Certificates

Bachelor Level

Description

The Certificate in Computational Linguistics is designed to provide academic training in the study of computational approaches to language analysis. The curriculum assumes no prior linguistic or programming knowledge and introduces students to a variety of computational methods and their theoretical underpinnings including: writing programs in Python to process raw texts (tokenization), discovering statistical patterns in linguistic data (frequency distribution), performing part-of-speech tagging, text segmentation, and classification,(context-free grammars, dependency grammars), extracting meaning from texts, and applying various machine learning methods to data mining.

Coordinator

Anastasia Smirnova
Email: smirnov@sfsu.edu
Phone: (415) 338-3102
Office: HUM 429

Requirements

  • ENG 420 - Introduction to the Study of Language
  • ENG 421 - Syntax
  • ENG 620 - Introduction to Computational Linguistics
  • ENG 680 - Applied Computational Linguistics

Selected One:

  • ENG 424 - Phonology and Morphology
  • CSC 620 - Natural Language Technologies 

Admission to the Program

If you currently are NOT a matriculated student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials”

  • In a coherent personal essay: 1) Explain your interest in the Certificate; 2) describe prior work experience which led you to have an interest in this program; 3) explain how this certificate program contributes to your overall professional growth.

  • Please upload legible unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended. Including study abroad coursework, or community college coursework, even if this coursework appears as transfer credit appears on your degree transcript. Full academic disclosure is required. Photographs or screenshots of transcripts will be rejected. An incomplete academic history will significantly delay review of your application. The Division of Graduate Studies may request official transcripts from you at any point during the application review process.  

    If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to the SF State in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

  • Please note that you cannot take more than two courses for the certificate program through College of Extended Learning. Also, certificate students who are not enrolled in a B.A. or M.A. program are not eligible for financial aid.

If you currently ARE a matriculated undergraduate student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the program, you do not need to apply to the University, but you must submit a Certificate of Admission Application (pdf), statement of purpose, and unofficial transcripts to the Department of English office in HUM 484 or email the documents.The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1.

Requirement Upon Completion

For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the Computational Linguistics certificate.

In order to be accepted to an undergraduate certificate program, a student must have completed 56 semester units of undergraduate course work with a 2.0 (C) grade point average. A maximum of 6 Technical and Professional Writing advisor-approved transfer units is allowed toward the certificate.

Before completing the certificate, students must demonstrate appropriate writing competency by successful completion of the required 18 units of upper-division, writing-intensive Technical and Professional Writing course work.

Requirements

Course Courses

  • ENG 400GW - Fundamentals of Professional Writing and Rhetoric - GWAR
  • ENG 540 - Professional Editing
  • ENG 545 - Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
  • ENG 695 - Internship in Professional Writing and Rhetoric

Elective Courses

Chosen from skills electives courses described under the B.A. program, including a minimum of 6 Technical and Professional Writing units - see an advisor.

Note: All units applied to the Technical and Professional Writing certificate must be earned with a grade of C or better.

Admission to the Certificate Program

If you ARE NOT currently a matriculated student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials”

  • unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended.

If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to SF State in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

If you ARE currently a matriculated undergraduate student at SF State and you wish to apply for admission to the program, please submit a Certificate of Admission Application (pdf) by email to: english@sfsu.edu along with the following documents:

  • unofficial transcripts

The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1.

Requirement Upon Completion

For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the TPW certificate.

Description

Designed to serve SF State undergraduates, this certificate is an introduction to the TESOL field with courses that provide foundational skills and knowledge in language acquisition and pedagogy needed for an entry level positions as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, tutor, or instructional aide in a variety of settings in the US and language teaching contexts around the world.

This certificate does not provide a California Teaching Credential, but it supplements other teaching preparation and could be applied to being an instructional aid in public schools or to teaching or tutoring adults in private schools and language institutes that do not require teaching credentials. 

For questions, please contact the coordinator.

Coordinator

Priya Abeywickrama
Phone: (415) 338-3095
Email: abeywick@sfsu.edu

Certificate in Special Study in TESOL - 12 units

  • ENG 423 - Language Analysis for Language Teachers
  • ENG 426 - Second Language Acquisition
  • ENG 523 - Tutoring Practicum
  • ENG 608 - Language Teaching in Multilingual Contexts

Admission to the Certificate Program

If you ARE NOT currently a matriculated student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials”

  • A statement explaining your interest in the Certificate (1 page)
  • unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended.

