UIA offer course TESL? Ye ke ni?

 UIA offer course TESL? Ye ke ni? 

 I didn't even know that, not until my last semester of my foundation studies. Oh, before that, let us say hi to each other first hehe. This would be my very first post in this beautiful second year of COVID-19 which is the year 2021. As you may guess, I got a lot of time on my hand, hence this post gonna be soooooo long. Just to clench my thirst to write something lol.

Anyway, let's get back to the topic. The answer issss YESSSSS!!!!! UIA does offer TESL course for both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Wait, you know right what is TESL? A short form for the Teaching English as a Second Language, or, in a simple word, English Education for Second Language Learners (still not simple lol). 

The TESL course is offered in UIA/IIUM under the Kulliyyah of Education. Along with TESL, there are 3 more education courses that are offered under this Kulliyyah/Faculty. The 3 courses are:

1. Teaching Arabic as a Second Language (TAASL)
2. Islamic Education (ISED)

3. Counselling and Guidance (GUIDE)

I received many and many questions every year about how did I manage to join TESL for my degree when IIUM did not offer any TESL course for foundation studies. Well, I might answer it here straight away, just to make things more clear. 

Okay, so the story is like this. 

I joined IIUM in the year 2015 as a student of Foundation in Bachelor of  English Language and Literature (BENL). That was my third choice for my UPU, lol I PUT THAT ONE JUST FOR FUN AND I GOT IT????? Anyway, fast forward to one and a half year later, we need to fill in an online form about the degree that we're going to do in the main campus (Gombak campus). As far as this forgetful Ain remembers, there were some English-related courses listed in the choices, including BENL, TESL and Bachelor in English Communication (ENCOM)

Well, let me be very honest with you. TESL WAS NOT ON MY LIST ye. At that time, I was simply contemplating to either put BENL or ENCOM as my first choice. Never ever thought about pursuing TESL. But then when I consulted my mother about my choices, she said "Ngah, why don't you try applying for TESL?" She's an English teacher btw, that's probably why. So yeah I applied. And it's written there, there might be an interview for those who applied for TESL. I didn't really pay attention to that, because yeah, I'm not interested at all initially kan.

Yada, yada, I think one month later, those who applied for TESL got an email from the faculty, calling for an interview. Lah pelagi mak aku suruh pergi ler... I did well lah kot during the interview, that I was accepted for the course???? Haha so that would be all, on how I manage to secure a place in this course. Not many people were accepted though. Only those who passed the iv obviously. 

"Waitttttttt!! 

What if I'm not from CFS UIA? 

What if I am from STPM? 

What if I took TESL diploma from other uni? 

What if I took non-English related course before this?

 Can I still apply?"

The answer is YESSSSS!! You are always welcomed to apply for the course. The thing is that, the procedure is going to be slightly different from mine, because I am an ex-CFS with English-related course. I don't even know if the procedure for my category is still the same though for this year, especially with the COVID things coming into the frame. Maybe no face-to-face iv?

Just to assure you guys, I got a lot of TESL classmates that are of the categories above. I have direct-intake classmates who were from STPM, Diploma, Change-of-Programme and even international student. Joining degree together, we are all back to square one. No one is superior to others, be it you're from CFS or you're a direct intake student. That's how we maintain the harmony gittuu.

Writing this definitely brings me back to the memory lane. Maybe I should write more about my experience joining TESL in IIUM? Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that lol. Stay tune and stay safe!!

Bye!

p/s: I'm gonna leave this amazing offer letter here for me to remember the beginning of my amazing 4 years journey of degree :)

And just like that, it's 2021 already....