The M.A. Program in Linguistics (TESOL), founded in April 2006, builds on Sophia’s traditional strengths in linguistics and foreign language education. It provides graduate courses similar to those in the United States and Canada with emphasis on both theory and practice.

The approximately 10 faculty members in TESOL have advanced degrees from leading universities in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Japan, and are actively engaged in research, teacher training and publication in their specializations. They represent a diverse spectrum of applied linguistics and language education, ensuring a comprehensive program for anyone interested in teaching English as a second or foreign language.
Every year 8 applicants are admitted to pursue the M.A. degree, and although the TESOL program is a M.A. program, many students go on to study for their Ph.D. Linguistics program. The size of the program is kept small to encourage close student-faculty interaction.

The M.A. Program in Linguistics (TESOL) and the Ph.D. program in Linguistics offer the degrees of M.A. in Linguistics and Ph.D. in Linguistics respectively. The students are required to take three compulsory courses–TEFL(Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in Japan, Introduction to Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition—as well as a designated number of credits from courses offered in the Core Courses, as well as Integrated Seminars I and II in consultation with faculty members. The students work on their M.A. thesis under the guidance of an academic advisor, who also chairs their M.A. thesis committee. Ph.D. students in Linguistics work on their dissertation under the guidance of an academic advisor, but are not required to do any specific course work.

Both the TESOL and Linguistics Ph.D. programs are designed in such a way that all required credits and consultation can be attained through the medium of English. However, there are also courses which are offered in Japanese as well. The TESOL and Linguistics programs draw on the resources of the Sophia Linguistics Institute for International Communication. The institute sponsors many lectures and workshops by both Japanese and international scholars—many of whom give their presentation in English–providing additional opportunities for the students to learn about their areas of specialization through the medium of English. The students are also encouraged to give presentations at domestic as well as international conferences starting from the M.A. level.

For detailed course information, please click the link below, which will take you the Syllabus Inquiry page on Loyola.
Syllabus inquiry

Entry Semester:

Spring (April)

Method of Admissions:

Document screening and Oral Examination at the Yotsuya campus (online interview is not available)

Information session:

Any future admission information sessions will be announced here.
Booklets about the TESOL Program and other topics are available for download from the webpage of Graduate School of Languages and Linguistics

Information Session Schedule：June 8, 2024

Please check this PDFfor details.

※Only applicants who hold valid residence status in Japan can apply to the February Examination.

Download Application Booklet 2025
*The details of the on-line application website are indicated in the above application booklet.

• Reference Letter Form PDF(48.67 KB) / WORD(34.50 KB)

-Details of Tuitions and Fees (*Go to our Web Piloti website)
-Details of Scholarships (*Go to our Web Piloti website)

New Scholarship opportunity!
“Sophia University Graduate School Scholarship for Fostering Researchers in Doctoral Program”

Starting April 2022, Sophia University has established a new scholarship program, the “Sophia University Graduate School Scholarship for Fostering Researchers in Doctoral Program”. The scholarship is provided to all regular students who are enrolled in Doctoral Programs of Sophia University Graduate School and satisfy the requirements annually within their required residence term. Students do not need to submit scholarship application at admission. For more information, click here (*Go to our Web Piloti website).

If you are interested in the MEXT Embassy Recommendation scholarship, click here (*Go to our Web Piloti website).
Note: Sophia University does not accept applications for the following MEXT scholarships.

• Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship [University Recommendation] Top Global University

• Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship [Kokunai Saiyo]