If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to SF State in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

If you ARE currently a matriculated undergraduate student at SF State with a minimum GPA of 2.8, and you wish to apply for admission to the program, please submit a Certificate of Admission Application (pdf) by email: english@sfsu.edu along with the following documents:

  • A statement explaining your interest in the Certificate (1 page)
  • unofficial transcripts

The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1.

Once you complete the 4 courses in the certificate (with a minimum 2.0 average), the English Dept. will inform Graduate Studies (they issue all undergrad and grad certificates) and you will fill out the Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form to receive the Certificate in Special Study in TESOL.

 

    Master Level

    Description

    The certificate program is designed to provide academic training in the study of language, literacies and the immigrant experience. The program integrates community service learning to enable certificate students to integrate their professional expertise and cross-disciplinary thinking with meaningful civic action.

    Coordinator

    Maricel Santos
    Email: mgsantos@sfsu.edu
    Phone: (415) 338-7445
    Building: HUM 465

    Courses (12 units)

    • ENG 832 - Seminar on Immigrant Literacies & Community-based Projects

    Select on the following:

    • ENG 735 - Community-based Curriculum Development
    • ENG 736 Teaching ESL in the Community

    Select one of the following:

    • HED 810 - Public Health and Community Organizing
    • HED 835 - Health Policy
    • HED 845 - Training and Educational Process
    • AAS 833 - Seminar: Asian American Family & Identity
    • AAS 875 - Asian American Community in Ethnic Studies
    • ETHS 710 - Theories and Concepts in Ethnic Studies

    Capstone:

    • XXX 899 - Special Study

      • e.g. ENG 899 for M.A. TESOL students
      • e.g. HED 899 for MPH students
      • e.g. ETHS 750 - Ethnic Community Practicum for ETHS students
      • Or equivalent graduate-level community service-learning course (with approval of advisor)

    Admission to the Program

    Required application materials for all applicants:

    1. a short personal statement which outlines your interests in immigrant language and literacy issues
    2. transcripts
    3. current vita or resume
    4. names and contact information of TWO references (provide name, job title or relationship, address, phone number)
    5. evidence of completion of the university’s Level I written English proficiency requirements*
    6. For non-matriculated students only: documentation of a passing score on the Analytical Writing section of the GRE or GMAT; or a 3-4 page academic writing sample (e.g. research paper, grant proposal, publication)

    Please note: If you are currently a matriculated graduate student, you DO NOT need to apply to the university; submit the Certificate of Admission Application (pdf) along with items 1-5 listed above to the English Department.

    If you are a prospective, non-matriculated student, you need to apply to the university through Cal State Apply, and submit the department application (pdf) along with items 1-6 listed above to Cal State Apply's "Program Materials" section. Unofficial transcripts should be uploaded to the Cal State Apply's "Program Materials" section and then official transcripts should be mailed to Graduate Studies.

    Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

    Mail official transcripts to:

    Graduate Admissions Office, ADM 250
    San Francisco State University
    1600 Holloway Ave
    San Francisco, CA 94132

    The deadline to apply for Fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for Spring semester is November 1.

    *For matriculated graduate students in TESOL: Evidence of completion of the written English proficiency requirement is determined based on a satisfactory evaluation of the student’s Statement of Purpose, submitted to the department as part of the application.

    Please note that you cannot take more than one course for the certificate program through College of Extended Learning. Also, certificate students who are not enrolled in a master’s program are not eligible for financial aid.

    Requirement Upon Completion

    For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the Immigrant Literacies certificate. Please contact the English Department at (415) 338-2660 if you have any questions.

    No course applied to the Certificate may be taken CR/NC, and a grade of A or B must be earned in each course. Students may enroll in any of the courses listed above even if they do not wish to complete the certificate. Students wishing to earn the Certificate must follow all University requirements and procedures for graduate certificate programs as outlined in the San Francisco State University Bulletin. For further information, contact the English Department, HUM 484, (415) 338-2660 or 338-2264.

    Description

    The program is designed for people who want to teach composition at the senior high school, community college, college and adult levels. It is aimed at both experienced and aspirant teachers who wish to learn about the field of composition and who wish to improve their classroom practice.

    Coordinator

    Mark Roberge
    Email: roberge@sfsu.edu
    Phone: (415) 338-7457
    Office: Humanities 467

    Courses

    The certificate consists of four courses: English 700, 704, 709, and 710.

