Job Discussion Forums

Niste · Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 73

I was thinking of taking on all the additional stress of an MA in TESOL or, even more impressively, Applied Linguistics. We are based in the UK at present, but may move back some time in the next couple of years and what I wanted to know was...Has anyone done or is anyone doing a distance-learning MA from a UK university, and how easy was it to get hold of the necessary materials ? Was all you needed sent to you or did you have to order half a library's worth from Amazon or some such ? Ta.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

you can join the Bosphorous university library. All the books you will ever need are available.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

I had a friend here who did her distance MA from Aston Univ in the UK. Don't know any details, but you might look into it.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

DMB

About Bosphorous library. I am sure it is fantastic but can you take books away or can you only read them in the library? Also what are the photocopying facilities like?

For the Op. Of course you will have problems getting books, journals etc. but everyone has that problem even those with a UK uni on their doorstep. The usual advice is to not to worry unduly about that one paper from Action Research Quarterly that you couldn't get hold of but to move on, finish the assignment and realise that assignments are for finishing.
You can get so much on CD ROM now-niche publications sell CD ROMs of ELTJ etc.

Rather than worrying about books etc. I would think long and hard about motivation because that is likely to be the biggest problem. If you aim to finish in a reasonable amount of time then sticking to deadlines with nobody to push you is very hard. I know of one person who wrote her thesis about the pain of distance learning and it was based on a diary she kept while doing a distance learning programme.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Aston actually have an Office here in Istanbul, somewhere in Levent. My info is maybe out of date, but the course Diretor was Jane Willis and she used to be in Istanbul every second month for tutorials.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

It is in 4 Levent and is one room in a villa that is the base of an organisation called Teamwork Training. They have a small library and a collection of relevant papers.

Jane Willis is almost retired but still peddles TBL and has co-authored a book on primary EFL.

She was never here every other month but twice a year for 3 days at a time. One trip was always timed to conincide with Bilkent conference.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Im not sure about taking books out, but there are photocoping facilities. A friend of mine is currently taking time out to finish his MA and spends everyday up there(closed Saturdays) They are quite happy to photocopy whole books for you. 31, is correct about the motivation thing.
Ms willis was out here more than twice a year, although probably more for social reasons.

ImanH · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Posts: 214 Location: Istanbul

One way that you might get around the difficulties of getting resources is through electronic access, since universities increasingly are switching to e-journals. You would need access to a good internet connection, of course. It would be worth checking, too, if you would be entitled to electronic access if you did the MA by distance learning as there are issues related to copyright that restrict to whom universities can offer such services.

Niste · Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 73

Thanks for all that information. Did any of you actually ever meet the redoubtable Mrs Willis ? I know Chomsky's done the odd turn or two, and relatively less relevantly, so did Jaques Derrida, 5 years ago. But Jane Willis...? Surely one of the brightest stars in the EFL firmanent, and a regular visitor to Istanbul ! Any other famous TEFL gods / esses ever turn up ?

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I've been to a few conferences here, they attratated Lewis, ure and Bolitho amongst others. The Bilkent conference usually gets a few big names.

Oh we also have baba alex. He is famous. he's been on the telly and everything.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

I have met Jane Willis a number of times. She is a charming person and has loads of TEFL anecdotes. Her husband is also in TEFL and recently retired from Birmingham Uni. She is semi retired now and they have a house in the Lake District where they are both into walking.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

[quote="dmb"]I've been to a few conferences here, they attratated Lewis, ure

Midge or Penny?

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I was talking about Penny(actually sat next to her at lunch once-how's that for a claim to fame, didnt make it on the telly though) I heard Midge was now on the circuit giving plenaries on how to use the quote function.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Leicester do a Distance MA. I did the first part and got a Diploma. It was OK although I did not particularly enjoy the work. Well it was work. You are not SUPPOSED to enjoy it !

Niste · Joined: 28 Jul 2005 Posts: 73

The Leicester MA looked good to me during my most recent round of research. Just have to stump up the cash / credit to do the swine now. Assuming I'm accepted to do it, obviously. And I suppose for that to happen I need to apply to do it. There's the further ed. PGCE, which is a generic qualification mostly irrelevant to EFL teaching but which has the massive advantage of costing 15 quid a year (that's 30 in total, maths buffs). Maybe worth considering. The third option is to sit around for another year doing s*d all but work, read things that are genuinely interesting, and save up a bit more for that elusive 2-bed kusadasi timeshare. Hmmm.