Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Any graduate-level program is bound to be complicated as there are many different facets to attaining an advanced degree. We understand that involvement in the program involves a substantial commitment and we hope that our students take that seriously. Based on that, there are things that prospective applicants need to know in order to make the right decisions about their future. There are also things that students already involved in the program need to know to help them perform better and get the most out of their time in the MA. The ability to make important decisions and perform well is based on knowledge. To help in this respect, this page provides up-to-date answers to some of the questions frequently asked by prospective students as well as those who are already in the program. Questions not addressed here can be directed to the Sookmyung TESOL MA Office or any of the faculty members. Current Students (APA Style 글쓰기, 논문찾는 방법 등등) Prospective Students (for 입학에 관심이 있는 예비 신입생)

FAQs for Potential Students 1. How much is the tuition? The tuition varies slightly from semester to semester but in general it is approximately 4.3. million won per semester. For the first semester there is also an extra, one-time registration fee of approximately 900,000 won. For the first semester both the tuition and the registration fee are paid together. They also need to be paid early, shortly after one has been informed of their acceptance into the program. For the other semesters, tuition fees are due shortly before classes begin. 2. Do I need to take a certificate before applying to the MA? There have been major policy shifts in the MA of late regarding the certificate programs. Individuals interested in pursuing the TESOL MA with us are no longer required to do a certificate program (starting from spring 2015). Those who have taken one of the approved certificates can apply as transfer students. If accepted they can transfer credit worth one semester (up to 6 credits) and take an additional 24 credits in the MA. Those who have not taken an approved certificate at Sookmyung are also encouraged to apply. If accepted they simply complete 30 credits (5 semesters) in the MA. It is important to note that once accepted into MA students cannot take a certificate course (추가로 궁금한 사안은 조교실로 문의 ) (조교실 근무시간 - 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM (Mon, Thu) 번호 - (02) 2077 - 7760, 이메일 - tesolma@sookmyung.ac.kr) People interested in the Sookmyung TESOL MA who are not sure whether they should take a certificate prior to the MA should consult with faculty or staff of the MA. We are happy to provide guidance in this important decision. 3. How should I prepare for the interview? The interview is an important aspect of the application process, but it is not the only factor considered. Applicants should be concerned about being able to show their best selves. In the interview we are checking for many different factors simultaneously and it is best not to think about all these things. Focus on providing thoughtful answers to the questions. This is a semi-structured interview, which means that the questions are only partially predetermined. There are, however, topic areas that are generally covered and these generally include: -Educational background -Experience -Motivation for graduate study -Future plans -Academic readiness -Personality Important to us as well is that the applicant really knows what she or he wants and also has taken the time to find out about the program. We often ask applicants to quantify what they have written in their statement of purpose with some specific information about the program. We are interested in applicants who are not only interested in getting a degree but also have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to improve themselves. Knowing how one plans to use the program shows a lot about how serious one is about future prospects. Bearing these things in mind the most important way to prepare for the interview is to think carefully about one's goals and the program itself. Take time to get to know the different attributes of the program and be ready to take about them. Also, obviously, be able to take about yourself in a positive way. Since this is a semi-structured interview and nobody knows exactly what questions will be asked, it is not necessarily helpful to memorise stock answers for questions. On the interview day it is best to try to relax and use the experience as a way of learning something. After the writing test, do go and eat something. Then go the waiting room and talk to the current MA students who are there as well as the other applicants. Just sitting there thinking about potential questions will make you nervous. Prepare for the interview in advance by considering carefully your goals and the role our program can play in helping you to further yourself. One the day relax, learn something, and try to show us the real you. 4. Is it OK to apply to the program even though my undergraduate major is not related to English or education? TESOL is a very broad field. In the MA program we are proud of the diversity our students represent. This is diversity in origin as well as diversity in experience and future plans. Following this general idea of diversity the Sookmyung TESOL MA program accepts applications from people of diverse backgrounds provided they hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited university. Of course we are also looking for students who have a genuine interest in learning about some aspect of TESOL. This is most typically an interest which has arisen out of classroom experience as a student and/or teacher, but it does not need to be so. It is also important to note that not all our students are current teachers. Within TESOL there are other areas that fit, such as people who work in the publishing industry, as materials designers, and researchers to name a few. We are happy to accept and nurture people of diverse backgrounds and aspirations. (영어 교육에 관심이 있다면 누구나 지원 가능) 5. What is the main