MA TESOL Students’ Perceptions of the Relevance and Application of Sociolinguistics Course Content for Teaching Practice

Sonporn Sirikhan

Authors

Sonporn Sirikhan International College, Payap University, Thailand

Keywords:

sociolinguistics, TESOL students, teaching practice, student perceptions

Abstract

This study explored MA TESOL students’ perceptions of the relevance of sociolinguistics course content and how it applies to their future teaching practices. Although sociolinguistics courses are often part of TESOL graduate programs, limited research has examined how students assess their practical value in teaching. Using a qualitative classroom-based approach, this study employed a post-course evaluation framework to examine students’ perspectives on course content. Data were collected through focus group interviews with six international MA TESOL students at a private university in Thailand. The findings indicate that multilingualism and pragmatics were perceived as highly relevant due to their clear pedagogical applicability and connection to real-world communication. Meanwhile, discourse analysis and language and gender were viewed as less directly transferable to classroom practice because their pedagogical applications were unclear. In addition to the relevance of the topic, participants’ reflections showed how they connected the course content to their teaching practice. Three recurring themes emerged: recognition of multilingual practices, reconsideration of norms of correctness, and awareness related to teacher agency. These shifts included greater acceptance of linguistic diversity, increased emphasis on intelligibility, and critical awareness of language ideologies, particularly native-speakerism and the professional legitimacy of non-native English-speaking teachers. Overall, although the sample size was limited, these findings highlight the importance of focusing on contextual relevance, explicit pedagogical connections, and awareness of language issues in TESOL programs to enhance reflective and socially aware teaching practices in multilingual educational contexts.

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