How to get the most from your MA course

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Thank you very much for following the link to this page. It contains just a few questions relating to your experiences as an MA student of English Language Teaching or of Applied Linguistics. The purpose is to help me to provide advice and information for people who are considering taking such a course in the future. I shall be presenting a session - 'How to get the most from your MA course' - on this topic at the IATEFL annual conference in Brighton on 18th April. If you are able to complete the questionnaire below this would be most appreciated. As you can see, the form is anonymous, although if you wish to provide your email address so that I can send you a report in the future, there is space at the end for you to do so. No names or other means of identifying individuals will be used in my session or any subsequent write-up. Thanks again! Shelagh Rixon

an MA in English Language Teaching

an MA in English for Special Purposes

an MA in the teaching of English to Young Learners

an MA in the teaching of English Language with Multimedia

an MA in Applied Linguistics

an MA in Education with modules concerning aspects of English Language teaching

any other MA but with modules concerning aspects of English Language Teaching

Other

If you choose, you may type in the name of the institution where your MA takes place and its location. If you prefer not to do so, please move to the next question.

nine months

twelve months

two years

more than two years

Full time

Part time

Other

The institution was the first to accept my application

Word of mouth. People I know had studied there and liked it

The course had very good on-line information

The institution has high rankings in league tables

The structure of the course suited my personal time table

The content of the course seemed very relevant to my needs

This was an affordable course

Other [please comment below]

If you have other comments on how you chose your course, please type them in the box. If not, please pass to the next question

Some topics were very new and unfamiliar

It was difficult to decide on which assignment questions to answer

My course has exams, which are a stressful experience

I was not used before to writing long essays and papers

Referencing conventions are challenging to master

I found/find deciding on a dissertation topic difficult

The teaching culture on my MA was/is unfamiliar. It was/is difficult to work out what my teachers wanted from me

Other

In this box you may write more about the special challenges that you found on your MA course. If you have no comments of this type, please move to the next question

If you have further responses or comments concerning your best decisions, please type them in the text box. If not, please pass to the next question

While you were following your MA course, did you make any decisions or do anything (with reference to your studies) which you now regret? There are a few ideas in the responses opposite. Please click on as many as are true for you, but it would also be helpful if you wrote your own details about any Bad Decisions that you are prepared to share in the text box below (required)

Financial; I miscalculated the amount of money I would need to complete my studies comfortably

Other financial decisions

Time-use: I undertook paid employment which left me less time for my studies

Other time-use Bad Decisions

Study-related Bad Decisions

Bad Decisions of a personal nature

Other

No bad decisions to report!

If you are prepared to share any Bad Decisions that you wish you had avoided on your MA course, this could be very helpful to people thinking of studying for an MA in the future. Remember that this questionnaire is anonymous if you choose and that the identity of all respondents will be kept confidential

Have you any advice that you think would help people considering studying for an MA in the future? This could be about any aspect of MA life e.g. personal, financial, study, cultural, choice of institution and most interesting topics. All advice will be gratefully considered and made available to the people who attend my conference session. If you have nothing to write in this box, thank you and please go to the next part of the questionnaire

If you would like a report on the findings of this questionnaire and on the session that I build around it, please write an email address here. This is entirely optional. Otherwise, the respondents to this questionnaire will be entirely anonymous. Thanks again!

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