My first year experience as a Master's student in IIUM (TESL)

Hi!

This is my first post for 2019! 2019-year of instilling positivity! That is my motto for this year and hopefully it works. So far so good. There was a time when I fall apart but I believe that I need to keep going because I did not come this far, just to come this far! Ain't it?

I did not have any plan to further my study back then but who knows, right after I finished my internship, Allah opened my heart to continue doing Master. After a continuous discussion with my parents I decided to further my study in IIUM, the same place where I had my degree. Yes! I came back to the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue.

Procedure untuk nak apply Master was not that complicated. I applied online through e-admission IIUM. Kena upload a few documents such as degree scroll, transcript, SPM result, sijil berhenti sekolah and so on. 2 months after that, I received my offer letter. Oh not to forget, we have to pay RM100 for application fee.

Everything went smoothly. I taknak datang Taaruf Week, so I came early to settle down the hostel and to verify documents. For your information, ex IIUM tak kena ambil Arabic Placement Test (APT) and English Placement Test (EPT). For outsiders, yes you cannot skip Taaruf Week because there will be briefing about Celpad and what not. Penting guys!

I request nak stay Mahallah Asiah sebab I dah biasa. I suka toilet dia bersih dan besar. Basically, block postgraduate sama je macam undergraduate cuma bilik dia besar sikit, and each compartment ada pintu. Toilet still kat luar bilik, shared toilet, and dalam bilik ada sinki.  Kalau students degree takde pintu, tutup compartment guna langsir je.

                                              This is my room. Each room ada 4 compartments.

                                                              Ruang tengah bilik.

For those yang bukan dari kuliyyah Education, we have to take 3 prerequisite subjects.

1.  Principles of Teaching
2.  Practice of Teaching
3.  Intro to Education

No worries, waktu ambil prerequisite subjects ni you guys boleh ambil core course dengan elective lain jugak. Maximum credit hour 15. Prerequisite subjects ni best sebab we learn started from the very basic. As a teacher, we need to have the knowledge of the subjects and also pedagogical knowledge (teaching approach) as well. Most Masters program yang UIA offer duration dia 2 tahun. For Kuliyyah of Education (KOED) Master in TESL ada 3 jenis:

1. Fully research 
2. Coursework with directed research
3. Coursework with thesis (mixed mode)

I'm taking coursework with directed research. Basically, dia macam degree sebab you kena pergi kelas, ada assignment, presentation, group works and so on dan final year nanti you ada research macam FYP. I cuma mampu share based on my experience sebab I pun still in my first year. Uhukkk. Will update from time to time okay, InsyaAllah. So far apa yang I boleh cakap, as a postgraduate student you tak boleh lari or elak daripada research. I pun ingatkan I dah terselamat daripada research bila ambil coursework tapi I salah huhuuu. Some subjects even required us to publish our research. The first month of my Master journey was a disaster! I kept crying and doubting myself either I can do this or nor. I even have a thought of quit from my study, to some extent, but then I managed to pull myself together and now I am here, still struggling. I texted my seniors, asked for their advice. One thing that gives a big impact to me was when my senior said "postgraduate life is totally different than ug, its a lonely journey, it is also an opportunity for you to be a better human being, a better Muslim". I cried babe..sebab seriously rasa sunyi sangat-sangat. I mean, yeah I still kat UIA yg sama, environment yang sama but without my friends anymore. Postgrad ni semua orang macam bawa haluan masing-masing tau, takde nak berkawan sangat. My classmates baik-baik je, we joke around, talk about personal things tapi I tak rapat sangat macam mana rapat dengan kawan-kawan degree dulu. And not to forget sometimes you akan rasa ada barrier sikit sebab some of them are a way much older than you, dah bekerjaya and some of them even work as lecturers. Your class lecturer pun treat you differently and itu salah satu sebab yang I rasa down gila-gila awal masuk Master haritu. Lama-lama you tahu macam mana nak bawa diri, then okay lah. InsyaAllah. Pesanan I for those yang nak sambung study, istikharah dulu. Minta bantuan dan doa Allah tunjukkan the best paths for us. Kadang-kadang kita rasa macam kita boleh buat, tapi sebenarnya kita tak boleh, kita jatuh. Doa juga moga Dia pegang dan tetapkan hati kita. InsyaAllah, Allah pasti akan tolong hambaNya yang nak menuntut ilmu, kan? Kita yakin itu.

Try to join program or event conducted by postgrad centre by kuliyyah. Dari sini, kita akan dapat macam2 pengalaman dari sharing session senior. Study hack and stuff. I knew how to make petition for short semester fro Master's students, how to choose supervisor for thesis, how proposal defense is conducted, what subjects should not be taken together and other beneficial stuff based on the program conducted by postgrad society of Kuliyyah of Education.

Alhamdulillah, daripada postgrad hack by seniors ni juga la, I managed to approached my research supervisor during my first semester, submitted my concept paper in the same semester, which was quite advance actually, and I even working on my research yang dah 75% complete. Just nak touch up je lagii. I even presented my concept paper in front of Indonesian delegation, whereby most of them are PhD students and even lecturers. Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. So point dia, jangan hanya fokus pada your work or thesis je. Blend in, mingle around, ask senior, borak2 dgn lecturers. Okay?

 The Indonesian delegation

After presenting my research paper

You can check the total cost and mahallah fee kat IIUM website because it keep on changing. So far untuk 2 tahun Master Coursework tahun 2019/2020, the total cost is RM5,800+ and Mahallah (hostel) RM1212.50 per semester. 

Ni list subject untuk Coursework TESL:

Pre-requisite subjects:

     1. Intro to Education
     2. Principles of Teaching
     3. Practice of Teaching

Core Courses:

1. Research Methodology
2. Qualitative Research Methods
3. Advanced History and Philosophy of Islamic Education
4. Educational Measurements Statistics

Specialized Courses:

1. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching
2. Meeting the Literacy Needs of ESL Learners
3. Language Testing and Evaluation
4. Design and Implementation of Educational Software
5. ICT for English Language Teaching
6. Instructional Media in English

Elective Courses:

1. Cognition, Learning and Literacy Development
2. Foundation in Multicultural Education in ESL Context
3. English for Specific Purposes
4. Syllabus Design and Materials Development
5. Internship

(Update October 2021): Saya dah grad master! Alhamdulillah. I have wrote a short entry on what happened after my first semester, feel free to read: https://enyscha.blogspot.com/2021/10/finally-i-graduated-from-my-masters.html

(Update March 2022): Finally the long-awaited convo was conducted! I graduated with 2021 Best Master Student Award and 36th IIUM Valedictorian! Subhanallah Allahuakbar. All praises belong to Allah. Alhamdulillah.