    • English 700 - Introduction to Composition Theory: Issues of composition theory, research, and classroom practice.
    • English 704 - Pedagogical Grammar for Composition: Theory and practice of responding to linguistic, stylistic, and rhetorical issues in student writing.
    • English 709 - Seminar in Teaching Integrated Reading and Writing: Exploration of the integration of reading and writing from both a theoretical and pedagogical perspective.
    • English 710 - Course Design in Composition and Post-Secondary Reading: Theory and practice of designing post-secondary reading and composition courses. This course is offered only in spring semesters. This is the Capstone course for the Certificate. It should be taken toward the end of your certificate coursework.

    Admission to the Program

    If you currently are NOT a matriculated M.A. student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State Graduate Studies online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents (1-3) to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials” section:

    1. A statement of purpose.The statement of purpose should:

      1. Explain your interest in pursuing the degree.
      2. Describe any previous experience that may contribute to your success in the program.
      3. Establish your readiness to do graduate-level coursework.
      4. Explain what you plan to do with the degree/certificate upon completion.
      5. In addition, be sure your statement of purpose demonstrates your ability to produce clear, cogent, and polished prose.
    2. Please upload legible unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended. Including study abroad coursework, or community college coursework, even if this coursework appears as transfer credit appears on your degree transcript. Full academic disclosure is required. Photographs or screenshots of transcripts will be rejected. An incomplete academic history will significantly delay review of your application. The Division of Graduate Studies may request official transcripts from you at any point during the application review process.
    3. A copy of your resume.

    If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to the Division of Graduate Studies in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

    If selected for admission, please mail official transcripts to:

    Graduate Admissions Office, ADM 250
    San Francisco State University
    1600 Holloway Ave.
    San Francisco, CA 94132

    • If you currently ARE a matriculated M.A. student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the program, you must fill out the Grad Studies certificate application form and submit the application to the Department of English office in HUM 484 or email: english@sfsu.edu. The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1.

    Please note that you cannot take more than one course for the certificate program through College of Extended Learning. Also, certificate students who are not enrolled in a master’s program are not eligible for financial aid.

    Requirement Upon Completion

    For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the Certificates in the Teaching of Composition and Post-Secondary Reading.

    No course applied to the Certificate may be taken CR/NC, and a grade of A or B must be earned in each course. Students wishing to earn the Certificate must follow all University requirements and procedures for graduate certificate programs as outlined in the San Francisco State University Bulletin. For further information, contact the English Department, HUM 484, (415) 338-2264 or Graduate Studies at (415) 338-2234.

     

    Description

    The certificate in Teaching Post-Secondary Reading is designed to assist prospective and already practicing post-secondary teachers in meeting specific individual professional needs in the areas of basic literacy and reading instruction. The certificate can help prepare students for teaching position in the community colleges and community agencies where specialized background and techniques in reading instruction are desirable.

    The certificate meets new requirements for teaching reading in the community colleges (Assembly Bill 1725) which specifies that new instructors must possess a master’s degree in Education with a specialization in reading, or master’s in English or ESL with additional certification in the teaching of reading.

    Coordinator

    Mark Roberge
    Email: roberge@sfsu.edu
    Phone: (415) 338-7457
    Office: Humanities 467

    Certificate Program Courses

    The courses of the Certificate program, English 701, 709, 710 and 715, emphasize both theory and practice. While students receive theory primarily in English 701 and 709, coursework in all four courses, provide opportunities for immediate benefits in the practice of teaching.    

    • English 701: Theoretical Backgrounds in College Reading Instruction - Exploration of history, policy, research, and theoretical approaches that inform the practices of college reading instruction.
    • English 709: Seminar in Teaching Integrated Reading/Writing - Exploration of the integration of reading and writing from both a theoretical and pedagogical perspective. This course is only offered in fall semesters.
    • English 710: Course Design in Composition and Post-Secondary Reading - Theory and practice of designing post-secondary reading and composition courses. This course is offered only in Spring semesters. Prerequisite: English 709.
    • English 715: Pedagogy and Practice of Post-Secondary Reading - Application of theories of reading to the design of teaching activities and course designs. 

