PhD Program

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• An appropriate master's degree with a grade equivalent to a University of Toronto B+ or better from a recognized university is required.

• Admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a master's thesis, or the equivalent in the form of a scholarly piece of writing.

• Ordinarily, applicants will have a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education PhD degree program web page.

Completion Requirements

• Coursework. Students must successfully complete a total of 3.5 to 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) depending on previous experience and academic qualifications, as follows:

  • A minimum of 2.0 FCEs within the LLE program, including CTL3001H Research Colloquium in Language and Literacies Education, if not previously taken at the master's level. If CTL3001H was taken at the master's level, students are not permitted to take it again and should substitute it with another LLE program course (0.5 FCE).

  • CTL3899H Proseminar in Language and Literacies Education, if not previously taken at the master's level. If CTL3899H was taken at the master's level, students are not permitted to take it again and should substitute it with another LLE program course (0.5 FCE).

  • A research methods course relevant to the topic of the thesis (0.5 FCE). Any of the following courses can fulfil this requirement: CTL1018H, CTL1041H, CTL1306H, CTL3033H, CTL3807H, APD1296H, APD3202H, JOI1287H, JOI1288H, JOI3228H, or SJE1905H.

  • A student wishing to propose an alternative course to fulfil one of the LLE course requirements must obtain the approval of the LLE program coordinator and either their faculty advisor or thesis supervisor.

• Comprehensive examination, which consists of two parts. 1) The first is longer, untimed, and generally related to the area of study that doctoral students intend to pursue for their dissertation. 2) The second is timed (two weeks for full-time PhD students, four weeks for flexible-time PhD students) and is designed to assess students' breadth of knowledge in LLE.

  Students are provided six prompts addressing a wide range of questions related to LLE (theory, major research domains, research methods); they choose one and write a response within the specified timeframe.

  The Comprehensive Exam is offered twice per year (winter and summer). While students are encouraged to initiate the process as close to the end of their coursework as possible, they must successfully pass the exam by the end of the Year 3.

  Papers are evaluated as Pass, Revise and Resubmit, or Fail. Students who receive a Fail may attempt the exam one more time.

• A thesis embodying the results of an original investigation, and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the content and implications of the thesis.

• Students are responsible for meeting deadlines to complete their course requirements, thesis committee formation, comprehensive examination, and thesis ethical review.

• Full-time PhD students must maintain full-time status throughout their program of study.

• Students must register continuously and pay the full-time fee until all degree requirements have been fulfilled.

• Students cannot transfer between the full-time and flexible-time PhD options.

Mode of Delivery: In person
Program Length: 4 years full-time (typical registration sequence: Continuous)
Time Limit: 6 years full-time

 

PhD Program (Flexible-Time)

Minimum Admission Requirements

• Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning's additional admission requirements stated below.

• An appropriate master's degree with a grade equivalent to a University of Toronto B+ or better from a recognized university is required.

• Admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a master's thesis, or the equivalent in the form of a scholarly piece of writing.

• Ordinarily, applicants will have a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience prior to applying.

• Responses to Faculty questions in the online admissions application: applicants should state the reasons they wish to study language and literacies in education at the graduate level. For detailed information on answering the Faculty questions and completing the application, applicants should visit the Language and Literacies in Education PhD degree program web page.

• Applicants must demonstrate that they are currently employed and are active professionals engaged in activities relevant to their proposed program of study.

Completion Requirements

• Coursework. Students must complete 3.5 to 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) depending on previous experience and academic qualifications, as follows:

  • A minimum of 2.0 FCEs within the LLE program, including CTL3001H Research Colloquium in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE) and CTL3899H Proseminar in Language and Literacies Education (0.5 FCE), if not previously taken at the master's level. If CTL3001H or CTL3899H was taken at the master's level, students are not permitted to take it again and should substitute it with another LLE program course (0.5 FCE).

  • A research methods course relevant to the topic of the thesis (0.5 FCE). Any of the following courses can fulfil this requirement: CTL1018H, CTL1041H, CTL1306H, CTL3033H, CTL3807H, APD1296H, APD3202H, JOI1287H, JOI1288H, JOI3228H, or SJE1905H.

  • A student wishing to propose an alternative course to fulfil one of the LLE course requirements will be required to obtain the approval of the LLE program coordinator and either their faculty advisor or thesis supervisor.

• Comprehensive examination, which consists of two parts. 1) The first is longer, untimed, and generally related to the area of study that doctoral students intend to pursue for their dissertation. 2) The second is timed (two weeks for full-time PhD students, four weeks for flexible-time PhD students) and is designed to assess students' breadth of knowledge in LLE.

  Students are provided six prompts addressing a wide range of questions related to LLE (theory, major research domains, research methods); they choose one and write a response within the specified timeframe.

  The Comprehensive Exam is offered twice per year (winter and summer). While students are encouraged to initiate the process as close to the end of their coursework as possible, they must successfully pass the exam by the end of Year 4.

  Papers are evaluated as Pass, Revise and Resubmit, or Fail. Students who receive a Fail may attempt the exam one more time.

• A thesis embodying the results of an original investigation, and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the content and implications of the thesis.

• Students are responsible for meeting deadlines to complete their course requirements, thesis committee formation, comprehensive examination, and thesis ethical review.

• Students must register continuously until all degree requirements have been fulfilled. They must register full-time during the first four years and may continue as part-time thereafter, with their department's approval.

• Students cannot transfer between the full-time and flexible-time PhD options.

Mode of Delivery: In person
Program Length: 7 years full-time (typical registration sequence: Continuous)
Time Limit: 8 years full-time