merit of the program compared to others? The main merit of the program varies according to people's goals and aspirations in studying with us. For some the main merit will be the international aspect of the program. We are international in our faculty, student body, as well as our approach to language and standards. Our goal is to provide a program that develop students who can compete on an international stage, and our graduates have done just that. For others the main merit is the fact that the program is conducted entirely in English, which means the students really get to develop their skills in unparalleled ways. Another positive difference is that we bring an international point of view on the Korean context. This does not mean devaluing the context or dictating solutions but letting the students an our experience interact with the local context with all its own intricate attributes. For us in the program, we feel the diversity of our course offerings is something that truly sets us apart from virtually all other programs of this type anywhere in the world. The main purpose of this diversity to provide a program that centres on the students. In this program the students are responsible for creating their own experience. They do this by choosing from the wide range of options we provide. They choose their own classes and even the types of projects they would like to pursue in those classes. They also get to choose how they would like to culminate their experience in the program. All this results is a program that caters uniquely to student needs and goals. 6. Can I improve my language skills? The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Since this is an English medium program and an academically rigorous one, students receive opportunities to develop their English language skills in all 4 areas. In fact, if they do not they will have trouble in the program. This applies to dominant users of English as well as those for whom English is an additional language. In the MA, students will be required to read extensively and intensively as well as write a variety of different kinds of assignments, all in the acceptable academic voice. Students will also need to be able to follow the class sessions and also interact with their professors and peers in real time on academic subjects. Based on all this, and of course with feedback and guidance from the professors and peers, it is natural that students improve their language skills and specifically in English. As this is really a CBI program focusing on content it is also clear that they also improve academic skills. 7. What kind of future can I get after graduation? This is the hardest question for us to answer because it really does not depend entirely on us. The kinds of jobs one can get after graduation really depends on their credentials, experience, and determination in addition to the current social situation. Certainly non-Korean nationals have somewhat different prospects within Korea than those with Korean nationality and among non-Koreans people from core English-speaking countries have different opportunities than those originating in other places. Of course the MA serves to increase one's credentials and renders one eligible for a wider variety of jobs at a higher level. There is also the eligibility to study further which also comes with successfully completing the MA. In the end, one's future is really up to the individual, but as a widely recognised program of excellence, the Sookmyung TESOL MA can play an important role in helping one achieve their goals both personal and professional.

FAQs for Current Students 1. How can I follow APA style? The style with follow in the field of TESOL is the APA, which comes from the American Psychological Association. There are many guides to this available on-line and there should be no trouble finding one. But they also show slight differences and include details that are not always relevant for the kind of work we expect students to do in the MA program. The small differences between the resources available on-line can be confusing but the trick to following APA guidelines is being consistent. To help with this we have prepared a simple guide which shows how we expect our students to format their papers. Here is a file we have produced that can help: Research Paper Guidelines. (APA style) Students in the program are strongly encouraged to follow these guidelines for the papers they submit in the program. These guidelines were created with midterm and final papers in mind. For shorter weekly papers the most important aspect of the guidelines to be applied would be those related to citing and listing references. Students need to use their own common sense judgement in following the guidelines depending on the type of paper being written. Short answers to focus questions do not need titles, section headings, or appendices. Longer papers probably do. This is something that students can determine or their own or simply ask the professor if there is any confusion about how to style the paper. ​ 2. How can I find the right article? Finding the 'right' article, or really set of articles (resources), boils down to two major aspects. These are being able to access suitable resources and also knowing and being able to find what is suitable or useful. There are different ways that one can search for and hopefully find useful resources. Luckily we live in an age where web resources have made searching easier and also more fruitful. TESOL MA students have access to the main library, the purpose-built TESOL Resource Center, as well as other on-line resources. The main resource available to MA students is the Sookmyung Women's University main library. Most of the library site is in Korean but there are English section titles to help students less proficient in Korean to navigate the site. The library is not only a depository of print materials (books and periodicals) but also provides access to a rather large database of e-journals, e-books, and special collections (such as theses). The TESOL Resource Center, located on the ground floor of the Sookmyung Professional Center, is our departmental library and has a fairly good collection of print materials related to the field of TESOL. In addition to these there are also regular, free on-line services that anyone can use, such as Google Scholar. The best way to access the materials in the main library is from a computer on the main Sookmyung campus (this excludes the Professional Center). The library will instantly recognise the location of the computer and all is well. If one is NOT on the main campus then there is a way to access the library resources. 