    Admission to the Program

    If you currently are NOT a matriculated M.A. student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State Graduate Studies online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents (1-3) to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials” section:

    1. A statement of purpose.The statement of purpose should:

      1. Explain your interest in pursuing the degree.
      2. Describe any previous experience that may contribute to your success in the program.
      3. Establish your readiness to do graduate-level coursework.
      4. Explain what you plan to do with the degree/certificate upon completion.
      5. In addition, be sure your statement of purpose demonstrates your ability to produce clear, cogent, and polished prose.
    2. Please upload legible unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended. Including study abroad coursework, or community college coursework, even if this coursework appears as transfer credit appears on your degree transcript. Full academic disclosure is required. Photographs or screenshots of transcripts will be rejected. An incomplete academic history will significantly delay review of your application. The Division of Graduate Studies may request official transcripts from you at any point during the application review process.
    3. A copy of your resume.

    If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to the Division of Graduate Studies in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

    If selected for admission, please mail official transcripts to:

    Graduate Admissions Office, ADM 250
    San Francisco State University
    1600 Holloway Ave.
    San Francisco, CA 94132

    • If you currently ARE a matriculated M.A. student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the program, you must fill out the Grad Studies certificate application form and submit the application to the Department of English office in HUM 484 or email: english@sfsu.edu.The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1.

    Please note that you cannot take more than one course for the certificate program through College of Extended Learning. Also, certificate students who are not enrolled in a master’s program are not eligible for financial aid.

    Requirement Upon Completion

    For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the Certificates in the Teaching of Composition and Post-Secondary Reading.

    No course applied to the Certificate may be taken CR/NC, and a grade of A or B must be earned in each course. Students wishing to earn the Certificate must follow all University requirements and procedures for graduate certificate programs as outlined in the San Francisco State University Bulletin. For further information, contact the English Department, HUM 484, (415) 338-2264 or Graduate Studies at (415) 338-2234.

    Description

    The Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Computational Linguistics is designed to provide academic training in the study of computational approaches to language analysis.  The curriculum assumes no prior linguistic or programming knowledge and introduces students to a variety of computational methods and their theoretical underpinnings including: writing programs in Python to process raw texts (tokenization), discovering statistical patterns in linguistic data (frequency distribution), performing part-of-speech tagging, text segmentation, and classification (context-free grammars, dependency grammars), extracting meaning from texts, and applying various machine learning methods to data mining. Computational tools are supported by a strong foundation in linguistic theory including natural language syntax, semantics, and metaphor identification.

    Coordinator

    Anastasia Smirnova
    Email: smirnov@sfsu.edu
    Phone: (415) 338-3102
    Office: HUM 429

    Requirements

    • ENG 620 - Introduction to Computational Linguistics
    • ENG 680 - Applied Computational Linguistics
    • ENG 719 - Seminar: Contemporary  Semantic Theory
    • ENG 707 - Topics in Language Analysis

    Selected One:

    • ENG 821 - Syntax
    • ENG 737 - Introduction to Corpus Linguistics

    Admission to the Program

    If you currently are NOT a matriculated student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the certificate program, you must apply to the university. To do so, you will need to apply to SF State online through Cal State Apply. You will also need to upload the following documents to the Cal State Apply site’s “Program Materials”

    • In a coherent personal essay: 1) Explain your interest in the Certificate; 2) describe prior work experience which led you to have an interest in this program; 3) explain how this certificate program contributes to your overall professional growth.

    • Please upload legible unofficial copies of transcripts from each college or university attended. Including study abroad coursework, or community college coursework, even if this coursework appears as transfer credit appears on your degree transcript. Full academic disclosure is required. Photographs or screenshots of transcripts will be rejected. An incomplete academic history will significantly delay review of your application. The Division of Graduate Studies may request official transcripts from you at any point during the application review process.  

      If selected for admission, you will be required to submit official transcripts to the SF State in order to secure your offer of admission. Please note: if you previously attended SF State, you do not need to submit a SF State transcript.

    • Please note that you cannot take more than two courses for the certificate program through College of Extended Learning. Also, certificate students who are not enrolled in a B.A. or M.A. program are not eligible for financial aid.

    If you currently ARE a matriculated undergraduate student at SF State, and you wish to apply for admission to the program, you do not need to apply to the University, but you must submit a Certificate of Admission Application (pdf), statement of purpose, and unofficial transcripts to the Department of English office in HUM 484 or email the documents.The deadline to apply for fall semester is May 1; the deadline to apply for spring semester is November 1. 

    Requirement Upon Completion

    For the final award of the degree, students must fill out a Certificate Approved Program (CAP) form (pdf) available on the Graduate Studies website, pay the $7.00 application fee, and email the form to english@sfsu.edu for the Computational Linguistics certificate.