fieldwork component. Informed by theories, students conduct and analyze data from classroom-based research, investigating implications for learning and teaching.
&Curriculum and Instruction 675: Teaching and Learning in Borderlands (1-3 cr.)
Instructor: TBD
Day(s) and time: Wednesdays, 8:15 – 10:45 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: None
Description: This course will examine theoretical perspectives from a variety of disciplines that situate the languages and cultures of minoritized students within particular geo-political, sociocultural contexts. Researchers and theorists have conceptualized these spaces as the “borderlands” to characterize the physical, ideological, political, linguistic, cultural, and discursive spaces many minoritized students must navigate and negotiate in and outside of school. The course will examine scholarship in linguistic anthropology, language socialization, cultural-historical approaches, feminist studies, queer theory, sociolinguistics, and Chicana/o studies, for example, to explore the affordances of a ‘borderlands’ framework in educational research, policy, and practice, particularly for linguistically minoritized students.
Curriculum and Instruction 719: Introduction to Qualitative Research
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructors: Erica Halverson
Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30-10:45 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Cross listed: RP & SE 719, COUN PSY 719, CURRIC 719, ELPA 719, ED POL 719, ED PSYCH 719
Description: Provides an overview of qualitative inquiry, examining assumptions, standards, and methods for generating and communicating interpretations. Methodological and theoretical works illustrate case study, ethnography, narrative, and action research. Does not include a field method component.
&Curriculum and Instruction 726: Qualitative Methods of Studying Children and Contexts
Instructor: TBD
Day(s) and time: Mondays, 1:45 – 4:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Examines the theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues in studying children from interpretive perspectives. A small group research project, focused on examination of an individual child and context, provides an introduction to qualitative methods within fieldwork.
Curriculum and Instruction 823: Coloniality of Language and Science in Education
This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructors: TBD
Day(s) and Time: Wednesdays, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Explores interdisciplinary theories on coloniality used in education research, with a focus on historicizing and interrogating hierarchies of language, race, and scientific reason. Examines distinct analytics of power offered by raciolinguistic perspectives, postcolonial science studies, and postfoundational curriculum studies.
Educational Psychology 760: Statistical Methods Applied to Education I
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Check Course Search and Enroll
Day(s) and Time: Multiple sections, offered, all with labs. Please check Course Search and Enroll.
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Introductory descriptive statistics and statistical inference; measures of central tendency and variability, confidence intervals, theory of hypothesis testing, correlation techniques.
Educational Psychology 822: Introduction to Quantitative Inquiry in Education
This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Krystal Williams
Day(s) and Time: Mondays 4:40 – 7:10 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Cross listed: ELPA 822, ED PSYCH 822
Description: Utilize the concepts and methods of quantitative social science research to conduct research on education issues. Topics include hypothesis testing, statistical inference, point estimates, graphic and numerical data displays, correlation and regression.
English 314: Structure of English
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Juliet Huynh
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12:05-12:55 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Linguistic methods of analysis and description of English syntax and morphology.
English 315: English Phonology
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Eric Raimy
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 11:00-11:50 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Basic principles of phonetics and phonology applied to the description of English and other languages.
English 316: English Language Variation in the United States
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Juliet Huynh
Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Description and analysis of geographical and social variation in English in the United States.
&English 318: Second Language Acquisition
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Iman Sheydaei
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 11:00-11:50 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Systematic study of how people learn ESL and other second languages. An interdisciplinary survey emphasizing research in linguistics, psychology, education, and sociology into the phenomenon of second language acquisition.
English 415: Introduction to TESOL Methods
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll. It does NOT count towards the 50% graduate coursework requirement.
Instructor: TBD
Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00 – 2:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Teaching of English to speakers of other languages. Exploration of the contexts in which English is taught, and methods and materials used to teach it.
*English 418: Experimental Syntax
Instructor: Jacee Cho
Day(s) and time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00-12:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A, or graduate/professional standing
Description: An introduction to conducting linguistic experiments to address theoretical questions in the study of syntax. Covers the fundamentals of research design and quantitative data analysis methods to explore theoretical issues in syntax that can carry over to research in other areas of language study such as semantics, pragmatics, or language acquisition.
English 515: Techniques and Materials for TESOL
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll. It does NOT count towards the 50% graduate coursework requirement.