1. Go to the library main page and log in. The log in (로그인) button is found in the top of the main website page. 2. Once logged in, then click the button on the right of the page marked, 교외접속 서비스. This allows one access to library resources from anywhere, including home. It also allows one to use search engines like Google Scholar and avail of the subscriptions our library holds. 3. After you log in a new page will open. On this page a link will appear. This is what it looks like: http://libproxy.sookmyung.ac.kr/_Lib_Proxy_Url/ Copy this link into the URL browse section of a new blank webpage. Be sure to change the last part of the link replacing _Lib_Proxy_URL with the name of the site you want to use to search, for example Google Scholar. The TESOL Resource Center has books and also some periodicals related to our field. It is a small space and I find it actually interesting and useful to just walk though the stacks to see what is there. Books on the list but not found ion the stacks can be requested and students are also able to request new books with the Book Order Request form. MA students can also ask their professors to order books that they might need for their research. Free on-line search engines can also be very useful. When looking for scholarly articles and books Google Scholar is probably the best resource. When using Google Scholar it is important to be aware of the language. Since we are in Korea Google Scholar usually opens into a Korean page. This is fine if you are looking for articles in Korean (and of course there is nothing wrong with Korean articles), but if you change the site to Google Scholar in English (you can do this by hitting the command on the bottom right of your screen) then you will get better access to articles written in English. It is important to note that Google Scholar will also provide links to books on Google Books. In our field, edited books are often the source of seminal articles and one should also include edited books in their searches. Now that we have covered a bit about access out is time to briefly review some different methods that can be used to search for the right article. Regarding specific search techniques there are different ways of looking, but the best results will come when one incorporates a range of different info ration into search. One way is too search using a specific name. For example, if you are looking for information on pragmatics in SLA then a good name to start with would be Kasper (always use the researcher's family name). To make the search more effective, include subject information as well. One can search for a specific paper and to do so simply use the author name and the publication date (for example, Ninio, 1986) as is used in a reference list. Using the specific title of a paper can also help you find related papers with similar key words. Running a search is a fairly painstaking process. One should be prepared to try several different searches. This means using a range of different search words and difference combinations of words. Regarding more general strategies for searching, one can start a search from scratch or can use what it already known, such as a particular author, set of authors, or a particular publication. When trying to find the right resources, it is good to use what one already has and this means carefully reviewing the reference list in the articles one has already found. For this strategy, newer articles are much more useful than older ones. Some publishing companies will also provide a list of related articles along with the article one has found. Finally, the real key to all this is reading. Finding articles is all well and good but one needs to have the reading skills to be able to skim and scan to determine of the article is useful or not. This involves initially reading only certain parts of the article. The abstract lets you know if the paper has hit the mark at all. The introduction is important in letting you know what it is that the paper is doing differently from others. It creates the context for the paper and let's you know the specific focus. Quickly skimming through the methods and results provides an indicator of the overall quality of the paper. Really, searching is a numbers game. To find the right articles, one needs to look through many. It is also a skill and leaning experience. One need to learn how to search and by doing so also learns about the area in which they are conducting the search. like all skills, the more one does it the better one becomes. This part of what we need to learn to do as graduate students, so do get started. (도서관 학술이용 교육을 매달 실시 하고 있습니다. 국내외 학술 자료 검색법에 대한 교육을 들어보시는 방법도 추천합니다.) ​Finding other students' theses If you want to find and read the thesis of our previous students, here are the simple steps. You can use 1) Sookmyung library website or 2) RISS where all theses written by Koreans are uploaded. 1) how_to_find_the_thesis_of_previous_tesol_ma_students.pdf 2) using_riss_to_find_our_students_theses.pdf 3. What kind of courses should I take? This is the kind of question that MA students need to ask themselves and discuss with their academic counsellor after looking g through the 2-year cycle. In fact, it is for this very purpose that the academic counsellor system was created. We fully understand that the program provides the students with the quandary of choice, but that is also a good thing. The important thing is to have some goals in mind as these will help you map out your path. Bear in mind as well that there is flexibility built into every course. Don't let the names of the courses alone give you a false impression of what YOU can do in the course. Also, don't get too worried about the designation of courses as 'more basic' or 'more advanced'. This designation is more about the focus or scope of the course as opposed to degree of difficulty. Don't skip a course you are interested in simply because it is called 'more advanced.' Basic descriptions for each of the courses are available on this website so please read those before making any decision and of course ask the professor. More detailed course descriptions are available a few weeks before semester begin in the portal system and we also typically post these up in the MA Message Board. The reality is that to get the materials in time students need to select their courses more than a couple of weeks before the semester begin. This means talking to others, your peers, and especially the academic counsellor or some other member of the faculty. 4. How can I get a good idea for the thesis? The thesis essentially provides the answer to a question or series or closely related questions. Bearing this in mind it is good to approach the thesis not merely from a topic area but really a question. Students can start making lists of questions that have occurred to them not just from the basis of their experience teaching but really from what they have read. It is better to generate questions based on academic study of a certain area. This will ensure that not only is the question answerable, but will also immediately provide some guidelines as to how the question has been answered. For the thesis, students should look primarily to previous research. The best theses are ones that continue a well-established research tradition. They take an idea that has already been studied and rework it slightly in order to help find the answer to something that has not yet been sufficiently dealt with. This approach obvious;y requires a certain amount of reading. For most students the initial part of the process comes from the requires readings in the class they have taken. These required readings and the classes in general provide an introduction to some of the major issues that can and often should be further explored. What appeals to students in their course readings is a good place to start, but again it is important to look at the readings critically. There are always ways of extending previous studies. It is also a good to idea to talk to fellow students and faculty members. Students who cannot talk about their thesis will have a lot of trouble writing it. 5. Which one suits me better, the thesis or the practicum? The these and the practicum are not necessarily as different as many people think. Both involve research and writing. The thesis obviously centers around the writing of a high-quality thesis as an independent study project. The practicum centers around the creation of a standards-based portfolio and the writing of comprehensive exams. There are two principle differences between the two. The first of these relates to focus. The thesis involves a much more specific focus while the practicum is more general. In the thesis the student is expected to learn a great deal about one particular issue while in the practicum the student is expected to be able to demonstrate knowledge on a wide variety of TESOL topics. The other big difference between the two is the nature of the process. The practicum is set up as a group discovery process. In the practicum nobody does anything completely on their own. Students and professors are deeply involved in providing feedback, support, and in managing the process. Students work together during the regular class time to help their peers improve their teaching techniques and study together for the comprehensive exams. In this way the practicum is an intense, integrated process. The thesis on the other hand the thesis is very much an independent study project. The student works together with the advisor, but the responsibility to get things done is on the student. There is little the advisor can do if the student has produced no work. Thus, time management is always a major issue in thew thesis. The thesis also a bit of a test of endurance. It begins in earnest in the fourth semester and does not end until well after the fifth. The process involves more than a year. Which option the students feels is right for them should be based on the two main ideas discussed above. The thesis works best when the student has a clear question that she or he seeks to answer. It also works better for people who are self-diciplined and good at managing their own time. The practicum is for people with more general types of goals. It is much more intense than the thesis and practicum students need to be able to do many things quickly. As it is all planned out the student always knows what needs too be done and by when. This aspect of the practicum appeals to many. To help students make this impotent decision, it is important that they read up on the materials posted on this website. As always talking to others, especially those who have been through either process with us, is a very good idea. 6. What stops students from graduating? The answer is simple. First, taking a leave of absence. Second, the thesis. Here are some issues related to students finishing the program. People who voluntarily quit the MA People kicked out of the MA Among those people - 80% took a leave of absence in their 1st/2nd semester - 20% did in their 3rd semester People who officially started but never finished the thesis People who took a leave of absence right before doing the thesis People who are taking leave of absence right before doing the thesis People who have not graduated directly or presumably because of the thesis People who failed to graduate from the Practicum 7.How can I get my transcripts after graduation? Here is the pdf file explaining how to get transcripts online. Please open and take a look at it: 'How to get transcripts online'