Instructor: TBD
Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: English 415
Description: Supervised practice in the use of current techniques and materials in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, including peer and community teaching with videotaped sessions.
English 700: Introduction to Composition Studies
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Michael Bernard-donals
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 10 am – 12:30 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/Professional standing
Description: Rhetorical, linguistic, psychological, and social foundations of writing; implications for instruction.
*&English 711: Research Methods in Applied English Linguistics
Instructor: Jacee Cho
Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30-3:45 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: An introduction to quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods in applied linguistics. The main goals of the course are (1) to develop knowledge about fundamentals of research design and quantitative & qualitative research methods and (2) to design your own research study.
&English 713: Quantitative Methods for Linguists II
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Eric Raimy
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 1:20-2:10 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/Professional standing. QMFL 1 or competence in R and descriptive statistics
Description: [English Language and Linguistics] Continuation of “Quantitative Methods for Linguists 1” which explores regression methods as a statistical tool for linguistic data. Starting with simple linear regression, multiple and mixed effects models are discussed and developed. Logistic and ordinal logistic models to analyze categorical and Likert type survey data are explored.
*French (French and Italian) 820/Italian 821: College Teaching of French/Italian
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Heather Allen; Loren Eadie
Day(s) and time: Fridays, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Introduction to teaching collegiate world languages with an emphasis on communicative and literacy-based pedagogical strategies.
*&German 727: Topics in Applied Linguistics: Epistemic Emotions in Language Education
Instructor: Julia Goetze
Day(s) and time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Research on emotions in education and SLA has traditionally centered on achievement emotions or emotions tied to standards, evaluation, and perceptions of success and failure, such as anxiety, enjoyment, boredom, shame, and guilt. While this focus reflects the realities of standards-based and test-driven educational contexts, it leaves a distinct class of emotions related to knowledge construction itself comparatively underexplored.
This graduate seminar addresses this gap by examining epistemic emotions, including curiosity, confusion, surprise, and frustration, which arise in response to novelty, cognitive incongruity, and evolving understanding. We begin with a historical overview of emotion research in SLA, situating and comparing achievement and epistemic emotions within broader theoretical paradigms. The course then surveys emerging theoretical and empirical work on epistemic emotions and explores connections to established domains such as individual differences and motivation research (e.g., proactive learning theory).
Students will engage critically with conceptual and methodological approaches to emotion research and develop an original empirical research proposal focused on epistemic emotions in instructed SLA.
Linguistics 522: Advanced Morphology
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Ryan Henke
Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Linguistics 322
Description: Advanced morphological theory.
Linguistics 800: Research Methods and Materials
This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Monica Macaulay
Day(s) and Time: Mondays, 2:25-5:25 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Professionalization activities for linguists, including writing and publishing, submitting abstracts to conferences, and creating CVs.
Psychology 414: Cognitive Psychology (3-4 cr.)
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll. It does NOT count towards the 50% graduate coursework requirement.
Instructor: Brad Postle
Day(s) and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 – 10:45 am; Thursdays 2:25 – 3:15 pm
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: PSYCH 202, (BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101 and 102), BIOLOGY/BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 151, or (BIOCORE 381 and 382)
Description: How people perceive, learn, remember, plan, solve problems, make decisions, and communicate. The main approach is psychological but will also consider contributions from computer science, linguistics, and neurobiology.
*Slavic 804: Methods of Teaching Slavic Languages
This course is not on the electives list. Please talk to your advisor before enrolling. Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll.
Instructor: Karen Evans-Romaine
Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:00-11:50 am
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Investigate the history of foreign language instruction, various models of adult foreign language acquisition, methods for teaching Russian, the creation of testing instruments, issues relevant to course design, and criteria for textbook selection.
Sociology 360: Statistics for Sociologists I (4 cr.)
Information for this class taken directly from Course Search and Enroll. It does NOT count towards the 50% graduate coursework requirement.
Instructor: Christine Schwartz
Day(s) and Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 pm, lab dates vary – check Course Search & Enroll
Modality: In person
Prerequisites: Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A requirement
Description: Presentation of sociological data; descriptive statistics; probability theory and statistical inference; estimation and tests of hypotheses; regression and correlation and the analysis of contingency tables.